Comments on: Bryon Fessler ‘Resigned’

By: AFROTC Cadet

AFROTC Cadet — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:15:29 +0000

Anon, your posting is full of holes. I suspect you are one of the many disgruntled employees that Bryon had to â€œfireâ€ in order to transform IT at the University of Portland. First off, you donâ€™t specify when you worked for him or the University (a sure sign that you were fired under less than honorable circumstances). Here are the facts:

1. Bryon did work as an AFROTC instructor at the University of Portland.
2. He was asked numerous times to consult with the school on IT. He refused and later, after the University begged him to help, he did so.
3. The consultation was to lead a team of University officials to create an IT strategic planâ€¦the first of its kind for the University. The committee (not Bryon) concluded that a CIO needed to be hired.
4. He didnâ€™t recommend himselfâ€¦how absurd. The University asked him if he would agree to help after he retired from the Air Force (a year later). He turned them down stating that they needed to hire someone right away. Any reliable CIO could have filled the position. The University decided to wait for him to retire.
5. He had over 20 years of service in the Air Force when he retired (not 18 as you state). I should know, I was one of the cadets assigned to quarterback his retirement ceremony.
6. He did not arrange anything. He spent over 20 years in the Air Force, turned the University down when they tried to hire him numerous times (he told the cadets this on several occasions). The University needed Bryon and not the other way around.

I can tell you first hand that in the four years that I spent at UP, Bryon completely transformed IT. So much change is such a little amount of time is disheartening for manyâ€¦and obviously for you. Itâ€™s been almost 2 years since Bryon left UP. Let is rest and move on with your life.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:53:59 +0000

Honestly, I don’t doubt a few of these posts were written by Bryon Fessler. Particularly Lil Pi and Administrator. Even the writing style is the same.

As to immediate resignations in the middle of a semester, yes, that is a good sign of someone being forced to resign.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about Bryon Fessler’s “integrity beyond reproach”. Having experience with Mr. Fessler for an unspecified amount of time, I can tell you for a fact that that statement was beyond ludicrous. Let’s look at a few things:

1) Mr. Fessler worked at the university of portland as an ROTC instructor
2) during this time he was hired to consult the school for IT
3) while consulting, his recommendations included creation of a post on campus directly tailored to himself, one which would ONLY answer to the president of the university (in keeping with other factors to be mentioned later)
4) he then recommended himself for this post
5) one problem, he only had 18 years in the air force, and the time required to retire is 20 years. He would have had to leave for a different base if he didn’t get out.
6) he arranged for his own early RETIREMENT (with full benefits) from the air force so that he could take the job he created for himself at the university of portland while doing his consultation (which was while he was working for the air force).

Sounds like a shining example of business ethics.

Furthermore, Bryon Fessler had MASSIVE problems with egomania. He *COULD*NOT*EVER*BEAR*TO*BELIEVE*SOMEONE*KNEW*MORE*THAN*HIM. Not ever. If someone ever showed him up in any way, shape, or form, he carried out personal vendettas against those people, pursuing them FAR more than would ever be necessary. What happened with the student “hacker” (because using your own security system rather than CisCos was a REAL threat to the network) was part and parcel of this debased behavioral pattern…

By: Better Late Than Never

Better Late Than Never — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:48:18 +0000

“The Information Services Division also documented the entire voice, data, and video network and is undertaking a $1.5M network â€œforkliftâ€ upgrade this year, the largest network upgrade in the Universityâ€™s 105-year history.”

Clearly this network upgrade was at least 55 years overdue.

By: N Doleman

N Doleman — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:59:43 +0000

There is absolutely no evidence that Bryon Fessler is pretending to be someone else. This is absurd. Additionally, there is absolutely no evidence that “The UP opted to NOT press criminal charges if he resigned and kept his mouth shut.” Again, you can be angry all you want with a decision that a leader may have made but being angry is not a reason to destroy the person. You and other former employees/students need to argue the idea/decision and leave out the personal rants. Stop attacking the person. He certainly has never attacked any of you posters. ‘Nuff said (although knowing your rants and attacks it won’t be…if you have proof, provide it. If not, shut up and move on).

By: Oh and FYI

Oh and FYI — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 06:36:57 +0000

Oh and FYI, just in case anyone who is thinking of hiring Bryon,
The UP opted to NOT press criminal charges if he resigned and kept his mouth shut. He is now violating this and I would not be surprised if they opted to now… Hope your liking the hole your digging yourself Bryon.
Several of these posts are composed by Bryon himself, pretending to be someone else. Think about it for a second. Why would a front dest worker have access to the presidents EMAIL if he sent this “supposed” letter to the president. There are no student workers for the Administrators that have access to ANY of this.
Let this die.

By: Another bird...

Another bird... — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:11:09 +0000

Lets set a few things straight here.

Bryan was asked to resign, the letter was nothing but formalities. He lead a technological revolution in a system of blind administrators and officers. Neither Donald or Roy have any experience in IT and were handed the jobs when neither of them wanted the responsibility. This was mainly due to the fact Beauchamp takes forever appointing department heads. Another one of the Officers is leaving UP shortly. Beauchamp has NO replacement or interim in mind. How is this good leadership?
Bryan made a huge deal of several situations which blew out of proportion, putting a huge focus on the UP’s polices. I will not comment on how he treated several students. Or how other students have been treated by administrators or officers. I have worked with Bryan and at that time he was a pleasure to deal with. As he became more involved with “cleaning”, he lost his focus. He did implement several systems that were needed. One of the more interesting was the Sony granted P2P blocker. Though students still get around it. I do not know his influence with private wireless networks being banned on campus due to interference with the campus wide wifi. Other then that, I completly agree that he helped clean up the UP’s network, but there is a HUGE space for growth.

It will be interesting to see the changes over the next six months. Nothing will be the same.

By: Double Hmmm

Double Hmmm — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:21:41 +0000

“Whatever the reason, these are weak arguments to attack the person. You can be angry all you want with a decision that a leader may have made but being angry is not a reason to destroy the person. ”

Mr. Fessler needs to realize that there is no real personal attack going on here. Comments about his treatment of the Maass incident, treatment of employees, management style, etc. (the topics that kicked all of this off) are not personal attacks. If he perceives them to be and/or cannot separate himself from these aspects of his business/professional life, that’s something he and he alone must deal with.

“People (e.g., former employees, current/former students) need to argue the idea/decision and leave out the personal rants (e.g., wish in one hand and crap in the other).”

That’s not a personal rant.

“Posters that can not rise above their hatred have nothing useful to say, in my opinion.”

But that is.

By: N Doleman

N Doleman — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:58:12 +0000

I don’t know Bryon Fessler and I don’t have any affiliation to UP (I thought Portland was in Maine). After reading this post, it appears that some people did not like the technology rush that Bryon led at UP. It appears, in my opinion, that employees left and some students were disappointed that their technology had changed. Whatever the reason, these are weak arguments to attack the person. You can be angry all you want with a decision that a leader may have made but being angry is not a reason to destroy the person. People (e.g., former employees, current/former students) need to argue the idea/decision and leave out the personal rants (e.g., wish in one hand and crap in the other). Posters that can not rise above their hatred have nothing useful to say, in my opinion.

By: Hmmm

Hmmm — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:47:22 +0000

“In less than three years, he transformed information technology throughout the university turning an accreditation finding in 2001 into a commendable in 2006.”

“Successful accomplishment of the Planâ€™s strategic themes and objectives will require major changes in the Universityâ€™s culture, the ways people carry out their responsibilities, and the supporting information technology infrastructure and systems.”

All that actually happened in under 3 (or 5 or so) years? Impressive. Many universities can’t even complete a single computer refresh cycle in that amount of time.

“Recommendation 5: More Effective Use of Technology, a Realistic Plan and Timeline
The Committee recommends that the University more effectively use information technology throughout the institution and develop a realistic plan and timeline for addressing the physical, technical, support, and training issues surrounding administrative, academic, and instructional computing.
Standard 5.B Information Resources and Services (Accreditation Handbook, page 69) Information resources and services are sufficient in quality, depth, diversity, and currency to support the institutionâ€™s curricular offerings.”

Sure doesn’t sound like UP’s accreditation was in any kind of serious jeopardy. And it sure doesn’t sound like “the very life of the institution was put on Bryonâ€™s shoulders.”

“Speculate all you want.”

Why? So you can too?

“If the university had waited any longer, Michael Maass would likely have intercepted wireless transmissions, passwords, etc.”

Gee – that was quick.

“Mr. Fessler has moved on …”

Don’t you mean “has been recruited away?”

“… and its time the rest of us do as well.”

You can wish in one hand and crap in the other. See which one fills first.

By: Lil Pi

Lil Pi — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:21:24 +0000

Administrator…Thank you for our exceptionally well written and accurate comment. It would be wise and simply courteous to let this subject matter die. Mr. Fessler has moved on and its time the rest of us do as well.