Florida A&M University President Elmira Mangum and the Board of Trustees (BOT) seemed stale as they reviewed trustees’ evaluations of Mangum’s annual performance on Tuesday.
Mangum’s spoke about several problems that arose for FAMU like the split of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, the November 2011 hazing death of drum major Robert Champion and the threat of losing accreditation when she first arrived at FAMU.
Mangum attested that she increased cash donations by 126 percent, created new student programs and filled much needed positions on staff.
“When I arrived on campus last year, FAMU was struggling to emerge from years of turmoil,” Mangum said. “Overall, in the area of organizational management, I really believe I’ve been highly effective in this area, and it is a little disappointing that building a team like the one that we have is not recognized by the majority of the board.”
Prior to the meeting Tuesday, the BOT submitted evaluations of Mangum’s progress. The evaluations were scored based on whether or not Mangum met discussed expectations satisfactorily.
Out of the 10 categories on the evaluation, trustees marked that Mangum did not meet expectations in four — organizational management, internal relations, board and governance relations, and personal characteristics and values.
Trustee Rufus Montgomery, earlier having asserted an “employer to employee” relationship with Mangum, cited that FAMU had been last in performance-based funding from the state this year.
“On a scale of 1 to 100, when you fail four categories, that gives you a 60 percent,” said Montgomery.”
Montgomery said this while looking toward Mangum who did not meet his gaze.
Mangum was not wholly without support from the trustees, as other trustees pledged their support to the president.
Dr. Bettye Grable, president of the FAMU Faculty Senate and member of BOT, did not agree with Mangum’s accolades, but does support her.
“In my opinion, statements without support mean nothing to me. I need data. I need support,” said Grable. “I say all of that to say that I, too, support Dr. Mangum.”
Trustee Belinda Shannon was among the first to show her support. “I think that despite some of the difficulties with the communication with the board, you’ve certainly made it clear that you seek to improve. You have done a fine job for your first year as president of FAMU.”
It was suggested and passed that Mangum will report to the BOT on a monthly basis as part of a performance plan.
The next Board of Trustees meeting will take place on August 5, 2015.