JSU terminations, lawsuits raise questions
Mollie Bryant, The Clarion-Ledger 7:02 p.m. CST December 26, 2015
"Let us be done with fault finding and leave off self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous."
Led by Jackson State University President Carolyn Meyers, employees recited The Collect in unison at the 2013 fall seminar for faculty and staff. The Collect followed an address in which Meyers boasted JSU’s record-breaking enrollment, new Madison campus and plans for its downtown branch.
That year, 82 of JSU’s permanent faculty and staff were terminated — more than any other public university in Mississippi with available data.
In a three-month investigation, The Clarion-Ledger spoke with 25 current and former JSU employees, the majority of whom said they worked in a hostile work environment, where faculty and staff worry the wrong move could lead to retaliation, being “iced out” or worse — a pink slip. Many said they had experienced stress so severe they became physically ill, causing them to go on medical leave. On top of that, they described a campuswide fear to voice concerns or publicly identify problems with the university.
Since 2011, 351 permanent JSU employees have been terminated, and an additional 53 positions were outsourced, according to data provided by the university via a public records request. Similar public records requests at other Mississippi universities revealed JSU’s termination rate to be excessive by comparison. During the same time period, Mississippi State University, with a staff four times larger than JSU's, terminated 78 permanent employees. Only the University of Southern Mississippi came close to the number of terminations at JSU, with 369 reported over the last five years. However, USM employs more than twice the number of faculty and staff as JSU. (The University of Mississippi is the lone public university not to provide data. University officials said no document containing the information existed, and the school would not provide data on its terminations).
For several years, Jackson State has received attention for resignations and terminations in its administration. Eleven employees at the assistant vice president level or higher have resigned or been terminated in the last five years. This year, Provost James Renick and Vice President of Finance and Business Michael Thomas resigned, and JSU records show Vice President for Institutional Advancement David Hoard received an involuntary separation.
JSU’s athletic department has had its share of high-profile firings, including former head football coach Rick Comegy, who had an 8-1 record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference when he was fired in 2013. That year, records show Kathryn Worthy, who coordinated the J-Settes Dance Team, received an involuntary separation from JSU, and Meyers received a death threat that referenced Worthy’s firing. This year, Harold Jackson was fired as head football coach five games into the season with a season record of one win, four losses.
Meyers would not comment for this story, and a university spokeswoman said the president would be unavailable until for an interview until Jan. 12. Meyers later offered by email to move the meeting to Jan. 5. In that email to The Clarion-Ledger, Meyers said she wasn’t aware of any employee complaints related to herself or any other JSU faculty or staff, although she was cited in two lawsuits and initially named in others before she was dropped as a defendant.
“Complaints have not surfaced to me,” she wrote. “For the record, one cannot respond or address complaints unknown or uncommunicated.”
Glenn Boyce, Mississippi's higher education commissioner, said turnover at universities doesn’t fall under the purview of the state College Board, officially known as the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, and that the agency hasn’t received evidence establishing that Jackson State has a hostile work environment.
“Our role here at IHL is certainly not to micromanage personnel decisions at institutions,” he said. “We leave it up to presidents to ensure they have high-performing individuals in positions all through their campuses. Sometimes, certainly, employee turnover is costly to an organization. There’s no question about that in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, … but I would say also sometimes turnover can be beneficial.”
Hank Bounds, who was the state's higher education commissioner when Meyers' contract was extended this year, did not return repeated requests for comment. Boyce would not comment on Meyers' performance, saying it was a personnel matter.
During interviews with JSU employees, some said their experiences at JSU were positive and productive.
“I think the work environment is a great one,” said Robin Pack, executive director of human resources. “We haven’t had any issues, and I haven’t been informed of anything that would be a hostile or difficult work environment.”
Pack said she has received only a few complaints; however, current and former JSU employees have filed approximately 20 lawsuits against JSU in federal court since 2011. To compare, the University of Mississippi had five cases and Mississippi State University had no lawsuits in federal court during the last five years.
Several current and former employees leveled complaints that the College Board hasn’t provided a level of oversight to JSU equal to that of other public Mississippi universities.
“I unequivocally disagree with that,” Boyce said. “IHL pays attention equally to all eight universities.”
JSU under Meyers' leadership
Many of the employees interviewed said the work environment shifted when Meyers began her presidency in 2011, particularly with the hiring of Renick and Hoard, both of whom were Meyers’ former colleagues at North Carolina A&T State University, where she served as provost. Since Meyers’ arrival, at least 10 former North Carolina A&T employees have come to work at JSU, and most have filled administrative positions.
Renick was chancellor of North Carolina A&T, where he was accused of misusing funds from a vending contract until investigators said in 2009 that he hadn’t known the funds were restricted.
Meyers created Hoard’s position during her first year at JSU. He had worked as vice chancellor of development and in university relations at North Carolina A&T.
In an email to JSU staff announcing Renick’s “unsolicited” resignation in October, Meyers wrote: “There’s the old saying to the effect that one cannot go to new places on the same road with the same driver. And remember, anyone who voluntarily resigns is obviously unhappy and possibly unable to fully commit to the university for various reasons, reasons which I do not question or explore.”
Quinton Williams, who resigned from JSU to chair Howard University’s physics department, reported to Meyers when he served as interim provost in 2011. He said she raised the expectations for JSU staff, which changed the work environment.
“She definitely has a different leadership style than I was kind of used to,” he said. “I’d say she’s one who likes to see things happen on a quick pace, and if they don’t happen quickly enough to her satisfaction, I think she’s ready to make changes.
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Mollie Bryant, The Clarion-Ledger 7:02 p.m. CST December 26, 2015"Let us be done with fault finding and leave off self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous."
Led by Jackson State University President Carolyn Meyers, employees recited The Collect in unison at the 2013 fall seminar for faculty and staff. The Collect followed an address in which Meyers boasted JSU’s record-breaking enrollment, new Madison campus and plans for its downtown branch.
That year, 82 of JSU’s permanent faculty and staff were terminated — more than any other public university in Mississippi with available data.
In a three-month investigation, The Clarion-Ledger spoke with 25 current and former JSU employees, the majority of whom said they worked in a hostile work environment, where faculty and staff worry the wrong move could lead to retaliation, being “iced out” or worse — a pink slip. Many said they had experienced stress so severe they became physically ill, causing them to go on medical leave. On top of that, they described a campuswide fear to voice concerns or publicly identify problems with the university.
Since 2011, 351 permanent JSU employees have been terminated, and an additional 53 positions were outsourced, according to data provided by the university via a public records request. Similar public records requests at other Mississippi universities revealed JSU’s termination rate to be excessive by comparison. During the same time period, Mississippi State University, with a staff four times larger than JSU's, terminated 78 permanent employees. Only the University of Southern Mississippi came close to the number of terminations at JSU, with 369 reported over the last five years. However, USM employs more than twice the number of faculty and staff as JSU. (The University of Mississippi is the lone public university not to provide data. University officials said no document containing the information existed, and the school would not provide data on its terminations).
For several years, Jackson State has received attention for resignations and terminations in its administration. Eleven employees at the assistant vice president level or higher have resigned or been terminated in the last five years. This year, Provost James Renick and Vice President of Finance and Business Michael Thomas resigned, and JSU records show Vice President for Institutional Advancement David Hoard received an involuntary separation.
JSU’s athletic department has had its share of high-profile firings, including former head football coach Rick Comegy, who had an 8-1 record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference when he was fired in 2013. That year, records show Kathryn Worthy, who coordinated the J-Settes Dance Team, received an involuntary separation from JSU, and Meyers received a death threat that referenced Worthy’s firing. This year, Harold Jackson was fired as head football coach five games into the season with a season record of one win, four losses.
Meyers would not comment for this story, and a university spokeswoman said the president would be unavailable until for an interview until Jan. 12. Meyers later offered by email to move the meeting to Jan. 5. In that email to The Clarion-Ledger, Meyers said she wasn’t aware of any employee complaints related to herself or any other JSU faculty or staff, although she was cited in two lawsuits and initially named in others before she was dropped as a defendant.
“Complaints have not surfaced to me,” she wrote. “For the record, one cannot respond or address complaints unknown or uncommunicated.”
Glenn Boyce, Mississippi's higher education commissioner, said turnover at universities doesn’t fall under the purview of the state College Board, officially known as the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, and that the agency hasn’t received evidence establishing that Jackson State has a hostile work environment.
“Our role here at IHL is certainly not to micromanage personnel decisions at institutions,” he said. “We leave it up to presidents to ensure they have high-performing individuals in positions all through their campuses. Sometimes, certainly, employee turnover is costly to an organization. There’s no question about that in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, … but I would say also sometimes turnover can be beneficial.”
Hank Bounds, who was the state's higher education commissioner when Meyers' contract was extended this year, did not return repeated requests for comment. Boyce would not comment on Meyers' performance, saying it was a personnel matter.
During interviews with JSU employees, some said their experiences at JSU were positive and productive.
“I think the work environment is a great one,” said Robin Pack, executive director of human resources. “We haven’t had any issues, and I haven’t been informed of anything that would be a hostile or difficult work environment.”
Pack said she has received only a few complaints; however, current and former JSU employees have filed approximately 20 lawsuits against JSU in federal court since 2011. To compare, the University of Mississippi had five cases and Mississippi State University had no lawsuits in federal court during the last five years.
Several current and former employees leveled complaints that the College Board hasn’t provided a level of oversight to JSU equal to that of other public Mississippi universities.
“I unequivocally disagree with that,” Boyce said. “IHL pays attention equally to all eight universities.”
JSU under Meyers' leadership
Many of the employees interviewed said the work environment shifted when Meyers began her presidency in 2011, particularly with the hiring of Renick and Hoard, both of whom were Meyers’ former colleagues at North Carolina A&T State University, where she served as provost. Since Meyers’ arrival, at least 10 former North Carolina A&T employees have come to work at JSU, and most have filled administrative positions.
Renick was chancellor of North Carolina A&T, where he was accused of misusing funds from a vending contract until investigators said in 2009 that he hadn’t known the funds were restricted.
Meyers created Hoard’s position during her first year at JSU. He had worked as vice chancellor of development and in university relations at North Carolina A&T.
In an email to JSU staff announcing Renick’s “unsolicited” resignation in October, Meyers wrote: “There’s the old saying to the effect that one cannot go to new places on the same road with the same driver. And remember, anyone who voluntarily resigns is obviously unhappy and possibly unable to fully commit to the university for various reasons, reasons which I do not question or explore.”
Quinton Williams, who resigned from JSU to chair Howard University’s physics department, reported to Meyers when he served as interim provost in 2011. He said she raised the expectations for JSU staff, which changed the work environment.
“She definitely has a different leadership style than I was kind of used to,” he said. “I’d say she’s one who likes to see things happen on a quick pace, and if they don’t happen quickly enough to her satisfaction, I think she’s ready to make changes.
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