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I’ll post a poll, but my sense is that this “welcome message” from our new president is very much welcomed by the faculty, particularly after all the good work Schill has done over the summer to address UO’s problems. Emphasis added: Dear Faculty, I am very excited about beginning my…

9/23/2015: This latest RG editorial is a response to Jack Stripling’s story in the Chronicle of Higher Ed about UO, “An Academic Reputation at Risk“. That is still gated if you are off campus, but I put up a few extracts here.

The RG’s editors are confused about the meaning of “inflection point” (Hint: Check the 2nd derivative, not the first). More significantly they seem blissfully unaware of the years of research results, including two NCAA sponsored white papers, that cannot find evidence for the claim that athletic success is a cost-effective way for a university to increase enrollment. Here’s what the RG says:

The rise of athletics coincided with the decline in public financial support, and came just as the UO needed to market itself outside the state’s boundaries. In that respect it was a godsend, giving the UO a foot in the door with prospective students everywhere.

Aren’t journalists supposed to follow the money? This argument has made millions for the athletics directors, coaches, and the compliant presidents whose PR flacks keep repeating it.

The online comments are pretty good though, as is the basic story about how declines in state funding forced UO’s leaders to go after out-of-state undergraduates. That kept them and UO’s faculty employed, but led to a relative decline in research resources and focus, and our national reputation.

And if you ignore the math error and the cheap shot at the faculty who’ve stuck with Oregon’s flagship university through all this, it’s hard to argue with their conclusion, here:

The [Chronicle] article goes on to suggest that the UO has reached an inflection point: Either the trade-offs of quality vs. quantity will be locked in, or something will happen to initiate a virtuous cycle, with first-rate academic programs attracting first-rate faculty to create first-rate academic programs.

Launching such a cycle would depend on leadership and money. That’s why so much is riding on Michael Schill, who in July became the UO’s fifth president in six years, and on the university’s $2 billion fundraising campaign. Other factors will also be at play, but leadership and self-generated resources are the two that are most subject to the university’s control.

The “flawed reputation” in the Chronicle’s headline is disheartening but undeniable. The task now is to confront it boldly, and bend the UO’s trajectory in an upward direction.

9/13/2015: Register Guard editorial on UO President Mike Schill

“Schill’s academic focus: New UO president hopes to replicate athletic success in labs and classrooms” 

In the RG here: