HECC approves UO Board’s pet Sports Product Degree

3/13/2015 update: And boy is PSU pissed. Allan Brettman has the report in the Oregonian, here:

The state Higher Education Coordinating Commission on Thursday approved UO’s application to start a Master of Science in Sports Product Management. The program, long sought by the region’s sports products companies, will enroll students this fall.

But before the commission’s 6-2 vote in Salem, PSU President Wim Wiewel delivered a fusillade of criticism at the program. He accused UO of failing to collaborate with PSU on the curriculum and made clear his dissatisfaction with any other state higher education institution infringing on PSU’s turf.

“You are deciding if you are going to allow our public universities to engage in a free-for-all for the Portland geographic area,” Wiewel told commissioners in prepared remarks before the vote.

UO officials, for their part, were delighted with the board’s vote. They noted that the program has been under formation for about two years, has widespread support from companies such as Nike, Columbia Sportswear and Keen, and is expected to enhance the region’s existing reputation as the epicenter for athletic footwear, sportswear and outdoor products.

“This program creates an educational pathway to help the state retain its advantage in this important area,” Frances Bronet, acting UO senior vice president and provost, said in prepared remarks. …

Off course it’s already a money pit, despite promises donors would pay for it. And it’s sucking up time that UO’s administrators could have spent supporting research that might help keep us in the AAU. And it’s cost UO maybe $500K in Jim Bean. That said, it’s a natural for UO.

7/5/2015: UO’s big new strategic initiatives: sports and police

The announcement is here: http://provost.uoregon.edu/content/fy15-strategic-initiatives. It’s not all bad, but of course Jim Bean’s sports product design proposal gets a bundle:

New Tenure Related Faculty Position: Sports Product Management

AAA and LCB jointly submit a strategic initiative in Sports Products that seeks to educate product designers and design process managers for the state’s largest, homegrown, alpha-cluster of companies, and to conduct research critical to their continued success. This collaboration addresses an academic opportunity, to launch a program which enables two critical components that Oregon owns: one is that of connecting design and hands-on learning with strategic management practices; two propels a model of embodied learning, where action art/athletics/physical health/sports are a rich part of an intellectual and learning continuum.

School of Architecture and Allied Arts/ Lundquist College of Business

$140K recurring , $450K start up

There’s also $500K plus $130K recurring for the UOPD’s new information system. Remember when Frances Dyke told Floyd Prozanski and the State Legislature that an independent UOPD was going to cost maybe $66K? She lied. Their budget has increased from $2 to $5 million, even before this:

Computer-Aided Dispatch/Record Management System (CAD/RMS)

The Communication and Emergency Response Center (CERC) serves the UO community by providing dispatch and emergency communication services for UOPD, Parking and Transportation, Environmental Health and Safety, Student Affairs and Campus Operations, serving a population of approximately 30,000. UOPD maintains its own communications and records units, and works closely with the City of Eugene Police Department (EPD). The current CAD system was installed in 1997 and no longer interfaces with the City of Eugene PD system. UOPD must implement a modern Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD)/Record Management System (RMS) that will serve the current and future needs of both the UOPD and other campus partners, with end-to-end encrypted VPN (virtual private network) connection to City of Eugene servers and CJI (criminal justice information) systems.

$130K recurring, up to $500K one time