Arkansas Blog

Max, you forgot to ask why Lu needs a PVCC membership in addition to the two Conway-located CC memberships ...

Lu, if you read this blog, or Rush or Mary, since I know you all read this blog, what say you about UCA's exemption from the Princeton Review's "Best in Nation" awarded to Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas? Obviously, Lu is not pulling his weight with the big boys of higher education in Arkansas as his compensation or desired compensation increase would suggest ...

And NONE of them are making as much as Softwyre's making per hour off UCA.

And none of them are paying Warwick's salary ($120K I believe) for duties that include retrieving photos of Lu and an old flame that appeared in the society pages.

Now ARB... you can't talk about anything bad related to Warwick on here. Didn't you know that?

So is tax money being used to pay memberships to private country clubs (racists clubs)?

I wasn't aware of that informal rule regarding Warwick ... anyways my point was Lu's use of him to retrieve society page photos was more evidence of Lu's waste of taxpayer funds and Warwick's skills.

$50 a month usually gets a nice cell phone set up - - but for $2,893 a year you get that whole crowd following you around like in the commercial. And Lu likes crowds. Plus, Rush likes numbers. Big ones.

Should Rush and his BOT colleagues take into account Lu's latest layer of deception regarding his compensation? These spreadsheets make it clear that under a "total compensation" comparison, Lu is amongst the highest paid administrators in Arkansas. If Lu had gotten away with deceiving the BOT based on salary/deferred comp figures of Lu's so called "comparable schools", he would have eclipsed all other public higher ed administrators in the state.

It is simply incomprehensible to me how Lu can remain as president of a University--an institution of higher learning--with all the actual and symbolic weight which that lofty postion carries with it in our society, after placing the names of the three on the memo and writing for one of them in the first person.

The trustees can justfiy it any way they want but the fact remains they are eggregiously abdicating their roles as Trustees of a public institution and all the Univerity stands for and represents.

It is a question fo perhaps there being only one degree of separation in our small state and no one wants to make the tough calls.

UCA, I'm sorry to say, went from the Center of Learning to the Center of Yearning. Yearning for True Leadership. Leadership--principled leadership rooted in the loftier standards of University leadership as understodd nationwide and not just in our little corner of the world. (Yes, there is a disconnect here on that level.) Leadership-- from both a President and yes, a Board of Trustees. I frankly think the Board should all resign at this point as they obviously just simply do not get what is at stake in my opinion. And for that they should all resign. I can't beleive more pressure from higher ups is not being brought to bear on this. They guy ascribed their names to the memo and deceptively (not mistakenly) wrote in the first person. Tell me how you then go forth and lead a University and all that it stands after that. The symbolism of the role is pact with so much that instantly went out the window. Someone tell me that. I've yet to hear that.

Damn, I liked what Lu did. It pains me to see this. I don't know him but I liked the way he lit a fire under the image of the University and by extension, helped a lot of kids feel good about going to school there (hip hip horray---the school without The "real" football team) and reawakened pride among alums. But he blew it. He tossed it all with the memo.

On another note, are these guys kidding. Are we all nuts? These Presidents are almost making as much money and have as many perks as our highschool football coaches. Someone needs to look into that in general. Really, if you make 400K a year don't ask taxpepayers to pay for your cell phone bill and your country club memberships you twits. Frankly, I'd much rather see a deserving student get their tuition paid for with that. It just pisses us off.

New Name: UCL= University of Central Lu, Center of Lying.

Two points: Point one--a university president is pretty much on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The chancellor at my university has been in town one day in the last three weeks. Their job is not a walk in the park. And as somebody in this thread has pointed out, they make less than any of the head coaches at the big university up in Fayetteville.

Point two--if I were going up for tenure or promotion this year, and forged a letter from one of my associates supporting that promotion, what do you suppose would happen to me?

Interesting stats. While you're digging, Max, what's the real truth behind his smoke-and-mirror enrollment numbers. It looks like he's double dipping and charging the state for students that the state is carrying on high school books. And check out Lu's accounting of advertising expenses. Lu says $600k. Pros in the business estimate $2 million.

Related to this is the editorial put forth by the Dem Gazette two or so days ago. In my opinion, it was embarrassing for our major daily newspaper to write what can only be described as one of the most mealy-mouthed,beside-the-point, inconsistent, conflicted, inappropriately flippant, POS excuses for editorial writing I have ever witnessed. On the one hand, Lu should offer to resign they said, but on the other, the BOT should not accept it as they are so complicit in this. He should offer as a matter form, to go through the motions of offering to resign. I'm papraphrasing obvioulsy. It got worse but I can't recall the exact details.

I read it to my kids so they would know how not to be pussies when they have to form a critical opinion about a difficult topic and to anchor it in some deeper principles and deeper critical thinking. And then makea stand when called for.

Major dailies have a responsibility when the issue is important enough. Even in small states where it is uncomfortable to write about the guy you may have had beers with last month which is just the way it goes here. Especially monopolies--ha ha. But about all they did was go through the motions and fill space and that's about it. What a disservice. They never got to the heart of the matter, never got to the real stakes, the more fundamental issues in play here. What are they thinking? I think that is a fair cirticism of that editorial that would be widely if not universally shared by objective analysis.

They should make another go at it or issue an apology for talking out of both ends of their ass, rather fillpantly, in addition to completely missing the point.

(For the record I do not work or have any allegiance to any other newspaper or media outlet. And as a rule I enjoy and value the Dem Gazette.--as a rule. )

I don't know if it is true, but I have heard they count every student around there when the announce ernrollment, but when they discuss test scores they eliminate about a quarter of the students that "aren't really college level students" Whatever than means.

College presidents' pay in Ark seems to parallel the exact same situation in our public schools.

Ark principals and superintendents rank 17th in the nation in pay. Teachers' pay rank near the bottom of the 50 states.

Something is drastically wrong at the state level and with the arrangement of governing bodies which allows such inequalities to exist.

I hope you keep this issue alive Max and thank you for beginning it. It's time we end this 'sawmill town' arrangement and philosophy.
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I have heard rumors about Lu being seen at Tunica a lot in the recent past. Anyone else heard this? Plus I was confused about the $300,000 bonus. I understood initially it was to be a deferred compensation arrangement. Lu would not have paid taxes on it up front if it were deferred comp. So why did Lu take the bonus as current income if he could have deferred it. Is he in financial trouble while living rent free, vehicle provided, while receiving about a $100,000 from state retirement (Max ask him about this state retirement issue) and also receiveing over $250,000 from UCA as pay. Plus I bet Lu did not put the foundation money on any of his Financial Interest Statements. It was not on his statement filed in January 2006 for 2005. Anyone, educate me on this and respond to the Tunica rumors!

I'm concerned about that poor cook's salary.

Silver Bells, I wouldn't be concerned about the poor cook's salary. I saw somewhere that he is a chef that once worked for Governor Huckabee. My guess is that he is paid very, very, very well .

"...cook, lawn service, building maintenance, utilities, etc., $55,252"

If the cook is paid very, very well, then Lu is kicking in substantially from his end.

I think fiona is right. My hubby told me that they hired the chef as a "Centennial Planner" for 60 or 70K and even though that's over - the chef is still getting paid!

Lu, GET OUT!!!! Really, you have embarrassed UCA. Many of us who work there will collect moving boxes for you. When faculty come back to help the freshmen move into the dorms, they will be glad to help you move out of the house. Just go before you do any more damage.

Governor Beebe, DISSOLVE THE UCA BOT!!! Really, we need to start from square one. These folks haven't done their job. Get rid of the Huckaboard and appoint some people who will.

Please Lu, not one more day of embarrassment. Friday (tomorrow) would be a good day for you to step down. Don't get despondent over this. You will have a successful post-UCA career as a lobbyist. The ethical standards for that profession are not as demanding as those for a university president.

I printed out all these sheets and laid them out and there are so many discrepancies, it's hard to take the whole report as valid. Some of the presidents value their car at $6000-$11,000, others put $600-$900. According to the directions, this is supposed to include the value of the car itself, gasoline for one year, insurance on the car, taxes, license, etc. I'd like to have one of those $600 cars please.

And how do they figure out the value of those houses? And all that other stuff? I don't know about the others, but what I see here is a guy at UCA who made sure that every single penny, plus some, got turned in. Did the others turn in false information? Here we go!

quentq - some of them drive 'junkers' for someone who makes the kinds of money a university president does: Joel Anderson has a 2000-ish model Dodge Intrepid with UALR on the side, so once you consider that UALR has it written off the books (depreciated fully given it's age), it is probably only costing 800 dollars a year (I'd assume he doesn't drive that car everywhere (the store, to the airport, etc) since it says UALR on the side, and he doesn't have to go far to the capitol or the UA System office, and insurance is probably pretty cheap for a old state owned vehicle).

That said, Bob Brown at Tech's brand new Ford (they rotate his old car into the police force, so they are driving fairly new, gently used cars around town) would probably work out to about what they said since he lives fairly far off campus and drives a bunch to kiss various asses in LR. I can't speak to any other president's status, other than I think Lu is rolling on some pretty nice wheels to burn 11k a year in car allowance given he lives across the street from his office. Must drive to the country club quite a bit.

I've some tried-and-true Democrat friends who, when asked about the Lu Hardin UCA situation, say, "I wish the press wouldn't keep harping on it. He's done a lot of good."

When pressed for the "good," it's always, "He increased enrollment." That's it. That's all they can come up with. Of course, when you present them with the facts behind that apparent enrollment increase, all they can mumble is, "Hmm."

These are wealthy well-connected Democrat friends. The only thing they have in common is they've never lived anywhere but Arkansas.

They're used to the good-ol' boy network and have profited from it themselves -- though never with the illegitimate tactics modeled by Lu Hardin.

Namely greed, deceit, self-aggrandizement, misrepresentation of the truth, bearing false witness about Board members who never had such meetings or said such things, illegal maneuvering (despite being a lawyer) . . . then, when caught, spinning and backpedaling furiously, pleading ignorance, misinformation and, "I should've handled this differently," as if this totally self-created disaster is a minor misstep.

As other posters have pointed out, if Hardin and his Board had any honor left, or any respect for the faculty and students they ostensibly serve, he and they would resign tomorrow.

But they don't, so they won't. It's Arkansas, where these kinds of good-ol'-boy tactics are applauded and rewarded.

The spin on this crook and liar, trying to somehow make Hardin "nice" or this incident "trivial" is disgusting.

I can understand the faculty not marching for and publicly demanding these people's resignations, since their livelihoods and families depend on their employment . . . but if UCA's students see through this attempted illegal ripoff by their President and his Board, then get out there every day, in numbers as large and noisy as you can marshall, keep this alive in the D-G and on TV, demand their resignations until they do.

Go national with it, if you can.

Organize.

That's the only way honor and integrity can be restored to this institution.

Through you students and alumni.

As long as Hardin and this Board remain, they've succeeded in making suckers out of those they claim to support -- the faculty and students and their families and friends -- by stealing from them, lying about it and trying to cover it up once caught.

Hardin and this Board have disgraced UCA.

That won't be repaired until they're gone and replaced.

NormaBates

I do not think that this is an issue that should be left to the students currently enrolled. I hate to characterize it like this but this is a "grown-up, adult world" issue, that not many students, at least at the undergraduate level would have the necessary worldview or background or wider context to fully understand it in, weigh it in. They, most of them, to the extent that they are even plugged into it during the summer,would not appreciate the true significance of the issue. I don't fault them. Who would at that age, during a lazy summer, with the distractions and the inexperience of youth. I do not weven think the big thinkers at the Dem-Gazette got it. They even took a summer-time breezy view of it in my opinion. This is bigger than what the students think. This is about the larger issue of what it means, what being a Univerity President means, at its core, when judged against the standards and expectations of the role and the place and symbolic and actual importance of a University.

As to Alums. It is not their call either. They are not the custodians of the honor and integrity and place of the University and the role it plays in the wider society. They may have an interest and a voice in it but the implications of this now goes far beyond the insider UCA community.

The role of the University is almost mythic. And the leadership of a University--of all that it signifies and stands for--is huge in our society. We have all diminished that in some important way if we give a free pass to the errors of judgment that have gone on here.

I hate to belabor the point but it is important that this issue be understood at its true level, at the level of its true significance. And that is why I'm hot about it.

Are you going to demand that the University--as an institution--stand up for what I believe to be so basic to its role and place in our society? It is not trivial, nor is this an academic exercise. This is important. What do you say to the students and to all people in our state if you let this go with a handslap and some fuzzy logic from the board. It would not hold muster in my opinion, if brought to the light of day under more careful, outside scrutiny.

There are consequences in life. What are you telling the students of not just UCA but all of our Colleges, of all of our state residents who are aware of this issue, if you do not draw the line here. I think you have done something that sends a terrible, terrible message and basically says we do not hold Arkansas to the same standards that the wider world holds, and in this case, for good reason. This has ceased being a UCA issue. This is much larger. It is about fundamental issues of right and wrong, and consequences for actions, and accountability and trust in our public instituations and the role of the University as a Center of no, not Learning, as they would have you believe with 600K of ad dollars, but of imparting wisdom and honor and integrity and higher ideals. If the leadership so eggregiously flouts those basic prinicples and ideals, then we are all diminished for not calling them on it to the degree necessary.

I'm sorry. But it is that important. We are sending a terrible message if this is not understood at the level it needs to be. There is much at stake. I could not let my kids think that this is acceptable, that you could do this and get a mild reprimand from the BOT and the local newspaper just kind of shrugs it off. I truly do not believe that would not happen in other places. I hate to lay it out like that but sometimes it is necessary to stand up and call BS for what it is.

I'm sorry it has come to this but I think the principle now at stake is larger--much larger--than any attempt to treat this as a local UCA in-house issue. I think Arkansas will have missed an important "come to Jesus" moment if this is just casually dismissed as a minor oops.

I will close by saying that at the University I attended, this would have been a hot issue. the right and wrong of it weighed against the outside world and the standards of leadership for a University would've been hotly debated and students would've drawn some lines. (During the summer probably not however..we would've been drunk, blissfully unaware and at the beach.) But still, at some point it wouldv'e been properly vetted.

But the point is this is not some local UCA thing. Noe, in light of what we know, this is bigger. I think much bigger.

Thanks, IABL. Excellent post.

But it's sad, even tragic, to think you might be right that "this is a 'grown-up, adult world' issue, that not many students, at least at the undergraduate level would have the necessary worldview or background or wider context to fully understand it in, weigh it in."

Are today's students really that shallow, uninformed and uncaring?

College students in the '60s were certainly "grown up" and informed enough adults to protest injustice en masse, even at the risk of their lives (Kent State).

I guess I would disagree that students have been so dumbed-down over the last 50 years they can't appreciate the seriousness and depth and criminality of Lu Hardin and his Board and this situation's effects on their alma mater's reputation and standing . . . and make their collective voices heard emphatically.

But maybe you're right.

I've friends who are students there and friends on the faculty. Good people, all.

Until this ugly attempt at extortion by those at the top is rectified, I've turned my back on UCA.

If they can't force the ouster of these crooks in cahoots, they deserve what they get.

NormaBates wrote:

"I can understand the faculty not marching for and publicly demanding these people's resignations, since their livelihoods and families depend on their employment"

This is a fundamental lack of understanding about the nature of academic freedom in higher education. Universities are not corporations, and faculty do not check their first amendment rights at the campus gate. Tenured faculty must not live in fear of retaliation for statements about administrators, and administrators who retaliate must be punished.

Just a few comments, since I cannot approach IABLs eloquence. I would like to hear more about this test score issue since one of Lu's claims is to have raised enrollments and test scores at the same time. Is this really true? There are rumors that Lu lets students in with ACTs of 8. Does anyone have any real facts on this? Further, how many UCA "students" are not really college students? This cries out for some sort of explanation. On the matter of the multiple country club dues and huge expense account on top of the salary, house, bonus, etc, it seems UCA now stands for the Center of Avarice, alas!

Time for me to come to the defense of my friend Lu Hardin. Norma, here are a few things you can tell your friends who think that the only thing that has happened at UCA in the past six years is increased enrollment.

Changed closing time from 4:45 to 4:30. Staff really appreciates it thank you.
Reduced tuition for children of employees from 50% to 80%
Reduced tuition for employees from 20% to 80%
Reduced tuition for employees taking graduate classes to 80%
Got UCA off censure in less than a year
Changed closing time of library to very late (SGA request)
New Math/Tech building
$4 million cafeteria renovation
Student center expansion (almost finished)
Wingo Hall total renovation
$18 million new Business building
There's a new building going up behind ROTC, but I don't even know what it is
$6 million new Health and Counseling building w/ a real MD on duty all day
Hyper center expansion
$??? million Farris Hall dorm built for Honors College students
New Baseball complex
New Soccer complex (Remember John Thompson cut the soccer program and after protests, Hardin reinstated it)
New track complex
Allowed Bruce Street to be shut down for huge tailgating parties. Huge success to say the least.
Convinced the city of Conway to "Paint the Town Purple" and not wear red on game days.
Had a role in bringing HP and 1200 jobs to Conway

Tiresius, these are for you --
Raised the graduation rate to 56%, second highest after UA Fayetteville
Raised the retention rate. I don't know how much, but it went up
ACT scores are at their highest in UCA's history. This doesn't happen letting people with 8 on the ACT into the school. Second highest ACT scores in the state after UA Fayetteville.

When I come with more, I'll let you know. Now let it be known that he didn't do this by himself, at all. There are unbelievable people at UCA, faculty, staff, and especially students. Some, maybe a lot of those people are angry, but the people I talk to don't want to take a chance on losing what they've gained. I think he'll stay.

About the concurrent students someone talked about above, UCA is not the first to have concurrent students. Two year colleges have done it for years. UALR and Tech also have concurrent students. Probably others, those are just the ones I know.

JJ,
GREAT POST!! As for that new building behind the ROTC building it is going to be the new Gross Anatomy & Neurosciences Lab. This will greatly benefit the states ONLY Doctor of Physical Therapy Program!
http://www.uca.edu/pt/GrossAnatomy.htm

JJ can you identify the % increase of debt via bond issues under Lu's tenure put in place to build all that you list?

JJ are you able to provide us with the effect upon UCA's financial statements and public debt rating of the bond debt used by Lu?

Finally, JJ, will you please identify (1) the investment banking firm that underwrote the bonds used to fund Lu's vision; (2) the fees paid to this investment banking firm; and (3) the CEO of this investment banking firm?

Thank you.

JJ, could you also provide us with a cite to a reputable source identifying Lu as having a role in attracting HP to Conway?

>>Finally, JJ, will you please identify (1) the investment banking firm that underwrote the bonds used to fund Lu's vision; (2) the fees paid to this investment banking firm; and (3) the CEO of this investment banking firm?<<

I am pretty sure we know what you are trying to get at...and that just goes to show that it pays to know people with connections...and you can't even seriously be trying to say that UCA is the only school in this state that uses its connections to get what it wants!

No, unfortunately, you do not know what I am trying to get at with that statement regarding the issuance of bonds to support Lu's vision.

IABL1969 and NormaBates,

Look I'm an undergraduate student at UALR and I take a lot of offense at being talked about as immature and ignorant. Yes I'm only 25 but I understand what Lu Hardin did is fairly despicable and wrong. Given the amount of deception in his actions and the complicity of board members to just go along with whatever he said, that's very troubling. Man... I think you truly underestimate just how much some young people think about all the bullshit that is happening in the world today. I have my own opinions on any number of issues that can be considered "grown up, adult world." And the fact that you think we aren't bright enough to worry our pretty little heads over it just pisses me off something fierce.

Would you like a list of my concerns? I'm not saying I know how to fix them. But I damn well recognize that issues need to be addressed and actions need to be taken. But I'm 25. So apparently I'm not old enough to care, understand, or fathom how to deal with "grown up, adult world" issues.

Guess I'll just go get high and drunk. Oh wait IABL1969, didn't you say "During the summer probably not however..we would've been drunk, blissfully unaware and at the beach." Well I'm in summer classes. I've never been drunk, and never plan to be drunk.

If Lu had found a way to provide a free university for all and replaced all buildings with solid gold structures, there are still be three words out there that call for his immediate resignation/dismissal:

"I (Jack Gillean)".

That's it. Goodbye Lu. If he doesn't have the sense to go and the Board doesn't have the will to send him off, we are in for one of those embarrassing/polarizing confidence votes. Oh yes, we have come so far!

BTW, can someone explain the accounting/depreciation method that shows expenses of $11,651 for a new Expedition?

What I found amusing from this morning's DemoGaz article was the assertion by the presidents that the free housing, maintenance, staff, etc. was not compensation. Why do they not understand that if they were in the real world, they would have to actual come out of pocket for these expenses, hence, they would need to make an additional $xxxx to afford the expenses? Thus, the free housing and related expenses are in fact compensation.

http://www.legaudit.state.ar.us/AuditReports/HigherEd/2007/UniversityofCentralArkansas2007.pdf

http://www.legaudit.state.ar.us/AuditReports/HigherEd/2007/

d burn;

In my haste in trying to make a larger point, you are right, I was wrong to paint the undergrads with such a broad brush if that is how you took it. I did not intend too. i was trying make the point that the issue is larger than how it may be perceived by the UCA campus community alone. Your point is well taken and important. You sound like a very smart undergrad, smarter than i was at 25, (which was not all that long ago believe it or not) and more than able to see this for what it is. Perhaps you should be a Trustee. I could live with that. Good luck with your studies!

Of course its bigger than Lu Hardin. The whole issue of bonus's, what is or isn't an out of pocket expenses, perks, benefits, etc... Is pretty much an issue whenever you look at the head of a company (or person in position of power) versus the common worker. In this case it was public money at issue. And I'm not blind to the fact that this problem repeats itself over and over again in places where the public, government, or private enterprise put their faith in someone to do a job and that someone takes advantage of their position. The problem is that it is a reoccurring problem and will always be a reoccurring problem. There is no cure for this kind of abuse of power. There will always be people who abuse the system. We're lucky when we find someone who hasn't and doesn't but there is no way to be sure everyone who is put in a position of responsibility is trustworthy.

The only treatment for this type of abuse is to replace the person(s) at fault and hope it doesn't happen again. Its simple, its direct, it solves the immediate problem because the overall problem isn't solvable. And it sets a precedent to people who abuse power that they will be punished for lying to the people they SERVE. When it comes down to it the students, professors, and employees at UCA have every right to demand a leadership change after this blatant show of abuse of power by Mr. Hardin and the board who went along with him.

Thank you, JJ, for outlining Lu Hardin's many accomplishments for UCA.

Then it's all the more tragic, is it not, that this lone act of venality and illegality on Hardin's part should cap his illustrious and still ambitious career (Governor of Arkansas? Not now.) with the revelation of his greed and duplicity. Or perhaps some sort of age-related illness created this sudden aberration in his heretofore spotless character.

d burn -

please reread my post above. I am on your side. I disagree completely with IABL's characterization of college students as less than grown-up in terms of understanding and insight, as you will see when you reread my post.

Good job Witidik. Interesting find. Now if I can make heads/tails of it. And Paul McClenden said at the board meeting last week when he gave a report that UCA had the highest bond rating it ever had (If I'm wrong, I'll tell you who to blame.)

ARBRLF, Crews & Associates was hired pursuant to a public RFP to provide bond underwriting services to the school. The gross fees earned are around 300,000. The salesmen that sell the bonds make most of that money. We did one issue for the Foundation. The gross fees were 175,000. I reimbursed the Foundation for 100% of those fees after talking to by nemesis, Tom Jones. The other fees are about 50% of the cost of the Jumbotron we just gave the school, around 700,000+. I am the CEO, I own no stock in Crews, we sold it to First Security Bank in 2000. I have a list of the 30+ bond issues done for Higher Ed in AR the last 4 years. The only thing that stands out on the 3 UCA issues is that the fees are the lowest of all the issues done, period! Now that is the truth, I challenge you to see if I am correct, come to by office to see the info, Max B has seen this same information. Are you man enough to accept the truth? UCA's bond rating is A-2 which is stable and considered investment grade. The UofA is AA3, Crews just underwrote a 50 million dollar deal for them last week. We did a 250,000,000 deal for the State of AR jointly with Stephens. I am pretty sure we are qualified. With the rapid rise in the costs of all goods this year, especially steel, we are fortunate we have built needed buildings in recent years instead of now. Any bond issue has to be approved by the state, UCA just can't go issue one on a whim. I own 1/10 of 1% of the stock in First Security Bank. If 100% of the gross fees went to the company (which of course they don't) that means I would have realized a fine 300 dollars from my ownership in the bank. I have given well over 2,000,000 to the school, I don't need to steal 300 from my alma mater.

Mr. Harding- the problem is that the whole state now sees that Lu is ALL for himself and is willing to lie and worse to pad his pockets. My grandmother always said the birds of a feather flock together and that you are known by the friends you keep. Lu is disgraced and a hypocrite. He was and is blinded by his urge for money. When you support him and defend the indefensible, then you are assumed to have the same moral standards. Pay Lu his accrued deferred comp, give him a little package and sever UCA's ties to a bad dream. We deserve better, prove you are better than Lu and will not accept lying, cheating and deception. Your credibility is also in the balance. This will get worse as the press digs deeper. Save the honor of UCA. The time to act is now.

JJ, I and others have seen the statistics that you cite. But the question is who is being counted in the ACT stats? Surely the concurrent enrollment students, who may well make up 20% of the UCA student body this year, are not being counted as many of them have not even taken the ACT yet. Are those enrolled in "university college", one of UCA's remediation programs counted in the average ACT score and the graduation rates? What about "special admissions"? As for the ACT of 8, that story comes from UCA faculty who have had such students in class and who have seen admissions data. It seems to me that the claims of Hardin's accomplishments deserve a lot more scrutiny than they have received. JJ, with what authority do you speak? Have you personally seen the admissions data? Or are you just asserting stuff you have read in the newspaper? or been told by others?

Well, of course concurrent students aren't counted. Some of them probably haven't even taken the ACT yet. And I find it hard to believe that there will be 2,600 concurrent students this fall. Maybe half of that? But if there are, I think it's great. They are high school kids taking college credits, and if you saw what the UCA faculty is requiring of them, you'd be impressed. The UCA faculty was involved in all aspects of who teaches the classes, course requirements, and materials. And if those students weren't in UCA's concurrent program they'd be in UALR's or Tech's or perhaps another. Good for them for being in the best program.

As far as figuring the average ACT of incoming freshman (including those in the University College) UCA has to use the same criteria in figuring freshman ACT scores as every other university in the state. If this includes the UCA University College, then UA, Tech, Henderson, SAU, UAM, UALR, ASU, ASU Beebe, Pulaski Tech, etc. have to use their remediated students as well to determine their incoming freshman average ACT. The Department of Higher Education in LR, I bet can give you your answer of who all is counted in these averages. If there's a "special admission" with a score of 8, well, . . .I don't believe it. However, if it is true, then that 8 was figured into the average.

And you're mad that University College students are counted in the graduation rate??? Well. . . yes they are . . .. when they graduate. Are you saying that if you took remediation classes in the University College at UCA, stuck it out and graduated, that you shouldn't be counted in the graduation rate? Wow.

I don't get my facts from what I read in the papers or on here. If I did, I'd believe that anyone who took remediation classes, then graduated, wouldn't be counted in UCA's graduation rate. I haven't seen admission applications, but I do know a couple of people who work in there. I'll ask them who's counted.

Mr. Harding: in addition do you feel betrayed? Do you understand that all Lu had to do was tell the truth about the payment and it would have been a 1 day blurb on page 5 in small print? He was willing to lie and expose the board to attack. Do you understand he intentionally mislead you about the FOI that he had to know applied. You did not go from an expert on the FOI to a moron on the FOI. Every small town lawyer representing 300 population towns knew better than what he let you do on concealing YES CONCEALING his pay. He intentionally mislead you and what reader on here can tell from your between the lines meaning is that YOU now know that to be true. Hell I have known criminal clients are always innocent and have a story that the lawyer accepts as a defense, knowing it is a bunch of BS. The difference is the lawyer has a duty to the accused and here you do not. Actions speak louder than words. Do the right thing. I do not have to tell you what that is. You already know. Don't you?

Based on information from UCA's Office of Institutional Research, the lowest ACT score from the 2006 entering freshmen class was 7. Scores were unavailable for about 5% of that class.

I don't think Tireseus question about University College students' graduation rates was about those who graduate not being reported. The question was probably about whether ALL of the University College students (those that graduate and do not graduate) are included. If they start in University College and continue a regular students, I assume that they then are considered in calculating graduation rates. (Some could be lost after becoming regular students.) But, what happens if they fail as University College students before becoming regular students? Are they counted as UCA students who failed to graduate?

This potential juggling of number existed prior to Lu and will continue after him. What is new and important at this time is, "I (Jack Gillean) . . ."

This is too good.

Tiresius, ben-there, natural state and whatever other names you're using,

First you argue that Lu Hardin is telling people how to figure ACT scores and graduation rates to make himself look good. Now you say the juggling of numbers was going on before him and will continue after. Which is it? If there's a new president, you're saying he's dishonest already?

Why do you find it hard to believe that UCA has intelligent, hard working, high-test scoring students. .. who actually graduate? Maybe that person with the 7 will graduate. (Universities all admit a certain percentage of students from different categories, and maybe this is how a person with a 7 was admitted, so be careful). UCA has either the top or next to the top highest entrance rate into med school. The highest passing rate on the RN nursing exam. The greatest students in the state.

Again you asked, "The question was about whether ALL of the University College students (those that graduate and do not graduate) are included in the graduation rate. Okay, if they do NOT graduate, they're prooobably not going to be included in the percentage of those DO graduate.

Regarding your question, if a University College student fails before becoming a regular student, are they counted in the graduation rate? Well, if they fail as a University College student, how do you propose they become a regular student? I guess they could go to a two-year school or another uiversity, keep taking the ACT and get their score up, then reapply to UCA as a regular student who doesn't have to take remedial classes. Good for them. Then I would assume that they would be counted in the graduation rate. Am I missing something here???

Rush - I truly think you need to take a deep breath and remember who you are talking to on this blog. You know that many of these people are disgruntled UCA employees who have been fired or disciplined. You know that anyone who truly knows Lu knows that he doesn't deserve this. It seems as if you may be adding fuel to the fire by responding here. You are writing to cowards who, when anonymous, become so big and bold. Those who know Lu know that much of what is on here could be easily determined to be malicious defamation of character and slander.

Several others do not know or understand the whole truth. For example, the professor who spoke on behalf of the faculty at last week's board meeting, stated that Lu should have compared his salary to ASUs president, and UCA faculty salaries to ASUs faculty. The paper reported this week that ASUs president makes more than Lu. A friend of mine who teaches at ASU says that their salaries are about 6-10K under UCAs.

I'm just asking you to consider the few who you are talking to, and realize that they are not worth your time because of their malicious intent, and that there are others who do not understand this situation or the whole truth at all.

This will have to continue on Monday. Unless I can get to a computer where I'm headed. Stay cool everybody.

ArkGrad1992 (is that you Lu ?)and Mr. Harding: Test scores have nothing to do with my thoughts. Lu lied, mislead people, varied from the FOI law he is an acknowledged expert on, took payment from public funds in violation of the law, and committed or got so close to forgery that he would be fired from any private CEO position for the misleading attempt he made. All of this after he claimed to make a career in the senate cleaning up the insider games by among others, Knox and Nick. Let me ask you this, what would Lu himself have done if Nick Wilson had done something like this in the senate. I can tell you what, he would have been all over the front page asking for the prosecutor to investigate whether a criminal law had been violated on the FOI or by the public funds being used illegally. He would have called to memo a forgery and called for Nick's head. Lu would have cried for reforms and Nick's resignation. So now it is Mr. Clean who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar so he was merely confused and not thinking well. I can tell you, there are 100's of people in the department of correction who can relate to Lu on this one. Their problem is that nobody believed them either. The difference is LU thinks he is above it all. Ironically, in many ways he is worse than Nick. You knew what Nick was, Lu was two-faced about it. Nick would also take a fall to protect a friend. Lu knowingly put the BOT in harm's way and not only allowed a violation of the FOI by the BOT, he organized and sold it to the BOT. Lu had to know. Nick was way above that. Nick would have taken the pay and taken the heat himself. Lu had to protect his clean image by placing dirt on the BOT. So what does that tell you about LU/ Way too much.

Yes JJ, this is too good. If by graduate rates you mean the percentage of admitted students who eventually graduate, then those who graduate AND THOSE THAT DO NOT are counted. Likewise, the question about University College students is simply if they are counted along with regular UCA students when they are admitted into University College AND when they leave (after graduating or not). Your attempts at ridiculing those with legitimate questions are backfiring.

ArkGrad1992, this stopped being about salaries when the over-the-top deception became apparent. Defamation of character and slander? What part of, "I (Jack Gillean)," don't you get?

Naturalstate - I was in the Senate chambers every day of the most infamous Nick Wilson session. Your characterization of what Lu "would have" done is revealing. You see, Senator Hardin was there, too. And the actions he took were categorically opposed to your characterization of what he "would have" done. You imagine "he would be all over the front page asking for the prosecutor to investigate". Had you had any real acquaintance with the Senator in the mid 90s, you would recall that he absolutely shunned the media or any particular personal attention when he served in an elected capacity. And further, if you scored more than a 7 on the ACT, you should know that prosecutorial investigations are initiated through a judicial, rather than a journalistic branch.

ArkGrad1992 made the point I have been wanting to make for more than a few days. I won't belabor the point by repeating it because I find the constant repetition of the same point over and over and over by one or two posters to be arrogant, condescending, paternalistic and just annoying as hell. So, good point ArkGrad1992. Enough said.

While it may be cathartic to spin our collective tires in Lu Hardin's mud, there are MUCH bigger issues that affect higher education in every institution in this state, not just UCA.

UCA's "success" is based is the result of twisting the state funding formula which rewards a university for FTEs, or full-time equivalncies, or in real-person terms: head count. It doesn't matter whether this person's head is made of Fayetteville shale, or whether he or she is going to Harvard with his or her UCA educaton, it only matters that a semi-luke-warm body has sat in a class at least once during the first 11 days of a semester.

Whatever the enrollment realities, Arkansas universities are driven to get as many bodies in the classroom as possible in order to justify thier existence and their presidential salaries.

The result is that many of our universities are full of students who need a lot of remedial help, and there is no incentive to provide that help. They are just fodder for the enrollment beast our universities feed.

Education and success welfare is a secondary tertiary or quarternary concern.

Lu Hardin played the system better than anybody, but he got arrogant.

Sources tell me that UCA gave out many more scholarships than other schools, scholarships they couldn't afford to pay, but gosh darn it, they're almighty FTEs went through the roof. The scholarships, I am told, have been cut back.

I expect UCA's Icarus to come back to earth because its feathers were made of wax. If we support our students and re-prioritize our education for our students by hiring teachers to meet their needs, our system, and our economy will fly.

While it may be cathartic to spin our collective tires in Lu Hardin's mud, there are MUCH bigger issues that affect higher education in every institution in this state, not just UCA.

UCA's "success" is based is the result of twisting the state funding formula which rewards a university for FTEs, or full-time equivalncies, or in real-person terms: head count. It doesn't matter whether this person's head is made of Fayetteville shale, or whether he or she is going to Harvard with his or her UCA educaton, it only matters that a semi-luke-warm body has sat in a class at least once during the first 11 days of a semester.

Whatever the enrollment realities, Arkansas universities are driven to get as many bodies in the classroom as possible in order to justify thier existence and their presidential salaries.

The result is that many of our universities are full of students who need a lot of remedial help, and there is no incentive to provide that help. They are just fodder for the enrollment beast our universities feed.

Education and success welfare is a secondary tertiary or quarternary concern.

Lu Hardin played the system better than anybody, but he got arrogant.

Sources tell me that UCA gave out many more scholarships than other schools, scholarships they couldn't afford to pay, but gosh darn it, they're almighty FTEs went through the roof. The scholarships, I am told, have been cut back.

I expect UCA's Icarus to come back to earth because its feathers were made of wax. If we support our students and re-prioritize our education for our students by hiring teachers to meet their needs, our system, and our economy will fly.

While it may be cathartic to spin our collective tires in Lu Hardin's mud, there are MUCH bigger issues that affect higher education in every institution in this state, not just UCA.

UCA's "success" is based is the result of twisting the state funding formula which rewards a university for FTEs, or full-time equivalncies, or in real-person terms: head count. It doesn't matter whether this person's head is made of Fayetteville shale, or whether he or she is going to Harvard with his or her UCA educaton, it only matters that a semi-luke-warm body has sat in a class at least once during the first 11 days of a semester.

Whatever the enrollment realities, Arkansas universities are driven to get as many bodies in the classroom as possible in order to justify thier existence and their presidential salaries.

The result is that many of our universities are full of students who need a lot of remedial help, and there is no incentive to provide that help. They are just fodder for the enrollment beast our universities feed.

Education and success welfare is a secondary tertiary or quarternary concern.

Lu Hardin played the system better than anybody, but he got arrogant.

Sources tell me that UCA gave out many more scholarships than other schools, scholarships they couldn't afford to pay, but gosh darn it, they're almighty FTEs went through the roof. The scholarships, I am told, have been cut back.

I expect UCA's Icarus to come back to earth because its feathers were made of wax. If we support our students and re-prioritize our education for our students by hiring teachers to meet their needs, our system, and our economy will fly.

OnesAndZeros: i likely have much better knowledge than you of the 97 and 99 sessions and Lu's work there. Lu would not be lacking any condemnation of that type of behavior had it not been him this time. Yes I know that prosecutors file charges BUT the prosecutors read the newspapers too. More times than you think criminal charges stem directly from good reporting. Prosecutors are politicians too. Do you think the prosecutors who have jurisdiction of this are not carefully reading the developments on this? if not, wake up and smell the coffee. You are in denial if you have no understanding that elected officials like legislators regularly call for criminal investigations and prosecutors bring them due to public pressure.. I believe in the press and know the press can reveal truth even when friends of wrongdoers try to kill the message and the messenger. What part of Lu's actions as I described do you deny happening. You have to admit Lu got caught. if he had not gotten caught he would be planning the next violation of the FOI and use of public funds under cover of political darkness. Lu is like my kids use to be, what he REALLY regrets is getting caught! Deny that truth OnesAndZeros ! Thank goodness the press kept digging and did not rely on Lu's honesty!

whew! thenaturalstate - Thou doest protest too much! I think Arkgrad must have you pegged.

I see the situation this way. If I'm in discussions with my boss and she is taking notes and what I say ends up in a memo with my name typed at the bottom indicating the source of the information, I'm not going to be upset or surprised for more than a second. A poor choice of wording? Maybe. Overt attempt to deceive the BOT? I seriously, seriously doubt it and they know that. The conversations occured, the words were said. Happens everyday in my world. But go ahead and keep making that mountain out of a mole hill. The BOT needs to stop taking ques from this blog that's for sure.

Livinglr: if Lu just restated the words of the VPs then why did the memo misquote Jack Gillean's participation in Wins exit documents and why did Jack Gillean disagree just the position Lu quoted him as having on the FOI application, especially since Jack Gillean is a close friend of Lu. Lu mislead and dreamed up Jack's position. Final word! Lu loses - checkmate!

LivingLR,
That is very noble of you to be so forgiving on someone "signing" your name to a memo. I would NEVER, repeat NEVER put a name on the bottom of such a crucial document without their approval. As a supervisor, I would be incredibly disappointed if one of my employees put my name on a document without my approval and would expect my supervisor to give me the same respect. The fact that one of the names "forged" openly admitted that the memo misstated/misquoted him is even more disappointing. Had the misquote been a mistake on Lu's part, it may be forgivable, but given the circumstances I think we all realize no mistake was made.

This is not a mountain out of a mole hill, no this is the straw breaking the camel's back. First, a public decision was made in private. Okay, no harm-a mistake was made, they thought since the decision was made three years ago, the speed up of the payment was no big deal (kind of a stretch since they are paying an already highly paid man MORE while voting on tuition increases, benefit decreases and salary freezes) Second, a lie was told about the bonus. Okay, no harm- a mistake was made....it was bonus not