UNR Engineering Dean Publishing In His Own Predatory Journal

[Parasaurolophus]

This story comes from Andrew Gelman's blog. I think you'll find it worth your time to read it and the comments (which feature some responses from the dean in question):

Just a taste:

According to wikipedia, UNR is the state's flagship public university.

I was curious to see what else Jones had published so I searched him on Google scholar and took a look at his three most-cited publications. The second of these appeared to be a textbook, and the third was basically 8 straight pages of empty jargon—ironic that a journal called Total Quality Management would publish something that has no positive qualities! The most-cited paper on the list was pretty bad too, an empty bit of make-work, the scientific equivalent of the reports that white-collar workers need to fill out and give to their bosses who can then pass these along to their bosses to demonstrate how productive they are. In short, this guy seems to be a well-connected time server in the Ed Wegman mode, minus the plagiarism.

He was a Program Director at the National Science Foundation! Your tax dollars at work.

Can you imagine what it would feel like to be a student in the engineering school at the flagship university of the state of Nevada, and it turns out the school is being run by the author of this:

Our recent study has the premise that both humans and flies sleep during the night and are awake during the day, and both species require a significant amount of sleep each day when their neural systems are developing in specific activities. This trait is shared by both species. An investigation was segmented into three subfields, which were titled "Life span," "Time-to-death," and "Chronological age." In D. melanogaster, there was a positive correlation between life span, the intensity of young male medflies, and the persistence of movement. Time-to-death analysis revealed that the male flies passed away two weeks after exhibiting the supine behavior. Chronological age, activity in D. melanogaster was adversely correlated with age; however, there was no correlation between chronological age and time-to-death. It is probable that the incorporation the findings of age-related health factors and increased sleep may lead toless train accidents. of these age factors when considering these options supply chain procedure for maintaining will be beneficial.

[...]

I'll leave the last word to another UNR employee, from the above-linked press release:

"What is exciting about having Jones as our new dean for the College of Engineering is how he clearly understands the current landscape for what it means to be a Carnegie R1 'Very High Research' institution," Provost Jeff Thompson said. "He very clearly understands how we can amplify every aspect of our College of Engineering, so that we can continue to build transcendent programs for engineering education and research."

Ohand. He used a textspinner to convert 'painkillers' into 'torment executioners'. That alone makes it worth reading.

[larix]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

[Wahoo Redux]

Maybe Dean Eric Jones has gambling debts?

[marshwiggle]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The fact that it is reasonable to consider whether DEI was involved indicates how little oversight there is on DEI in general; that's the biggest gift for the "anti-DEI crowd".

[larix]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The fact that it is reasonable to consider whether DEI was involved indicates how little oversight there is on DEI in general; that's the biggest gift for the "anti-DEI crowd".

Having read more of the comments, some from UNR faculty, it would appear that this is more a case of a wholesale failure in leadership. I'm sure an investigation is going on right now but from some of the comments it sounds like there was a proper search, with a diverse set of candidates, but for some reason a decision was made to fail that search and appoint this person.

The whole thing is a train wreck that probably could have been prevented if the provost and president had only gotten more sleep.

[jimbogumbo]

In case fora members didn't get to the P.S section of the Gelman link Para provided look at the link below, from an article by the Dean's co-author and new editor of the "journal". The "figures" made me do a spit-take.

https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/02/12/torment-executioners-in-reno-nevada/

[marshwiggle]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The fact that it is reasonable to consider whether DEI was involved indicates how little oversight there is on DEI in general; that's the biggest gift for the "anti-DEI crowd".

Having read more of the comments, some from UNR faculty, it would appear that this is more a case of a wholesale failure in leadership. I'm sure an investigation is going on right now but from some of the comments it sounds like there was a proper search, with a diverse set of candidates, but for some reason a decision was made to fail that search and appoint this person.

The whole thing is a train wreck that probably could have been prevented if the provost and president had only gotten more sleep.

So what's the non-DEI explanation for why this happened? Bribery? Nepotism? Politics?

[Parasaurolophus]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The fact that it is reasonable to consider whether DEI was involved indicates how little oversight there is on DEI in general; that's the biggest gift for the "anti-DEI crowd".

Having read more of the comments, some from UNR faculty, it would appear that this is more a case of a wholesale failure in leadership. I'm sure an investigation is going on right now but from some of the comments it sounds like there was a proper search, with a diverse set of candidates, but for some reason a decision was made to fail that search and appoint this person.

The whole thing is a train wreck that probably could have been prevented if the provost and president had only gotten more sleep.

So what's the non-DEI explanation for why this happened? Bribery? Nepotism? Politics?

A commitment to diversity wouldn't normally require you to fail a search--especially if the search turned up a diverse set of candidates in the first place.

[fizzycist]

Blaming this on "dei" because the guy is black is nasty and unfair.

Are you not aware of the cronyism, patronage, and all-about-the-money approach to leadership positions in schools of engineering all around the US?

When you add in the non-elite, striving status of UNR, this kind of thing isn't surprising. The specific nonsense academic practices of this case are super funny though and definitely pretty unique.

[dismalist]

It's important not to lose sight of the forest for focusing on a tree or two.

Hiring incompetent Deans or Presidents is a general phenomenon, not one specific to any field. There is a slew of examples in the Dire Financial Straits thread, almost always of Presidents who put off structural change or closing down too long.

The reason is incentives, or better, lack thereof. A non-profit invites poor governance. The job aside,  no one has skin in the game. Failure of a President does not result in any loss to the board, or to the people who appoint the board.

The appointees are often people who talk a good game but don't care about a financial hit. And why should they?

[fizzycist]

It's important not to lose sight of the forest for focusing on a tree or two.

Hiring incompetent Deans or Presidents is a general phenomenon, not one specific to any field. There is a slew of examples in the Dire Financial Straits thread, almost always of Presidents who put off structural change or closing down too long.

The reason is incentives, or better, lack thereof. A non-profit invites poor governance. The job aside,  no one has skin in the game. Failure of a President does not result in any loss to the board, or to the people who appoint the board.

The appointees are often people who talk a good game but don't care about a financial hit. And why should they?

This article about leadership hiring at UNR seems to back up all of your points:

https://thisisreno.com/2024/02/unr-faculty-students-call-for-engineering-deans-resignation/

[Wahoo Redux]

Appalling.

Really doesn't say very good things about the selection process at UNR. Also really doesn't look good for academia as a whole given the high profile positions at NSF and in the National Academies.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The fact that it is reasonable to consider whether DEI was involved indicates how little oversight there is on DEI in general; that's the biggest gift for the "anti-DEI crowd".

Having read more of the comments, some from UNR faculty, it would appear that this is more a case of a wholesale failure in leadership. I'm sure an investigation is going on right now but from some of the comments it sounds like there was a proper search, with a diverse set of candidates, but for some reason a decision was made to fail that search and appoint this person.

The whole thing is a train wreck that probably could have been prevented if the provost and president had only gotten more sleep.

So what's the non-DEI explanation for why this happened? Bribery? Nepotism? Politics?

Now come on, Marshman.  That is a YUGE Trumpy leap there. 

I am no fan of diversity hires for the sake of diversity hires or for DEI in its present bureaucratic state----I've said so many times.  But you cannot convict without evidence either.  There are all sorts of reasons incompetent people are hired.  You should meet the current dean at my old place: white as whipped cream and with just as much character.  Much hated, this person.  But not as much as the provost, also the color of whitewash. 

[marshwiggle]

So what's the non-DEI explanation for why this happened? Bribery? Nepotism? Politics?

Now come on, Marshman.  That is a YUGE Trumpy leap there. 

I am no fan of diversity hires for the sake of diversity hires or for DEI in its present bureaucratic state----I've said so many times.  But you cannot convict without evidence either.  There are all sorts of reasons incompetent people are hired.  You should meet the current dean at my old place: white as whipped cream and with just as much character.  Much hated, this person.  But not as much as the provost, also the color of whitewash. 

Just a reminder that it was Larix who raised the possibility.

I think we should all be concerned about that but also that whether or not diversity entered into the hiring process that aspect of this case makes this a gift for the anti-DEI crowd.

The point isn't that somehow DEI must be the cause of this; rather that without a pretty solid case for some other reason for the hire, it's going to be hard to dispell the public perception that DEI is (or at least might be) responsible. (For instance, if it's some sort of cronyism, e.g. he was a golf buddy of the chair of the hiring committee, then establishing that would go a long way to suggest it wasn't DEI.)

[Wahoo Redux]

We cannot discount DEI, but you yourself just gave a number of reasons that could explain why this slubbo got hired----so it is not axiomatically DEI in this case.

We both are dubious of DEI initiatives.

Just remember this if you are ever on a jury.

[marshwiggle]

We cannot discount DEI, but you yourself just gave a number of reasons that could explain why this slubbo got hired----so it is not axiomatically DEI in this case.

We both are dubious of DEI initiatives.

Just remember this if you are ever on a jury.

The thing is, DEI is the only one people will actually pride themselves on using; "commitment to DEI in hiring" blah blah blah. No-one is going to admit to hiring based on cronyism, or getting someone with the right political affiliations, etc.

So if they've made any effort to sell their decisions based on DEI*, it's going to look especially bad for DEI if it turns out badly.

(*I haven't heard whether that was supposedly part of this decision or not. But usually the people making these decisions will try to claim as many virtuous reasons as possible in order to pat themselves on the back.)