12/30/2011: The docket for the 1/6/2012 OUS Board meeting is out. Summer session tuition increases (very large for law school) and this perk for Dr. Pernsteiner:
5. Academic title can be assigned to staff members in unclassified academic service,
whether the type of service is teaching, research, extension, administration or other
service. Deans, vice presidents, presidents, Chancellor, and vice chancellors may have
the academic rank of professor as determined by each institution’s criteria.
A commenter points out this may be Pernsteiner’s exit strategy. Sounds possible: Kitzhaber appoints a new OEIB boss, Pernsteiner gets a faculty appointment at the PSU Hatfield School of Government, takes a sabbatical, then cashes in for a few more years. A path well worn by Dave Frohnmayer, with lots of help from Pernsteiner, and perhaps now also by Jim Bean.
So not only has he been appointed to his position of Chancellor without a search, now he can appointment himself a Ph.D.?
Man, this blog must be a thorn in his side.
The Old Man understands that UO policy allows title of Professor for OA’s IF they, fact, hold a tenured appointment as professor in an academic department.He assumes that this policy will continue. Will someone please tell him if he is wrong?
Does Old Man mean to ask “IF AND ONLY IF” instead of “IF”?
BY the way, the title “Professor” has never implied the holder has a PhD. Indeed, professors of law rarely have such a degree. Also true in fields such as fine art, where usually professors hold MFAs.
Old Man is pleased to be invited to edit his comment. He definitely meant IF AND ONLY IF.
Looks like Pernsteiner’s exit strategy.
I suggest he be given the first Lariviere Chair in Higher Education Administration at UO. He could be in PPM or the business school. I’m sure Phil Knight would be thrilled to sponsor this. It would make everyone feel better, no doubt about it!
Man, reading this blog is so sobering! So I guess I teach 20+ hrs a week, keep working on research, get payed in peanuts and bananas, and this fool P and I will have the same title? This sucks.
You forgot to mention they will probably pay him 3 times what we get.
Does anyone here realize that Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, and the Chancellor have held the rank of Professor under this rule for decades? Pretending like this is new is disingenuous.
I would love to see him teach a class on administrative or business ethics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRT62J80iyI
The Old Man would like to see documentation in support of “Does anyone here realize that Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, and the Chancellor have held the rank of Professor under this rule for decades? Pretending like this is new is disingenuous.”
The Board has an OAR Action Item that purports “,,, to ensure that OUS institutions have clear and common definitions of faculty rank and titles.” The current OAR 580-020-0005 says “Deans, vice presidents, presidents, Chancellors and vice chancellors shall have the academic rank of professor.”
The proposed amendment says all those folks “…may have the academic rank of professor as determined by each institution’s criteria.” It must be some of the other changes to the OAR that justifies the claim that the proposed changes in the OAR will “…ensure … common definitions of faculty rank and titles.”
In any case, I think this can bring the OAR into line with UO practice, in which the Statutory Faculty (as defined by our Constitution) includes OARs if (and only if) they hold tenured appointments in an academic department.
Anonymous has tried to clarify things, but has failed to do so. Old Man points out that confusion arises from the current OAR, which states “Deans, vice presidents, presidents, Chancellors and vice chancellors shall have the academic rank of professor.” This sentence may be taken to mean that the title is automatically bestowed on those who hold such office (as one or more Anonymous’s appear to have done). However, an alternative interpretation is that no one can hold such an office unless (s)he is already a professor. When looked at this way, the proposed change brings to light the OAR violation perpetrated by G. Pernsteiner himself, who seems never to have been a “professor.” At the same time, it “legalizes” the practice of granting high-level administrative positions to academically uncertified individuals. Now, that is worrisome. The fact that it is already going on (e.g. Pernsteiner and ??) makes it no less worrisome to those who consider our universities to be, first and foremost, educational institutions.
Friends, follow the links and read the report and you’ll discover that the point of this change is precisely to resolve the ambiguity in language. Of course, Mr. Pernsteiner may still be leading a vast conspiracy to subvert all that is holy, but probably not in this particular instance.
Compare p. 17 (old version) with p. 20 (proposed new version) at http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc120106.pdf:
“Academic title can be assigned to staff members in unclassified academic service, whether the type of service is teaching, research, extension, administration service. Deans, vice presidents, presidents, Chancellor, and vice chancellors may have the academic rank of professor as determined by each institution’s criteria.”
Old Man agrees that ambiguity has been removed, but he would like Anon to tell us all what was the Original Intent of that OAR.
Old Man now understands that the original OAR ASSIGNS the rank of Professor to VPs, Chancellors etc. There seems to be no ambiguity in the text (only in Old Man’s aging brain). Thus, the proposed change allows institutions to withhold said rank from its higher administrators. I hope/trust that UO practice assigns the rank only to those who have tenure in an academic department.