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12 Comments

  1. Anonymous 06/13/2012

    Be fair. This is a Frohnmayer mess.

  2. Anonymous 06/13/2012

    Dog says

    its unfair to say this is Bean’s mess
    this also started as the Moseley/Frohnmahyer monuments to themselves with no market research
    on what makes sense to offer. Then Terri Warpinski is put in charge; then Wendy Larson; and so it goes.

    The working group report is refreshing but also echoes what some other reports said 6 years ago. We built it, they didn’t come – this is not a surprise.

  3. Anonymous 06/13/2012

    Yes,much of the prior effort in Bend and Portland looked like ‘vanity initiatives, even if they weren’t. This report is the most honest to date, but it still perpetuates the myth that the main campus has enough resources from instruction-related revenues to subsidize what in many cases amounts to off campus ‘public relations’ or ‘brand marketing’ for some on-campus schools. This issue is especially important since the burden of both the on-campus and Portland-area cross school/college subsidies is so heavily concentrated on just 1 or 2 schools/colleges. no new major portland initiatives without a transparent and well-vetted business plan open to faculty and student evaluation.

  4. Anonymous 06/13/2012

    Dog Says

    Its final exams week, in fact I am giving one right now

    Here is the first question

    When a mess exists, Provost bean

    a) nimbly grabs a mop and efficiently cleans it up
    b) orders a subordinate to clean up the mess; the subordinate can not find a mop
    c) tells everyone in the room to grab a mop thus creating an incoherent mop fest
    d) doesn’t know how to use a mop
    e) doesn’t know that the mop exists

    • Anonymous 06/13/2012

      I’m trying to keep my spirits up while my students take an exam, demonstrating all the knowledge they have soaked up so eagerly over the quarter. But in answer to your question, maybe Bean can hold another Big Ideas call? That was such a productive use of my time!
      –Frog.

    • Anonymous 06/17/2012

      Please add another option:

      f) does not know nor even understand what is a mess, or that one presently exists (and multiple attempts to explain the issue to him only elicits blank stares)

    • Anonymous 06/17/2012

      Dog says

      students always pick the longest choice on a multiple choice exam
      since they think that must be correct …

    • Anonymous 06/18/2012

      Anon Sat 16 June 2012 adds:

      In this case the longest answer is the correct answer, and represents the “bone” you throw (no insult meant to Dog or Old Dog) to your students to ensure that they enjoy one easy question… Kind of a warm up before the difficult ones on page two or three, hopefully not four. And also because unlike Jim Bean, they don’t have the privilege of getting paid big bucks to “scan journals” and “visit old friends” in preparation for exams.

      While we are pondering the “great mind” of Mr. Bean, I think we can give students an approximately 28.57% chance to get the “gimme” question by adding option “g,” which is also correct:

      g) applies direct labor and indirect labor principles to most efficiently mop up the mess (at least in appearance)

      * Jim Bean: Bringing Taylorism and first-class pig iron handlers to a research university near you soon!

  5. Anonymous 06/14/2012

    We will learn a lot from what Gottfredson decides to do with Bean. Ribbit ribbit.

  6. Anas clypeata 06/14/2012

    I remember participating in our school’s budgeting meetings about UO Portland. The budgets were massively optimistic fantasies that could not possibly come true. Everyone acknowledged that the budgets were fantasies (unfortunately, no meeting minutes survive), but there were NO INCENTIVES to create realistic budgets with realistic enrollment projections, support staff numbers, etc.

    Our school’s efforts at UO Portland were supposed to be self-supporting within some small number of years (4? 5?). In order to show that self-support happening, absurd assumptions were built into the budget. Many, many people with fancy job titles who should have behaved like adults failed to do so, approving this budget all the way to the top.

    Mirabile dictu, the optimistic budget projections failed to turn into reality. The school is doing good things in Portland, but I feel dirty for having participated in such a sham.

  7. Anonymous 06/14/2012

    UOM The least you can do is use a bible when quoting the bible.

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