New old news

Well, I opted out of the library gig for a few years and so am just now catching up with the goings-on at my SLIS in Denton, Texas. Seems I'm not the only information professional from Texas Woman's who hit a few rough patches this decade.

Boost for TWU SLIS Directorship
Salary, enrollment grow; previous director left after murky accusations
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 10/15/2003
The School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at Texas Woman's University, Denton, has received a boost in its search for a new director, after the previous director resigned last January following turmoil.
SLIS is undergoing significant growth, said interim director Lynn Westbrook. "The provost has allowed us to significantly increase the [salary] offer we can make. The [previous] offer was not meeting market demands really well." While the job formerly paid $66,000, with a set teaching load and no tenure, now it is "in the range of $80,000," with a negotiable teaching load and tenure.
"We hope to have news on the director by the end of this semester," Westbrook said. While the salary is an improvement, it remains on the low side. The mean salary among deans in 46 LIS schools in FY01/02 was $112,900.
The change was made in August in response to a faculty request. In the fall semester, the school has 499 students, some three-quarters of them via distance education, a more than 70 percent jump in enrollment in a year.
SLIS has nine faculty members, with four searches ongoing. SLIS was one of the few departments allowed to keep all its open faculty lines in the wake of state budget cuts, Westbrook said. An American Library Association Committee on Accreditation team was expected to visit October 25–29. "I think we're in good shape," stated Westbrook.A murky history
Westbrook, who was on leave, was not present for last year's turmoil. Director Laurie Bonnici resigned last January after holding the job for four months. Five faculty members signed a November 26, 2002 letter to then Provost Lois Smith, declaring "a vote of no confidence" in Bonnici and saying she "demonstrated an ongoing inability to advance the school's progress."
However, other SLIS faculty members did not know of the letter. "The word 'vote' has a very specific meaning," said then faculty member Kim Zarkin. "None of that happened." Zarkin charged that Keith Swigger, then dean of the College of Professional Education and former director of SLIS, "wanted [Bonnici] out of the way because she didn't do what he said."
Bonnici, now at the Georgia Southern University School of Information Technology, said, "Dean Swigger was my immediate supervisor. I received no direction from him, and he signed the letter." Swigger said, "I have no comment on personnel matters."
Swigger in November 2002 had announced his resignation as dean as of July 1, 2003. His resignation came on the heels of a meeting in which several faculty members expressed concerns about his leadership.