Who Is Selfish in the "Kingdom of Kitts?"

From our guest blogger of three days ago, Dick Tracy:

To paraphrase from Lincoln, is it altogether fitting and proper for the Board of Trustees to give Kitts a raise while giving nothing to the staff and faculty who worked hard to help the President meet his goals? Let’s look at some important leaders in history to see how they treated the people below them.

For years, Fidel Castro was the Communist leader in Cuba. He wanted everybody to believe that he was living sparsely in the same type of substandard quality as the rest of his people Yet, the leader actually earned millions each year. He even had his own private island where he could shelter his wife and five children from the reality of what he created. In comparison, Kitts is trying to create is only little island of power while putting on the mask of the caring, smiling president.

Timur was a leader in western Asia during the 1400s. Part of his regime included modern-day Iran and Syria. It is said that in present-day Afghanistan, Timur ordered the construction of a tower made out of living men, one stacked on top of another and cemented together. In comparison, Kitts was given a raise because he met the goals that the Board set for him. However, these goals were actually achieved, in large part, by the blood and sweat of the faculty and staff below him.

Joseph Stalin’s leadership in Russia during 1930s was of the iron fist variety. He brought about collectivism, mass starvation, the imprisonment of millions, and the “Great Purge” of the intelligentsia, the government, and the armed forces. Likewise, Kitts, has either fired or run away many of the good people that made UNA the great institution she is today.

Now, I can’t speak for all of the faculty and staff at UNA. But I can say that most of us didn’t request or expect a raise this year because we just recently got one. We also know that a huge cost for UNA are salaries of its workers and most of us remember this fact every day when we work with students. We are not a selfish or greedy group. We actually love working here and enjoy seeing our students succeed.

What bothers us is the fact that Kitts has the audacity to accept bonuses and raises when the institution is struggling financially and we are now starting to loose enrollment again. On top of all of this, UNA is building a new nursing building (very much needed) and, according to the TD, is talking about purchasing Gary Baker’s studio and block of buildings for over 2 million dollars. Is there an influx of money that I’m unaware of? What kind of message does this send to the staff and faculty, many of us who will be here far longer than Kitts?

Do we need to start lining up to become the sacrificial lambs to the Kingdom of Kitts? Do we need to lay down our lives so that Kitts can have a little extra spending money and his smile become a little wider (he doesn’t pay a mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc.)? It looks like a few on this campus have already felt the stinging blow of Kitts's sacrificial sword.

The time for talk is over. If Florence wants UNA to change, it is going to have to send a loud message to the Board through economic sanctions. That is the only thing the Board seems to care about. So, what can you do?

If you don’t like the high cost of UNA’s tuition and (especially fees), then go elsewhere.

If you don’t like what Kitts is doing to UNA, cut off your gifts to the institution.

If you don’t like where UNA is going, there are plenty of other places to buy insurance, buy your books and fireworks, buy your cars, and invest your money (listen up, Board!).

If you are fine with everything, then do nothing.

I just heard in the news today that Harvard University, one of the most liberal institutions in the US, had to yield to pressure from the alumni, donors, and the overall community over a recent appointment. It seems that they hired Chelsea Manning to a position there. Manning was the soldier who was convicted of espionage and had the sentence commuted by President Obama. The protests of the people who hold the purse strings over Harvard was so great, they had to rescind this person’s appointment.

We can cause the same change. We can demand accountability. But we have to act now. Let’s take a stand to stop this insanity.

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Two addenda: We wish to apologize for a lack of editing in Dick Tracy's previous editorial. We had intended to remove one descriptive comment that we felt was unjust, but failed to do so when we transferred the text.

Also, we noticed the TD editorializing on how UNA should proceed with its recruitment endeavors. We were reminded of the story of the Baptist preacher who tried to tell seasoned educators how to run their schools...

Paradise Drive/Recycling

From a Waterloo Resident: We got good news, the commission decided Monday 9/11/17 to remove the 1981 resolution keeping Paradise Drive from being maintained as all other county roads were maintained. We have tried to get this resolution removed since 2006. The county has also settled a lawsuit for the death that occurred on Paradise Drive in 2012. We will now, hopefully get this dangerous road maintained and made safer for the citizens of the county. The previous Lauderdale County Commission and their Chairman, would never consider to do this, nor put the removal of the resolution to a vote. We appreciate what the new Chairman through his leadership accomplished for Paradise Drive.

The removal of the resolution will not cost the county any money. The only costs it will occur is if and when the county road engineer decides to make improvements to the road. With the resolution in place he could only do "Passable Maintenance" to the road. The removal now removes the excuses used by the previous chairman and commissioners.

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Note to Casey Glover of the Florence Fire Department: If our house burns down, please don't identify the papers and plastic bottles by the back door as "trash." It's called recycling and something your employer (the city) encourages. 

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Tomorrow we'll have a new guest editorial on the financial situation at UNA. It's another doozy, so stay tuned.

What Timing!

A few hours after our guest blog on Kenneth Kitts and UNA published yesterday, the TD ran a story on Kitts receiving a bonus from the cash strapped university. We sincerely hope one, or all, of our three guest writers who toil at the university will pen an editorial on their thoughts concerning this outgo.

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A reader commented yesterday that Kenneth Kitts had terminated more high profile employees in his short tenure at the university than William Cale did in nine years. This reader was in the process of compiling the number of lawsuits against the university and promised to forward the information to us. We know it stands at at least a half dozen--not a small number for UNA having to pay through the proverbial nose to defend.

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From another reader: My daughter started UNA this fall and when we got the bill, 25% of it was fees. It comes out to 2300$ a year in fees on top of tuition. This seems extreme.

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We're still receiving mail on the brouhaha the Lauderdale County Board of Education recently experienced; however, a highly placed individual believes these unmerited attacks are finished and asked that we refrain if possible from any new blogs about the town involved. We're happy to comply with that request as long as these attacks are truly over. We are saving all correspondence for future publication if warranted.

An Insider's Surprising Look at Kennth Kitts & UNA

We asked if any our regular readers could clear up any of the seemingly odd financial situations, as well as administrative problems, at the University of North Alabama. Almost immediately we received this from a university employee:


In response to your recent post about UNA, I have some observations as a long-time employee there. First, federal grants are determined by the federal government and students qualify based on their financial aid application. Most UNA students just don’t meet the criteria set by the government to receive grants. The College of Nursing, however, has received millions of dollars in special grants to allow under-represented groups to attend nursing school. This program has been going on for years and, to my knowledge, is quite successful.

As far as UNA crime, I believe it is lower than the City of Florence. Because UNA is inside the City of Florence, I believe there would be a strong relationship between the two and crime statistics. If you look at other universities our size, our crime rate is very low.

That still leaves UNA with its largest budget in the history of the school, but still seemingly struggling to keep its head above water. What is wrong? I have a few observations:

Killing the Golden Goose – A couple of years ago, UNA was receiving a lot of donations from the outside public in support of its capital campaign. The person who coordinated all of this was Dr. Dan Hendricks, Vice President for Advancement. Dr. Hendricks was so good that he made the $25,000,000 goal even before the official kick-off dinner. So, what did Dr. Kitts do to show his appreciation, he fired Dr. Hendricks and replaced him with Debbie Shaw. Look at how little money she has brought to the campus. Oh, and by the way, was there even a search for that position once Hendricks was forced out? Likewise, Clinton Carter, as the institution’s Vice President for Business and Finance, did a lot in his short period of time to put UNA in a better financial position. His reward? You guessed it. Kitts fired him. UNA hired Vice President for Enrollment Management, Dr. Thomas Calhoun, to address declining enrollments. After years of hard work under his leadership, UNA finally saw a substantial increase in enrollment. That same year, Kitts fired Dr. Calhoun.

Tuition Discounts – Many years ago, UNA’s dimwit of a provost, Dr. John Thornell, made the decision that UNA would offer deep discounts to students with ACT scores as low as 21. He created the Vanguard Scholarship. This is not really a scholarship because no money is coming in from an outside source. It is just a discount in the tuition. If you check, many students come in with these scores. The result is that the new freshmen are paying far less than the rest of the student body and tuition has to increase annually so that current students can keep paying for these discounts. Let’s say you are a store that sells milk. Your cost for milk is $2.00 and you sell it for $3.00. However, to get more people to come into your store, you offer new customers milk at $1.50 which is less than you paid for it. Therefore, you must now raise the regular price of your milk to $3.50 in order to cover the difference. Why should your loyal customers pay for the new ones?

Wasting Money – Bottom line, UNA should have never moved to Division 1 Athletics. The students, faculty, and staff were not for it. However, the Board actually believes we will receive a huge revenue stream from television contracts. If they speak the truth, why are they so worried about the budget now? I mean, we should be rolling in the dough right now. The truth is that UNA will not see any media revenue for years. By that time, it will be ten years or more before we actually break even from all of the costs and higher salaries associated with the D1 move. UNA has also hired two marketing consulting firms and one individual marketing consultant (a friend of Kitts). After tens of thousands of dollars for these contracts, UNA has only made minor changes to its logo. Either UNA is not listening to its consultants, or I should go into logo design. Seems more lucrative than what I’m currently doing.

Inflated Salaries – When Dr. Gregg Carnes was hired as the Raburn Emminent Scholar, he was brought in because of certain skills UNA wanted. The emminent scholar is money given by an outside donor to “sweeten” the pot for good professors. This money is added to the regular salary that the professor would normally be paid. In this case, Carnes was making over $170,000 while all of the other accounting faculty were making less than half this amount. Now, there is nothing wrong with the Emminent Scholar program. It is designed to bring in top-notch faculty who have a special skill in teaching or research. However, when Carnes was promoted to Dean, he retained his Emminent Scholar position even though deans typically do not teach or do research. That is why he is the second highest paid administrator at UNA at over $225,000 a year. Nobody other than the president should be making that much at UNA. How about Tammy Jacques? What was her academic qualifications to become the Title IX coordinator? Yet she gets a big raise while her boss (Mr. David Shields) and her husband (Dr. Kevin Jacques) are currently being sued for, guess what, discrimination and Title IX violations. Interesting. Also, Ms. Catherine White and Ms. Cindy Conlon were promoted years ago from their director positions to assistant vice presidents, yet they only supervise one department and their responsibilities did not change. How does this happen?

Too Much Overhead – Over the past five years, look at the increase in staff positions at UNA. Student enrollment has not increased that much. Yet, UNA still finds the money to hire more staff positions. The last time I checked, UNA should be “teaching” and not “administering.” Most administrative assistants who work within the academic departments should be placed on nine-month contracts with the faculty. During the summer, hardly anyone can be reached within the academic departments, including the administrative assistants. These salaries should go down. While other institutions are either shutting down services, merging with other institutions, or eliminating positions, UNA is operating at status quo. For example, there is a director position open within the Sponsored Operations department. They are the folks who help you apply for grants and government contracts. About 12 years ago, this department was housed with Institutional Research. Why can’t they do that now and eliminate a director position? UNA spent numerous hours and vast resources in a recent cost containment/program prioritization plan. However, nothing has been done. It is time for UNA to become leaner so that our students will not have to pay to fatten the calf more.

Teaching Quality – UNA has many good and talented faculty. We also have our share of faculty who just don’t care. Many of these are tenured. We need to get rid of them. I will not tell you how many times students approach me to complain that, after turning in a homework or other assignment, they have to sometimes wait up to six weeks before receiving a grade or any feedback. Sometimes the student never receives feedback. If I’m not mistaken, about a year ago, UNA participated in a national survey and this was one of the major issues bought out by our students. Shouldn’t the objective of class assignments and homework be to generate quick feedback as to how the student is doing in the class? This is not a good example to set by a school who says it has small class sizes and caring faculty.

I love UNA and most of the people who work here. However, the administration has got its priorities all messed up and it is hurting everyone. The Board needs to recognize that nothing can be done without the upper administrators taking control. However, Kitts has shown that he has made some stupid decisions and he is quick to anger (i.e. Florence Middle School property and the first response letter attacking the student who was raped by a UNA professor). It is time for the Board to act and make some serious changes.

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A new administration? Now it's wait and see. 

",,,To Put it on the Back of the Students."

In June, the University of North Alabama increased tuition by 4.9%. In other words, what 1,000.00 would buy last fall now costs 1,049.00. This increase failed to solve UNA's money woes, and board member Steve Pierce stated: We also felt obligated not to put it on the back(s) of the students.

Yet, a great deal of new funding is on the backs of students...or their parents. Total revenue from the increase amounts to 1.4 million dollars a year. A university which once touted its low tuition can no longer do so. It can advertise its trees, fountains, squirrels, and lions. What it can't advertise is adequate parking, transparency, or low crime rate. In fairness to the university, very few institutions of higher learning can tout a low crime rate in the 21st Century.

So who will get a bonus this year? We await...

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Now here's an interesting tidbit: UNA offers less grant money each year than the average public or private college in Alabama. More students on average apply for student loans. Seemingly that would logically follow. 

Why doesn't UNA offer at least the average amount of grants each year? Perhaps one of our regular contributors can enlighten us.

Recusals?/A Great Man?

Paperwork has been filed for a new trial in the Chris Martin case; the request was based on a connection between Judge Jackie Hatcher and the family of victim Thomas Grant Campbell. We fervently believe Chris deserves a new trial; however, we consider it doubtful Hatcher will admit she should have recused herself.

If Hatcher refuses to order a new trial, there will be more appeals. All the while Chris Martin sits in jail. Yet we call our justice system the best in the world.

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A Great Man?

* He served his country in the military.
* He took care of his family, especially his widowed father. 
* He was always there for those who worked for him, helping in any way he could.
* He gave generously to others, even paying mortgages when homeowners were faced with eviction.
* He stood up for what he thought was right.
* He lost his life to a man of questionable mental state who later committed suicide.
* At his funeral, thousands of admirers came to pass by his bier.

Who was this great man?

John Dillinger 

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The above anecdote illustrates that even those who make grave mistakes in life can be described in glowing terms. Simply because a man does good, that does not mean he's incapable of evil.

We've received a letter from a friend of Lexington baseball coach Cole Mitchell. We're attempting to verify a few points, but expect to post it within a few days.

Arrest David Randall Nix for False Statements to Law Enforcement

In less than a week, Robert DeShawn Childers will have been missing for one year. The last person to see Mr. Childers was his unwanted housemate David Randall Nix. 

While there's always hope, it's logical to assume after all this time that Childers is unable to return to his friends and family. We know that it's difficult to make a case for murder when there is no body; however, we do know that Nix has been discovered in several lies to Lauderdale sheriff's investigators. The powers that be have the ability to hold Nix accountable for at least some of his sins. We hope they do so.

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Now something no one likes to talk about - rising gasoline prices. Shortages are expected to reach the Shoals as early as Tuesday. Orange Beach has reported some stations asking 6.00 per gallon, and AG Steve Marshall has announced this is price gouging and will be prosecuted.

Prices cannot legally rise over 25% unless the supplier has upped their charges. All very nice, but that means we could see 3.13 a gallon fuel? Perhaps we should all fill up tonight?

No matter the immediate rise in prices, the long term doesn't look good after Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Katia. Nothing wrong with cocooning during football season, is there?