For the Record: Mannix and Bierschbach on the Studham Hire

Scott Studham, Former Chief Information Officer

University of Minnesota

Briana Bierschbach and Andy Mannix have written an excellent piece on MinnPost about the hiring of  Scott Studham as Chief Information Officer at the University of Minnesota.

I note with pride that both of these journalists are U of M and Daily alums.  Plenty of people out there in the real world with these credentials practicing journism.  Just a few names that come to mind: Vadim Lavrusik, Emma Carew Grovum, Jake Grovum, CJ Sinner, Kia Farhang, McKenna Ewen, and Anne Millerbernd.  Journalism is an increasingly tough racket and you don't go into it to make a lot of money.  These folks make me proud to also be an alum of the U of M.

Policy at MinnPost only permits a short excerpt.  Here it is, but I strongly urge readers to look at the whole piece and the comments.

Link to full piece:

History of complaints trailed former CIO before being hired by University of Minnesota

Excerpt:

"Complaints of nepotism and creating a hostile work environment dogged former University of Minnesota Chief Information Officer Scott Studham long before he came to the Twin Cities, according to documents from Studham’s former employer, the University of Tennessee."

 "The documents from Tennessee, obtained through a public-records request, detail human resources complaints and internal investigations into Studham’s behavior both as CIO at the University of Tennessee’s flagship campus, in Knoxville, as well as similar complaints during his tenure at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in nearby Oak Ridge, Tennessee."

"The documents also raise additional questions about the vetting process employed by the University of Minnesota for high-profile positions. Studham’s departure came just weeks after the school’s athletics director, Norwood Teague, resigned amid allegations that he sexually harassed two university employees. It was later revealed that Teague was facing a gender discrimination complaint at his previous job at Virginia Commonwealth University while being recruited to join the U of M. VCU later settled the complaint for $125,000."