Reported that SFA and Scott Gordon have separated. Anyone know the story.
President Scott Gordon and the university have mutually agreed that it is in the best interest of both parties for the employment relationship to end. The Board has appointed Dr. Steve Westbrook to serve as SFA’s interim president until a permanent president assumes the office.
— Stephen F. Austin State University (@SFASU) April 11, 2022
nacluth said:
Guess he never really healed the lack of confidence.
TallTexan said:
Man this situation is quiet as quiet can be. Haven't heard a single thing on a search yet.
I'm not mad that he got a severance unless his contract specifically stated he wasn't owed it.PurpleOut said:
I've seen a few different posts, and I guess I'm not fully following.
We're mad that he got severance? Or the amount of the severance?
Every place I've worked has had different forms and amounts for severance, including paying out the contracted term. Seems like that's what we did. Definitely a lot of money though.
Leading to a potentially lengthy legal battle. If it had been for cause, which I believe it was not, it would be different. The Board made some mistakes. Dr. Gordon made more. There are some very successful business people on our Board. I am confident they reached a point where it was deemed best for SFA to part ways as effectively, quickly, and quietly as possible. We don't know, and won't know, that they didn't attempt to negotiate the severance. Ultimately, they chose to honor the contract.TallTexan said:
At minimum, I'd expect a negotiated severance in the majority of scenarios.
Yeah we won't fully know probably.SFAJack_76 said:Leading to a potentially lengthy legal battle. If it had been for cause, which I believe it was not, it would be different. The Board made some mistakes. Dr. Gordon made more. There are some very successful business people on our Board. I am confident they reached a point where it was deemed best for SFA to part ways as effectively, quickly, and quietly as possible. We don't know, and won't know, that they didn't attempt to negotiate the severance. Ultimately, they chose to honor the contract.TallTexan said:
At minimum, I'd expect a negotiated severance in the majority of scenarios.
Billable hours remain undefeated.PurpleOut said:Yeah we won't fully know probably.SFAJack_76 said:Leading to a potentially lengthy legal battle. If it had been for cause, which I believe it was not, it would be different. The Board made some mistakes. Dr. Gordon made more. There are some very successful business people on our Board. I am confident they reached a point where it was deemed best for SFA to part ways as effectively, quickly, and quietly as possible. We don't know, and won't know, that they didn't attempt to negotiate the severance. Ultimately, they chose to honor the contract.TallTexan said:
At minimum, I'd expect a negotiated severance in the majority of scenarios.
Maybe other options were discussed and it was concluded that $800k would be the easiest, and possibly the cheapest option (instead of going to court and potentially spending more). Just a thought.
PurpleOut said:
I've seen a few different posts, and I guess I'm not fully following.
We're mad that he got severance? Or the amount of the severance?
Every place I've worked has had different forms and amounts for severance, including paying out the contracted term. Seems like that's what we did. Definitely a lot of money though.
TallTexan said:
This may very well have been the best/fastest/easiest way to make him go away.
However, there are public schools in Texas whose 1st year teachers make more than our profs. This is going to cause even more of a ruckus and SFA needs to figure out a solution to be able to pay fairly across the board and make sure depts have a budget for essential supplies.
Maybe the fundraising helps with that, maybe not.
Correlation isn't necessarily causation in our case.BigJack85 said:TallTexan said:
This may very well have been the best/fastest/easiest way to make him go away.
However, there are public schools in Texas whose 1st year teachers make more than our profs. This is going to cause even more of a ruckus and SFA needs to figure out a solution to be able to pay fairly across the board and make sure depts have a budget for essential supplies.
Maybe the fundraising helps with that, maybe not.
The structural problems you speak of aren't specific to SFA. They run across the country. CBS evening news ran a story last night on the national news regarding the precipitous drop in college enrollment across the entire country. Entire country. The solution (if there is one) seems to reside with the current funding model the state employs.
Jacks4460 said:
I liked Dr Gordon alot and wish he could of held on and glad he is getting paid for the sh*t show he had to put up with...You are right 85 they wanted an aggressive leader and then the faculty had a revolt because Dr Gordon was one of the first to ever hold them accountable.. If you guys are wondering why we havent grown in 20-30 years look who is running our University.. Looks like the faculty to me.. Gordon is the one who put in place the new Engineering program for next semester.. Noone has given him kudos for that.. my thoughts will not change anything but open your eyes and you can see who runs the University..
Jacks4460 said:
Faculty does not like change and if whomever is hired tries to make changes they will suffer the backlash like Dr Gordon did…not many will want the job of battling with the Faculty along with leading the University..