Palmer issue shared by alumni Dr: Chad Rohlsen Reply to: drchad@rohlfsen.com I am happy to give you any information that comes along to me. Today Feb 13th, I spent the day at Palmer talking with students, staff/faculty, and some in the administration. Things are not good as you would probably assume. The students have collected approximately 800 signatures supporting the No confidence vote toward Vicki Palmer and the current board of directors. They submitted the no confidence vote to Vicki's office at approximately 4 p.m. Feb. 13th The students have been warned that any ethics violations could lead to severe and swift repercussion as well as possible expulsion. They have signed and agreed to these ethics codes upon entrance to Palmer college. Which prevents them from disparaging Palmer college in any form to the public & press. Dr. Riekeman addressed the student body off campus. He is not allowed on campus. Isn't that funny? I mean, didn't HE resign? Why would they ban him from campus? There was standing room only in the church, as usual. Anytime you ban someone from campus they get all the big crowds. If you would like to hear his address to the students please visit, (http://www.palmerbeacon.com/index.asp?page=riekeman ) They have the whole address on audio file So as you can imagine there is a bit of fear in the air at Palmer today. The clear majority of students are clearly upset by the forced resignation of Dr. Riekeman but there are some that are clearly afraid to act on it. In truth they are awaiting the Calvary to come and rescue the day, that being the alumni and financial supporters. To date the marketing department has counted only 400 e-mails and 50 phone calls on this subject. The administration personal that I have talked to think that the effort to reinstate Dr. Riekeman is "running out of gas, with a few muscle twitches to follow." The students need our help desperately! Please contact all you know to contact Palmer college as soon as possible. PLEASE DO NOT SEND E-MAILS the the board or Palmer. Vicki has forwarded the E-mails to the marketing department for them to give a brief description and the name of the alumni... E-MAILS while convenient are not being taken seriously. I will provide a list of all the addresses of the Palmer board members at the end of this E-mail. The following are the Facts that I have found to date... * Larry Patton is back in the employ of Vicki Palmer and is being paid with tuition money from the college. This is the same person who was offered as a sacrificial resignation. Vicki Palmer has stripped the title of lyceum from palmer homecoming events, Lyceum will now be known as Palmer Homecoming. There will be no continuing education credits available for these events any longer. Rumors of financial wrong doing by Dr. Riekeman have been totally fabricated. As you may know Dr. Riekeman's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Bill Jarr was fired approximately a week prior to Dr. Riekeman's resignation. If there was any financial wrong doing, why would they give Mr. Jarr a years severance pay? To date there has been no financial wrong doing found of any kind. It has stated that Mr. Jarr was in the middle of investigating certain board expenditures. Dr. Bill Martin has been reinstated as president of Palmer West. Student organizations like (SACA) at Palmer West have unanimously submitted a no confidence vote and have joined the Palmer Davenport students in their no confidence vote of Vicki Palmer and the Palmer Board. Vicki recently spoke to the student body of Palmer West and stated that She and the board were totally taken by surprise by Dr. Riekeman's resignation. Dr. Kern has told the Palmer Florida students that only 10% of the student population in davenport are against Dr. Riekeman's resignation. A far cry from 800 signatures gathered for a No confidence vote against Vicki Palmer and the board. The majority of the Faculty is behind the boards action basically because of the faculty union they have formed. Dr. Riekeman has always been about accountability. And he has had to make many tough choices along the way. Not all of his decisions have been 100%, but whose are? My take on the Faculty is pretty simple... Don't get me wrong, there are faculty there that are top notch and deserve the comfortable salaries they are getting. What I am uncomfortable with is those staff and faculty who have attained their doctorate in the past (sometimes very recent past) that think they should be paid on the same level as "real" doctors. To me this is a ridiculous union mentality! After I graduated I had to work awfully damn hard to build and maintain my practice, and many times I wasn't paid what I thought I was worth as well because my practice needed that money more than I did. Believe me folks when I say I understand union mentality, my city is rich with the union attitude. I have people in my practice that think they deserve 40G salaries for screwing a couple of bolts together on a Maytag washer! The same could be said for certain faculty at Palmer. To obtain a doctorate with no field experience to utilize that doctorate, is about as valuable as the actual sheep skin the diploma has been printed on. To obtain a comfortable salary in a position at a university level demands that the faculty make something of themselves while in the walls of that university. Write a book in your field of expertise, do research that will propel the profession forward, do something valuable at least above and beyond your teaching responsibilities. (Value is not always equal in the eyes of the beholder or the creator ) Do something of value to the profession rather than sitting back and waiting for your tenure so then you can REALLY be lazy and not give a damn care in the world. If you have done such valuable work and still think you are under appreciated, than it's a free market baby, go to another school that will value you as much as you do! The president of the alumni association made a premature declaration of support for Vicki Palmer and the palmer Board. It hit the alumni association so hard it was followed by an immediate response from the past presidents of the alumni association.