Meet the New Board of Trustees under Governor Bently

As of 2010 Board of Trustees under Republican Governor Bently

Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr.
11th President of Alabama A&M University

Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., joined the Alabama A&M University family as its 11th President on Thursday, July 16, 2009, following an extensive career in higher education that highlighted both academia and administration.

Robert Bentley, Republican Governor of Alabama, and by Alabama State Law, the President of the Board of Trustees

Republican Alabama Governor, Robert Bentley owns Alabama Dermatology Associates and employing 30 Alabamians. In 2002, Bentley was elected to the Alabama State House Representatives from Tuscaloosa County with almost sixty-five percent (65%) of the vote. In the State House, he established a strong conservative policy record of doctrine base family values, and limited government. As Governor he has established himself as lacking values of inclusion and diversity by promoting anti-immigration legislation and homophobic statements against same sex marriage. In 2006, he ran unopposed for re-election to the State House. During his time in Montgomery, he has served on the Education Appropriations Committee, the Boards and Commissions Committee, the Agriculture and Forestry Committee and has been a member of the Tuscaloosa County Legislative Delegation. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee.


Odysseus M. Lanier,CPA
President Pro tempore

Odysseus M. Lanier is a founding partner of McConnell Jones Lanier and Murphy accounting and consulting firm based in Houston, Tex. He is a 1977 graduate of Alabama A&M University. He has evaluated the governance, management and operations of more than 30 school districts throughout the country. Lanier was lead partner for ongoing engineering and logistics support contracts for the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, where MJLM's Engineering and Technical Services Division has 57 employees. He served on Texas Southern University Board of Regents and as chair of its finance committee, where he led efforts to correct financial management problems that plagued the university in the late 1980s. The university (TSU) emerged from its problems within two years and received an unqualified audit report from the Texas State Auditor in 1991. He also served on the board's presidential search committee.

Privett Chassidy

Chassidy Privett of Cullman, Alabama, is President/CEO of Action Technologies Defense Group in Huntsville, Alabama. The company Action Technologies Defense Group is a women-owned certified small business that provides the federal government and commercial entities with immediate access to hightly experienced engineers and logisticians for various customer programs. Privett earned the B.S. degree in accounting from Alabama A&M University. She was appointed by Governor Bob Riley to fill the fourth congressional district seat.

Rev. D. Thomason Bell, Jr.

The Reverend D. Thomason Bell Jr. was appointed Superintendent of the Northeast District of the North Alabama Conference in 2002. Prior to becoming a superintendent, he served as pastor of both Anniston First UMC and Pell City First UMC as well as serving in appointments to Pinson, Birmingham First Assocaiate, St. Luke-T, and Fairview.



Lucien B. Blankenship, Esq.

Lucien B. Blankenship is a senior partner with the law offices of Blankenship and Associates in Birmingham, Ala. He is franchise majority owner and managing partner of Sports Strategies, the parent company of the Birmingham Power women's pro-basketball team. He is also president of Blankenship Sports Management and Marketing. The 1989 graduate of Alabama A&M University served as Student Government Association president.


Raymond Burse, Esq.

Trustee Raymond Burse holds a law degree from Harvard University. He was also a Rhodes Scholar, and spent two years at England's Oxford University, where he majored in organic chemistry. Vice president and general counsel for GE Consumer and Industrial in Louisville, Ky., Burse was president of Kentucky State from 1982 to 1989. He spent 10 years as an associate and a partner in the law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant and Combs in Louisville.


Barbara Cady, Ph.D
President, AAMU Faculty Senate

Dr. Barbara Cady is a professor, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, School of Education, Alabama A&M University. She earned the Ph.D. degree in speech pathology and audiology from the University of Kansas in 1981. She serves as the president of AAMU�s Faculty Senate.

Mr. Norman D. Hill

Trustee Norman D. Hill is a native Mobilian who serves as vice president for Volkert and Associates, Inc. He began his career with Volkert in 2001 as a Land Acquisition Specialist. His responsibilities include marketing Volkert’s engineering and program/construction management services. Prior to beginning his career with Volkert, he was president and owner of Gulf Coast Safety Products. He later became Vice President for Small Business Development at the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and was also the first director of the Mobile Housing Board’s Clinton Johnson Center for Economic Development.

Hill is a trustee for Prichard Preparatory Academy. He also is a member of the 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile, Exploreum Board, and former founding member of Gulf Federal Bank, Mobile Planning Commission and the MLK Redevelopment Corporation. He is a graduate of the University of Mobile, a 1986 graduate of Leadership Mobile, and a 2007 graduate of Leadership Alabama. Hill played second base as a professional baseball player in the Milwaukee Brewers Organization.



Mr. Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson is a Huntsville native who currently serves as the strategic communications planner for the U.S. Army Material Command Headquarters. He previously served as human resources development specialist for NASA. Robinson is also a board member at the Huntsville Hospital Development Council and the Huntsville Botanical Garden Advisory Committee. He is the outgoing president of the Huntsville Arts Council and a trustee on the board of directors at First Missionary Baptist Church.

Mr. James Montgomery

James D. Montgomery, Sr. is President/CEO of Aliza’s Cookies, Inc. Montgomery served as Systems Analyst, Management Analyst, Interim Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, General Manager, Chief Organizational Development Consultant and interim Comptroller for the Department of Army prior to retiring in 1994. He served eight years on the Anniston City Council and has been appointed to several national and international boards. Trustee Montgomery received his B.S. degree from Alabama A&M University and M.S. Degree from Jacksonville State University. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force’s prestigious Military Comptroller School (Montgomery, AL) and the Army’s graduate level Organizational Effectiveness Program (Ft. Ord, CA). He has attended Gestalt Institute located in Cleveland, OH. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

Mr. Andre Taylor

Andre’ Taylor earned a B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1973. After graduation, he worked in radio and television around Alabama. Taylor joined the Alabama Gas Corporation in 1984 serving most recently as vice president of communications. In this capacity, he was the spokesperson for Alagasco and planned community affairs activities.

Taylor currently serves on the boards of The Lakeshore Foundation, The Alabama Veterans Memorial Foundation, The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, and the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. At The University of Alabama, he is a member of the Board of Visitors for the College of Communication and Information Services, a member of the President’s Cabinet, a Board Member of the Capstone Foundation, and is past President of the University of Alabama National Alumni Association.

In 1989, he was awarded the University of Alabama School of Communications’ Most Outstanding Alumni Award in Advertising and Public Relations. A Vietnam veteran, Taylor was awarded the Purple Heart for outstanding service to the country. He was also a feature personality in the inaugural edition of “Who’s Who in Black Birmingham”. Currently, Taylor resides in Bessemer, Alabama. He and his wife Vivian have five children.

Dr. Jerome Williams, DVM

After graduating from Tuskegee University with a degree in animal science in 1968 and a doctorate of veterinary medicine in 1969, Dr. Jerome B. Williams moved to Chicago and worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He moved to Birmingham in 1975 and established the Red Moutain Animal Clinic, where he continues to practice today. He is a national news reporter for VNN, the Veterinary News Network, and holds a license to practice veterinary medicine in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Louisiana.

Ms. Velma Tribue

Trustee Tribue heads the Velma J. Tribue State Farm Insurance Agency. She is a graduate of both Alabama State University and The Ohio State University. Tribue also serves on several boards such as the Dothan Chamber of Commerce Executive Board of Directors, the Wiregrass United Way Board of Directors, and the Southeast Alabama Medical Center's Women's Advisory Council.

Ms. Asundra Johnson

Asundra Johnson is president of the Student Government Association.

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Source: Alabama A&M University website office of the president section

A&M offers Buyouts due to 7.5% State Budget Cuts

In effort to deal with state budget cuts Alabama A&M University will offer buyouts to nearly 300 veteran employees.

The A&M board of trustees voted unanimously to offer six months' pay to 280 employees who have 25 years' experience or are age 60 with 10 years' experience to leave.

Charles Rucker, vice president for business and finance, said he estimates 43 will take the buyout, leading to net savings of $1.8 million by the end of fiscal 2011 and $2.7 million by the end of fiscal 2012.

The buyout would be paid this year and next to spread the cost, but trustees authorized borrowing up to $1 million from A&M's contingency fund this year if the offer proves more popular.

A&M is coping with a 7.5 percent state budget cut this fiscal year. Combined with drops in enrollment, school President Andrew Hugine Jr. says the university's funding is down $18 million over the past two years.

Groundskeeping to be outsourced
Board members also approved outsourcing groundskeeping, custodial services and facilities management to Aramark, the company now handling food service on campus.

The three-year contract is for $4.86 million, Hugine told the board, but Aramark has promised to make $1 million a year in "retrofits and upgrades" to the campus over the life of the deal.

The first of those upgrades will be installing call boxes around campus to improve student safety, Hugine said.

A&M employs 115 people in custodial, grounds and facilities jobs now. They will meet with Aramark executives and A&M administrators Monday to learn their future.

Administrators said Aramark has promised to give A&M employees a chance to work for the company, but the school expects at least some will retire or seek work elsewhere.
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Source: HBCU blog

President Dr. Hugine reported that SACS removed AAMU from probation

AAMU SACS statement

State Cited Oversights in AAMU Audit

State auditors cited Alabama A&M University this week for $171,316 shown on its books but not found in its bank acount at the end of the 2008 fiscal year.

Auditors also cited the university for bypassing a certified low bidder and buying goods from another vendor and for eight other unresolved issues from previous audits.

The audits were conducted by the State Examiners of Public Accounts. The latest, for the fiscal year 2008, was posted on the examiners' Web site Friday.

The audit found that "the university's General Fund cash account on the general ledger balance did not reconcile with the bank statements at year-end. The reconciliation incorporated adjustments not made to the general ledger at year-end resulting in a difference of $171,316.00."

Auditors recommended A&M "post all adjustments at year-end to ensure that general ledger balances and bank statement balances have been reconciled and are in agreement."

Still unresolved from previous years, auditors reported that A&M:
• Improperly adjusted its general ledger student receivables control account at the end of FY 2008.
• Had not completed a physical inventory of capital assets in recent years.
• Did not support its bank reconciliation with an accurate list of outstanding checks.
• Did not make necessary adjustments to its accounting records in a timely manner.
• Allowed students to register and attend class while still owing unpaid balances from prior semesters.
• Had fixed asset subsidiary account balances that did not support amounts presented in the financial statements.
• Did not keep records of revenue collected for athletic events or deposit them in a timely matter.
• Did not obtain required vendor disclosure statements for all bids and contracts exceeding $5,000.
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Source: HBCU blog

US Department of the Army Partners with Alabama A & M University On Center of Excellence in Integrated Sensor Systems (CEISS)

The US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), an entity of the US Army Materiel Command, has joined forces with the Alabama A&M Research Institute (AAMURI) to carry out a portion of the Army’s mission, and the mission of Alabama A&M University (AAMU). U.S. Representative Parker Griffith; Dr. William C. McCorkle, AMRDEC Director; Dr. Beverly Edmond, AAMU Interim President; and other government/AAMU officials kicked off the new center on June 8, 2009. According to Dr. Kaveh Heidary, AAMU principal investigator for the project, “the $700,000 center will advance the state of knowledge in areas of sensor and data fusion, contextual detection and classification, future sensor systems and architectures for missile defense, and other homeland security applications.”

The CEISS is just one example of the outstanding achievements of the University. Alabama A&M University, a Historically Black College and University, was founded in 1875, and has served to educate a diverse population of students. Dr. Beverly C. Edmond hails as the Interim President and is pictured above. The University offers an excellent curriculum and degree program ranging from Bachelor of Science through Doctor of Philosophy. This has attracted the Department of the Army, other DoD/Federal agencies, and private industry to seek them out for collaboration on research and other projects. Development of the AAMURI in 1999 came about as a result of the University’s continuous evolution, forward thinking, and strategically positioning itself for greatness.
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Source: The Office of Small Business Programs, Department of the Army

AAMU Selects 11th President Andrew Hugines, Jr.

Andrew Hugine, Jr., former president of South Carolina State University, will become the 11th president of Alabama A&M University.

The seasoned administrator successfully fielded board questions pertaining to his leadership philosophy, politics in higher education, athletics and several other concerns prior to the Board of Trustee’s shift to executive session following an already six-hour meeting.

In order to deal with AAMU challenges and traditions, Hugine said he would practice shared governance by pulling together the school’s stakeholders “to conduct a critical review of where the University is strategically.” He also expressed confidence that AAMU will soundly deal with the issues that led to its placement on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

“We must have priorities,” he said. “We cannot be everything to everybody.”

While at SCSU, Hugine made huge gains in enrollment, fundraising, and construction. Many SCSU supporters believe he was fired in retaliation for fighting back against micromanaging Board of Trustees members.

The AAMU community rallied behind Hugine despite rampant rumors that an influential trustee wanted Lawrence Davenport. During an interview, Davenport told AAMU’s search committee that he was willing to sign a lifetime contract with AAMU. But shortly after that statement, he took a job as head (principal) of a Rhode Island charter school.

Faculty members circulated a petition against Davenport’s candidacy and openly expressed their anger to the media.
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Source: HBCU blog

Retirement Payment Shortfall due Board of Trustees Not Approving Budget

Alabama A&M University has fallen two months - nearly $2 million - behind in payments to the state retirement system on behalf of its 1,100 employees, retirement officials say.

Slight payment lags of a week or two are common, but no other public institution has missed two straight months, according to Donald Yancey, director of benefits for the Retirement Systems of Alabama.

A&M officials blamed the state, a statement from Vice President for Business and Finance Charlie Rucker on Thursday said that "the state is about two months behind in payments (warrants) to Alabama A&M University."

If state education payments are the problem , Gov. Bob Riley asked, "Why is every other university and school system in Alabama up to date?"

The payment gap won't prevent someone from retiring from A&M with full benefits, Yancey said, because RSA routinely starts retirement payments while waiting for the last payroll deductions to catch up.

But until the shortfall is made up, Yancey said the system will not cash out any departing employee's retirement account. That means an employee leaving for another job this summer will find his or her account frozen until A&M catches up.

The shortfall includes both the 5 percent retirement contribution withheld from A&M salaries each month, plus the 11 percent matching contribution the school makes, Rucker said.

Rucker said both contributions are held in university bank accounts, "and both amounts are submitted to RSA when sufficient funds are accumulated."

A&M has an average monthly payroll of about $6 million, Rucker said. Sixteen percent of $6 million means an approximate $960,000 monthly contribution. That puts A&M nearly $2 million behind.

A&M has been dealing with the same budget woes affecting public schools, colleges and universities across the state. The university's state appropriation this year was about $45 million, down from a first proposal of almost $50 million. For next year, Riley estimates that mandated budget cuts will limit A&M to about $40 million from the state. It gets millions more from other sources, including the federal government.

Interim A&M President Dr. Beverly Edmond and A&M officials have implemented steps to deal with the budget, including monthly unpaid furloughs of 12 hours for administrators and eight hours for staff earning $30,000 a year, and a 5 percent cut in pay for summer faculty, Rucker said.

A&M is currently operating without a permanent president or an approved budget.

It has no budget because the board of trustees has not met to pass one, and the board hasn't met because of two ongoing disputes, one between Riley and legislators over new appointees to the board, and one between remaining members over A&M's next president.

Riley's spokesman said Thursday that the governor hasn't decided whether to continue to push his four nominees.

The four have failed to win Senate confirmation for two years.

"The governor is reviewing his options," said Todd Stacy, Riley's press secretary.
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Source: HUBC blog