Update: Pernsteiner gives OUS board two months notice

1/26/2013: Pernsteiner’s attorney, Bill Gary of Harrang, Rudnick, Frohnmayer et al., says Pernsteiner intends to return to live in Eugene:

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Full letter and more recent info here, more on his various scams below.

1/26/2013: Actually, the board gave *him* notice – read the press release. Brad Schmidt of the Oregonian has a quote from some disgruntled prof, here. The board meets Jan 28th to decide how much tuition money our students are going to have to pay to get rid of him. Donegan gave him a contract through July 2014 just 6 months ago, here, so it ain’t gonna be cheap. Two weeks ago the board gave him a 5% raise, part retroactive, increasing his buyout cost $15K or so. Now they make him resign. Presumably he’s PERS tier one and this will pump up his payout to Frohnmayeresque levels. See Steve Duin for some history. Sure is fun spending other people’s money on your friends, eh Matt?

I wonder what this will mean for Treetops – will Gottfredson take it over? Anyway, good for Kitzhaber! For the nostalgic: Lariviere Day memories, the video of the November 28th 2011 OUS meeting where Donegan and Pernsteiner fired Lariviere, and the video of the November 30th 2011 faculty assembly with Pernsteiner, where the UO faculty unanimously passed this resolution calling for the board to dump him:

Statement from the State Board of Higher Education

January 25, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner announces plans to resign

Portland, Oregon – January 25, 2013: Chancellor George Pernsteiner announced his resignation from the Oregon University System today. Chancellor Pernsteiner will remain in his current role through March 1, 2013 and will continue to contribute on a special assignment through March 31. Pernsteiner’s continued service to the Oregon University System through March will facilitate a successful leadership transition.

“It has been a true honor to serve Oregon as Chancellor for more than eight years,” said Pernsteiner. “In that time, I have been privileged to lead and work with truly dedicated professionals in the Chancellor’s office who care deeply about our students and our state. The accomplishments of Oregon’s universities in the past several years have been outstanding as we changed the way we engaged with community colleges, increased our enrollment and the success of Oregon students, and witnessed all-time record high levels of enrollment and degrees. It has been a gratifying experience to work with faculty, staff, student leaders, board members and state officials to help improve the lives of Oregonians. I very much look forward to continuing to make that happen over the next couple of months and into the future.”

“We wish to thank Chancellor Pernsteiner for his many years of service to the students served by our universities,” said Matt Donegan, president of the State Board of Higher Education. “George leaves the university system well positioned, having reached record enrollment and degree attainment at a time when higher education has never been of greater importance to Oregon’s economy. The state has reached a critical transition point, making this an opportune time for a change of leadership. We are embarking on new strategies to achieve the state’s 40-40-20 goal and capturing unprecedented opportunities for achievement and efficiency through technology and innovation. As we look ahead, student success will continue to guide us.”

“Throughout this transition, our focus will remain on students and supporting the faculty and staff who do such an outstanding job educating them,” said Jill Eiland, Board vice president. “We appreciate George’s willingness to remain on board to lend his expertise and ensure a successful transition. Our immediate priority will be to name an interim chancellor.”

The Oregon State Board of Higher Education will vote in a public meeting on January 28, 2013 at 10:00 am at the Board’s meeting room in Portland regarding the final separation agreement with Chancellor Pernsteiner.

The Oregon University System comprises seven distinguished public universities and one branch campus, reaching more than one million people each year through on-campus classes, statewide public services and lifelong learning. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the statutory governing board of OUS, is composed of twelve members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate. For additional information, go to www.ous.edu

I’ve posted a lot of stuff over the years about Pernsteiner’s various perks and scams – here’s a good index:

• He was hired in 2004 by Neil Goldschmidt as an interim appointment, then made permanent after the molestation story broke and everyone was too busy to go through a public search process. 
• He does not have a PhD – unique for a Chancellor. 
• He is paid $280,900 in straight salary. (plus new 5% raise)
• He gets another $23,320 for “professional development expenses.” He does not document how he spends this – just takes as a cash salary add-on. 
• He gets a free car with all costs paid.
• He gets a $12,720 retirement add-on, to top off his regular PERS account.
• He gets an all expenses paid mansion in Eugene, Treetops, which he uses about 4 nights a month, at a cost to the state of over $50,000 a year.
• We pay about $7,000 for his maid service.
• He gets another $26,000 in housing allowance to pay the mortgage on his own house, in Portland.
• He charges the state $52 a day for his personal food while he’s in Portland. The scam is to claim he lives in Eugene, so when he’s in at his own house in Portland, he’s traveling! 
• He votes illegally in Lane County, and gets away with it by having his lawyer, (Bill Gary of Harrang, Long, Gary and Rudnick and Frohnmayer) tell the Lane County Elections Supervisor that “He spends less than half of his time in either of his residences, but his primary residence and the place to which he intends to return is his official residence in Eugene.” Sure you do, George.