Chairman Joe Begins Making His Mark at Freed-Hardeman
2December 17, 2008 by Tyson Wynn
Former RSU-Prez Joe Wiley is just now beginning to make his mark on his new institution, the private Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee. Having recently been lauded in a week-long inauguration, Wiley’s office has now released his plans to “restructure” FHU, code words for someone’s getting fired from a Christian school just before Christmas—when the release itself says the university is just fine financially. Of course, they’re getting severance, so it’s OK. Eighteen positions will be eliminated (some as early as yesterday) and five positions will be created (wonder if anyone has schedule the U-Haul from Durant yet?).
At the center of Wiley’s plan is a one-stop-shop for prospective students (where have we heard that before?).
Frankly, the FHU website URL, presumably created by someone in the FHU press or website office, for the release says it all: http://web.fhu.edu/News/Home.htm#ouch. Prepare to be called on the carpet if you made that URL; the tally may be 19.
[Update: Well, it only took about a day before the FHU website link to the release has been changed to http://web.fhu.edu/News/Home.htm#restructure. Saw that coming. The old link still works, though. LOL!]
[Also, a friend of mine who also happens to be Church of Christ, FHU's denominational affiliation, tells me that FHU employs only Church of Christ folks. No problem there. However, I just wonder if any of Chairman Joe's old cronies have converted from, say, Baptist to Church of Christ in the last few months...]
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Sounds like some firings may be based on “analyzing everything from how an employee uses a university-issued credit card to several other budgetary expenses…”
Well, perhaps all the firings will be warranted; I don’t know how common it is to be wrongly fired and accused of misusing “a university-issued credit card” or “other budgetary expenses,” as my experience has been with a slightly different erroneous accusation, but as a result I have garnered a bit of wisdom and have a suggestion to anyone that is an employee or student who handles money, grants, credit cards, computer records or any sensitive data: keep good records (and not just at the office) so you can at least prove your own innocence and others’ quilt if accusations start flying. Be sure to protect yourself – those co-workers you might consider your friends will usually guard their jobs before they will support you. If you have been asked to do anything that might possibly be considered outside of a regulation or policy, keep a record of the request in a safe place and if you file a complaint with an investigating agency don’t give away your original records — always keep a copy. It is interesting how records sometimes disappear, are altered, are edited or are “accidentally” erased. If you are fired, disciplined or expelled, be sure to quickly get a copy of your employee or student records in case they are altered in any way. By the way, if you are fired you will probably not be given advance notice, but will be immediately escorted off the campus – so any records you may have on your office computer or in your office will not be accessible. It is also good to realize that when professionals are the accusers they are typically given the benefit of the doubt by law enforcement
It is also beneficial to realize that just because you have certain “rights” that are violated, it only means that you can pursue a legal remedy, file a complaint etc. Sometimes it is beneficial for a perpetrator to ignore your rights and risk paying a small fine.
So, if you feel that you are being targeted or are “questioned” about any “improper” actions, you might want to have legal representation present or at least your own taped recording of the events so it can’t be altered or erased to fit someone else’s agenda.
Obviously, the folks at Freed-Hardeman don’t know that the last time Joe Wiley oversaw a restructuring plan, it resulted in an investigation by the Inspector General, followed by heavy fines, intense scrutiny, and “high risk” probation for the restructured division. Oh, Joe, we miss you – NOT.