6/15/2011: From Bill Graves in the Oregonian:
University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere must become a team player, show up at board meetings and stop putting his university at odds with the state system if he wants to keep his job, says the State Board of Higher Education.
… (UO spokesperson Phil) Weiler said he could not say whether Lariviere would accept the contract.
Read Greg Bolt of the RG for a mash-up of contradictory Paul Kelly quotes. Then there’s this:
Another addition to Lariviere’s contract is a clause allowing the board to terminate him without cause with 30 days’ notice.
Outrageous. Lariviere’s job is to run UO, not fetch Dr. Pernsteiner’s croissants. The new partnership is good for UO, the state, and our students. What does Pernsteiner have to offer in its place? He is just trying to protect his $304,000 paycheck and expense accounts.
My money is on Lariviere to win this one – if he stays. But with that clause in his contract, he’s probably calling recruiting firms already. Which is of course why Pernsteiner put it in. If they force him out, Pernsteiner and Kelly are going to have a hard time finding a credible replacement. Bean for a year? Frohnmayer? The fight is going to leave their reputations, and UO, in ruin.
UO now faces serious trouble unless Kitzhaber can get SB909 through the legislature – only a few days left. SB909 will give the OUS authority to a new board.
Fortunately the legislature did give us armed campus police to deter the growing nuclear threat from OSU.
Their beef is with the New Partnership. If Lariviere goes, they are basically turning down $800 million (or is it actually twice that or more?) in new private money for Oregon higher education. Even if it is for UO endowment, that’s what they will be doing. It would make the old WRC fiasco with Phil Knight look like peanuts. Even if the state board wants to do that, does Gov. Kitzhaber want that to be part of his legacy?
The small-mindedness and outright stupidity of the state board and Pernsteiner is breathtaking.