Sounds familiar. I resigned a $7,000 a month retainer client several years ago. It was a small private Kentucky college. The president is a minister/insurance agent (fundraiser) who was fired by his own church twice for doing exactly what we're talking about. In this case, he makes the lives of all his direct reports miserable and goes to great lengths to make it nearly impossible for those he reports to (the board) to know what's really going on. There is no faculty/staff representation on the board. The board got some wind that there was a problem, and I was hired to research the situation. I discovered that 75% of the faculty and staff had been at the institution less than 5 years, and 80% of the faculty/staff reported that the administration was totally closed to any imput. I discovered later that this guy edited the final research report to make it favorable to the administration. I was then hired to be the communications consultant. No faculty/staff members would even talk to me, at first, so I had my people go out of their way to build a level of trust. As that happened, I was asked to do our work off-campus. When board members came to the restaurant where I played and mention to the president that they saw me, a VERY WORRIED president asked me to write a "contact report" detailing our conversation. If I ran into a board member on campus, this guy would literally run to interrupt the contact.

Hundreds of kids left dissatisfied. Faculty turnover is about 4 times the national average.

The guy is still there, making everyone miserable with his half-truths, intimidation, etc.

He'll be found out, but, in the meantime, is still destroying the place.

The damage is massive. As in your case, the organization management needs to be informed so they can fix the problem. Sadly, politics on college campuses are sometimes darker and more damaging than in Corporate America.

Sometimes, doing the right thing means telling the truth, even if someone is terminated in the process. I tried by talking to the one board member I knew casually, but the guy promised to change, and doubled his efforts to "hide, intimidate and separate". The board only visits the campus 4 times a year, and is comprised completely of large doners.They take no on-going active role in management.

I'd do what I could to call attention to the problem for employees who stay and for the organization itself.

It's been three years, and this situation still really bothers me.


Good luck,


Russ