Anonymous wrote:OP here. I am shocked at the cynical comments when all I sought was info.
For your information, my "pet" went to a Top-14 law school. MPP? He went to a directional state school.
Also, any meeting "Pet" runs starts with an icebreaker and ends with a pleasant note of thanks to everyone for their participation.
MPP? On multiple occasions I have had to smooth over ruffled feelings because MPP highlighted some issue, be it a factual error or some sort of math thing. Rather than quietly tell me so I could decide whether to tell the person, he's just pass on the info. When it's someone in a much more powerful department, or someone with friends high up, that's really problematic.
You're shocked because you're so out of touch. I bet you're a peach to work for

And add to that your condescending judgement about schools, clearly he's catching things that others missed- yet you frame this negatively!? If you'd rather he point out those mistakes in person, then you should communicate that to him and explain that people in your department are super sensitive about their work that's not even correct. I bet you have never even told him there is a problem. You sound like a crappy manager. Good luck in your newish role as head of the department- you've definitely already communicated to your staff that you play favorites...