So, if they knew he wasn't dissing Logan, why was he sacked?

Well, it appears journalism is alive and well in southern Illinois.  Maybe it just takes a politician forcing a reporter to file a FOIA to get the journalistic juices flowing.  In any event, Channel 3 has clearly decided to start looking under rocks.  Good for them! 

Maybe instead of replacing the president, the BOT should have been reconsidering their choice of attorney. 

UPDATE:  An interesting quote, from the ICCB minutes referenced in the news article linked to above:  "Chairman Giannoulias expressed disappointment in the actions of JALC. He went on to say that the College’s President, Dr. Mike Dreith, has been extremely helpful and worked very hard in trying to investigate this matter and come up with solutions. Dr. Dreith has been a very strong and ethical leader during this difficult time and the ICCB Board appreciates his leadership."

Campus coup has real costs

Presumably, anyone reading this blog already knows that the John A. Logan College Board of Trustees removed President Mike Dreith, officially, last night.  The legal fig leaf is that he has resigned.  And bully for him; he gets a healthy severance package.  

It seems that some members of the Logan BOT have never wanted Dreith.  As time has went on, the cost of their desired result has increased.  His original contract had a buyout clause that would have allowed his termination, without cause, with a payout equal to only six months' pay.  According to a copy of his contract published by the Southern Illinoisan, it appears that Dreith made $177,979.00 per year.  Six months' worth of that would have been $88,989.50.  However, the Board has voted to pay him a total of $290,000 not to work.   

We will be told that appearances are deceiving because the $290,000 figure covers a 20 month period.  OK.  But he still will not be working for the College.  Ron House will be Interim President.  Board Chairman Don Brewer says the search for a permanent replacement will only take nine months and that House will only make $4000.00 a month.  OK.  Four thousand dollars times nine months is $36,000.00, in addition to what they'll have to pay Drieth. 

If the cost is to come from contingency funds, is this the best use of those funds?  The state budget process is in chaos and higher education is expected to take one of the biggest hits, when the Governor and General Assembly finally settle.  Weren't those funds for a rainy day?  

Drieth looking. SIU down and looking for yet another interim chancellor

Well, we've been in hibernation.  Readers, here, apparently have not.  We see comments, on old posts, over the last several months.  Well, here is some fresh news to chew on: 

Southern Illinoisan: JALC president is a finalist for job in Kansas  The subtitle was, "Report:  Dreith called decision to take JALC post 'worst mistake'

And, over in Jackson County, Southern Illinoisan: SIU Enrollment drop leads to $5.3M loss

In other news: Daily Egyptian: Dunn could be done with double duty soon  What the article doesn't point out is that Koropchak was also a vice chancellor and dean of the Graduate School.  ...They also skipped a bit of the search history.  The BOT reinterviewed TWO of the Chancellor candidates, not just the "preferred" one.  That left current interim provost Susan Ford (Koropchak's interim successor at the Graduate School) apparently still holding the fort. 

Time for a Fresh Start at Logan

On Friday, April 3, The Southern Illinois endorsed Ray Hancock, Brad Heuring, and Mandy Little for the three open positions on the John A Logan Board of Trustees. This election for the Logan Board on Tuesday, April 7 gives the college a unique opportunity to elect 3 new people to the Board.

As the Southern Illinois stated, John A Logan is facing a deficit of “anywhere between $2.5 million and $3.8 million” in the next fiscal year.  There are many contributing factors to this perfect financial storm. First, although enrollment at the college has remained steady over the last several years, the number of credit hours taken by those attending students has dropped steadily over the last 5 years.  Second, the State of Illinois most certainly will reduce its contribution to the college this coming year because of its financial condition.  Third, and perhaps the biggest factor, John A Logan can no longer count the health credit hours generated at Logan’s Community Health Center.  The credit hours generated at the Health Center represented $1.7 million in revenue for Logan in the last 5 years.

So, with these daunting financial challenges it is refreshing to see the possibility of electing a brand new slate of Board members. On Monday, March 2, the John A Logan Political Science Department sponsored a candidate forum. In attendance were Bill Alstat, Ray Hancock, Brad Heuring, Mandy Little, and John Sanders. Jake Rendleman chose not to attend and participate in the forum.  At the forum Hancock, Heuring, Little, and Sanders each demonstrated that they not only understood that challenges John A Logan is facing today, but they also articulated a passion for the quality education that John A Logan provides.  Alstat has a nice resume, but didn’t communicate an understanding or passion about education.  Rendleman just didn’t show up, maybe that shows us how important education is to him.

Since the forum, John Sanders has been appointed to the State Board of Education and has resigned from Logan’s Board.  Sanders has been a good Board member and will be missed. But Sanders departure gives voters in Logan’s district to elect brand new people to the Board for the first time in many years.  Let this be a change election and elect a new slate of candidates who can bring new vision and ideas to John A Logan College.

Using Logan's logo

Driving around Williamson County, this weekend, one sees lot's of yard signs popping up like crocus.  Many are for candidates to be on John A. Logan's Board of Trustees.

A couple questions spring to mind.  One, is it permissable to use the Logan logo in partisan ads?  Two, if not, why are current Board chair Jake Rendleman and former president Ray Hancock displaying the Logan logo on their yard signs?

It gives the impression that their campaigns have an institutional endorsement.  If it is not OK to be doing this, when will Steve O'Keefe and/or the Logan legal counsel be insisting that Mr. Rendleman and Dr. Hancock cease and desist?

Leadership, A.W.O.L.

So, much has happened in the last week!  Carterville fired its police chief.  Carbondale mayoral candidates are squabbling about who to replace their fired chief with.  The Jackson County States Attorney announced their would be no indictment in the case of Praveen Varughese., leaving many unanswered questions.  The John A. Logan College Board of Trustees approved a plan that will result in the layoff of a combination of full and part time staff.

The Political Science Club, at Logan will sponsor a forum for candidates seeking election to the Board.  The forum is tomorrow (Monday) night, March 2, in the Tarpin/Crisp Rooms, at John A. Logan College.  (UPDATE:  We've learned that the location has changed to the Batteau/Ivy Rooms.)  Rumor has it that one of the candidates for re-election, Board Chairman Jake Rendleman, will be absent.  Given the current climate on campus, recent layoffs, budget pressures and recent close scrutiny from the media, one would think a candidate would arrange his schedule to accommodate the only real opportunity the public will have, during the campaign, to compare the candidates.

Hopefully, this is an unfounded rumor.  However, if true, one has to assume the absence is not due to any emergency, given that word of Rendleman's intended absence has been circulating for days.  If he has some previously scheduled medical procedure preventing his attendance, he should publicly announce that.  Otherwise, non-participation is an insult to his fellow candidates, the student body and the voters of the district.  It would be the height of arrogance to believe that simply because of incumbency one could simply run on past experience and reputation and not be subject to probing inquiry and debate.  The forum starts at 6:00, tomorrow night.

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UPDATE:

There are six candidates vying for for three seats on the Logan Board.  Here's what we know, or think we do, so far.

Ray Hancock:  Another Hancock on the board?  Yes, Ray Hancock comes with baggage.  His sister-in-law Jackie is already a Trustee, and the hiring of his son Barry when Ray was president raised one of the first cries of nepotism at JALC.  But he is genuinely concerned about the college, he certainly understands budgets, and he has a backbone.  Now that the BOT can't fire him, he might be the best choice to stand up against Brewer and his ilk.

Mandy Little:  Mandy Little is a former student trustee.  Student trustees have no power and their votes don’t count.  They can, however, make one symbolic vote – oppose any tuition increases. Mandy didn’t do that as student trustee.  She’s already been sucked into the “club.”  Student trustees generally make poor board members – remember Cecelia Dunbar?

John Sanders:  John Sandershas been a decent board member and so far, we see no reason to oppose his re-election.  He just needs to show his backbone more than playing the occasional role of board buffoon.

Jake Rendleman:  As we pointed out above, he may play hooky from the candidate forum.  Lacking a really good excuse, that's a real slap in the face to the voters.

Bill Alstat:  Bill Alstat serves on the Jackson County Board and is tight with the Jackson County
Democrats in the style of Brewer and Kilquist.  So far, Alstat has demonstrated an incredible lack of knowledge of higher education and the very serious issues facing JALC.

Brad Heuring:  Brad Heuring is a public school administrator who at least should understand some of the issues facing the college.  He is a former Logan student and athlete.

The Southern Illinoisan had another Voice of the Southern editorial regarding Logan today.  It's unclear that they understand that people have already been given notice that they've lost their jobs. This should be a subject of tomorrow night's forum.

After the candidate forum, conducted prior to the last JALC Board election, WJPF posted the audio recording and we linked to it.  If they do so again, we will link to them again, so those who don't have the opportunity to attend can hear the candidates full answers.

Pizza Czar?

Excerpt from an email sent from President Drieth to JALC employees:

“At last night’s Board of Trustee’s meeting, Trustee Bill Kilquist said he would no longer vote for approval of college expenditures as long as the college continued to spend “so much money on travel and pizza.” He said he wanted one person to ultimately approve travel so there was accountability. 

As the President, I agreed to accept that role. Until further notice, all out-of-state travel must be approved by the President. 

 I will be studying the pizza data to determine if our consumption merits a new policy.”

People are losing their jobs and Trustee Kilquist is worried about pizza?  It is that lack of vision and insight that helped get JALC into this mess in the first place. Just what higher education needs – pizza data!

The education part won't suffer?

“  …I do not feel that the education part itself is going to suffer."  What does the John A. Logan College Board of Trustees Chairman mean by this?

In the January Board of Trustees meeting, the Board, under the leadership of Jake Rendleman, had the opportunity to cut almost $100,000 in college expenses without firing any fulltime faculty or staff.  Before a packed house, and after some articulate and passionate speeches, the Board decided to table the issue.  By tabling the golf issue, Mr. Rendleman, and the Board, gave a pass to the golf team, but set up the firing of full time faculty, who contribute to the College’s core mission: Teaching!

Not to pick on the golf team, but the central question is:  does the John A Logan Board of Trustees choose the sports programs, and the Community Health Education Complex over its core mission of providing an accessible quality education to residents of Southern Illinois?

On its January 28 newscast, WSIL-TV reported, “The chairman of John A. Logan College's board is revealing even he was surprised that the men's and women's golf coaches weren't informed until Saturday that their program was on the chopping block.” It’s hard to believe that Jake Rendleman was surprised.  He starts almost every day of the week at John A Logan College at the Community Health Education Complex.  After he works out, he then goes to the John A Logan Administration offices and wants to know what’s going on.  Can anyone really believe that Jake Rendleman didn’t know about the golf team’s dismissal?  Rendleman was first elected to a 6 year term in 1997.  He has already served 18 years on the Board of Trustees; one would think that by now he knew everything there is to know about the college.

Jake Rendleman is running for reelection to the John A Logan Board of Trustees.  In the meantime, tonight, the Board has a choice to make.  Education? Or, sports and the Community Health Education Complex?

The quality of Logan's courses is something that won't be cut, the Chairman insists. We’ll soon see.

It's a snow day

It's a snow day at SIU, John A. Logan and the local schools.  A good day to catch up with some old newspapers.  JALC Board member, John Sanders, had a letter published in the Southern Illinoisan, last week.  Mr. Sanders points out that the Board could have handled the proposed abolition of the golf program a little better.

He also responds to the Southern's opinion that the Board must "demand" a comprehensive plan from the administration.  That reminds us that, at the last BOT meeting (when it became obvious that the golf cut was turning into a fiasco), a member (not Sanders) complained that the Board needed better leadership from the administration.  Is that a fair complaint?

And... we're back!

Two short years ago, we created this blog as a way to share our observations on some interesting goings-on in, and around, Williamson County.  We quickly got fixated on the culture and governance of John A. Logan College, as it was at the start of the election season for the open JALC Board of Trustees seats.

Well, it's election time again.  So, we've roused ourselves, mid-winter, to take a look around.  And just in time, too!  There is controversy regarding the Community Health and Education Complex, a related budgetary emergency, and elbow throwing as the taste of fear is in many mouths.  Tuesday morning, readers of the Southern Illinoisan woke up to this unsigned editorial, the Voice of the Southern:  Golf.  An unsigned editorial is a big deal.  It's not the individual ravings of a staff writer given some space to fill, but the institutional position of the paper.  Logan got called out.  In chronological order the column relates a quick series of contradictory events that set a program up on a pedestal, invited prospective student athletes to participate and then nearly killed the program.

For those unfamiliar with the events, they are well summarized in the Southern's editorial.  For more background, see the news articles that preceded:  Logan golfers land Hamlton County's Vaughn, Golf standouts to be induced into Logan's Hall of Fame and JALC Board tables vote to cut golf.  

Five days later, there was this:  Logan women's golf signs Effingham twins.  School board elections of any kind tend to be boring.  This one won't be.