Savannah State University hires public relations firm to handle crisis communications

Last Wednesday, April 10, Savannah State University (SSU) Interim President Cynthia Robinson Alexander issued a statement to media regarding issues raised by reporting in the Savannah Morning News about the process and procedures regarding the contract non-renewal of 13 professors, many of them tenured, in August 2023. Alexander's statement was issued through Abshire Public Relations, which was hired last August by the university to provide, among other tasks, crisis communication strategies.

On July 18, 2023 Abshire PR sent Alton Standifer, then interim chief of staff at SSU, a draft proposal for services. The proposed cost for 30 days of "audit/crisis support management" was $10,000.

Documents obtained by Savannah Morning News (SMN) through an open records request are unclear whether SSU agreed to the contract at the time. However, Abshire PR's Founder and CEO Jennifer Abshire stated her company had been working "as needed for SSU since August 2023 on various PR related activities, due to several staff positions being vacant in the Advancement Division." Abshire also stated that Leandrea Mikell remains SSU's interim vice president of advancement until a permanent vice president is hired.

A purchase order shows that SSU contracted Abshire PR on March 28, a few days after the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) faculty caucus voted to investigate faculty non-renewals processed on Aug. 2, 2023 that appear to have violated University System of Georgia (USG) protocols. According to the purchase order, the university will pay Abshire PR just over $15,000 for services through April 27.

Timing is everything

Abshire PR's proposal for services confirmed July 24, 2023 as a potential start date, which was one day before USG's report on CLASS Dean David Marshall's vote of no confidence investigation was released. CLASS Faculty had voted no confidence in Marshall on March 23, 2023. The no-confidence vote stemmed from faculty concerns about Marshall's leadership style and ethics that began shortly after he started his tenure in July 2022.

After USG completed its investigation, records show that USG officials discussed and shared the report with Alexander on July 26, 2023. Later that day, Alexander sent the report back to USG's Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs Dana Nichols with comments from Marshall confirming that he had seen it and agreeing to USG's recommendations for leadership development, training and coaching.

On July 27, 2023, Alexander and other SSU officials signed off on the Faculty Non-Renewal Due to Enrollment/Budget form for 13 faculty, 10 of whom were from CLASS per Marshall's recommendation. USG officials accepted and approved the form on Aug. 2, 2023, the same day that the non-renewed SSU faculty were sent their non-renewal notices.

The timing of the faculty notices violates USG's policy stated on the non-renewal form that reads it "must…be submitted to the University System Office [USO] no later than four weeks prior to the first non-renewal notice date.”

The violation is corroborated by USG's own June 2023 "USG Study Group Findings and Recommendations for Savannah State University" report, which required SSU to “submit fully completed RIF [reduction in force] documents [to include the non-renewal form] to USG HR no later than July 3.”

However, on Friday, April 12 of this year, USG officials issued a joint statement through a general USG Communications email to SMN that read, in part, "Like all University System of Georgia (USG) institutions, SSU must follow the system’s policy on reduction in force as stated in the USG Human Resources administrative manual.

The policy requires a president’s approval prior to submission to USG. Upon approval by the president, the institution’s chief human resources officer then completes the Reduction in Force Request form and submits the institution’s plan to USG’s Office of Human Resources for review and approval before executing any aspect of the plan.

SSU’s president signed the form you referenced as required and the SSU plan was reviewed and approved by the USG Office of Human Resources as required under the policy."

SSU faculty take action: Liberal arts faculty caucus votes to investigate 2023 faculty non-renewals

If there is no crisis then why is no one talking?

The April 10 press release directly addresses SSU's 2022 Reduction in Force (RIF) proposal, which resulted in a "determination in late June 2023 to implement the deactivation of certain majors, programs, and the elimination of some faculty positions to address the projected $11M budget shortfall."

Alexander's statement also touts increased student enrollment and retention across majors and champions "enhanced academic support to help boost student success" without offering specific examples of either point.

In fact, 18 degree programs saw reduction in enrollment or remained at the same amount for Fall 2023. The university's Associates in Arts program saw increased year-over-year enrollment from 49 in Fall 2022 to 131 in Fall 2023. The Associates in Sciences also increased year over year from 38 to 60. Notably, the Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts has seen a steady enrollment increase since 2019 when it was at 75 students through Fall 2023 when it reached 94. However, the Visual and Performing Arts major was recently under threat of being deactivated, which led to student protests in February.

The PR statement also mentions Alexander's and SSU leadership's efforts at shared governance with faculty, yet she and the current provost continue to deny a meeting request made more than a month ago by the CLASS faculty caucus.

As of this publication, Alexander has avoided responding directly to interview requests by SMN. Former SSU Provost Yolanda Page declined an interview request as has former SSU Chief Human Resources Officer Jacquelyn Stepherson (who, along with Marshall and Alexander, also signed off on the non-renewal form before Stepherson left SSU shortly thereafter). Standifer and Marshall have not responded to requests for interviews. USG officials have not responded to interview requests outside of the group response provided by USG Communications.

Current SSU Interim Provost Richard Miller has spoken over the phone to SMN on multiple occasions. He has stated, however, that he will not speak about the non-renewal matter because it occurred prior to his tenure. He did acknowledge that the CLASS faculty's concerns are legitimate, but stated his office would not provide direct support to faculty in their quest for answers and accountability.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah State talked with PR firm about 'crisis strategy'