NKyTribune staff
The Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents is in the process of conducting a comprehensive evaluation of president Geoffrey S. Mearns. The evaluation will be done by a board-appointed, local committee and not by a hired outside consulting firm.
Boehne
In a message to the NKU community, Board of Regents chair Rich Boehne, indicates Mearns asked the Board to conduct the assessment of his performance during his first four-plus years at NKU.
“This process has been beneficial at NKU in the past, especially in helping the president and board develop a framework for goals and expectations for the next few years,” Boehne said in the correspondence. “These assessments often, as is the case now, coincide with the upcoming consideration of a president’s new contract.
Mearns’ initial contract ends on July 31, 2017, which coincides with the conclusion of his fifth year as president of NKU.
For several years, the NKU Board has conducted an annual evaluation of the president’s goals for the previous year and the outcomes of those objectives.
Boehne is president and CEO of E.W. Scripps, whoes portfolio includes local television station, WCPO. Boehne called the evaluation a critical process for NKU, stating “the president doesn’t work in a vacuum.”
Repenning
“We’re all in this together, day-to-day as well as in reaching our long-term strategic goals,” Boehne said in the correspondence. “The president works with and for all of us in the collective effort to best serve our students.”
While comprehensive presidential evaluations are often conducted by consulting firms that specialize in performance assessments, the Board elected to create a committee of persons from within the NKU community to conduct the evaluation.
Board member Dennis Repenning, an attorney in private practice, will chair the Presidential Evaluation Committee. Repenning, formerly an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and an assistant Kenton County Attorney, serves as tax counsel to the City of Covington. His private practice is concentrated on business planning, tax issues, and estate planning.
Fox
Other committee members are Virginia “Ginni” Fox, Andra’ Ward, Brenda Wilson, Chuck Brown, Steve Meier, Chuck Hawkins, Kara Clark Williams, and Tom Wiedemann.
Fox and Ward are also member of the Board of Regents. Boehne will serve as an ex officio member of the Committee.
“In the coming weeks, the committee will conduct interviews with a number of people from within NKU and outside the university,” Boehne said in the letter.
Ward
“We also anticipate that the committee will hold a number of meetings with students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. The committee’s goal is to gather input from as large a cross-section of the community as is possible.”
The committee is scheduled to complete its research and finalize its report within the next two months.
At that time, Boehne stated the report will be shared with the NKU community and the Board of Regents.
I know people at NKU. NONE of them are happy with the way the University is being run. In fact, they are appalled. I know plenty of people in the community. NONE that I know are happy with the way that NKU is being run. In fact, both groups take a very dim view of NKU’s administration, because both the President and the Provost give off the distinctly elitist impression that they are superior to the rest of the community.
Dear Reader, did you know that the staff and faculty have evaluated President Mearns’ performance during each year of his presidency? Two years ago, Mearns received some of the lowest marks that an NKU President had ever been assigned for his performance by the faculty. Last year’s evaluations (once the wheels had publicly begun to fall offf of Mearns’ administration) have not been shared with the faculty. I wonder why? Could it be that Mearns’ marks have fallen to historic lows? Could it be that if they were made public that the Board would have no choice but to fire Mearns?
That cover-up (among so many) aside, the Board has an opportunity to end this disastrous period in NKU’s history peacefully – by simply not renewing Mearns’ contract. That policy would allow the Board too to save face by not having to “fire” Mearns – isn’t that how corporate scandals are swept under the rug?
Once Mearns has been formally separated from NKU, the University should no longer cover his legal expenses. The taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Kentucky should be freed from that obligation.
Sure, given that Jane Doe’s lawyer appears to be wiping the floor with NKU’s legal team, I can only imagine that Mearns’ legal fees would be high, but then again, he makes $30,000 a month. He can afford it.
You are a faculty member, when are you guys going to call for a vote of no confidence in Mearns? Instead of just talking it, the NKU faculty needs to do a public display of unity against Mearns and the others who need to be out. This Sue Ott Rowlands thing with the reporters son should be the last straw for the faculty.
Robert Doucher continues to engage in dragging great people like President Mearns and Mr. Bothof through his backyard of agenda-driven mud. Since your unicorn of a story about the basketball players has been proven false, now you go after our President for being elitist as you call him? Of course he feels confident in his job, but to say elitist is so subjective and wrong on your part. As for evaluations, how can you put any stock in evaluations that are coming from disgruntled faculty like you? And what cover-up do you mean? The basketball assault/sex incident has been proven false. I know nothing of this Sue Ott Rowlands allegation, but it also stinks of more unicorns without any facts too support it. Your attacks on President Mearns and Mr. Bothof, two of the greatest men I have ever had the pleasure of working with, are more than insulting. They are slanderous and need to stop.
Norse Up!
What is the proof, Mr. Smith, of the falsity of the “basketball attacks?”
No arrests, no complaints filed. Do you need any more proof? Why no investigations by police? Why no victims coming forward with the basketball attacks? That should be proof of this unicorn driven by an attorney and headline-seeking press like you.
Sorry, Mr. Smith. That is not proof. You are assuming that all victims of “sexual incidents” go to the police and file complaints. That is probably an assumption that also cannot be proved. Proof would be sworn statements under oath — which is all we have reported, quoting verbatim from those sworn statements. In Mr. Bothof’s deposition he said there was a “sexual incident” on campus in 2015 involving three basketball players and one young woman, that he met with a rather large group of administrative officials about it but did not report it to police, and that the players were punished — but after the season was over. You said in an earlier comment that they “ran and ran and ran” and that they made a mistake. So, what was the “mistake?” Mr. Bothof also said that another player was “talking” to the victim. What was the nature of that “talk?” Mr. Bothof didn’t know. Do you? If incidents are not reported to police, there can be no police investigation — that would be another fact. NKU policy requires reporting to police. Rumors have been flying for months about this incident and others — and we have heard plenty, but we have not reported rumors. (Some of those are coming out in comments here, but we have not reported them) Our story on the incident came totally from the sworn statement of Mr. Bothof, which we quoted verbatim — not in our words but his, so that we were very careful to stick only to the facts.
Don’t feed the troll.
Mearns should be in prison if all of this rape stuff is correct. Boehne is corrupt, he doesn’t allow WCPO TV to do any stories about the rape scandals going on. Boehne should be removed from the Board of Regents as Chair, it’s a conflict of interest. Then there is Mearns covering up Sue Ott Rowlands. She allegedly threatened retaliation against a male student because of an investigative story written by his father, according to 2016 faculty evaluations.
The unnamed faculty member stated in the annual evaluations that Sue Ott Rowlands, NKU’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, suggested retaliation against the son of Enquirer reporter James Pilcher for embarrassing her in the newspaper. Several months earlier, Pilcher’s story had revealed Ott Rowlands spent more than $31,000 for a trip to Sri Lanka two years ago.
According to Pilcher’s investigative story in the Enquirer, Ott Rowlands and several faculty members and administrators went to Sri Lanka in September 2014. NKU spent more than $31,000 on the trip, according to records obtained through an open records request. It also included a professor from Virginia Tech, where Ott Rowlands last worked, as well as a private NKU booster who paid her own way.
The trip included several stops at different universities and cultural centers in the island nation off the southeast tip of India. Included in expense reports were several expensive dinners and accommodations at exclusive hotels, according to the records.
Pilcher’s son graduated from NKU in May. His father is an investigative reporter for the Enquirer.
Bad enough Ott Rowlands was allowed to spend thousands of dollars for her own personal vacation, but to follow that by threatening a reporters kid is the last straw. Must be nice to get a trip to Sri Lanka on taxpayer dollars and live the life while Mearns cuts jobs at NKU.
Paul Webster: I know this faculty person who did not have the courage to put a name with the allegation in Sue’s evaluation. She joked about the student’s father, a man who wrote a negative story about her in the newspaper several months before. The unnamed faculty person ran with it, blew it out of context, and Sue explained it to President Mearns. It was said in jest, nothing more, nothing less. See my comment below as well. As far as her trip to Sri Lanka, the money was approved with the understanding it would help jump-start a partnership with the academic community in that country and the study-abroad program at NKU could thrive under new agreements. International partnerships are a major goal at NKU.
I could care less about the name of the faculty, the fact Ott Rowlands mentioned retaliating against someone because their father wrote a truthful article is ridiculous and unworthy of someone in a provost job. How do you know she was joking and not serious? What makes you more of an authority than the teacher who revealed Ott Rowlands did the deed against a NKU student whose dad happens to be the reporter who wrote she spent thousands of tax dollars on a trip to Sri Lanka? And why isn’t this evaluation being made public so we can evaluate it ourself? The entire NKU regime is is completely out of control to allow this without consequences to Ott Rowlands. Then again they allow women to be assaulted by basketball players and play them like nothing happened.
The Provost “joked” about getting even with a reporter by going after his son? Is this the line that the administration at NKU is taking? Good heavens! High level administrators in private and public institutions -elected and otherwise- across the country have been fired for less. NKU sure puts “students first”…
Count me among the disenchanted faculty at Northern Kentucky University. President Geoff Mearns is by no means the only problem facing our institution, but his defiance in many of these petty issues is startling. His arrogance is insulting to many of the faculty and staff. His ratings in the last faculty evaluations are most revealing.
I could pontificate for hours about Provost Sue Ott Rowlands and the problems she has caused in her short tenure. I was aware of the faculty who accused her of the implied retaliation against the newspaper reporter’s son. That nothing has been done speaks loudly about President Mearns.
Solutions to the problem? I have an idea. A restoration of Dr. James Votruba as President for one year. Dr. Votruba is respected by the faculty and staff. His presence will give immediate credibility to all those on campus, and it will show the community NKU is serious about changing this culture that has slowly ripped at the campus the past four years. Give Dr. Votruba a 1-year contract, renewable to a second year if he so desires, allow him to extinguish the flames of discontent engulfing the campus. Though retired, Dr. Votruba is still visible on campus in his new role. I believe Dr. Votruba is also ready for this challenge, to restore NKU back to being a learner-centered institution rather than the current mess of corporate partnerships and devious intent.
While Dr. Votruba orchestrated the move from Division II to Division I sports, I believe it is now obvious NKU needs to place its athletics programs in a lower level, possibly non-scholarship in Division III. The countless illegalities reported in recent months by the basketball players alone should demonstrate Division I sports in nothing more than a cesspool. NKU should stand for academics, not a group of athletes bouncing a ball around a court and going about their business of hurting young women in their spare times as the local press has reported. I find it amusing the current Faculty Athletic Representative attempts to soften these reports to the faculty with high-rhetoric spins. Her title of Faculty Athletic Representative is a complete oxymoron, given we should be championing the cause of academics, not rationalizing violent behavior by sports figures on campus.
Complete hogwash, all of this. NKU is a proud member of the Horiizon League and On The Rise in Division I. Our student athletes are of the highest caliber in the class room and in the community. Keep in mind these are college kids who occasionally make mistakes like any other college student. The incidents to which you allude are just that, minor and dumb pranks. For you to call out Dr. Mary Kirk, our FAR, as a problem is disgraceful. The faculty at NKU is the problem, not the President or the members of President Mearn’s Executive Team.
You are either the most brainwashed employee of all time, or the dumbest. Are you keeping up with current events out there? Bothof said he DID NOT report a sexual incident to police. Neither did his superiors. That’s a cover-up, not a minor prank. Have you ever heard of Penn State or Baylor? Were those just dumb college pranks as well? If you represent the thought-process of the majority of employees at NKU, and I don’t think for a moment you do, you guys must guzzle down a gallon of Mearns Kool-Aid every day.
Time for someone to come to the defense of Sue Ott Rowlands. Anyone who knows Sue realizes she would never threaten a student. Sue is a free spirit and is prone to joking in terms many might mistake as real, but in fact it’s humor. I know about this faculty person who did not have the courage to put a name with the allegation in Sue’s evaluation. She joked about the student’s father, a man who wrote a negative story about her in the newspaper several months before. The unnamed faculty person ran with it, blew it out of context, and Sue explained it to President Mearns. It was said in jest, nothing more, nothing less. NKU’s faculty and staff need to calm down and realize how good they have it. The campus growth is incredible, see the latest building construction and the new dorm announcement. President Mearns is doing a remarkable job, and the faculty of all people should take a deep breath and appreciate the moment.
Brandi, are the faculty evaluations of administrators at NKU anonymous? Are they confidential re: faculty responses? How do you know who authored the comment about Provost Ott Rowlands? Clearly faculty at NKU are neither safe nor free to express their opinions with anonymity if you somehow know who authored the said comment. That fact notwithstanding, this comment re: the Provost calling for retaliation against the son of a reporter who wrote a negative story about her is all over the campus of NKU – and in the community. Faculty on NKU’s campus who have spoken out have been run out of jobs, demoted and demonized. If you think that’s having it “good” Kim Jong Un has a job for you. If Provost Ott Rowlands is such a pleasure to work for why has everyone in her office recently resigned?
Don Terry: Please do not let facts get in the way of your agenda. I know the faculty who made the accusation and was told by this person in a meeting. Is that good enough for you? This person told me, completely aware I am a supporter of Sue Ott Rowlands. It was a joke, for goodness sakes! No retaliation has been done to the said faculty, and their thoughts were appreciated. You also make a false statement about ” why has everyone in her office recently resigned?” If you mean Beth Sweeney, a good friend BTW, she is retiring after 27 years of service to NKU. She is not leaving because of Sue, as you implied. As any administrator must do, Sue had to make changes to the provost office when she arrived two years ago. Her people are now in place. NKU has never been in better shape academically, a tribute to both Sue and President Mearns. I do not hear the faculty complaining about the new buildings and improvements in the infrastructure. Why? Because everything is good. The faculty are not in an uproar over office furniture and technology, something NKU spent more than $2 million for in improvements since Sue took over. The community should take rants such as yours for what it is worth, just a rant from someone resentful they do not always get their way. President Mearns inherited a mess from Dr. Votruba’s administration. Most of that executive team has now been replaced with a newer, modern team of dynamic individuals who are making NKU a place students wish to attend.
I believe many of the faculty are probably good people, just a few who make them look bad like on this site. President Mearns commitment to making NKU an engine of the entire Northern Ky. Area is evident in our many partnerships with financial institutions, media outlets such as WCPO-TV and Scripps, and our many initiatives with local high schools. I have only worked at NKU two years and the optimism is great among the staff. President Mearns guided NKU through a challenging financial situation due to the state’s shortfall of revenue, but as a great leader, he got us through in flying colors. I have never been happier than now, working for NKU and proud of our campus. Let’s all try and be positive about the future. Norse Up!
Working for Athletics and I’m assuming closely with the Provost, chances are that neither of you (“Jim” and “Brandi”) are able to comment with much knowledge, accuracy or authority about the community’s or faculty’s reaction to what’s going on at NKU.
The echo chambers that your divisions have turned into (based upon your comments) are simultaneously fascinating (think of a train wreck, it’s hard to look away) and troubling.
Those points notwithstanding, I’m glad that both of you are so happy. Norse up, “Jim” and “Brandi”!
Robert Doucher: You relentless attacks against President Geoff Mearns is based on supposition, rhetoric, and absolutely no facts. You remind me of several bitter former employees, not faculty. Just because you are no longer on our team, doesn’t mean NKU isn’t a player in the game of higher education any longer. Get over yourself and get a life. All the negatives reported in the local press consist of rumors and unsubstantiated actions. The Jane Doe lawsuit is unfortunate, no question. But it also appears NKU is guilty of procedural errors, according to the former DPS Chief, not ignoring a victim as you and the Tribune attempt to spin. The other accusation about the basketball players, from what I have been told by many on campus familiar with the story, is nothing more than college kids and typical college behavior. The female in this case apparently instigated the entire situation, but luckily between 40 and 50 people were there and saw the basketball players did nothing more than a prank. Let the facts speak, and we will eventually see NKU is innocent. President Mearns is a good person, trust me. And an even better leader for our campus.
Norse up, Brandi!
The Norse Up! duo of Jim Smith and Brandi are the best comedy team since Sonny & Cher. NKU employees, brainwashed, ignoring crime on their campus. I wonder if they Pledge Allegiance to Mearns every morning before they clock in? In Jim Smith’s case, I know people at NKU in the human resources and some who have left. Don’t tell us what a great man Ken Bothof is. I know he has had repeated problems that have been taken to human resources. His hiring of McIver and McIver’s wife from Green Bay had an independent outside firm questioning Bothof. There’s also reports in human resources of Bothof screaming at volunteer/part time employees at events, things the public needs to know. Bothof withheld information about the so-called sexual incident from the proper authorities, he admits this in his deposition. I hope Murphy gets Bothof back up on the stand and asks him about the lying and spinning eh did with the Atlantic Sun Conference with the sudden departure. Bring in the officials from the Atlantic Sun Conference to tell their story about what a lying sack of potatoes Bothof is.
I think I just figured out who “Norse Uppers” Jim Smith and Brandi really are with their blind devotion: McIver and his wife. They have to defend Bothof and Mearns to the end because when everyone learns the truth behind McIver and Debbie Kirch, his wife that just happened to be hired at NKU even though the committee didn’t have her as a finalist, it will be the end of their employment at NKU.
This story is sickening, I know a member of the committee that was supposed to hire the replacement for academic advisor Rachel Willett and McIver’s wife was not one of the top 3 candidates until Bothof came in and overruled the search. One former NKU coach who was there argued with Bothof and even pointed out it was an illegal search the way Bothof made sure McIver’s wife was hired. I did hear a grievance was filed for the way it was handled, human resources and the lot of them were all aware it was a shady hire. The taxpayers of Kentucky should run Bothof, McIver and his wife Debbie Kirch back to Wisconsin. They have let go good employees in athletic’s department and keep a scandal-driven hire like Kirch. The former coach said there’s plenty of good stories in Green Bay about her as the volleyball coach, Bothof naturally was the AD. The Governor of Kentucky needs to step in and look at all of this going on under Mearns.
How is this a illegal search, as you phrase it? Ms. Kirch is an amazing addition to NKU, years of experience in both compliance and coaching, she knows college athletics like few can. She was the BEST candidate by far. If Mr. Bothof had to correct the committee, that’s what a good administrator should do. You bring up a former coach, we can all guess who that is since all these unicorns of stories are undoubtedly coming from that camp. Anything to try and tear down an amazing administration. Ms. Kirch and Mr. McIver are both fantastic people, dedicated to NKU, at all the home games and offering their support to our many student-athletes. I bet you Vince Ryan you have not been to one home event this season. You should show up and see how this amazing department is growing, On The Rise in the Horizon League, and part of a great institution, NKU! Norse Up!