CSNbbs

I haven't seen it posted yet, but there was another mass email from Dr. Watts not too long ago.

Quote:Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed a relaxing winter break and are ready for an exciting spring semester. UAB students, faculty and staff are poised to achieve many milestones across the pillars of our mission in education, research, patient care, community service and economic development.

In 2015, we will continue the important dialogue underway on our campus that will ultimately build a framework for greater collaboration and shared governance. To assist in this effort, we have launched UAB Forward to provide updates, enable readers to provide input, and share the great things UAB faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners are doing — every day — to support our mission.

I spent much of December meeting with leaders from the student body, faculty, alumni, administration and the community. More meetings have been scheduled, and many more will take place. I have learned a lot from these meetings, and I am excited about the great things we can accomplish if the UAB community works together in setting our strategic course.

To that end, several task forces are being created to study some of the priority issues shared with me during these meetings.

Assistant Vice President of Student Life Andy Marsch will chair a task force of student leaders addressing how to engage students in decisions affecting campus life, facilities, programs, housing and other areas.
Interim Athletic Director Shannon Ealy will chair a task force made up of students, alumni, athletes and others focused on how to best engage and build support for programs so they can compete for championships.
Provost Linda Lucas will lead the task force on improving shared governance across the campus.
Vice President of Human Resources Alesia Jones will work closely with the faculty senate and lead a task force studying employee benefits.

Additional task forces will be formed with broad input from the UAB community to guide candidate searches and hiring for several high-profile vacancies including for UAB's next athletic director.

Community and government leaders will play a critical role as UAB enhances opportunities for inclusion and collaboration. For that reason, Clay Ryan of Maynard, Cooper & Gale will work with the university on educational and governance issues, as well as strategic planning initiatives, to advance important dialogues beyond UAB's campus. I have also enlisted Birmingham's Direct Communications to help us communicate and support the important dialogue that will lead the strategic direction of our campus.

Please visit UAB Forward often to learn more about efforts to maintain our great momentum in many areas across campus and beyond.

Very sincerely,

Ray L. Watts

Even though UAB Forward isn't a bad idea, the email just reeks of the same tired rhetoric that Dr. Watts uses every time he's in front of a camera. He keeps talking about being open when it is widely known now that he opts for secrecy over transparency.

Agreed. Nothing wrong with transparency and creating ways to better communicate. Unfortunately Watts doesn't realize this isn't just about the lack of communication about the decision. The unrest is largely about the decision itself.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

"I have also enlisted Birmingham's Direct Communications to help us communicate and support the important dialogue that will lead the strategic direction of our campus."

Nothing screams "fiscal responsibility" like hiring a PR firm when you already have paid staff for that (University Relations).

I didn't see any mention of what conference UAB will be competing for those championships in next year. I guess he's hoping no one will notice if there is a change later this month - or the consequences of scheduling as an independent during the conference play period in Jan. through March. What if no one wants to adopt the UA BOT's "orphan child" if we are dropped by C-USA?

How good a rebounder is he?

I also amazes me in that all the previous time he was president, I hardly heard anything in emails from him but then all of a sudden after fb announcement this year nothing but "apologies for his behavior & I'm changing" type emails. He may be trying to do just that but the damage is done & can't be undone by those smart enough to not buy the bs & lies (some will)

(01-07-2015 07:02 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]"I have also enlisted Birmingham's Direct Communications to help us communicate and support the important dialogue that will lead the strategic direction of our campus."

Nothing screams "fiscal responsibility" like hiring a PR firm when you already have paid staff for that (University Relations).

Well, at least he finally admitted he had a PR firm and who it was.

Should rename UAB Forward to Bend Over Forward.

(01-07-2015 07:07 PM)blazerwkr Wrote: [ -> ]I also amazes me in that all the previous time he was president, I hardly heard anything in emails from him but then all of a sudden after fb announcement this year nothing but "apologies for his behavior & I'm changing" type emails. He may be trying to do just that but the damage is done & can't be undone by those smart enough to not buy the bs & lies (some will)

Oh he communicated with folks even before the decision was announced. He just basically lied and told folks not to give credence to the circulating rumors. Only days later, he confirmed the rumors.

Now he is going around again saying not to heed the rumors about this situation. The man delivered one of the biggest lies in the history of UAB just a few weeks ago, and now he wants people to believe him and dispel the rumors? The same type of rumors that a few short weeks ago were proven correct? Does he think we're all idiots?

Nothing but window dressing to disguise the ultimate BOT goal,post graduate school only.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Just listen to his great and magnanimous voice.

"Under the agreement, the company will assess current internal and external communications, help UAB staff create and edit communications materials, help UAB Media Relations with media outreach and monitoring, and help to identify and organize task forces and committees to improve overall communication.
The agreement will continue on a month-to-month basis, and consultants will be paid hourly. Senior executives from Direct Communications will be paid $275 per hour; senior account Managers will be paid $175 per hour; and account managers will be paid $85 per hour."

So this is where the al.com trolls are coming from I take it.

All of this today just makes me want to work that much harder to see that Watts is pushed out of office. He's getting desperate.

Paying a PR firm with my tax dollars is like UAT paying a million dollars to play an out-of state team.

(01-07-2015 07:02 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]"I have also enlisted Birmingham's Direct Communications to help us communicate and support the important dialogue that will lead the strategic direction of our campus."

Nothing screams "fiscal responsibility" like hiring a PR firm when you already have paid staff for that (University Relations).

The cost? A measly $275/hour.

(01-07-2015 08:04 PM)FNblazer Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-07-2015 07:02 PM)58-56 Wrote: [ -> ]"I have also enlisted Birmingham's Direct Communications to help us communicate and support the important dialogue that will lead the strategic direction of our campus."

Nothing screams "fiscal responsibility" like hiring a PR firm when you already have paid staff for that (University Relations).

The cost? A measly $275/hour.

More than that. That's just what one senior executive gets paid per hour.

The full cost rundown:

Quote:Senior executives from Direct Communications will be paid $275 per hour; senior account Managers will be paid $175 per hour; and account managers will be paid $85 per hour.

If you have just one senior executive, one senior account manager, and one account manager working...that is $535 an hour.

I didn't read far enough down. Nice! I also liked that al.com asked about the added cost for security theatre around the Ivory Tower.

I'm thinking FreeUAB needs to start filling up the inbox on whomever is on the receiving end of the UAB Forward feedback email. On the website, to the right is a feedback link that opens up this email addy: uabforward@uab.edu

Let them know that the only way forward is to fire Watts and reinstate or athletic programs.

Fire away Blazers!

(01-08-2015 10:00 AM)braish Wrote: [ -> ]I'm thinking FreeUAB needs to start filling up the inbox on whomever is on the receiving end of the UAB Forward feedback email. On the website, to the right is a feedback link that opens up this email addy: uabforward@uab.edu

Let them know that the only way forward is to fire Watts and reinstate or athletic programs.

Fire away Blazers!

I've done that, and plan on doing it daily for awhile.
My strategies employ using differing 3 email accounts (personal, professional, and home), and changing the subject lines for each to ensure they aren't as easily filtered, either.

Wow, that is doublespeak right out of Orwell's "1984". Call something its opposite and repeat, repeat, repeat, until it becomes "true".

We know that "UAB Forward" is doublespeak and spin for "UAB Backward".