FORT WORTH - On the day he was fired, the president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center told regents he was "saddened" and "surprised" to learn that they considered him disruptive and had questioned his leadership for more than six years, according to documents obtained Friday by the Star-Telegram.
"I only heard positive comments and accolades across the board," Dr. Scott Ransom told University of North Texas System regents in a closed session Dec. 21, according to the documents. "Several regents said 'great job,' including the chairman."And then in August you approved a new three-year renewal on my contract. As far as I have been told, everything was going very well under my leadership through the middle part of October."Regents reconvened after that closed session and announced that Ransom was fired.In a letter signed by board chairman Jack A. Wall, Ransom was accused of sowing "internal discord" by opposing a possible merger of the Fort Worth center and the main university campus in Denton.Wall's letter began by telling Ransom that the regents and system Chancellor Lee F. Jackson, formerly the Dallas County judge, had "expressed concerns about aspects of your conduct and leadership style" during the six years that Ransom ran the medical research complex on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth.Ransom is working to appeal the regents' decision, said Nancy Sterling of ML Strategies, a Boston-based consulting firm hired by Ransom. Sterling said Ransom would have no comment.The Health Science Center is affiliated with the university system but operates as an independent campus. Although the center would remain in Fort Worth under a merger, the proposal stirred fears among Fort Worth leaders about a loss of local control.Several members of the UNT Health Science Center Foundation Board, a fundraising arm, gathered Friday to discuss the center's future."This was not the Fort Worth way," Arnold Gachman, a foundation board member, said of the firing. "It just didn't have a good feeling."The foundation members worry that the firing will scare away philanthropists, students and lawmakers, who will ultimately decide whether to fund an MD program in Fort Worth.Board member Michele Reynolds said members want to build a coalition among community groups to give Fort Worth a stronger voice in the system, which has its flagship campus in Denton and its offices in Dallas. The Health Science Center opened in Fort Worth in 1970."This community is very different," Reynolds said. "There is such pride in the community. To have something like this happen, the way it happened, everyone takes it personally."In August, Jackson announced that a 90-day study would evaluate the pros and cons of combining the center and UNT under the same academic umbrella, a model that he said would benefit research.But "the Fort Worth community did not like the merger from the beginning," Ransom's presentation states.The Star-Telegram obtained only part of Ransom's presentation. The documents indicate that he began clashing with system leaders in October, just two months after his contract was renewed through August 2015 and about the same time he was helping with a study of the merger possibilities.Ransom struck back at claims in Wall's letter that he had "a personal agenda" to undermine a plan to centralize administrative and business services throughout the system.Ransom told the regents that the consolidation did not improve services but instead created slowdowns. Payroll was late, and electric and water bills weren't paid, he said. In addition, electronic medical records were shut down for two days, which he said could have affected patients.The regents' letter to Ransom, which was delivered four days before his firing, accused him of "conducting a personal campaign" to derail serious consideration of the merger proposal.Ransom told the regents that he did everything they asked, including compiling a preliminary evaluation of the proposed merger. But regents said Ransom worked to turn Fort Worth leaders against a merger.On Friday, members of the foundation board made it clear that they don't plan to go away quietly."We have to protect the investments made over generations here," said board member Tim Sullivan. Diane Smith, 817- 390-7675Twitter: @dianeasmith1
UNT regents' letter to Scott Ransom
Scott Ransom's Health Science Center contract
Is Fort Worth feeling UNT's growing pains?
UNT regents fire president of Fort Worth center, citing 'disruptive' opposition to merger talks
UNT to consider combining main campus, health science center into one institution
Possible merger of UNT and health science center no longer on the table
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