Press "Enter" to skip to content

Coltrane to be interim Provost

5/1/13, Some good news. Here’s hoping he got some commitments from Gottfredson on reforms as part of the deal. For the nostalgic, here are the FIVE BIG IDEAS, here’s Lorraine Davis’s To Do list for Bean when he returned from sabbatical last May, and from July 2012, here’s Bean’s promise to get faculty input into reviewing the academic plan and developing priorities:

Priorities:  Later this month, our leadership retreat will address the most pressing priorities for the Provost’s Office during this coming year.  The group in attendance will include the Leadership Council augmented by faculty, staff, student, Foundation and Alumni Association leadership.  I will present some ideas such as review of the Academic Plan and the Big Ideas, office and classroom space, etc.  The group will have an opportunity to add topics and to do an initial prioritization.  I have already spoken with Robert Kyr, President of the University Senate, about an online ranking process of these priorities, to be run by the Senate in September, involving the entire community.  From all this input, the President and I will settle on the priority topics for this year.

That would have been last September. Just in case anyone needed a reminder about the lack of faculty input into UO’s priorities – a question which Hubin finessed in the accreditation report, and which Rudnick made the mistake of bringing up at the bargaining table. Too bad Coltrane doesn’t start the job until July.

Dear colleagues: 

I am delighted to announce that Scott Coltrane, dean of the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences, has accepted my invitation to serve in an interim role as the UO’s senior vice president and provost beginning July 1. 
He will succeed Jim Bean, who will leave his current position of senior vice president and provost at the end of June, to return to the Lundquist College of Business. Dean Coltrane will serve in the interim position as we conduct a nationwide search for a permanent senior vice president and provost. 
I would like to thank all those who submitted nominations to fill this interim position and I’d especially like to extend my appreciation to members of the Faculty Advisory Council who served as the selection advisory committee for this appointment. 
The provost is the UO’s chief academic officer, heading our academic programs and overseeing the quality of our teaching and research. The provost ensures that we maintain a high quality faculty by providing leadership in appointments, promotions, working conditions and tenure. 
Dean Coltrane has served since 2008 as the head of our College of Arts and Sciences. He has also served as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and has extensive experience and familiarity with the fundamental issues facing our entire university – from the growth of recent years, to the space and staffing issues we are currently addressing, to facilitating our research mission. 
A prominent sociologist, Dean Coltrane’s own research has focused in part on families and fatherhood and the domestic divisions of labor and gender inequality. Prior to joining the UO in 2008, he served for 20 years in a variety of teaching, research and administrative positions at the University of California at Riverside. 
Please join me in congratulating Scott Coltrane and welcoming him to his interim role as senior vice president and provost. 
Sincerely, 
Michael R. Gottfredson

12 Comments

  1. Anonymous 05/01/2013

    Dog says

    No surprise on Coltrane – it could even be good -it will certainly be better.

    Likely also means that Andrew M becomes the
    interim CAS head.

    When do I get to become an interim dog …?

    • Anonymous 05/02/2013

      Yup, good for UO, and good for CAS too.

  2. Anonymous 05/01/2013

    It’s always bittersweet to see the good ones promoted.

  3. Anonymous 05/01/2013

    THe only gripe I have with this post is that it reminded me again (through the link to Bean’s to-do list) of the “Big” Ideas. I cringe at the joke they are.

    • UO Matters 05/02/2013

      cringeworthy link added.

    • Anonymous 05/02/2013

      You didn’t… aaaghhhh.

      1) Building on momentum to make Oregon a world leader: Holy shit that sounds dumb. Put this in the category of Eugene’s old slogan, “The world’s greatest city for the arts and outdoors.” Probably the same consulting firm that helped Robin Holmes use tuition dollars to warp students’ thoughts ont he EMU expansion.

      2) Skills for a Shrinking Planet: Not worth considering. Meaningless drivel.

      3) How do we rework liberal education to form not just good citizens, but good citizens of the world?: Online education. Need I say more?

      4) Helping people by putting theory into action: Wow, huge idea. HUGE!!! Nobody here has ever done that before.

      5) Making Oregon the epicenter for green product research, education and leadership: On our budget? Are you kidding yourselves? Really? How about keeping our existing “epicenters” from losing the faculty they have?

      Shortsighted assholes. Bean, Davis… all of them.

    • UO Matters 05/02/2013

      That’s only two cusswords. You’re allowed one for each big idea.

    • Anonymous 05/02/2013

      Dog says

      but now now UO matters, that wouldn’t be fuckin’ GREEN if you allowed that.
      And these big ideas are certainly designed to make the UO the most fucking
      GREEN Thing on this blue planet. You know, every time I read the summaries
      of these ideas, well, I just feel, well, fuckin’ GREEN. Proof positive
      that style over substance is the coin of the realm at the UO.

    • Anonymous 05/02/2013

      Dog just used three cuss words in one post. I thought that was not allowed. Or is it OK if they are all the same? Does that still count as one word? I need some clarification on the rules here, Bill.

    • Anonymous 05/02/2013

      dog:

      1×5 = 5 —> i could have used 2 more

  4. Anonymous 05/02/2013

    This cannot be welcome news for Espy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *