tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post116015939108227603..comments2023-06-18T10:03:39.982-05:00Comments on Gregorian Rants: The sad state of the Electrical Engineering departmentPeterGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13362919400474969329noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160365010168890222006-10-08T22:36:00.000-05:002006-10-08T22:36:00.000-05:00Offline I'll talk about possible illegalities...an...Offline I'll talk about possible illegalities...<BR/><BR/>and "no other department?" I could name a few...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160362366229357902006-10-08T21:52:00.000-05:002006-10-08T21:52:00.000-05:00There is a difference between unethical and illega...There is a difference between unethical and illegal. I'm don't believe we are seeing illegal, just something that no other department is willing to do because it is bad for the students who are left unsupported.PeterGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13362919400474969329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160360839289298132006-10-08T21:27:00.000-05:002006-10-08T21:27:00.000-05:00"Their acceptance of unqualified graduate students..."Their acceptance of unqualified graduate students and manipulation of the tutition waver system is unethical. That is according to any engineering professor outside of EE that has looked at the situation. I'm not inside enough to know, but it sounds fishy."<BR/><BR/>If any concerned "citizen" is reading: Blowing the whistle on fraudulent use of federal dollars violates a civil rights statute that can then result in major damage award against the violator, with high rewards to the whistle blower. Unlike most whistleblowing statutes, one need not be a government employee...<BR/><BR/>Recent cases under the "False Claims Act" certify suits for fraud that includes admissions, financial aid, and much more. <BR/><BR/>Of course, the sad thing about SIUC is that some of us who have crossed "whomever" need to waste time gathering such info. just to protect ourselves from attacks. Sad, very sad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160343705988234042006-10-08T16:41:00.000-05:002006-10-08T16:41:00.000-05:00Note, the former head of the Faculty Association a...Note, the former head of the Faculty Association at SIU is an EE professor. I'll ask him about the corruption in his department and see what kind of answer I get. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. <BR/><BR/>If that's the best the FA can do, then they're really no better than the administration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160326428456503462006-10-08T11:53:00.000-05:002006-10-08T11:53:00.000-05:00I think that SIUC's EE department is a perfect sto...I think that SIUC's EE department is a perfect storm of corruption in management to pick on.<BR/><BR/>First, the IAB has no published rules. There is no elected chair that I have ever heard of, the chairman picked him out because he has a relationship with Karl. As far as I know Karl was choosen after my email were sent. Basically, he has Karl under control and Karl has no roll in the meeting agenda I was sent. Only after my email was an IAB roll considered.<BR/><BR/>EE/CE is a department of the haves at SIU. They can raise money and they are well paid. For example, they have one of the newest buildings on SIUC because there should be growth in engineering. Undergraduate enrollment should be down, but they should be raising research money like it is going out of style.<BR/><BR/>Their acceptance of unqualified graduate students and manipulation of the tutition waver system is unethical. That is according to any engineering professor outside of EE that has looked at the situation. I'm not inside enough to know, but it sounds fishy.<BR/><BR/>They are paying off professors to keep quiet. Why do professors who do no research for many years get summer months from the chair each year?<BR/><BR/>I didn't go looking for the "honor" of serving on the IAB. They came looking for me. It isn't acceptable to ask me to spend 1.5 days in a meeting where you know ahead of time that my input will not be considered. As I wrote before, every high powered member of the IAB stopped coming to meetings leaving the meeting full of CIPS low level manager and a couple researchers who one professor is working with.<BR/><BR/>I have served a quite a few advisory committees, but formal and informal. They are places you can make a difference. In the College of Business, I used my advisory board position to help the college leverage the start of their Partnership for Innovation Center. Generally, you sign up high powered, rich and powerful people because they can help you. It is the standard non-profit idea of Wealth, Wisdom or Work. If you don't listen to them, they stop helping you. EE has decided they don't want that help.<BR/><BR/>The EE IAB exists to server the accrediation requirement for engineering and I guess for no other reason. It is to bad, the people on that board know so much more about almost everything than the department, the department is really losing out.PeterGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13362919400474969329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160273783608688822006-10-07T21:16:00.000-05:002006-10-07T21:16:00.000-05:00What function do such boards have at other univers...What function do such boards have at other universities? Can you give examples? Do they really give advice, or are they mainly cheerleaders who donate money? I have never been involved with such a body, so I really have no idea.<BR/><BR/>Seems like you might have first talked with Karl Kiefer, the IAB chair, in person or by phone. Or, perhaps you did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160259755011532412006-10-07T17:22:00.000-05:002006-10-07T17:22:00.000-05:00"This itinerary serves the needs of all constituen..."This itinerary serves the needs of all constituents<BR/>of the Department and cannot be changed because it has already been<BR/>approved by the Faculty."<BR/><BR/>*The Faculty run the place ("shared governance") and aren't interested in anything they don't approve. Built-in NIH ("Not Invented Here") bias. This is what makes German universities such dreadful wastes of talent. <BR/><BR/>*Note "constituents" -- who are they, other than the faculty, who are the only ones asked to approve anything? Badly-run corporations spend too much time talking about pleasing "stakeholders" (not shareholders), as if a firm were an exercise in sociology. A board is just one "stakeholder" among many. <BR/><BR/>"Finally, I would like to inform you that the Department Chair is always<BR/>available to meet with you (or any citizen interested in the Department) in<BR/>the Department office, to respond to any questions that you may have, to<BR/>provide data and to address any issue related to the Department."<BR/><BR/>Ha! Ha! Ha! Really successful people (like you) are chosen for a volunteer position that costs them money (time is money). But the chair will deign to speak with "any citizen." What is this, a town meeting? Democracy has its place, but this is ridiculous and insulting. "Any citizen?" Any Joe Schmoe? Believe me, if you are a "citizen" who bones up on an area where the university needs improvement, you file a FOIA and the "sunshine" turns to darkness. After all, this nosy person must have an "agenda" (note that agendas not approved by faculty or administrators are evil and driven by some suspicious motive...). <BR/><BR/>Take your EE experience and replicate it across campus. I've dug deep in areas where I know something, where I served on a high advisory committee, and the responses to quite sensible questions are cold shoulders. <BR/><BR/>We call this "tyranny of the status quo" (Milton Friedman term and book title).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22571319.post-1160242202715766242006-10-07T12:30:00.000-05:002006-10-07T12:30:00.000-05:00of course, in defense of Electrical Engineering; t...of course, in defense of Electrical Engineering; these are the folks ultimately responsible with educating the producers of electricity. Since we all still like electricity, we should be willing to make accommodation for the necessities of such high technology.<BR/><BR/>whew! somehow having said that, a critical eye towards improvement is nice... you haven't a special bee in your hat for EE?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com