Former Albany State University provost says complaints against him have no substance

ALBANY — Former Albany State University Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Tau Kadhi broke his silence Friday, giving his side of the story in his suddenly demotion and return to the classroom.

Kadhi, an exclusive interview with The Albany Herald, responded to questions, some by reading from a statement he had prepared.

Two weeks ago, The Herald filed an open records request with Albany State requesting Kadhi’s personnel file and any associated complaints against him. The personnel file contained no disciplinary notes, but had four complaints in the documents — two from named staff members and two from unnamed sources. All came in April.

Kadhi noted the complaints had been investigated by University System of Georgia officials and were not found to have any substance.

“Yes, it came as a surprise to me,” Kadhi said, referring to his sudden transfer and the complaints. “But that’s not uncommon, you don’t always know everything that’s coming. Like you, I saw the complaints after they had been investigated, but I did not know their gravity at the time.”

The first unsigned complaint came April 1 from a faculty member who wrote that while addressing “right-sizing” the faculty, Kadhi was “totally condescending and misogynistic,” telling the primarily female faculty members “not to worry our pretty little heads over the math of it all.”

In an April 14 complaint sent to ASU Compliance Officer Shalonda Heard, Larecia Gill, co-chair of nursing on the West Campus, complained about “inappropriate” treatment of then interim Dean of Nursing Kerri Johnson.

On April 26, another unsigned complaint was issued based on a conversation with two African-American students on the West Campus concerning a student recruiting billboard. later that month Also in April, former Vice President for Student Affairs and Success Cynthia Evers filed a wrongful termination review against Kadhi, alleging he insisted on her hiring two of his former college classmates in an assistant vice president position and the newly created office of dean of students.

“First and foremost, I would like to clearly state that the University Legal Affairs office investigated all of these complaints and allegations and found nothing of substance. That is why my personnel file is clear of any negative documentation,” Kadhi said. “I didn’t say those things and that’s what I know is true.”

Kadhi, who joined the university last year, added the consolidation of Albany State and Darton State College in January added to the stress levels on both campuses and likely was a factor in the complaints.

“The incredible task of combining two different structural and organizational ways of doing things was a very complicated path by which to navigate through.” Kadhi said. “There is friction because of a learning curve and everybody can keep score. If we chose one group’s way of doing things, the other group would have a tough time adjusting. Then if we decide to create an altogether new way of doing things, both groups have a tough time adjusting. With hundreds of these decisions made, there was an understandable amount of stress and disagreement.

“I believe the stress of these ‘growth opportunities’ caused some very good people to act in some very strange ways, leading to some of these completely false reports about me and attacks against my character.”

The former provost pointed out some of the accomplishments of ASU over the past year of his tenure, such as making four new dean appointments; a “right-sizing effort” throughout the division yielding an a adjusted budget capable of absorbing $3 million in reductions, and working with student housing to increase student occupancy rates from blow 70 percent last year to 100 percent this year.

Asked if he would do differently today, Kadhi said, “Yes, I think that I would.” After a long pause, he added, “It’s hard. I honestly went at things with the best intentions … but knowing everything that I know now, if you go into a situation … I did the best that I could do with what I knew at the time.”

At the moment, Kadhi is assisting in the transition in the provost’s office and will return to the classroom as a math and research and statistics professor in the spring 2018 semester.

Kadhi was hired in 2016 as provost by ASU President Art Dunning. He previously served as assistant vice president for learning assessment in academic affairs at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas; executive director and campus dean at Texas Southern University’s Northwest Campus in Houston, and director of the university scholars program at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas.

Dunning has named Kimberly Holmes interim provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Former Albany State university provost Tau Kadhi issued a statement late Friday with his responses to the four complaints from faculty and staff published in The Albany Herald on Oct. 15:

1. The April 1 complaint (unsigned) concerning the comments I was alleged to have said “not to worry our pretty little heads” and that I was vindictive and sexist was unfounded. There are minutes and a recording of the Faculty Senate meeting in question that prove that statement false. And, I oversee over half of the 1000 employees at ASU, and I have terminated two employees during my time. As far as sexist, I have ten direct reports, 8 are women, holding the top 4 salaries.

2. The April 14th complaint (filed by Larecia Gill) concerning my alleged inappropriate treatment of Ms. (Kerri) Johnson and me threatening her with the “loss of job” because of a waiver is a little hard to address because of the subjectivity. But here are a few facts: A) I appointed Ms. Johnson the Interim Dean (of the Nursing Department) back in November of 2016. B) Gill made the complaint in April, but I still named Johnson the permanent Dean in July of 2017. C) I approved the waiver of one bachelor’s degree nursing student two credit hour HIST 1002 (African Diaspora) class due to an advisement error on the part of the University so the student could graduate that semester with the required 125 credit hours.

3. The April 26th (unsigned) complaint concerning the “Move on When Ready billboard” is very confusing because I worked very closely with my VP of Enrollment Management and I ultimately authorized all of the recruitment billboards. Later, in a meeting with the university student leaders, we agreed to make every effort to use actual ASU Move on When Ready students instead of stock pictures and include more group pictures to highlight diversity. I have never made any comment concerning the football coach other than I am happy he led us to a victory over Valdosta State University.

4. The last April complaint (filed by Cynthia Evers) concerning the “hiring of two of my former classmates” is a little misguided. First, neither of the two are my classmates, and I did not create any job opportunities for either. I did not get involved in this process until December 2016, after I was asked to address the vacancies that were there for over six months and the office was having trouble getting qualified candidates.

I then recruited former colleagues who were working as an Executive Director of Housing to serve as the Interim Assistant Vice President and an Assistant Dean of Students to serve as the Interim Dean of Students. Neither were made permanent, and the only promise made was that they could apply for the permanent position when advertised. One of the people in question came for less money, and a higher title and the other was asking for an equitable salary due to the fact they were moving from a job with no state taxes. They are both performing outstandingly in their roles at ASU, and the University is better off because of them.