Save Tulane Engineering

[wckirby]

Cowen just spit Filo's donation right down the middle to each department. That's 15 million each. Unrestricted. BME and ChemE can do with it as they please. That ain't shabby. I'm glad it's going to engineering. The cynic in me says it's a blatant attempt to buy them off.

I'll bet a lot of people in EE/CS are furious, though. Filo is their alumni.

One other very interesting I found out: Cowen won't have anything to do with Tulane next year. He's appointed Yvette Jones Chief Operating Officer. I'm not 100% clear on whether all the t's have been crossed on the deal, but it's happenning. Cowen will be travelling the country doing whatever the hell he's going to be doing while Yvette Jones is on campus running the joint. Keep in mind virtually no university in the country has a president and COO. You're tuition at work! Remember, Cowen earns in the neighborhood of $480K/year plus benefits and Yvette Jones earns around $300K/year plus benefits (Source: IRS Form 990).

If loose lips sink ships, then the lips on Cowen's ship are singing and his ship is going down right beneath his feet. All it really takes is walking from building to building on campus and talking to the right people (even in Gibson Hall) and you'd be surprised what you can learn. If you're a student and you ask them the right questions, they generally won't lie to you.
_________________
Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06

[Dr. Ash]

Un-bleeping-believable.

Yes, it's a buyoff, and a futile attempt to appease Engineering alumni. I say they use the money to hire some CompE professors...

[wwalkeri]

where was this info obtained?

[wckirby]

ask around tomorrow. you'll eventually stumble on someone who will know.

In the final analysis, what does it really matter where that $30 million goes as long as the departments are cut. Cowen will get the money back in a few years when ChemE and BME go under. I'm sorry to put it that way, but I think it's true.
_________________
Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06

[wwalkeri]

I was just wondering if that was printed somewhere. Thanks for the answer. I totally agree with not naming sources.
-Will

[wckirby]

Here's something I found on one of the Newcomb sites. It's a letter Cowen sent out detailing the changes in the senior administration changes.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Scott Cowen's Tulane Talk - Senior Level Changes

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Good Morning:


As we start the new year and the long-awaited Spring 2006 semester, I
want to announce a number of senior level personnel changes that have
occurred as the result of the new academic structure or voluntary
resignations.

. Teresa Soufas, dean of the Faculty of the Liberal Arts and Sciences:
Teresa has served as dean for over eight years. As dean, she made many contributions to the Arts and Sciences and the university, including
introducing freshmen writing seminars, overseeing an increase in the
Arts and Sciences faculty and placing a greater emphasis on fundraising
and building support among external constituents. Teresa will return to
the Department of Spanish and Portuguese faculty this spring. James
MacLaren, professor of physics and associate provost, will serve as
acting dean of the Faculty of the Liberal Arts and Sciences until the
end of this academic year. Effective July 2006, the new School of
Liberal Arts will be created and a dean will be selected for that
position later in the spring semester.

. Ian Taylor, dean of the School of Medicine: Ian served as dean for
over four years and was instrumental in developing a strategic plan for
the school, managing the successful Liaison Committee on Medical
Education re-accreditation of the school and increasing research funding
and the size of the clinical enterprise. Paul Whelton, currently senior
vice president for the health sciences, has been appointed dean of the
School of Medicine in addition to his current position.

. John Lawson, chief information officer: John served as chief
information officer for more than three years, overseeing the relocation
of the Information Technology department to 1555 Poydras, the
development of a new student information system and the migration to a
wireless campus. Paul Barron, Professor of Law will serve as chief
information officer for the foreseeable future. As you may recall, Paul
has served as interim Provost in the past and was enlisted as a senior
officer-at-large at the time of the hurricane. Paul has been a faculty
member at the university for over two decades.

. Nicholas Altiero, dean of the School of Engineering: Nick will
continue as dean of the School of Engineering through the end of this
academic year.
Thereafter, he will become the dean of the new School of Science and
Engineering. We are delighted Nick has agreed to assume this new
position because of his energy and willingness to grow and develop this
new school.
Nick has proven himself to be a very capable academic administrator in
the last six years and we have every confidence about the future of the
new school under his leadership.

. Cynthia Lowenthal, dean of Newcomb College, George Bernstein, dean of Tulane College, and Michael Herman, dean of the Graduate School:
Cynthia, George and Michael will return to their academic departments
next fiscal year as a result of new academic structure. All three have
served with distinction in their respective roles and I am most
appreciative of their many contributions to the university.

. Finally, Yvette Jones, senior vice president of external affairs, will
also assume the title of chief operating officer. Shortly after the
storm I appointed Yvette chief operating officer to oversee a number of
key areas of the university, which allowed me to focus on the overall
university strategy for survival, recovery and renewal and to assist in
the recovery of New Orleans. Yvette has been extremely effective in this
role and I want to formalize it for the future. In my absence, Yvette
will have overall responsibility for the entire university.

In the next few years, I plan to spend the majority of my time
overseeing the successful implementation of all aspects of the Renewal
Plan, especially the creation of the new academic structure and the
financial recovery of the university; the completion of the $700 million
fund-raising campaign by June 30, 2008; and the stabilization and
continued growth of the university's academic quality and stature. I
would also like to spend time actively participating in the overall
recovery of New Orleans in areas consistent with our Renewal Plan and
being a spokesperson for the renewal of the university and city around
the country. The realignment of the organization will allow me the
flexibility to ensure these objectives are accomplished.

We have been through a great deal in the last four months, which will
forever change us personally and as a university. Yet, despite our
challenges, I remain steadfast in my optimism and enthusiasm for the
university's future. All of the people I have noted in this e-mail have
made many contributions to Tulane University and I am deeply indebted to all of them for their service and dedication. Likewise, I look forward
to working with all of you in the years ahead to continue what was
started years ago, building a distinctive and highly respected
world-class university.

Have a great weekend,

Scott

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If the goal of the renewal plan is to cut costs by streamlining administration, why don't you axe yourself, Cowen? You said that Yvette Jones can do the job for you. She makes almost $200K less and, according to you, can do the job on her own. You make about half a million per year. Why not dump yourself?

There's one falsehood in this email that's pretty serious and I'll leave to someone else to say. It's just not something I'm comfortable putting out there.

Stepping back and just surveying the scene for a second, can this guy take a fart without a recording of it being posted on the internet? Not that I really feel sorry for him. He dug his own grave.
_________________
Clay Kirby
11th generation New Orleanian
4th generation Tulanian
Mechanical Engineering Class of '06