Gottfredson ignores Senate resolution on NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative.

The UO Senate voted 2 weeks ago for an open search for the FAR, for faculty participation in reviews, and against letting current FAR Jim O’Fallon to stay on any longer unless he gets reviewed. Today President Gottfredson sent the Senate this non-response:

From: President Gottfredson
To: Margaret Paris
Date: April 22, 2014 at 9:12:21 PM PDT
Subject: Faculty Athletic Representative search

April 22, 2014
Senate President
Margaret Paris
Dear Margie,

I am writing with an update about the Faculty Athletic Representative search
pertinent to the recently passed University Senate resolution regarding the search
process. The search is well underway, as previously announced to the campus
community. Thank you for the additional faculty nomination for the search
committee; Professor Jim Isenberg has agreed to join the committee.
The posted job description had already indicated the new FAR will have a five year
comprehensive review. As previously announced to the campus, the incumbent has
decided to retire from the position, but is willing to serve a period of mentorship,
something we greatly appreciate. The FAR is not a position with supervisory
responsibilities and the confidential process is designed to provide significant
opportunity for our colleagues to explore their interest with our advisory
committee.

I expect the search committee will soon ask the campus community to submit
questions, issues, or concerns pertaining to the FAR role that will assist them in the
process.

Regards,
Michael Gottfredson
President

Secret questions, secret answers, and no public records or open meetings, because Randy Geller set this up as a personnel matter rather than a search, to keep everyone in the dark. President Gottfredson has added one faculty member to the hiring committee, but he is ignoring all the other parts of the resolution:

Faculty to be Consulted on Review and Selection of the Faculty Athletics Representative

Number: US13/14-26

Date of Notice: Fri, 02/14/2014

Legislation, Resolution, or Policy Adoption: Resolution

Current Status: Approved on 04/09/2014

Motion:

Section I:

1.1 WHEREAS the University is currently searching for a new Faculty Athletics Representative, and as President Gottfredson’s website notes this position involves academic responsibilities of importance to the academic mission and reputation of the university:

“The FAR at the UO is responsible for ensuring the academic integrity of the intercollegiate athletic program, promoting the well-being of student athletes, and supporting institutional control of athletics through oversight of compliance and student eligibility.”;[i] and

1.2 WHEREAS the Senate voted in 2013 for legislation to develop UO policies that would ensure that the hiring and 360 degree review of executive administrators (explicitly including the FAR) be done as open searches and that, among other procedures designed to include transparency and build trust in the current draft of that policy:

“UO statutory faculty, as defined in the UO Constitution, should comprise the majority of hiring committees” and the same for review committees and,

“The hiring process should be as open as practicable, and, whenever possible, finalists should make public presentations;”

“Whenever possible, the hiring committee should solicit input on the candidates from appropriate constituencies.”[ii]

(However note that, unlike the legislation, the current draft policy is unclear as to whether it will cover FAR); and

1.3 WHEREAS despite this legislation and draft policy President Gottfredson has decided to hold a closed search for a new FAR with a hiring committee of 6 that includes only 3 faculty (and only 2 before an intervention by the Senate President); [iii] [iv] and;

1.4 WHEREAS our current FAR has served for 25 years without review, despite the 2004 Athletics Task Force report calling for a review;[v] and

1.5 WHEREAS the new FAR position description states

“The Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) reports to the president of the University of Oregon and serves at the will of the president.”

and does not include any assurances that the review committee will include a majority of faculty selected by the Senate or that the review will be a “360 degree” review.[vi]

Section II:

2.1 BE IT HEREBY MOVED that the Senate requests that President Gottfredson consult with the Senate President and add another statutory faculty member to the hiring committee, and that he direct this committee to hold an open search for a new FAR, including public statements, and an opportunity for questions and input from relevant constituencies;

2.2 BE IT FURTHERMORE MOVED that the Senate requests that President Gottfredson rewrite the FAR position statement to include “360 degree” reviews with participation from the Senate Intercollegiate Athletics Committee and Senate constituencies including faculty and student-athletes, at the end of year one and at least every three years after; and

2.3 BE IT FURTHERMORE MOVED that the Senate requests that President Gottfredson not extend the term of the current FAR beyond 9/15/2014 without a “360 degree” review as in 2.2.

[i] http://president.uoregon.edu/content/faculty-athletic-representative-search

[ii] http://senate.uoregon.edu/content/faculty-input-hiring-executive-adminis… andhttp://senate.uoregon.edu/content/review-executive-administrators andhttp://senate.uoregon.edu/sites/senate.uoregon.edu/files/Draft%20Report%…

[iii] http://president.uoregon.edu/content/faculty-athletic-representative-search

[iv] http://senate.uoregon.edu/sites/senate.uoregon.edu/files/FAR%20Advisory%…

[v] http://committees.uoregon.edu/sites/committees.uoregon.edu/files/IACTask…

[vi] http://president.uoregon.edu/content/faculty-athletic-representative-pos…

Financial Impact:

Cost Neutral.

Sponsor:

William Harbaugh (Economics), Senator