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UO President Michael Gottfredson

 Some links (Also see ODE

UCI visitors: If you are looking for background on why UO is searching for a new president, here’s a good summary from the local paper and here’s an op-ed from our current interim President. In our comments, there’s a request for info from UCI people:

Hello,
My name is Becky Metrick and I am the News Editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. We are working on a profile of Gottfredson and would love some comments on what he was like as a leader of your institution. If either of you would like to comment, please give us a call at (541)346-5511×320 or email [email protected].
Thank you!

It’s a moot point, but from the schedule so far he will have exactly *one* public campus meeting before our OUS overlords vote to make him our new President: Tuesday, June 12, Event:  Campus forum, Time:  4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Location: 182 Lillis.

Update: He’s also scheduled many meetings with faculty and student groups.

    Email pronouncement from Dr. Pernsteiner:

    To:            University of Oregon Community

    From:       George Pernsteiner, Chancellor, Oregon University System

    Re:           Announcement from the Chancellor on Finalist for University of Oregon President

    I am excited to announce to you this morning that a finalist for the next president of the University of Oregon has been named and will be announced publicly later today.

    The finalist is Dr. Michael R. Gottfredson, currently the Executive Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University of California, Irvine, and a Professor of Criminology, Law and Society.

    Dr. Gottfredson’s name was forwarded to me and the State Board of Higher Education by the UO President Search Committee last week. The State Board will be meeting this Friday, June 15, to vote on the appointment. Beginning tomorrow, Dr. Gottfredson and his wife Karol will be in Eugene to meet with the campus community in meetings and public forums through Wednesday morning. A schedule for these is located at: http://president.uoregon.edu/search.

    Dr. Gottfredson is a well regarded scholar and a successful academic leader with a strong record of achievement, including his research work in the field of Criminology. In his current role at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and in his prior positions, Dr. Gottfredson has been able to create new programs and departments, focus on improving the undergraduate experience, hire more faculty, and improve research productivity. He has led a wide and diverse array of university efforts, always with a focus on investments in quality, even during times of immense budget challenges, and most recently, rapid and drastic funding cuts throughout the University of California system. He is also extremely effective at engaging with faculty, students, staff and the university community at large to advance student success and outcomes important to all stakeholders. He is a thoughtful colleague and a collaborator who instills confidence through his leadership approach. A summary of Dr. Gottfredson’s background is below.

    We know that this is not the ideal week for Dr. Gottfredson’s visit, but due to the need for an accelerated search process, the timing of the search has led us to the conclusion of the process this week. I know many of you are engaged in taking or marking exams and papers, but hope you can take some time to attend the meetings and forums.

    My gratitude goes out to Chair Allyn Ford and the twenty-two member search committee, who worked so hard through an accelerated schedule to identify the highest quality candidates for the University of Oregon. The energy, time and commitment from the committee are a testament to the UO community and your care, dedication and love for this University.

    If you have any comments regarding Dr. Gottfredson after your attendance at one of the campus events, you can reply to me at this email or: [email protected]. Thank you again for your commitment to the University of Oregon and for welcoming Dr. Gottfredson and Karol to campus.

    Background on Dr. Gottfredson:

    Dr. Gottfredson has served as executive vice chancellor and provost, and professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine since 2000. At UCI, Gottfredson is responsible for a $1.8 billion annual operating budget, a medical school and an academic medical center, annual grants and contracts of $350 million, 1,500 faculty and 27,000 students. Additionally, he is responsible for strategic planning, and a new fundraising campaign. During this time he has led efforts to significantly grow enrollment, faculty, degree programs, facilities, new schools, and departments, including Statistics, Biomedical Engineering, Informatics, Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, Mathematical Behavioral Science and Comparative Literature. Dr. Gottfredson helped to create the California Institute for Telecommunications and Technology, including the construction of a $55 million research facility, and the new public law school. He is also known for substantially increasing representation of women and under-represented minority faculty and administrators; and for his extensive work to enhance the undergraduate experience within a large research university. He also led a major expansion of the campus infrastructure, blending state, campus and private support.

    Prior to joining the UCI, Dr. Gottfredson served in several positions at the University of Arizona from 1985 to 2000, including interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, vice provost and vice president of Undergraduate Education, acting director of the School of Public Administration and Policy, head of the Department of Management and Policy in the College of Business and Public Administration; and was professor of Management and Policy, Law, Sociology and Psychology.

    Other academic positions Dr. Gottfredson has held include associate professor at The Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California from 1983-1985; associate professor of Sociology, University of Illinois, Urbana from 1981 to 1983; assistant professor at the Graduate School of Criminal Justice, State University of New York at Albany from 1977 to 1979; and director of the Criminal Justice Research Center in Albany, New York from 1976 to 1979.

    Dr. Gottfredson’s board and professional service is extensive, and includes current appointments as a Trustee of the University of California Foundation; Executive Committee of Chief Academic Affairs Officers with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities; the Orange County Technology and Action Network; and the Elliott Family Foundation, among others. Current and past service includes member of the AAU Chief Academic Officers; Budget Committee of the University of California; and chair of the UC’s compensation re-design committee, and many others.

    Gottfredson’s academic awards include Extraordinarius, UCI (2012); elected fellow of the Western Society of Criminology (2012); UCI Advance Gender Equity Award (2006); American Justice Institute award for Outstanding Contributions to Crime Theory (2003); and many others, reflecting his contributions to leadership in higher education, criminology, equity, and scholarship.

    Dr. Gottfredson holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from the State University of New York at Albany; and an A.B. from the University of California, Davis.

    60 Comments

    1. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      Looks great along many dimensions. Wonder what he’ll think of our very successful UMRP.

    2. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      Criminology? The amount of contempt that the OUS has for its “flagship” school is staggering. Don’t want any more uppity academics rocking the boat. DPS should love the change, though.

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        I don’t really understand this response. Contempt? Criminology is a bona fide academic discipline, just one we don’t have here at UO. Until we get the CV, have a look at some of his publications (and citation numbers) here:
        http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=michael%20gottfredson&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en

        1015 citations for the top result. By contrast, a Google Scholar search for “author:anonymous” gives a top result of 467 citations. Clearly you’re just jealous.

      • awesome0 06/11/2012

        The background in criminology will be useful in understanding the rest of Johnson Hall….:-)

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        Your insinuation that the rest of the people in Johnson Hall are criminals makes me sick. There are many hardworking, dedicated, ethical professionals who work in Johnson Hall. If UO Matters/contributors have issues with senior leadership in Johnson Hall, so be it. Please refrain from generalizing about/libeling everyone who works there.

      • UO Matters 06/12/2012

        There are indeed many hardworking, dedicated, ethical professionals who work in Johnson Hall.

        I keep hoping that they will start reporting the improprieties by senior administrators that they learn about to the state auditors.

        The anonymous tip line is at https://oregonsos.alertline.com/gcs/welcome

    3. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      The Irvine Faculty Association is not a union; UC Santa Cruz is the only UC campus to have voted to institute a union. Unlike a union, the Irvine Faculty Association cannot assist individual faculty with grievances or salary issues. However, under AB 1091, also known as HEERA or The Berman Act of 1979, the Faculty Associations alone have the authority to represent the economic and/or employment interests of their faculties before the University or the Legislature. Under the Berman Act, the Office of the UC President has the obligation to send notices to the Council about any proposed changes to the wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions of UC faculty. If CUCFA has questions or feels that those changes are not in the best interests of the faculty, it has the labor rights to ask for a consulting session with the UC Administration in Oakland. The Irvine Faculty Association is empowered to bring the concerns of groups of UC Irvine faculty to CUCFA and hence to UCOP and/or the legislature. The Irvine Faculty Association will act as a watchdog and an advocate for UC Irvine faculty rights.

    4. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      This is from a UCI faculty member. Gottfredson is a winner. He got us through the financial downfall here in pretty good shape. Also a very decent person. Huge loss for UCI but he deserves a top spot.

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        As a UCI staff member, I agree with you. He’s had a tough job the last few years, but he did great at it. He’ll be missed, but we’d be foolish to think he’d want to stay in the #2 position. Congrats on the new job, Mike!

      • UO Matters 06/11/2012

        That’s very good to hear. Got any specifics? This was a closed search, he’s the only finalist, and many of us do not trust the Chancellor and interim President who ran it, so there’s a certain amount of general worry.

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        Same Anonymous UCI faculty. He has had to make some tough decisions so not every one is always happy. Nature of the job. I’ve been on a handful of high level committees where he has laid down the rules and told us exactly what he expects and wants. Especially important for searches. He can get pretty angry (justifiably, in my opinion) with faculty who don’t go by the rules. He tries to build consensus. He will likely reward the winners….if a unit brings in $$$ and does their fair share of teaching, they will be favored. He knows that the sciences bring in the bucks so he will likely treat these folks well IF they are bringing in that overhead. He goes by the rules and regulations but appears to me not to be too rigid. Not sure about fund raising but he has a dry sense of humor and very quick wit. Actually can be fun to be around and people like him. Makes commoners comfortable. He’ll need to learn more about the high level sports environment….only volleyball and sometimes baseball down here.

      • Becky Metrick 06/11/2012

        Hello,
        My name is Becky Metrick and I am the News Editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. We are working on a profile of Gottfredson and would love some comments on what he was like as a leader of your institution. If either of you would like to comment, please give us a call at (541)346-5511×320 or email [email protected].

        Thank you!

    5. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      Another UCI person–this time a senior administrator. I have generally found him to be a very intelligent, ethical person who has no qualms about making hard decisions to move a campus ahead. You may not like all his decisions but they tend to be good ones for the larger campus.

      We have always known he would move up to be president somewhere but his vision will be missed. I’m sorry the search process did not feel inclusive; I think we’ve all been there.

      I hope the University of Oregon will recognize and hold on to his talents. If not, the UC will no doubt be delighted to welcome him back.

    6. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      I’m a UCI faculty member. Gottfredson is outstanding–a highly intelligent and talented administrator who at the same time has a strong idealistic commitment to the faculty’s mission of research and teaching. He seeks input from faculty, listens carefully, but is not afraid to lead. If he ends up moving north, UCI’s great loss will be Oregon’s great gain.

      • UO Matters 06/11/2012

        Can you give us a specific example of leadership? One big issue here will be willingness to take on the state board and chancellor, who fired our last president, after he gave us raises that they had not authorized.

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        Now…the rest of the story. He was fired for giving raises after being told not to. He was fired for insubordination; for going against the specific instructions of his boss(es). He lied to them and then went behind their backs and went his own way. He was responsible for his own demise. He could have “taken on” the board and chancellor behind closed doors, kept on pushing his agenda behind closed doors, and still be president of UO. His firing was entirely his own fault.

      • UO Matters 06/11/2012

        I think you are correct. I think it took Lariviere a while to realize exactly how corrupt Oregon’s politics was, how bad OUS was, and how broken Johnson Hall was. In the end he had no stomach for the fight, and decided to go out with a bang. Leaving a considerably better political situation for Gottfredson!

      • Peter Keyes 06/11/2012

        Hey, who let that guy from EOU on UO Matters? Go get your own blog, dude!

    7. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      As another UCI faculty member, I echo my colleague’s comment. While we will feel his loss greatly, he deserves a presidency. You will find him
      a deep listener and an incredibly smart and honorable academic leader.

      • UO Matters 06/11/2012

        Specific examples, please!

    8. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      Looks like a great catch, from what we have so far.

    9. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      I am a senior administrator at UCI. I have personally witnessed scores of incidents in which Mike Gottfredson has been strong and fearless in advocating UCI, even when it involves confronting the University of California Office of the President. Specific examples? He pushed through Office of the President resistance to get approval for building our new hospital. He pushed through similar resistance to establishing our new Law School. More recently, he has led an effort to more equitably distribute resources within the University of California system. His strength and integrity have sometimes cost him the good will of those in power, but he has remained steadfast.

      • Anonymous 06/11/2012

        —-> “fearless in advocating UCI, even when it involves confronting the University of California Office of the President.”

        Doesn’t bode well for Gottfredson. This position requires a “yes man” who will bow down to George Pernsteiner.

    10. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      The “needs attention” memo is actually a really good sign about this guy.

      We need a president who can make tough decisions in a fair way. looks to me like Gottfredson was laying the groundwork for that. Imagine if Johnson Hall actually used data to make a decision about where to allocate scarce resources – it would be a revolution.

    11. Anonymous 06/11/2012

      Not judging Gottfredson. But I am infuriated that this decision is being handed down to the University by fiat during finals week when hardly anyone can pay attention. One public meeting! Oh by the way it’s tomorrow! Hope you can come! It’s just an unbelievable disregard for the UO community, and I fear it will start Gottfredson out in a defensive position, having to combat the feeling that his selection was unsupported by the community.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        It’s like the hunger games – OUS wants humiliate us and show how complete their domination is. That said he looks like a reasonable candidate.

      • awesome0 06/12/2012

        The few times I have been around the Chancellor, I thought I smelled roses….

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        This is exactly the same way Lariviere was hired. The process is the same for almost all presidential searches at major universities: a closed search with one finalist who is presented to the campus. If it were handled in any other way, most candidates would not apply because the risk would be too high of undermining their positions on their own campuses. The real question is whether the finalist is just one the Chancellor liked or is one who had broad support on the search committee–especially the faculty on the search committee. If the latter is the case, then I think we can rest easier.

      • Anonymous 06/13/2012

        I am more concerned about the timing. It strikes me as the equivalent of a company announcing disastrous quarterly earnings at 4:45pm on a Friday.

      • Anonymous 06/17/2012

        Or maybe some rats jump ship when they know it’s about to sink (another UCI scandal)….just saying

      • Anonymous 06/17/2012

        Beware the rats do jump ship when its about to sink…..

      • UOMatters 06/17/2012

        Dude, it’s anonymous. If you know something, spit it out.

    12. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Dog says

      the positive notes of the few UCI contributors here are quite encouraging as these
      kinds of forums tend to encourage the opposite. My impression from the comments
      is that he is “tough but fair” which actually does produce institutional leadership.
      So this is encouraging.

    13. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      On usng data in decisionmaking, Using data to inform decisions is terrific. Using data to ‘make’the decisions ( as in deus ex machina budget models) is rife with problems. The memo in question seems to take the former approach, not the latter, a good signal. Wonder what’s happened since the memo?

    14. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Maybe they are just more civil than we are accustomed to here!

    15. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      UCI student here. I want to pick up on what the UCI administrator up there has said about how EVC&P Gottfredson worked to “equitably distribute resources” within UCI. This redistribution of resources happened in a purely instrumental framework that analyzed each department’s “productivity” (measured almost exclusively in terms of the number of students taught per dollar). This means that UCI departments are all scrambling to increase seminar sizes and discussion section sizes, and are being pushed towards relying more and more on teaching assistants and lecturers over tenured faculty. The quality of education here at UCI is dropping dramatically–expect UCI to drop a few ranks in quality over the next few years. It’s part of a larger trend in public higher education, true, but you should be aware that EVC&P Gottfredson was fully complicit in this process. (Know also this “equitable distribution” has put Women’s Studies, African-American Studies, Asian-American Studies and Chicano/Chicana Studies on the block. The curriculum’s going to be quite a bit whiter here at UCI. I’m sure that some will welcome this. Many of us here do not.) Gottfredson’s neither great, nor terrible. But you should be aware that hiring him means compliance with a program of privatization, not resistance to it.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        “Compliance with a program of privatization”

        Great,

        Boyle and his PAC will love him.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        UO student here. Thank you for your insight – and for your recognition that what the UO calls “institutional boards” everyone else in the world calls “privatization.” Who is ignorant enough to think that public education can still exist when we are literally breaking away from the public? Sorry to hear that UCI is in such a bad state.

        I’m also very disappointed to hear that those specific departments are being threatened by budget cuts. The best thing higher education can do for our generation (besides elevate us from working at McDonald’s to working at Starbucks) is teach us about identity, communities, and our histories so that we are more informed and competent citizens of humanity. It is disappointing to hear that Gottfredson may not share that belief.

        Also – what will his background in Criminology do for the new UO Police Force? Police on steroids? Weaponization and privatization sound a lot like hell to me. Just sayin…

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        What is “white” about subjects like chemistry, biology, economics, statistics, math, and physics?

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        I agree. In most major west coast universities, the humanities have a disproportionate amount of “white” students.

      • UO Matters 06/12/2012

        This is getting off topic.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        So nice of “UO student” to tell us all what we should be studying and what important at the university. I suspect he/she is an ASUO member majoring in a soft discipline that provides ample free time to waste student money and focus more on divisible political topics than studying.

      • Anonymous 06/14/2012

        UCI faculty member. The reference was to “equitable distribution” within the UC system, not within UCI. From what I understand the system uses an archaic and opaque method to divvy up state funding between the campuses, and it’s always to the disproportionate benefit of Berkeley and UCLA. Gottfredson advocated for a change to this process that would substantially increase UCI’s funding (and, in so doing, possibly lessen the harm to the “Needs Attention” units at UCI).

    16. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Dog says

      Thanks UCI student for this post. While what you say is generically true I think the UC system is sufficiently screwed that it has to go to this formulaic resource allocation model which squashes innovation. In some sense, at the UO, we squashed
      innovation a very long time ago and now are operating in a community college model
      in the sense that more SCHs are taught by non-faculty than by tenure track faculty.
      There are a myriad of reasons for this but I doubt that Gottfredson can make the situation worse – I hope he can make the situation more coherent.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        “Non-faculty?” I hope that was a typo.

        And why is that a community-college model? This is off-topic but infuriating to this NTTF. What ought to matter is the quality of the teaching and in my department, by any measure, NTTF have been superior teachers to our TTF.

        Let’s worry about class sizes, butts in the seats approaches and getting rid of those marginal departments like music that aren’t profitable rather than the class warfare that brought you the union. Because when we go private, the public won’t give a shit who is teaching the classes -just the outcomes of those classes.

      • Oryx 06/12/2012

        I don’t think the point was to offend, or to imply that NTTFs are worse or better instructors than TTFs. Rather, the point is that there are fewer ‘permanent’ positions than there should be. I think that NTTFs and TTFs agree on this in general. Having the people who teach classes be permanent (tenured) faculty is more effective in fighting the ‘butts-in-seats,’ short term bean-counting thinking we all (NTTFs and TTFs) dislike, more so than having instructors who are ‘disposable’ (from the admin’s point of view, not TTFs!).

        So many people on this blog take offense so easily!

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        I don’t know what Dog was thinking, but if you parse his remarks using the “statutory faculty” definition of faculty (not the UAUO definition), “non-faculty” would include adjuncts and GTFs. Career NTTFs are faculty and would have been omitted from either side of a non-faculty-vs-TTF comparison.

        Parsing aside, I would like to believe that all of those groups — GTFs, adjuncts, career NTTF instructors, and TTFs — could agree that the best outcome for the institution would be for a larger share of UO’s teaching to be done by TTFs, and for that to be achieved by creating more TTF jobs (which many people in the first 3 groups would be eager to have).

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        If he meant to include Career NTTF as faculty, then I can accept the argument. I think that is a generous interpretation but I could be just “taking offense easily”.

        It’s not clear that it is necessarily a good thing to have more TTF teaching. That is a common input measure of a quality university but that doesn’t mean it’s the right measure. I don’t think that assertion can be made without a clearer academic plan and vision for who we want to be. Who knows, maybe we would be better off having TTF teaching less and focusing on research more. The point is there might be a number of ways for us to organize our resources to achieve our goals – whatever those are.

      • roo 06/12/2012

        I think a disturbingly large number of TTF seem to believe that NTTF aren’t faculty.

        Also, having been an undergraduate here, I can happily report that within my major and related departments, the three best teachers I had were an instructor, a GTF and an adjunct professor.

        While I had many TTF who were good teachers, none were as meticulously organized as the GTF, as practically minded as the instructor or as inspiring as the adjunct.

      • Anonymous 06/12/2012

        Dog says

        Wow – shitstorm initiating
        Oryx has my intent of my wording
        I am not really referring to teaching here – the more permanent research faculty
        we can get here, the more our grad student population can grow back to something near normal, the more undergrad research opportunities open, the more fed money is brought in, etc,etc.

        in terms of teaching – I agree that a good teacher is a good teacher independent of rank/status

        unfortunately dogs suck at teaching and should be replaced

    17. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      UO Medical School here were come!!! I’ll bet Peace Health would be eager to sell off University District

    18. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Another UCI faculty member here. Gottfredson is very well thought-of here. He is a problem solver, an extremely capable and fair administrator, and very smart. He will be sorely missed.

      • UO Matters 06/12/2012

        Thanks, sounds good, any specific examples?

    19. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Ever read Marbury v. Madison?

    20. G Joubert 06/12/2012

      Maybe it’s exactly his background in criminal justice that makes him so attractive to OUS. He’ll be charged with reeling in Phil Knight and his loot and the rogue football players clogging up court dockets. And, maybe, just maybe, he can take the necessary actions to avoid the dreaded NCAA “death penalty” for the outlaw repeat-offender football program.

    21. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      I am interested in specifics too.

      He is a well published criminologist. What are his views on what causes crime? Interested in knowing if he is a sociobiologist with regard criminology.

      What has he done to support and promote undergraduate education? Scholarships? Classroom size? Exposure to global issues? Diversity in terms of student population, as well as courses that teach multiculturalism.
      What has he done for graduate student education? Has he increased fellowships? Does he meet with students to hear their grievances?

      What has he done for faculty governance issues? What is his position on unions and collective bargaining? How does he plan to balance the quality of higher education with the budget model that primarily looks at warm bodies in the seats?

    22. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      Dog says

      You last question tends to preclude engaging in the previous sets of questions.

      No balance is possible, we are driven to more adjuncts to each the warm bodies, and quality
      becomes incoherent. This is exactly what is happening at UC Bovine and other places, like
      the UO.

      Besides, I am not sure we even know what “quality education” means today – any faculty response to that would be “screw you, of course I know what it is” along with a bulleted list that is at least 30 years old.

    23. Anonymous 06/12/2012

      So, perhaps what we should request is the presidential search committee talk to these questions. All are valid and I actually have a lot of confidence that the search committee asked these. (Well, ok maybe not his views on what causes crime.)

      Let’s see what he says today in his forum with the community. (Maybe some from Faculty Senate could arrange to have that live as well for all of the folks who cannot be there.)

    24. Anonymous 07/14/2012

      As a long time UCI Associate, I do not have a positive view of MG’s service at UCI. My advisor was on the committee that selected MG, and the promise of consensus and forward thinking has not IMHO materialized at UCI. He does have his charms, but I don’t think he was effective in finding ways to address our problems.

      Beware his leadership selections — the latest disaster has been his choice for director of the Student Center. He has tended to pick outside-the-box candidates for leaders and the results have been mixed at best.

      Perhaps he will work out for you. U Nebraska selected VC Smith from UCI as president and I think they have been happy with his leadership though he was a tyrant when he was at UCI.

      I wish the UO the best of luck.

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