Done with Dunn

Let give you the skinny on the SIU fiasco that ended the Presidency of Randy Dunn.

Dunn got caught trying to help the Edwardsville campus at the expense of the Carbondale campus. He might have survived it if he had just been up front with everyone. Edwardsville is growing…Carbondale is dying. SIU probably needs to examine the funding.

But Dunn, who was hired in a smelly process, decided to play ball with his Edwardsville administrators…and….he left a paper trial. Every word you write for a public institution is a public document. So, when a faculty member did a Freedom of Information request for e-mails between Dunn and the SIUE financial boss, he was revealed.

Now, I’ve heard a lot about the deal that was cut to end the fiasco. Nobody likes the fact that he’s getting the rest of his salary for the current year. But, he has a contract. One signed by the Board of Trustees that extends to the year 2022. He’s owed $1.3 million dollars.

The Board had three choices. One, they could make a case that he wasn’t doing his job and fire him. That would lead to years of litigation and he would probably win in the courts.  Two, they could negotiate a settlement..or they could merely write a check for $1.3 million dollars. That wasn’t gonna fly…so a negotiated settlement seemed the most reasonable approach…and it had the best optics.

Dunn got his salary till January..then becomes a “visiting professor” at his favorite campus---Edwardsville. He maybe teaches two classes a semester, gets $100-grand for his trouble and improves his golf swing. Like a Supreme Court justice, he likely has a lifetime appointment.

Not the best deal for taxpayers…or students for that matter.

I’ve been around him before. He’s not that exciting.