The Periodic Table: More Openness and Transparency in Minnesota?

And so it goes ...

...we're in the midst of transformative change en route to becoming one of the top three public research universities in the world. [sic] President Bruininks Dec 7, 2009 (web site)

Make no mistake about this...this decision is not about hurting the residents...Basically, the U of M and most academic medical centers have been screwing residents and fellows out of their retirement benefits in order to save money.

Former U of M Resident

"One of the questions I continue to hear involves the roles and responsibilities of the Dean in contrast to that of the new Executive Vice Dean. Underlying the question, there appears to be a concern that the Medical School deserves the attention of a full-time Dean." Frank Cerra

[That would be yes...]

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BE IT RESOLVED: That the University Senate of the University of Minnesota disapproves the Provost’s plan to dissolve the Graduate School as announced in the Feb. 9. 2009 memorandum;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the University Senate demands that any proposal to dissolve or otherwise to restructure the Graduate School comply with the University of Minnesota Policy on Reorganization.

[from motion passed by U of M Faculty Senate, 30 April 2009]

_______________________

It is widely recognized that the manner in which the plan to reorganize the Graduate School was decided violated all the norms of wide-spread consultation and faculty involvement in major decisions in the University.

The precedent is alarming if it portends the future of the University as a highly centralized bureaucratic decision-making apparatus that excludes the faculty from any meaningful participation.

Finally, an explanation for why the president [OurCEO] of the University of Minnesota...

makes such an enormous salary.

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

Margaret Soltan, Unversity Diaries 02/22/09
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In an e-mail obtained by The Minnesota Daily, University spokesman Dan Wolter encouraged faculty to consult with the University News Service before commenting on potential cuts.“Should you have something you’d like to share with [The Minnesota Daily] at this point, I’d urge you to consult with me or your News Service representative before responding,” Wolter said in the e-mail. “Also, if you need someone to tell them you’re declining comment, we’re happy to do that.”

_
A letter signed by 18 current and former University of Minnesota Regents professors will not be enough to halt the reconstruction [sic] of the Graduate School, despite the professors’ specific request to postpone the measure.

“There was no prior consultation with faculty,” the letter states. “Only the collegiate deans — who report directly to the senior vice presidents and depend on them for their budgets — had any advance notice that this was taking place. None of the senior administrators — not even the dean — had any advance warning.” Minnesota Daily

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...to go ahead and wipe out the grad school without consulting the community — it’s really shocking,” said Kristi Kremers, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly at Minnesota.
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"I think we need a moratorium on "US News & World Report" rankings," he wrote. "We need to set aside these childish things. We need to focus more on what matters most. The ranking race drives institutions to spend money on various areas other than instruction and intellectual capital, to attract students."

Gary Rhoades, general secretary of the American Association of University Professors

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Dear Mr. President,

You disgrace the University of Minnesota, each and every time you open your mouth. If you had a dime's worth of integrity you would promptly resign.

Yours truly,

William Messing
Professor, School of Mathematics
University of Minnesota
(response to OurLeader's Spring Spam: 1/20/08)

...the panel recommends that the Dean consider undertaking an investigation to examine whether Dr. Furcht committed misconduct under Section 10 of the Faculty Tenure Code. This section includes the following ground as a basis for suspension, termination, or other disciplinary action against a faculty member:

"Egregious or repeated misuse of the powers of a professional position to solicit personal benefits or favors." Faculty Tenure Code, Section 10.21(c).
12-19-03, Report of Inquiry Panel Regarding Dr. Leo Furcht Conflict of Interest

The clueless, insular way in which Furcht was appointed, and Furcht’s continued mindless arrogance, tells you all you need to know about the culture out of which endemic conflict of interest emerges in universities all over the country.

Margaret Soltan, University Diaries

A Strong-Minded Editorial…

… in the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that the most charitable description of what’s been going on at the clubby University of Minnesota medical school would be “bizarre.”

A professor [Leo T. Furcht] who is leading the University of Minnesota Medical School's effort to write tougher ethics rules was himself disciplined in 2004 for secretly steering a $501,000 research grant to his own company, according to university investigative reports obtained by the Star Tribune. (XII-121-08)

[Medical School Dean] Powell said Friday she did not inform the rest of the task force members about the sanctions against Furcht. "I did not think it was relevant," she said.

Frank Cerra, the university's senior vice president for health sciences, said Friday he was familiar with the case but couldn't recall details. He said Furcht's experience could help inform the conflict-of-interest committee's work.

A panel of three faculty members investigated and concluded that Furcht "committed a serious violation of the conflict of interest policy," according to a Dec. 19, 2003, report.

Among other things, they found that Furcht "knew or should have known" that he was required to disclose the financial arrangement with Baxter, because he had "a significant financial interest" in MCL and the stem-cell technology.

"In fact, it appears Dr. Furcht stands to personally gain several million dollars from the pending sale of MCL," the report said.

In November 2003, Furcht sold MCL for $9.5 million in stock, sharing 5 percent of the proceeds with the university.

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“I think we have more administration than we need,” he said. “We need to simplify processes … and ask whether we need all the administration at all the levels.” President Bruininks - Daily, December 4, 2008

"As many of you realize, we live in a knowledge-based economy in which our fundamental mission as a University must be deployed in service of the broader transnational learning process." Provost Thomas Sullivan, November 19, 2008

University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks is among the best-paid university presidents in the United States. Salary and benefits of $733,421 landed him spot No. 7 on a list of public university presidents with the highest compensation released this week by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

University spokesman Daniel Wolter said that Bruininks does not comment on his compensation but said he was "quite surprised he ranked as high as he did." (Star Tribune, XI-21-08)
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"The $70 million needed to complete the changes [to Northrop] will come from a combination of private donors and a University bonding authority."

“The University has decided not to bring this project as, if you will, a line-item like the Bell Museum, to the state Legislature,” Rosenstone said. Daily, October 27, 2008

What's distinctive about the University of Minnesota, compared to many other universities in our society, is that we were chartered initially as a research [sic] and land grant university, if you look at the early history of the University. President Bruininks (10/22/08, Daily)

(That would be NO, Bob...)

"The University is not being paid money owed to it, reports are not generated, and so on; unless there is a clear message that these problems [with EFS] will be resolved in the next two-three months, the situation will reflect badly on the entire central administration." Senate Committee on Finance and Planning (9/23/08)

At the departmental level, I can say that no innovation at UM over the past 20 years has been so expensive in human hours. Staff in our college now do virtually nothing but thrash at EFS, curse, and plan early retirement. (comment on PTII, 10/2908)

“I don’t think anybody should put a dime into the University of Minnesota unless we use the money well, we invest it well and that we’re efficient in how we use resources.” Robert Bruininks (Daily - 9/26/08)

"The leftwing nut professors just never quit. Keep drinking that fair trade coffee. Keep charging the U of M for their blog work..."

Anonymous reader comment: 9/19/08
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"It's one thing if you're bringing in a criminal to speak. But if someone's under investigation, that's fair game," he [Parente] said.

Parente said his approach to McGuire was along the lines of: "We don't really care about the stock options. You know stuff. Tell us what you think."

It would be pretty much negligent on my part not to attempt to engage him [Dr. William McGuire.]"

Stephen Parente, director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute in the Carlson School of Management

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"Obviously, the situation that happened to Francois Sainfort and Julie Jacko has not been a positive one for us," Finnegan said. (Strib, 30 August '08)

Have they been charged, tried or convicted of anything either here or in Minnesota? No? Well that does it, then. They must be guilty. Whatever happened to getting your day in court? [finne001, Aug. 30, comment on Strib article above]

"Starting in 2004 ... an ambitious aspiration for the University—to be one of the top three public research universities in the world [sic] within a decade."

Forbes Best Colleges (2008)

11 Northwestern
155 Illinois
161 Michigan
214 Indiana
272 Penn State
292 Ohio State
327 Michigan State
331 Iowa
335 Wisconsin
487 Purdue

524 Minnesota
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US News Rankings 2009

1 UC-Berkeley 21
2 UCLA 25
3 MIchigan 26

4 Wisconsin 35
5 Illinois 40
6 U Washington 41
7 Texas 47
7 Penn State 47
9 Florida 49
10 Ohio State 56

11 Minnesota 61

In our self-selected peer group, we are again last.

______________________

I have asked Prof Julie Jacko to serve as lead faculty for the Institute for Health Informatcs (IHI).

I believe IHI needs to move forward and continue its development. Frank Cerra [21 July 2008]

"I think people will think what they want to think," Cerra said, in response to possible criticisms of appointing someone who is under investigation. [Daily: 30 July 2008]

"Our goal – and the goal embraced by the legislature and governor – is to make Minnesota the epicenter of discovery in biomedical science..." OurLeader [Daily, July 9 &16]

"A plan to make the Twin Cities a center for the emerging bio-science industry is faltering. University Enterprise Laboratories has laid of its staff and is trying to renegotiate the mortgage for its building in St. Paul. Its founders had hoped to spark a medical boom in Minnesota." MPR - July 17

"On the functional side, the thing [University Enterprises Laboratories] is just a thriving success," said Bob Elde, dean of the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences. MPR - July 17

University lab bustles with activity and plans to expand.

The lab would be built next to the current bioscience incubator building.

A new building might be anywhere from 80,000 to 120,000 square feet and would probably be built on an open field next to the existing one, located on an 11-acre lot along the transitway just inside St. Paul city limits.

"I took the lead in getting that whole thing going," he [Bob Elde] said. (Daily: 10/24/06)

The great Yogi Berra once observed, "It's tough making predictions, especially about the future." OurLeader [Daily, July 9 & 16]

Here's another Yogiism to cogitate on, Bob: "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."

A majority of students at the University think the school is trying to be a top-three institution at the expense of its students. [Daily, July 2, 2008]

"To use this time to invest in some sort of cutting-edge conjecture [MoreU Park] about where residential communities might go strikes me as a stretch for a university," [State representative Alice] Hausman said, pointing out current economic and businesses struggles as other reasons to be wary. [Daily, July 2, 2008]

The architects have been given their orders and cannot change the design, Professor Balas said; if the building [Science Teaching and Student Services Buiding] is constructed as designed, it will be a disaster.

Faculty Consultative Committee - June 19, 2008

"I spoke with Mr. Wexner [tOSU Regent] directly about it, and he made it clear that a 19-year-old college sophomore is their [Victoria's Secret] target customer," Van Brimmer said. "It's not like these are Frederick's of Hollywood items."

"University Associate Athletics Director Tom Wistrcill said the school notified the company that the clothing line was not in step with the University's values and focus."

"I think we need to put ourselves in the position of acting according to the highest ethical principles. I believe our people do that now and I believe our people will be doing that in the future as well." President Bruininks (Daily: 6-18-08)

"The Board of Regents and the administration of the University made it clear years ago that it would not tolerate undisclosed, simultaneous full-time employment," Rotenberg said.

"As a matter of fact, Julie and I have not even signed an employee contract yet with Minnesota. ... We have only agreed to unofficially start this semester with full residence starting in May."

Francois Sainfort February Email

But the couple had already begun working full-time for the University of Minnesota at that time, according to documents. Mark Rotenberg, the general counsel for the U of M, said the couple's compensation and contracts at Minnesota began Oct. 1.

"To say that access to the hospital is easy isn't really accurate,'' said Regent Maureen Cisneros. Added Regent David Metzen: "Any way you look at Washington Avenue, it's a mess today.''

PiPress 6/14/08

Regent John Frobenius said the Washington Avenue line would be "a dagger through the heart of the University of Minnesota."

Frank Cerra [AHC VP] heaped praise on the Washington Avenue route. He said the car-free stretch would improve the quality of life on campus...

"Nothing would please me more than to grab a cup of cappuccino, grab a Viennese hot dog and play a game of bocce on the way to work," Cerra told regents.

PiPress 6/12/08

"Bruininks said he didn't know of a university in the United States that was doing something [MoreU Park aka Muscoplat's Folly] as 'courageous and innovative.'"

"Regent David Metzen said he thought the future of the project is the most important decision to face the University in the last 15 years." (Daily - 6/13/08)

"You'll never wonder if you could have done more." University of Minnesota - Fairview Children's Hospital Ad

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was ranked first for overall pediatrics and first in three of the six categories; Fairview was not in the top 30 for overall rankings.

— the University of Minnesota voted "no" Wednesday to the Central Corridor light-rail route favored by every local political entity involved.

University Vice President Kathleen O'Brien said the U doesn't plan to sue to stop the project, but she didn't rule out continued lobbying by Patton Boggs, an influential Washington, D.C., firm that the U has retained for, in O'Brien's words, "less than five figures."

The language of the bill stipulates that the Board of Regents must not raise fees or tuition “beyond the amount currently planned for the 2008-2009 academic year.”

Faculty Legislative Liasons, May 19, 2008

Faculty salaries, which aren't included in the $292 million, will be paid with multiple funds, Cerra said, including cost reductions, internal reallocations and support from partner organizations.

The University is competing with schools like Berkeley, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin and Michigan, he [Cerra] said.

"They're going to lose a lot of friends at the Capitol if they jack up that tuition," he [Tom Rukavina] said. "They're pricing themselves out of work if they keep going up 7.5 percent."

Despite Rukavina's intent to keep tuition low, Pfutzenreuter stands by the fact that the Legislature can't decide how the University spends its money.

And in response to Pfutzenreuter:

"Tell him to sue me," Rukavina said. "It's in the bill, tell him to sue me."

University documents show that the proportion of nontenured, part-time faculty teaching at the University increased 10 % [to 45%] between 2003 and 2007.

Bruininks said students feel the impact of the top-three initiative in the sense that it's a "different approach for education."

"In nearly all of our fields, I think students benefit from learning from faculty members who are on the cutting edge of their fields," he said. "It makes the education we provide distinctive and very special."

On Feb. 26, the eve of a key vote, O'Brien issued a 10-sentence statement in which she neither supported nor opposed the Washington Avenue plan.

Then, on March 24, university General Counsel Mark Rotenberg sent a 23-page memorandum to the Federal Transit Administration, the federal agency that would fund the project.

"The University has not modified its opposition to an at-grade Washington Avenue alignment," states the letter, which cites U.S. law and numerous court cases.

There is a disconnect between the administration's "lip service" of how important teaching is, Shaw said, and where the money actually goes.

"For an individual, $1 million is frequently a starting point for salary and start-up money. If you're doing research with a group, it could be $10 million, $15 million, up to $25 million. That's the nature of the marketplace."
Frank Cerra

"A million here, a million there, pretty soon you are talking about real money..."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he vetoed funding for the Central Corridor light rail line in part because of concerns expressed by the University of Minnesota. Top university officials have been voicing their concerns to state and federal officials.

With all these smart people making foolish choices, the Legislature ought to consider looking over the shoulder of the Board of Regents a little more often.

"We will try to piece this together in regard to whether something serious has indeed happened here in regard to so-called double-dipping."

Mark Rotenberg, U of M general counsel

Under the leadership of Provost Sullivan, the University community articulated "an ambitious aspiration for the University—to be one of the top three public research universities in the world [sic] within a decade."

"What separates the top three from the rest ... including the University of Minnesota, is relatively little."

Robert Bruininks

Vice President Brown noted that the President has said that the top three is an aspiration for excellence, not a destination.

Why are the buildings needed?

"This is an effort by the university to grab market share" of federal research dollars, Pfutzenreuter said.

"Is this a time to be talking about getting into the top three? When units cannot maintain their research capacity, how can they get to the top three? There is little to suggest that the University is on an upward trajectory."

Senate Research Committee, October 8, 2007

“There have been a lot of false statements made about tuition increases. He [Sullivan] said the discussion should focus on the marginal average cost to students of a tuition increase, factoring in tuition discounting, scholarships, fellowships, and other financial aid support.”

Faculty Consultative Committee
Thursday, January 24, 2008

In his presentation Friday to the Board of Regents, Bruininks said that 60.5 percent of students graduating in four years get loans to pay for their education and the average debt is about $20,500.

Of 10 schools the university considers its peers, Minnesota has higher resident tuition than Wisconsin, Ohio State, UCLA, California-Berkeley, Florida, Texas and Washington. Only Penn State, Michigan and Illinois have higher price tags.

Wisconsin's resident tuition is currently more than $2,400 cheaper than Minnesota. Iowa residents pay about $3,300 less at the University of Iowa than Minnesotans do at the university.

Minnesotans pay twice as much as the national average to get a public college education, but they're not getting double the results.

Fewer than 40 percent of students at Minnesota's colleges and universities graduate in four years, according to a report released this week by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. In addition, students of color have less than a 50-50 chance of graduating at all.

So much for leadership at the University. As one of the attendees at the hearing on the Central Corridor put it:

“University students will be in no more danger than drunken Vikings fans downtown who have to deal with light rail at grade. A transit mall will be the best decision ever forced on the U of M.”

"I've heard some of the 'doubters' say things like, 'I'd settle for best in the Big Ten," he [Bruininks] said. "Students don't choose the University of Minnesota for (a) mediocre future."

Sullivan said the goal's value for current students is clear. It'll be even more impressive to have the school listed on your résumé, he said.

"People will begin to talk about the University of Minnesota in a world conversation, in China, in India, all of the places that are emerging as great markets," Sullivan said. "The University of Minnesota's name will be in that small group of universities."

Provost Sullivan is a graduate of Drake University and Indiana University. President Bruininks graduated from Western Michigan and the George Peabody College for Teachers.

Monday, June 8, 2009

More Openness and Transparency in Minnesota?

From the Star-Tribune

Despite public assurances from DNR officials that no side deals with U.S. Steel were being worked on, documents show what state negotiators have offered, or at least considered, during the negotiations:

• Agreeing to recommend approval of 25-year taconite leases to U.S. Steel on 240 acres of land, a deal worth an estimated $10 million.

• Providing the steel giant $5.4 million in free biomass fuels such as wood chips, and offering to have DNR workers assigned to help manage U.S. Steel's interests in converting from coal.

• Turning over 3,000 acres of wetlands to U.S. Steel anywhere in the state and ensuring that DNR and Pollution Control Agency staff put a priority on U.S. Steel's needs.

Other bright eyes have lit on these developments:

Did Pawlenty skirt state law on legacy park?

By David Brauer | Monday, June 8, 2009

The Strib's Mark Brunswick has a nice get on the Pawlenty administration trying to skirt state law to seal a Lake Vermilion state park deal. The Legislature capped a payout at about $13 million for the 3,000-acre up-north parcel; owner U.S. Steel insists at least twice as much, but the state felt that appraisal was bogus. So the administration tossed some goodies the steelmakers' way: 25-year taconite leases worth $10M, $5 million in free biofuel and 3,000 acres of wetlands. Still didn't work.

More Vermilion: Brunswick says the administration "sought to help U.S. Steel get its higher appraisal certified." A contractor hired to review both appraisals expressed shock the tightfisted TPaw was trying to justify "a substandard appraisal"; she was told to keep politics out. A gubernatorial spokesman elides the question of whether the extras were proper. Guess we'll find out what the steelmaker can really reap for selling the land to developers.

But, but, it's his legacy...