Critics put spotlight on UMD arts dean’s spending
August 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The University of Minnesota has faced hard times in recent years, dealing with a current budget shortfall of $152 million by cutting staff and salaries while raising tuition for students.
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declined to be identified for fear of retaliation.
That is the most disturbing sentence in the whole piece. Reinforces my perception that colleges whole purpose today is to instill the dogma of the ruling elite.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I highly doubt that anyone who would like to keep their job, including you, David, would publicly go on record with the DNT to slam their boss or another high ranking member of management.
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Isn’t a University supposed to be a different kind of place? A place where people cans speak their minds without fear? That’s what they tell us it is.
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In universities people can speak their minds on a wide range of issues. But it is not a good career move to openly criticize upper management at any workplace.
It is odd, however, to put on a costly opera production of Don Giovanni for the Sieur du Luth festival during the summer when many students and staff are out of town or furloughed. Can anyone explain this to me? I’m just curious.
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I’d like to know just why we keep shelling out money to put on costly operas that no one sees as well. I’ve worked on crew for most of the last 10 or so operas put on by UMD’s SFA… and I still have no idea why we keep doing them. They just hemorrhage money from the college and various departments.
As for the point about speaking your mind… there is no way I’d post this under my real name. I don’t have much time left as a student at UMD, but there’s no way I’d risk the administration getting my name. Heck, I even censored myself from saying how many operas I’ve worked on for fear that might give me away. I’ve just seen and heard too much in my time here.
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I agree with Michelle that it’s never a good idea to openly criticize upper management. And even if a university is supposed to be different, there’s plenty of interviews from faculty members at previous universities he worked at. One professor said that he micromanages, and another said that he ran the ran the school with intimidation and favoritism.
If professors at UMD have observed the same things, why in the world would they want to publicly reveal their identities? It doesn’t matter if an university is “supposed to be a different kind of place” if the person in charge doesn’t treat it like a different kind of place.
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And the sad thing is, any misallocated money from this guy is small potatoes compared to a Minnesota state law that truly does steal money. When UMD builds new structures, they have to dedicate a certain percentage towards “art”. Our wonderful legislators in their infinite wisdom have decided to steal tax dollars to support the art community, and we end up with crap like the giant Nuva-Ring on the UMD campus.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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As someone who went to UMD’s School of Music, I can tell you for a fact that if Bowman found out names of the staff commentators he’d make their lives a living hell. That’s honestly the kind of person he is. And unfortunately he seems to have his “bosses” under his thumb somehow so he can do pretty much whatever he wants. All my fellow music students are overjoyed that his abuse of power and university funds are finally coming to light.
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This type of thing will further the perception that the high cost of a college education is a rip-off.
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I personally know several UMD employees who believe that incompetence is rewarded with promotion, especially at the top levels. There are too many thin skinned prima-donnas up there to be efficient at anything. Awarding tenure was supposed to be about academic freedom. Now it is used as a weapon to whip subordinates into submission. UMD would do well to lose ALLthose who think that they are above reproach.
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Any large organization is going to have disgruntled employees. However when you have employees so frustrated they are running to the press with their grievances, that is a warning sign that the leadership of that organization is not up to the task. Apparently these anonymous professors don’t think the leaders are willing to listen.
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Incompetence being rewarded happens at every place of employment. Hell, one job I worked to put myself through school, we had a supervisor in charge of payroll who couldn’t count. He could not see that if you had five days, of 8 hours, that was forty hours.
Like the expression says, “Fail your way to the top”.
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Where i work we call it F(expletive) up move up! I just watched a supervisor where i work read us an email that she had just forwarded to us. I also used to work at a place where they promoted a guy that couldnt see the diffence in UPC’s on product boxes. Incompetence is a pre-requisite to furthering your career.
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Hugh…..ahhhhh….the now infamous Peter Principle by Dr. Laurence J. Peter.
No Offense to my posting friend Peter who shares the name of Peter.
The Peter Principle Flourishes in bureacracies where the incompetent surround themselves within a ring of more incompetence so as not to be ‘outed’ as…..hehehe….incompetent.
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LOL….or…..Jessica’s memory of Maszlow (sp).
Good one…Jessica!
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Does anyone remember “Maslows Hierachy” ? Given that I learned about that in college level Phychology, I would certainly think that would apply here. When the University system is in emergency mode, suffering from lack of money and cutting back on staff, classes, raising tuition and a myriad of other things, I would think their “core” mission would be the most important thing to preserve. When times are tough for a family, the first thing you need to place importance on is having a place to live (shelter), food for your family, and paying utility bills etc… The “fine arts” and other niceties which are wonderful and even necessary to our society in good times certainly should be cut back a bit until times are better. It just seems ludicrious to be spending big money globetrotting for the arts, while funding is at a bare bones level for many if not all other programs.
Personally, I buy artwork and attend cultural events AFTER my mortgage is paid , my family has food on the table and the utilities are paid. Doesn’t this just make sense ?
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Jessica, the problem with your point of view is it makes too much sense. Being sensible is a mystery to the stuffed shirt goons wasting taxpayer and students money.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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The purpose of a public university is to broadly educate citizens to make the state and country stronger. This broad education can help people contribute to a stronger democracy. When an engineering major votes, he/she must decided what role art plays in a strong democracy. Art education does play an important role in a broad education. However, art education is just one of many elements of a broad education, and we should watch out for excessive spending during these hard times.
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I wonder if beaver woman from Bemidji went to school in Duluth.
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For all you artsy types, REAL art will always have a sponsor. The crap that so often passes as art now a days is no more art than my last bowel movement. Real art provokes thought. Hanging a urinal on the a wall only makes me want to relieve my self in it. A crucifix in a jar of urine? Don’t get me started. If the work is good, it will have a market. If it sucks, it won’t. Maybe this is why half of recent FSA grads aren’t working in their fields. They’ve been told how wonderful their garbage was, only to find out their instructors were either deluded, or liars.
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The Fine Arts brings culture to a city and a society and is therefore a necessity in our lives, whether you believe it or not. If you think you can live without the arts, don’t watch TV, don’t listen to any music, don’t look at any advertisements, signs, pictures, buildings, etc. Dean Bowman has made great efforts to bring more of the arts to Duluth and especially for opera lovers, it has been appreciated. I’m not defending him and he should be held accountable for his actions.
However, as a relatively newcomer to Duluth, there are a lot of wonderful opportunities for arts in this city, but it seems that the majority of people either aren’t willing to pay to see it or support it.
I saw the Duluth Festival Opera production of Acis and Galatea at the park and there was a large crowd – it was a free show… how many of the people there would have paid $10-40/person to see it? I have friends in the DSSO and they are not paid an awful lot of money for the great job they do and yet it is hard to get audiences in to the DSSO performances. But at the same time long lines form for monster truck shows or some other event that charges much more and is only here for one show. The folks in the DSSO are our neighbors and deserve our support.
I’ve digressed, but considering the amount of money Dean Bowman is responsible for losing seems rather small in consideration to the overall numbers. However, as I mentioned previously, he should be held accountable for anything he has done without the approval of the university.
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Dr. Bowman, I want my money back. Thief.
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but didn’t this also happen under the watchful eye of Chancellor Kathryn Martin? Wasn’t she also responsible for oversight? Rumor has it that she now works in the same department or office where Bowman is dean. Something smells a bit fishy here. Is Ms Martin “helping” jack out the door with an eye on being his replacement? This whole thing is a soap opera the likes of which UMD could never even dream of producing. I guess truth is stranger than fiction.
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I’m glad it’s finally coming out about Dean Bowman’s using funds earmarked for education to finance his jet-setting lifestyle. Dean Bowman obviously has champagne tastes and refuses to follow the rules others follow. It’s truly all about him and his favorites (and the DNT just skimmed the surface of the perks his favorites receive from their generous-with-taxpayers’s-money benefactor). What galls me is Bowman is arrogant enough, and thinks others are gullible enough to believe him when he claims he’s an “honest man who does his job.” That’s not what many who work with him think, or those, like me, who’ve heard the stories for years from UMD insiders who are disgusted at what Bowman has been doing, with Chancellor Martin’s acquiescence. And good for the DNT to get people to talk to them — Dean Bowman is well known for making life hell for any under his power who question or challenge him, so I applaud their courage in coming forward, now that Chancellor Martin isn’t there to protect him. It’s about time there was some accountability in the UMD School of Fine Arts — after all, UMD is a public university, not Dean Bowman’s private little fiefdom — though you wouldn’t know it, the way he throws his weight and the money around. Certainly he’s brilliant, creative, and makes amazing things happen, but he does it while running roughshod over other people and spending taxpayers’s money with little benefit to us or even to the students he claims to serve. And why are these music festivals taking place in the summer, when the university is not in session and many students are gone? I’ve been to several performances over the years, and with few exceptions (like La Boheme at the DECC back in 2006, I think), the attendance is sparse — there’s little attempt at marketing and promotion to the public, it seems, b/c that’s not really Bowman’s purpose in putting these operas on. It all comes back to accountability and I hope the University administrators hold him more accountable.
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The investigation should continue right to the former Chancellor Martin. Her travel and entertaining expenses should be investigated. She traveled extensively on her own and with Dean Bowman. Her hiring practices should be investigated. Her bullying behavior should be made public. Chancellor Black, please clean house and get rid of Vice Chancellor Magnuson and Fox, as well. You won’t be able to build trust until they are gone. Fox and Magnuson are all in this with Martin. And to think some very good people were let go…people who retain students, who care about students, and who were damn good at their jobs. Is it true that President Bruinninks did not renew Kathryn Martin’s contract?
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Why do these wannabe Woodward and Bernsteins make the effort to note that Dean Bowman exceeded a per diem expense? If someone exceeds a per diem expense allotment, the person pays the difference out of his/her own pocket. It costs the university nothing. It’s abundantly clear that this article never intended to solve or even address the issues that created the $152 million issue highlighted in the opening sentence.
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@Mr. Walker, I am sure I speak for others who would like to see proof that Dean Bowman paid for any amount over his per diem allotments that he incurred. I just re-read the article, and I’m also interested in knowing why Dean Bowman had a UMD student, Emily Hagen, accompany him on his trips – to “take notes.” It seems to me, you could hire a local (a student!) anywhere who’s fluent enough in English and any other language needed to take notes — and thus save a lot of money on airfare, on hotels, on so much else. I’m sorry, sir, I know you are friends with Dean Bowman, and think he provides you and your church congregation with lovely music, but I think this man has overstepped his bounds in many ways. No one is asking that he be fired — what we are asking, is that the university — which is a public institution funded by taxpayer dollars — hold Dean Bowman accountable — which obviously is something they’ve not done prior to this. Let’s hope that with a new chancellor in place, the corruption and malfeasance that Chancellor Martin turned a blind eye to — such as Dean Bowman’s behavior — will no longer be tolerated.
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Meanwhile, tuition rises many times faster than inflation and liberals scream there isn’t enough money for education. Now we see why. Probably the tip of the statewide iceberg.
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Spending like Bowman’s accounts for little of the tuition increase. A vast amount of the tuition increase is due to the state paying for less of the school cost. Instead of paying 80% of the costs of higher education, the state now pays for less than half. Students and parents make up the difference.
This is also why parents sending their kid to 1st grade this year are asked to spend hundreds on school and cleaning supplies and other sundris over the course of the year (supplies that were paid for by the state 20 years ago is now the parent’s responsibility).
We lower tax support for education, but then make the people pay anyway. This is an example of how lowering taxes can sometimes be a joke, since we are going to pay for it anyway down the line.
Another example: in most cities, taxes pay for the major road repairs. In Duluth, we use “assessments” to pay for it.
School supplies, tuition, and road assessments are all backhanded ways to tax us for necessary government services. I think we should just be honest and tax it in the first place, so we can keep what we now call tuition low, and have taxes pay for cleaning supplies in elementary schools rather than parents. A strong educational system benefits us all. Whether we call it “taxes” or not, we all end up paying for it (education, roads, or cleaning supplies) anyway.
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Good Lord in Heaven…..One Look at the budget breakdown in fine arts tells a Devastating Story. Actual Music expenses Pale in Comparison to expenses where Bowman was Obviously gleeming personal extravagances in travel etc..
I Totally agree with whoever said a ‘note-taker’ could (and Should) have been hired locally, especially from within the University System meaning a Student at that Locale.
Mis-use of Power is one of the hardest subjects to broach let alone expose due to the overwhelming fear of retaliation and never knowing just who is who in the Rabbits Hole.
I want to know more!!!! Bullies are Everywhere, even starting out in our grade schools these days. It’s just scary…..
I feel terrible for the students who are getting ripped off while paying such high tuition for their Fair Share of REAL Education.
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I’m eager to read what Dean Bowman’s two apologists — Ms. Tenney and Mr. Walker — write in their attempts to explain away why Dean Bowman hired a young woman to accompany him at great expense to UMD on trips abroad to “take notes” instead of finding someone local in each place who is also fluent in English. It’s not that hard to do, this is what businesspeople do. Please, Ms. Tenney and Mr. Walker, be my guests, I’d love to hear what you have to say on this matter. If you want my honest opinion, I’m sure the young woman in question was doing a lot more for Dean Bowman than “taking notes,” and if such is the case, I think Dean Bowman should be made accountable and explain himself. I really hope the new Chancellor cleans house at UMD and holds big spenders like Dean Bowman in check. This kind of extravagance should not stand, when UMD is laying off staff and cutting corners elsewhere.
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Here is the Sad, Sad Other Half of the Truth about the benefactees….LOL, I think I just made up a word…..okay, the Recipients of Bowmans Generousity. They may feel Just as Intimidated by Bowman as those who are blowing the proverbial whistle. Can you Imagine what may happen to Them if they dared to Refuse Bowmans….ahem….advances?
Just thinking here…..Still Scary if you ask me.
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Marie….and after we hear more of Tenney and Walkers ‘excuses’ for Bowman….let’s hear from Bowman. He’s got some ‘splaning’ to do….Publicly to the Public And the Rest of the University Not Participating in his Fantasy game of Chutes and Ladders being played with Real Live Pawns.
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@ Misty Johnson, I was interested to read that Dean Bowman responded to the allegations concerning Glensheen not being properly cared for under his watch, and defended himself. He refused to comment, however, on the other charges in the first report on his behavior as Dean of the SFA. It’s because he can’t defend himself; how can he even begin to explain why he’s got some young woman traveling around the world with him as his “notetaker.” Give me a break, don’t insult my intelligence, we know what’s really going on there. Dean Bowman does have some ‘splaining to do. I just hope the new chancellor doesn’t turn a blind eye to what’s been going on at the SFA under Dean Bowman’s watch and holds him accountable.
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Rod Raymond, now this guy. Kinda makes ya wonder what else is going on there.
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Exactly. Both men were protected by Chancellor Martin from any disciplinary action or even any accountability.
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