Countdown to Failure

I have talked and complained about my situation at work quite often over the past year. Not too long ago, I promised someone that I would stop using this as a forum to air my complaints. Let me tell you, it has been difficult but it has also been a good thing. You'll notice that, in my posts since then, I have again found my voice... and it doesn't whine about work.

There has been another change at work, however, that I must comment on. The last of the IT managers recruited from Texas Tech University has officially resigned and, as of September 30, 2004, is no longer employed by Oklahoma State University.

This event was not unexpected. Besides the fact that she was the only one left, she was also married to the other director. We pretty much knew that once he found a job, she would follow. We were just waiting for the day.

You may be wondering about the title. When it was announced to us that we would be changing the networking and email systems at OSU, I predicted a catastrophic failure. At first, my prediction was reinforced by the methods whereby they collected our input and skewed the results to fit their predetermined outcome. Later, it was reinforced by the methods they employed for overcoming obstacles. Without going into further detail, let's just say there were many factors supporting the possibility.

Due to the hard work of several good people - some I know well, some I don't - the email system at OSU is up and running and healthy. We've had a few speedbumps but, at least in this regard, we fortified ourselves and avoided the imminent failure. With this latest resignation, however, it suddenly became clear to me where the catastrophic failure occurred - in our management.

Let me present to you, the timeline of our failure.

On November 25, 2002, Dr. David Schmidly was named the 17th President of OSU. He came to us after 27 months as President of Texas Tech University. There were some raised eyebrows upon his appointment - the decision seemed a little abrupt - but we moved on. On January 16, 2003, he assumed office at an annual salary of approximately $250,000.00.

On April 8, 2003, Dr. Gary Wiggins, Vice President of Information Technology at Texas Tech since 2000, was appointed as VP of IT at OSU. Again, eyebrows were raised. There was a national search that included over seventy candidates and the most qualified came from Texas Tech? The same institution that Dr. Schmidly had just left? Wiggins was offered an annual salary of approximately $200,000.00 and was given $8,000.00 moving expenses. This was a newly created position and the question was raised almost immediately, "where is the money coming from?" The answer we were given was, "existing funds."

Side Note: The same day Dr. Wiggins' appointment was announced, and even in the same document, Dr. Michael Heintze was announced as VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing. Although the salaries are not disclosed in the announcement, it does note that Heintze was previously employed at... you guessed it... Texas Tech University. The search for the VP of EMM was also a national search and included more than thirty applicants.

On June 20, 2003, after another national search, Brandon Labonte was named director of software services and Sherri Snider was named director of technology support. Both of these individuals were hired from Texas Tech University into newly created positions. They were offered annual salaries of approximately $97,000.00 each. They were engaged to be married and were hired as a package deal. Questions were again raised about the money, the coincidence of their previous employer, and the experience - or lack thereof - that they brought to the job. They assumed their roles as directors in the IT division on July 7, 2003.

Two months later, on September 8, 2003, Michael Hewitt, also formerly employed at Texas Tech University, was hired as assistant director of software services at an annual salary of approximately $70,000.00. By this time, we had stopped raising our eyebrows and simply shook our heads.

As each of them came in, we were promised big things for OSU. We were promised that services would improve. We were promised that ours would be a performance-based environment. We were promised that our thoughts and opinions mattered.

None of that happened.

For the amount of money we were paying them, we should have been well on our way to fulfilling those promises after a year. Instead, our entire hierarchy was restructured and our processes were modified to fit the mold of what they knew and not necessarily what worked or what was best. It appeared to be an internal "shock and awe" campaign to cover up their obviously immature management styles. It worked. Most of us spent the latter months of 2003 wondering just what our job responsibilities had become. By the time we figured it out, OSU was well on its way toward the predicted technological calamity. This, the dark ages of IT, saw many of my colleagues, mentors and friends moving on to other jobs and most others looking for employment in a better environment.

Let's take a journey, now, into the downfall of each of these administrators. As each of them left, as when they were hired, most of them got much more than they deserved.

On June 25, 2004, amid allegations of illegal use of software and unlawful access to a computer network, Brandon Labonte and Michael Hewitt resigned from OSU. The terms of their resignations were spelled out in secret agreements (one of which the faculty council later published) under which Labonte received approximately $16,000.00 in severance (plus unused, accrued annual leave) and Hewitt received approximately $12,000.00 in severance (plus leave). The resignations were effective June 30, 2004. That's just under a year for Labonte and just under ten months for Hewitt. As an inside observer to the whole ordeal, I can tell you there was more to the situation than what was reported in the press... much more.

Amid pressure from the faculty council related to his involvement with the agreements with Labonte and Hewitt, Gary Wiggins tendered his resignation on July 9, 2004, effective July 31, 2004. In his resignation letter, Wiggins said, “. . . I believe that I am no longer the person to lead the information technology division of Oklahoma State University.” I don't believe he ever was but I have to give him his props for having the guts to say that. As part of his resignation, he was given approximately $50,000.00 severance and another $8,000.00 to move back to Lubbuck, TX. He only lasted four months past the one year anniversary of his appointment.

I recall someone saying the day he resigned, "I want to quit, too!" as a response to the amount of money being paid to individuals who had recently "resigned" from OSU.

Now, our last remnant of the Texas Tech regime, Sherri Labonte, is following her husband to the Northeastern United States just under three months after her one year employment anniversary. As far as I know, she is not receiving any sort of severance payment.

I have commented before how all of these individuals never seemed to become part of the OSU family. In the eyes of most of the IT employees I know, they were always referred to as "the people from Texas Tech." My only hope is that we can learn from this catastrophic failure and that any replacements they may hire will not remain outsiders to the OSU family.