Tricoli out as Perimeter president; college faces a $16 million shortfall
Last week, a reader sent me and other AJC reporters a tip that the president of Georgia Perimeter College was out due to an audit that revealed a shortfall in the millions of dollars. Our higher ed reporter has been chasing down the lead ever since.
Today, the chancellor released a letter confirming that Anthony Tricoli was stepping down, but Hank Huckaby offers no details of what led to the $16 million shortfall and why it was not caught until now.
Clearly, Tricoli is not a candidate for the UGA presidency, as several blog posters suggested last week after the news broke that Michael Adams was retiring next year.
We have several Georgia Perimeter College employees who sometimes comment on the blog. Folks, can you enlighten us on this mess?
Here is the AJC.com story by reporter Laura Diamond.
Georgia Perimeter College President Anthony Tricoli has stepped down after officials disclosed that the college has a $16 million budget shortfall, Chancellor Hank Huckaby announced in a letter sent to staff Monday.
The shortfall is for the 2012 fiscal year that ends June 30. The college received about $50.2 million in state allocations for the year, according to university system figures.
Tuition and fees will not be increased to cover the shortfall, Huckaby wrote in the letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Instead, the college has suspended contracts, cut travel, delayed hiring and implemented other steps, Huckaby wrote.
The college and system staff are preparing a plan to balance the 2013 fiscal year budget since the underlying shortfall will continue, he said. “We do not know at this time precisely the impact in every budget area, but it will be significant and will likely impact personnel,” Huckaby wrote. “These actions are necessary to address a shortfall of this magnitude.”
Tricoli stepped down because “of the need for a fresh approach,” Huckaby wrote.
Alan Jackson, the vice president of academic affairs, will serve as acting president until Huckaby appoints in interim president.
Tricoli started has been with GPC since 2006. Since then enrollment has grown by about 7,000 students with more than 26,000 students taking classes at sites in Alpharetta, Clarkston, Covington, Decatur and Dunwoody. It is the state’s third-largest public college, behind University of Georgia and Georgia State University.
From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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188 comments Add your comment
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
10:21 pm
@taxpaying “teacher” – what’s your evidence? Anecdotal pish is all I see. If you actually cared to find out, you could speak to our students about the benefits of service learning projects to their education our you could take the three seconds to perform a google search to see the benefits of having service learning coordinators on campus, or having a military outreach center, or initiating sustainability initiatives. And, sir or madam, I assure you those roles are full time and not “cushy” positions as you infer. Here, let’s try one:
http://bit.ly/
Dante and Randal
May 7th, 2012
10:22 pm
According to the rumors, on May 4th after Spring Commencement, President Tricoli, Ron Carruth – Vice President for Financial and Administrative Affairs and Sheletha Champion – Assistant Vice President of Financial Affairs were fired and escorted from their offices by campus police.
The rumor is that the financial discrepancies have something to do with employee benefits. This is rumor and regardless if it’s true or not, the frustrating issue about all of this is that we (GPC Faculty and Staff) can’t get any answers from anyone from the executive team. In fact most staff and faculty were unaware of any budget issues until the email outlining the new budget spending criteria was sent last week.
Dr. Tricoli surely didn’t invent cronyism at GPC, but he did stoke it’s fires. People he wanted were hired, those who resisted these new hires were retaliated against. Example: In a feud with Tricoli over a hiring issue the GPC CIO’s VP position was eliminated and moved under Ron Carruth.
Moreover, it’s more than cronyism that’s the issue. Since Tricoli arrived the institutional culture and mission has changed and not for the better. Tricoli’s goal was to grow the college, at any cost, even if resources for new enrollment were lacking. GPC has met that goal,. We’re busting at the seams with new students. With that retention has tanked.
Tricoli’s leadership style and behavior is rude, abusive and highly unprofessional. He is renown throughout the college for going off on anyone for any trivial issue. He has hired a cadre of people (example: the VP of Student Affairs, Dr. Vincent June) who emulates his leadership, and also acts in a highly unprofessional and dictatorial way.
The Customer Service program has gone way off the tracks from being a needed component to improve services to a club that is held over everyone and actually impedes services. GPC and BoR policies and procedures are ignored, bent or broken in order to increase enrollment and make students (and their parents) happy. Happy students, means keeping your job, and many folks over the past 5 years have learned to do almost anything to keep a student happy.
I have worked in colleges and universities for 20 years. I have never seen one as dysfunctional as GPC. It’s culture is one of fear and secrecy. Tricoli has done some good things (The TAG program for one), but he and the people he placed in power have met these goals by trashing many standards of professional conduct and accountability. For some leaders at GPC, the mission is not the students, the mission is personal power.
What GPC needs is for the AJC or any news outlet to do an APS style investigation. People are willing to talk. If these are rumors, than investigate and tell us what the truth is, because at this time no one at GPC is.
Redweather Foster
May 7th, 2012
10:26 pm
Say what you may about Belcher, but THAT president didn’t leave us with a 16 million dollar shortfall that is going to result in faculty moving to a 5/5 course load, a possible loss of summer pay THIS summer and perhaps next as well. We will be living with Tricoli’s debt for some time to come, and it will be upon our backs that the suffering will fall. This is by far the worst president we have had in years.
You may think his sustainability, service learning, community gardens, Jimmy Carter visit ect. are good for the college, but in reality, it was Tricoli’s way of building a resume on the back of the whole college. It was just two years ago this spring that he tried to leave GPC and sent out talking points to all department chairs to ensure he controlled the message.
When he failed to be hired there, he changed. Maybe even became a little paranoid. Once Virginia Michelich moved to the BOR, he no longer had anyone in front of him who would challenge his ideas or demands. From that point on, he wanted only those in positions of power that would go along without questioning the moral or ethical propriety of the process. He has a VPAA who NEVER answered to a faculty conflict.
I know for a fact that he told English department chairs that he cannot make faculty decisions suggesting that anything he wanted to do had to be cleared by a higher source. He has even admitted to other deans that he had no control over the Dean of English, that he doesn’t know where she is or what she does. He has only conducted one deans’ meeting since November, because the Dean of English felt they were unnecessary. He was controlled by his president and the Dean of English, which seems silly but is true.
Since he has been the VPAA and the Dean of English has been in place, there has been no administrator that the English faculty could go to for possible relief regarding faculty issues. We have felt as if we were left out to dry. The only recourse for some has been HR, and that has offered limited help.
And for those who are writing here who are not part of the English department, you have no idea what is in store for you, if the “norming” tool for faculty evaluations is introduced across the divisions, which the VPAA has endorsed and is in the process of looking at its implementation. The “norming” tool is a dangerous and manipulative instrument that gives those who are not in contact with faculty members control over the evaluations. It is worse than the old faculty evaluation method and was not created with faculty input. It was formulated and enforced by one individual, the Dean of English, and until Tricoli’s sudden exit, it was coming to the entire college as the tool of evaluation.
The power of the “norming” tool over faculty is enormous, especially when those in control are accomplices in its implementation. I know that when one English faculty member’s evaluation was changed by the Dean of English, she was told that the faculty member would only appeal. Her response was, “Let him, he has to appeal to me and Alan.” The implications there are very unsettling.
I think once the entire faculty learns just what we will have to carry on our shoulders, the only remedy will be a complete house cleaning at the very top. Tricolit is gone, the VP of Finance is gone (because he wouldn’t stand up to Tricoli), the VPAA should be removed because he was at best an enabler, at worst, an accomplice to Tricoli (his job was more important to him than doing the right thing), the Dean of English should be removed because she is totally incompetent in her job and is probably going to cost the college even more in lawsuits before this is over.
The English Department Chair in Dunwoody should be given his job back, the English Department Chair in Newton should be given her job back. The English Department Chair in Alpharetta should be given his job back, and the on line college should have a new leader in that division of the college. The “norming” tool should be removed, tossed into the heap, and all evaluations should be returned to the score set by Department Chairs prior to “norming.” True college leaders and faculty excellence comes from those who do their jobs endlessly and tirelessly. They should not be punished by an incompetent administrator who was “awarded” her position for her loyalty and unexplained admiration for a president who lost or misplaced 16 million dollars.
I hope the AJC pushes hard and looks into every dime that was misplaced or misused. I understand Tricoli, who was just featured in an article about how he and his wife are college presidents (ironic), used GPC funds to train staff from his wife’s college in Tennessee. That’s a rumor I’d like to see investigated. There are more issues that need to be dug out and followed. But for me, I’m tired of not getting raises, tired of being bullied around by an inept Dean of English, tired of being a part of a broken system when what we should be is what we can be, an incredible gateway for students to go to college.
I will conclude by saying this, Tricoli did some good things. The tag program is wonderful. Continuing our growth during the years of the GGC nightmare was genius. I supported him every step of the way, but he once asked us to trust him. He stood on the stage at Cole Auditorium and asked for our trust. Many of us gave him that trust and he, in turn, over a five year period violated it to the tune of 16 million dollars. I don’t trust him anymore, and I don’t trust those who helped him stick it to us. Get rid of them all. There are great faculty who can rise to these positions waiting right now in the wings. Let’s tap a few new faces and restart this wonderful school.
taxpaying teacher
May 7th, 2012
10:27 pm
@JacketFan — Now is truly the silly season. Cite a single word I wrote criticizing service learning, military outreach, or sustainability. One word. My point is that in the face of an unprecedented budget shortfall, the coordinators of these initiatives need to be teaching full time, as commentator Longtime GPC Insider has implied (but not directly stated) the Coordinator of Diversity does. How could anyone at a teaching college find that idea objectionable?
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
10:29 pm
Where was I …
http://bit.ly/KhrZmW
What gets folks like you up in arms has nothing to do with any reality, it’s only your curmudgeonly cynicism from years of resentment for those in your profession who have surpassed you. Or, perhaps, just an innate need to bitch. In either case, it’s as stale as my cliche.
Good luck with that. I’m sure it will get you far.
Lots of dishonesty at GPC
May 7th, 2012
10:32 pm
Tricoli may be getting what he had coming, but the holier than thou (or him) attitude seeping from many of the posts here is so predictable. Tenured faculty at GPC engage in what I will call “colleague nepotism” 24/7. If you’re tenured, you’re okay; if you’re not tenured, you’re invisible; if you’re in the administration, you’re worthless. They have absolutely no credibility in my view. Some of them couldn’t teach a dog how to fetch a bone. Having served on committees with them, I can tell you that rank-and-file tenured faculty members are no better than Tricoli and his “cronies.” They’re good at whining about the administration and protecting their own turf. That and working four days a week.
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
10:35 pm
@taxpayer – teaching college or not, it doesn’t change the job requirements of some of these coordinators. The jobs require grant writing, developing curriculum, designing professional development programs, managing student interns (e.g. Americorps Students, Bonner scholars), building community partner relationships, fundraising (non-grant), etc. Do you really think someone with those responsibilities could do good by two or three sections of students and still perform? You’re supposedly an academic. You tell me.
bootney farnsworth
May 7th, 2012
10:36 pm
it still comes back to this: in better times, Tricoli’s initatives aren’t bad things. in these financial times, they’re unsupportable due to overworked people and evaporating budget.
I don’t give a damn how great they may be, or how much it makes some faculty feel good we have them. we can’t afford them right now.
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
10:38 pm
Here is the job description for the sustainability position. Is this sufficient enough to not require a significant teaching load?
http://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?Jobcode=175534128&aID=788&print=yes
bootney farnsworth
May 7th, 2012
10:39 pm
@ taxpaying,
I know the DC, but not personally. what I find objectional about it is we’re all overloaded already.
to ask him/her to take on this additional duty without more money is wrong. to hire someone new to do it is fiscally irresponsible.
OpsFac
May 7th, 2012
10:42 pm
@bootney – the sustainability initiatives lead to saving money. Just addressing low-hanging fruit, such as paper usage, HVAC usage, lighting, etc. could save 2 million a year. Funny, we tried motion sensor lighting and broadening the temperature points, but FACULTY complained until those measures went away …
See. Doesn’t feel so good when the back biting is on your back.
bootney farnsworth
May 7th, 2012
10:43 pm
all this and SACS coming up hard.
we’re in for a rough time.
Longtime GPC Insider
May 7th, 2012
10:44 pm
To taxpaying teacher: I have only met the diversity co-ordinator 2 or 3 times – different campus – discussed hate crime, speech, & acts on our campuses. If you had read our student newspaper, you might be aware of this. Perhaps you are among the supporters. Students I know talk of the increasing lack of respect for others among students, and have talked about disparaging remarks from faculty, but are afraid to report. “Dr.” Tricoli is his academic title, it is a matter of courtesy – should I be acquainted with you, I would at the very least refer to you as Mr., Mrs., or Ms.
taxpaying teacher
May 7th, 2012
11:00 pm
@bootney — Agreed. We probably can’t afford a DC right now. As we all know, this financial catastrophe is unprecedented. The budget will be balanced after next June, and we should probably hold the job open for the person selected until then.
@JacketFan — I am shaking my head in amazement that you could try to defend anyone at GPC teaching one solitary three hour course per academic year. I stand by my statement that everyone at GPC with the credentials needs to be teaching multiple sections per semester. No one’s job is too important to override this one absolutely essential college function.
@Longtime GPC Insider — I’m still waiting on that teaching load. You said the DC isn’t receiving release time, so you should be happy to answer this one question unless, of course, the facts don’t support you.
OpsFac
May 7th, 2012
11:08 pm
@taxpayer – funny how you crow the importance of teaching, yet fail to recognize the importance of programs designed to improve our abysmal retention rates. Just teaching isn’t really working, is it? Though, not surprising coming from you.
William Casey
May 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
I was an undergrad at a USG school in 1970 and a Student Government Officer at a time when students were first allowed to serve on school committees. I was often amazed by the pettiness of some administrators and faculty. I can see that some things never change. One thing HAS changed: there has been a massive proliferation of administrative positions.
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
This is all so pointless.
Lots of dishonesty at GPC
May 7th, 2012
11:15 pm
So what happened to my comment? Did I ruffle some GPC faculty member’s feathers? Or are generalizations only allowed to posters who want to wag fingers at Tricoli and his so-called cronies?
taxpaying teacher
May 7th, 2012
11:18 pm
@ Longtime GPC Insider — You don’t know what the DC’s teaching load is, but you KNOW he or she isn’t getting any course releases? SMH
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
11:22 pm
@taxpaying – oh, shut it. If you wanted course releases you could have them, if you had the initiative to do so. You sound like sour grapes.
taxpaying teacher
May 7th, 2012
11:38 pm
@JacketFan, you really don’t get it. Most of us faculty went into this profession because we truly love teaching. We have already heard from multiple sources that, thanks to Anthony Tricoli’s incompetence (the kindest word that can be used to describe him now), we are going to see our summer pay cut and our teaching loads increased. Yet you’re so worked up because some administrator might have to teach that dreaded second course per year. How sad that you regard full time teaching as, to use your own words, “sour grapes.”
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
11:45 pm
@taxpayer – you’ve changed your position. You were arguing for a 3/3 or some such for directors/coordinators. Now it’s a 1/1. Hell, most would do a 2/2 if asked. Don’t change your story and expect to get a fair argument.
And it wasn’t AT’s incompetence. His budget office was telling him all is well. You’re showing your true colors now. Just another anti-Tricoli faculty member.
I’m worked up because the initial straw man attacks have been on people who have nothing to do with this kerfuffle.
JacketFan
May 7th, 2012
11:47 pm
And what makes you think the summer pay will be cut? Hyperbole isn’t necessary.
Longtime GPC Insider
May 7th, 2012
11:59 pm
Dearest taxpaying teacher (aka knuckle-dragging bigot) – should you know the co-ordinator’s name, you may easily look up the teaching load for some previous years on the GPC website – http://www.gpc.edu – FYI. You poor dear – the position was only created mid-term (as you should well know, if you are privy to GPC email).
Should you be (to the detriment of GPC or any other student) an actual teacher, please share with us what unpaid, and extracurricular duties that you might unwillingly do. I serve on more committees than I care to, and because I work at GPC, and there is what is known as “charm school” for those who disagree, I will not name them, except truesdale. I do many tasks beyond my job description because they are required, especially in our current economy. Much of my time would be better used, but we are required to provide evidence of engagement in the college for promotion and tenure, as in most institutions. You are truly fortunate should your employer(s) (not college level perhaps), not require such extra effort.
I do not respect some of the current administration (VPAA excluded, don’t ask about Student Affairs – Google June). However, GPC is the state’s largest feeder into Georgia’s 4-year institutions, and although I disagree with the discontinuance of some remedial programs, I will always believe in the mission of 2-year or community colleges. Our transfer students have been shown statistically to do better at 4-year institutions than those who began at them. Georgia’s high schools have failed many students, and many GPC students are coming back for 2nd careers and need what we once offered before the BOR intervened .
Longtime GPC Insider
May 8th, 2012
12:11 am
P.P.S. See article dated 5/6 from the Chronicle of Higher Education: “2 Presidents, 2 Campuses, One Long-Distance Marriage”? http://www.chronicle.com
taxpaying teacher
May 8th, 2012
12:12 am
@JacketFan — I never said a 1/1 load for the Sustainability Director would be fine by me. I merely pointed out a major problem in a link you posted. I stand by my comment that you have shown a true dread that some precious administrators have to take on a dreaded second section per year. We will known this month if my comment that I have heard from multiple sources summer pay will be cut. I sincerely hope I am wrong. As for your defense of Tricoli, well, I’ll simply say I am honored to be attacked by a reality blind Tricoli supporter.
@Longtime GPC Insider — That’s three paragraphs to acknowledge you can’t — or more likely, won’t — discuss the teaching load of the DC, which you have said you know is not being reduced. And you toss in the obligatory bogus “bigot” label. Interesting, then, you’d care to characterize the many students who under perform on the Compass as “remedial,” an epithet they probably won’t much appreciate. About 25 years ago, out of respect for the diversity and variety of reasons students under perform, professors nationwide moved toward the kinder label “developmental,” which in turn has given way to the both kinder and more accurate “learning support.” In your case, it’s quite clear someone doesn’t like what they see in the mirror.
Longtime GPC Insider
May 8th, 2012
1:12 am
Beloved “taxpaying” – only overly PC sensitive instructors worry about the term “remedial”. Pre-PC, the term “developmental” meant something less than remedial. GPC has no developmental courses. We have “Pre-college composition”, “Advanced reading skills, “Beginning algebra” and “Intermediate algebra” – please see online course list.
Enjoyable as this has been, we are far from the original topic. You brought up the co-ordinator of diversity issue, and it is also far from the most important of GPC issues. Take your meds, focus, and get back to the original issue. How did GPC, after $50.2 million this year of GA $, end up $16 million under? Most importantly, how will it “likely impact personnel”? The term “personnel” means actual individuals I know and work with, not soylent green. “Say goodnight, Gracie”.
teaching taxpayer
May 8th, 2012
1:50 am
@ Longtime GPC Insider — Your ignorance in endless hate filled, ad hominem, baseless bull is quite clear, and in that respect it is a good night. Oh, and there’s also this: Anthony Tricoli is no longer President of Georgia Perimeter College, and his minions are scrambling for cover. If you’re a budget manager, you’re going to have some explaining to do yourself.
Yes, it is a very good night.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
May 8th, 2012
3:11 am
“(A)n audit?” Who conducted the audit? Were the auditors competent, disinterested and from out-of-state? Where is the original audit report? How often are audits by competent, disinterested, out-of-state entities conducted at GPC? At all USG institutions? Are unredacted reports of any and all such audits presented in mass-circulation print and electronic media?
2legit2quit
May 8th, 2012
5:33 am
GPC has already lost by the slow discontinuance of Learning support programs beginning this Fall. They may end up with just about 17k-18k of enrolled students which only solidifies the significant impact on personnel about to occur. Cuts should begin at the top and not at the people considered the “face” of GPC because they are only doing what the people who hide behind closed doors instruct them to do. The executive asst. the chief executive made over $101,000 for doing what?? Why are there orbs on every campus office doors? Why, in the midst of faculty and staff not receiving raises for the past four years did the top-heavy management receive increases in pay? I pray the students don’t receive the bad end of the stick because of such financial mismanagement.
redweather
May 8th, 2012
6:54 am
@zanderae, I was recently named to become one of those “dollar-sucking entities” you mentioned. If I had to guess, that appointment might evaporate over the next few days.
@jacketfan, when the manure hits the fan people will say just about anything no matter how false or mean-spirited it might be. Worst of all, they feel good about saying it.
bootney farnsworth
May 8th, 2012
7:22 am
@ Dr. Craig,
it’s my understanding -emphasis, understanding – the audit was done as a routine part of SACS prep. who actually did it originally I’m not sure.
Long-time USG employee
May 8th, 2012
7:43 am
In case you missed the tip earlier AJC, KEEP DIGGING. It goes way deeper than AT. Yes, he may have had the student’s best interest at heart, but who there doesn’t? That man’s ego and intimidation tactics did more damage than did his good intentions. Dig deep, AJC. Look into reports to HR and reports of ethics violations. I love the USG and am shocked they kept him around…what dirt must he have on them?! Interview employees, please! The house is not clean yet. There are many more who need to “step down” before GPC isn’t tainted.
Our students and devoted employees deserve better than Tricoli and the atmosphere he created. I’ve worked at several USG institutions and have never been a part of such a toxic environment.
“Celebration” by Kool & The Gang is on perpetual loop in my head. Now let’s clean the rest of it up so we can go about our business of preparing these amazing students for the workforce.
bootney farnsworth
May 8th, 2012
7:44 am
the bottom line is this:
under AT we spent far more money than we had access to.
under AT we were supposed to contract, but instead he forced us
to grow – well beyond our ability to sustain it.
under AT we were PROMISED he’d do something about the chronic low pay of P/A and general staff. not only did he do nothing, he increased the payroll with more 100,000 plus positions than ever before. positions we didn’t have, probably didn’t need, and obviously couldn’t afford.
AT came in PROMISING the days of the Belcher style magic wand for promoting favorites was over. it’s been anything but.
AT spend about 1 MILLION dollars launching the Atlanta Center/bringing in Jimmy Carter while we were furloughing people.
AT sent Richard Beauvian to India – INDIA – to try to drum up distance learning students when we couldn’t successfully proctor them in Macon.
AT continually sought ways around the nepotism rules to try to find a high profile job for his wife. see Atlanta Center and Deborah Gonzalez.
all the while he was doing his damnest to get a new job somewhere else.
or have you all forgotten the email telling us what to say if the school from Florida called?
and none of this even touches the ethics complaints swamping this place.
the Beth Jenson and Chris Albers messes alone could cripple us for years.
all of this may or may not have been done with good intentions. what it did was pave the expressway to hell. worse, he’ll not have to pay the price – it’ll be our part timers, our middle managment, our faculty, and hour lowest paid who pay for this disaster. at the minimum.
do not lose sight of the even bigger issue. SACS. while we’ll not lose our accreditation, its gonna take a hit. that means standing, competitveness, and MONEY are all at stake.
big changes will be occuring people. big ones. and more than a few of us won’t be here to see how they play out.
Inman Park Boy
May 8th, 2012
7:56 am
Perimeter College (then DeKalb College) offered me an opportunity many, many years ago when it was a two-year college, and a stepping stone for me to Georgia State. I went on to acheve a masters and a doctorate, and it might not have happened without DeKalb College, so I am and will always be a great supporter of Perimeter. It serves a unique function in the metro area, and should be supported by us all. I regret Tricoli’s mismanagement, but lets move forward under new leadership.
taxpaying teacher
May 8th, 2012
8:07 am
This link at the USG website may contain some useful information about audit procedures at GPC and elsewhere: http://www.usg.edu/fiscal_affairs/documents/BOR_Presentation_-_DOAA_-_FINAL.pdf
No definite word, however, on when or by whom GPC’s most recent audit was conducted. Word is we will now see a “forensic audit” that may (not necessarily will, but may) result in further sanctions against the college and the responsible individuals.
dedicated faculty member
May 8th, 2012
8:30 am
Hi, Just the facts. Ask any single person in the English and Reading Division if they’re happy. We’re all terrified and miserable. The only things that keep me going are my students and my dedicated colleagues. The Dean did in fact retroactively change faculty evaluations — just ask HR. And why she was hired? Because she and Tricoli are “tight.” She was the fourth choice out of four recommended by the committee, but the President had the final say. Maybe you need to get YOUR facts straight.
I hope SACS is reading this.
Lee
May 8th, 2012
8:51 am
$16 million? That’s a drop in a bucket by government accountability standards. Lol
—————-
So, what we have learned today, boys and girls, is that a lot of these Phd types couldn’t run a hot dog stand, but fill your head with mindnumbing drivel. Trust me, you don’t know how bad they are until you have worked for a few years and then go back to school or attend a seminar. ( caveat, I’m speaking of the business professors, but I’m sure other disciplines have there numbskulls.)
Lee
May 8th, 2012
9:03 am
“their”. Dang iPhone….
TimeOut
May 8th, 2012
9:08 am
I wonder if others think that we have too many separate colleges and universities with the bulk of them of mediocre quality———not that their faculty isn’t qualified, but that you can only make so many silk purses out of so many sows’ ears. It’s probably a highly offensive query to many folks, to wonder aloud if we should strip colleges and universities of their expensive non-academic functions. Communities could still make money via sports, just not as ‘college’ sports. Teams could affiliate with municipalities and the mingling of sports, recreation, entertainment, and education monies would end. We could also look at how many separate administrative teams we could dissolve, opting instead for centralized administration with satellite campuses. We just don’t need all of these college presidents, provosts, etc. We don’t need exponential bureaucracy. Streamline our entire system of colleges and universities even more so than ever before. Condense, consolidate, and eliminate overlap. Stop using pubic monies for elaborate student unions, sports complexes, etc. We could have stellar community resources available to all in those same areas without making them the exclusive venues of universities’ employees and students. I suppose that this is too radical and that those of us who don’t care at all about ‘go dawgs’ ‘how ’bout them dawgs’ and other such things will hear the shout-down from those for whom such things are tantamount to religious practice.
Candora
May 8th, 2012
9:13 am
Because of Tricoli’s propensity for verbal abuse and retaliation when his decisions or actions were questioned, there has been a very poor atmosphere at GPC. Administrators and others who worked with him directly had to chose between working to make things better or having a job. He and he alone is responsible for the choices he made regarding the extravagant spending on non-instructional affairs. He should be held accountable for this mess and should not be shuffled into some other position in the USG.
dedicated faculty member
May 8th, 2012
9:17 am
Hi, Lee. I’m one of those PhD’s who fill your head with mind-numbing drivel. Like the difference between there and their : ) Just teasing.
HS Public Teacher
May 8th, 2012
9:23 am
With so many choices out in the world, why would any organization settle for a candidate that is below par in any way?
Look what happened to DeKalb County School System with their previous selection for Superintendent!
Certainly, there MUST be a person out there better qualified with sufficient morals and ethics.
goodbyeAT
May 8th, 2012
9:26 am
Common sense, decency and politeness went out the window when Tricoli came to GPC. Noted for his foul language in meetings, along with his abusive treatment of staff, students and faculty, Tricoli brought a new vision of an administration based on the insanity. Think of all the extremes that he brought to the college including millions for advertising, allowing thousands of students to come to classes without completing the the financial process and paying the tuition, the Faculty Evaluation Instrument forced on faculty against the vote of the Faculty Senate, the take over of the 1/8 of the Student Center for a Service Learning Center to create fancy offices for an administrator who left the the week after the opening and ended up vacationing in Thailand, the “Trust Me” campaign, public fingering of dissenters, refusal to answer Open Records requests, huge banquets for administrators, doubling of classes (non-existent) to pad the number for the big boys downtown, and on and on. Did the BOR under Errol Davis know what Tricoli was doing? YES Did they know that the money was getting funny? YES See previous audits. Why are we paying the BOR millions for no oversight. Goodbye Tricoli. Have a good time in the BOR’s Golden Ghetto with all the other fakes and failures on the state dole.
blackbird13
May 8th, 2012
9:57 am
I was once a GPC student and enjoyed my time there. I was an adult student going back to get a degree and, for cost reasons, chose to start at GPC and then transfer to Georgia State. In my view, GPC should stick to the mission of preparing students for 4 year degrees and acting as a “catch up” program for those long out of high school or those who neglected their studies in high school. It appears that some of what they are doing there goes beyond that mission. That may have been fine during the boom times for this state, but with current economic and political conditions there should be a focus on the core mission of academic instruction. Start by cutting non-classroom expenditures–if it isn’t part of the classroom, it should be on the table for elimination, period.
Beverly Fraud
May 8th, 2012
10:31 am
Diversity? As in divert funds to take care of a crony? That seems to be the only WORKING definition of diversity that rings true in these parts.
A Conservative Voice
May 8th, 2012
10:32 am
Close ‘er down boys. Our state cannot afford it. Before long it’ll be just like the USPS…….a black hole that can never be filled.
gpc whistleblower
May 8th, 2012
10:39 am
Don’t be fooled, watch channel 2 news tomorrow at 5:45 pm & 6:45 pm Richard Belcher is doing a story on Tricoli, Ron Carruth & Karen Truesdale. Also it was learned that Tricoli has six issues in front of the BOR that is being hidden but will be brought out tomorrow night.
gpc whistleblower
May 8th, 2012
11:12 am
waiting for my comment to be shown, why is it being held up
taxpaying teacher
May 8th, 2012
11:24 am
@Blackbird — Well said! I hope you and other alumni will write the Chancellor and reiterate the point that until this extreme financial crisis passes, teaching should take precedence over every other priority at GPC. No administrator, coordinator, or director should be exempted, up to and including the academic Vice President.