To Governor Mike Beebe, Members of the Arkansas Legislature, & Director of Higher Education Shane Broadway                            January 24, 2014
ASU Chancellor Tim Hudson is in complete charge of a fiefdom and appears to be replete with inbreeding, cronyism, malfeasance, misfeasance or perhaps more?
 
The following is a brief overview of some of the hiring practices occurring at Arkansas State University and the accompanying salaries of only 11 employees of A-State.

The important point here is that there was no external search for qualified candidates in 10 of the 11 employees which is a violation of Arkansas law. The 11th was a new hire.

Len Frey was the Dean of Business and he was appointed to that position without the university conducting a search.  They never posted the position to allow interested candidates to apply.

Frey was asked to serve as the chair of the search committee for the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration.  As the chair of the committee, he took the opportunity to review the applicants & resumes. After this review, he decided to step down from the committee and apply for the job, after the position posting was closed. 

Frey was given the job.

 Jason Penry was brought to ASU by Chancellor Hudson to serve as “Chief of Staff”. Why does a public institution the size of ASU need a “Chief of Staff” for the Chancellor, in addition to 2 secretaries and part-time office assistants? 

No search was conducted for the “Chief of Staff” position.  Hudson brought him in from Texas Tech, his former employer. A year later Hudson terminated the existing Vice Chancellor for Advancement and reassigned Penry, once again without going through the legally required process to announce the position and conduct a search.
Hudson then hired Shawnie Carrier as the new “Chief of Staff”.  No experience related to that roll. Carrier was a former Chamber of Commerce person—the open borders, cheap labor outfit.

Lucinda McDaniel was hired as Legal Counsel for the university and is the daughter of former ASU President Smith…the position was never open for interested candidates to apply.

ASU Systems President Charles Welch moved the Systems’ office staff to Little Rock.  The University provides him with a house.  Welch lives at 4 Lacelle Ct in Little Rock.  A search of property of the Pulaski County Assessor records shows there is not a record for 4 Lacelle Ct, but are records for 1,2,3,5,6, & 7. Welch received a $20,517 salary increase for the year 2014, bringing his yearly salary to $311,217.00 not including the many perks not listed. Welch serves as a lobbyist for ASU.

A partial list of personnel housed in Little Rock are; Julie Bates/V.P. Finance, Jeff Hankins/V.P. Communications & Economic Development, & Robert Evans/V.P. Governmental Affairs.  Additionally, a horde of lawyers, legal assistants, Internal Audit & Audit Assistants in Jonesboro.

Dr. DeeDee Hudson, wife of Chancellor Hudson, current position unknown, former position house-wife, is knocking down $16,668 per year.

It should be noted that on the analysis of these personnel are numbers of people who are placed in positions with no relevant experience, i.e. Len Frey, V.P. Finance & Administration.

Another example is Shawnie Carrier who has no experience in Higher Education.
Logic is missing.  ASU is an organization that has an annual budget in excess of $100 million and begging for more and wanting to create an operation in a foreign land—Mexico and have hired a Chief Financial Officer that has zero experience in administering financials.

Governor Beebe, Members of the General Assembly & Director of Higher Education Shane Broadway, are you folks going to continue to permit an outlaw operation of these proportions to function unlawfully with huge abuses of taxpayer dollars and expand their areas of influence in a foreign country?

Ladies & Gentlemen of the governing bodies of Arkansas, are you aware of what is happening in the government you were elected and hired to oversee for the protection of Arkansas citizens? Do you not know what is going on in your own government?

Further note that Gov. Beebe, in a press release, stated he was intent on shoveling more millions into what he surely, jokingly declared “education”. 
At this point the Governor, the legislature & other enablers have been silent on these issues, this is not acceptable.

The Protection Racket is in full bloom, votes, power, and money.
 Note the financials below.
 
Chancellor Tim Hudson’s salary & increases could not be found.
The 11 employees listed above had salaries in 2013 totaling $1,160,344.00.
                                             2014 totaling $1,524,963.00/for just 11 employees!
                         Increase= $364,619.00
                         Lynita Cooksey received a $75,843.00 yearly increase
                         Jason Penry received a $46,495.00 yearly increase

It is noteworthy that the Chambers of Commerce (globalists) has a large presence of current and former employees in official capacities on the Jonesboro campus, coupled with a substantial complement of A-State graduates. The rest of ASU employee high salaries are as unjustified as those salaries listed above.

With all the facts in mind, what can we expect from the Governor, the legislature, and the Director of Higher Education?

Joe McCutchen
Fort Smith, AR                            arkansasfreedom.net

P.S. It is confirmed that a college president was heard to say, referring to the Board of Trustees, “they eat out of my hands”.  Is this not the case with all school administrators?