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CAS searching for $100K PR flack to communicate with $278K VP for Communication

Last updated on 08/20/2020

So far as I can tell this is a new job. [See comments. It wasn’t on the CAS leadership page when I looked.] The Deans have been complaining about Henley for years, apparently it’s now so bad that CAS needs to hire a Director of Communications to communicate with JH’s VP for Communication Kyle Henley:

“Moreover, the Director of Communications is the primary communications liaison between the College of Arts and Sciences and University Communications. In this role, the director is responsible for ensuring that the school’s priorities, communications strategy, and objectives are shared with University Communications leadership, working to identify opportunities for coordination, collaboration and amplification.”

Director of Communications

Job no: 525593
Work type: Officer of Administration
Location: Eugene, OR
Categories: Communications/Public Relations/Marketing, Executive/Management/Director

Department: CAS Administration
Appointment Type and Duration: Regular, Ongoing
Salary: $90,000 to $110,000 per year
Compensation Band: OS-OA10-Fiscal Year 2020-2021
FTE: 1.0

Position Summary
The Director of Communications works with the deans to plan, develop, and implement communications efforts designed to promote the liberal arts mission of the College and engage its major constituencies: students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and donors. The Director of Communications provides counsel to the CAS deans regarding both internal and external communications and provides communications advice to the 40+ academic departments and programs in CAS. Moreover, the Director of Communications is the primary communications liaison between the College of Arts and Sciences and University Communications. In this role, the director is responsible for ensuring that the school’s priorities, communications strategy, and objectives are shared with University Communications leadership, working to identify opportunities for coordination, collaboration and amplification. The Director of Communications will also work with a CAS communications team to ensure compliance with University of Oregon brand standards and consistent messaging on UO-wide initiatives.

In addition, the Director of Communications works closely with partners in Enrollment Management, University Advancement, and other central units on campus on specific university-wide marketing and communications goals.

Minimum Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field OR an equivalent combination of skills, experience, and education
• Five years of proven experience with communications, public relations, marketing strategies, and social media with successively high levels of achievement
• Understanding of and experience with executive communications support
• Two years of experience with direct supervision of communications staff

Professional Competencies
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to craft clear messages for broad audiences from a variety of academic source content
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with university staff, faculty, and others
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues from different departments and units to deliver successful projects
• Commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Proficiency in the use of personal computers with computer software including Excel, design, web applications, page layout, email marketing tools
• Ability to work with print, digital and social media strategies, tools and platforms and knowledge of current and emerging best practices
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment managing a variety of projects at once while simultaneously always searching for operational efficiencies
• Strong project and intake management skills, with the ability to take creative ideas from conception to execution
• Ability to think and act strategically, understanding the needs of different constituents, and the ability to think creatively to address those needs
• Demonstrated abilities in and a strong commitment to using data analytics as part of strategy formulation
• Demonstrated ability to apply an entrepreneurial, problem-solver mindset

Preferred Qualifications
• Master’s degree in strategic communications, marketing, public relations or journalism
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing successful communications strategies
• Experience working in a higher education or arts non-profit organization environment
• Strong understanding of a research university

11 Comments

  1. Anonymous 08/18/2020

    This is not a new position.

    • vhils 08/20/2020

      This is a new position, full stop. Raleigh retired two or three years ago when Communications was centralized and her CAS position was to be eliminated, along with the CAS magazine. So much for efficiencies.

      Meanwhile, if the union had been just a bit more savvy, they could have easily put a provision into the salary MOU that stated new hire costs (particularly admin hires) could not count towards the fiscal losses trigger. The University would have had a hard time saying no to that considering how often they state personnel are our greatest cost. With the additional .5 VPAA position and this one, admin has already added about 300K towards the debt ceiling, in about a week. These new salaries are now going to come out of ours.

      • you know it 08/20/2020

        Lisa Raleigh retired June 30 of this year. I can’t speak to this position description & salary in comparison to hers, but she was definitely employed as the CAS communications director until 6/30/20.

      • CSN 08/20/2020

        On the MOU point: if I recall correctly, this issue was discussed during the negotiations pretty explicitly. The triggers for the salary MOU are related to revenue only — they can hire as many people as they want, at whatever salaries they want, and it will have no effect on the ability to trigger the pay cuts.

  2. uomatters Post author | 08/18/2020

    Please tell us more.

  3. Confused 08/19/2020

    Now hold up a second here. I think there is a fly in the ointment. The ‘Learning Specialist’ job that you posted a few weeks ago with a salary of $15 an hour after basic taxes (Portland minimum wage) had a Minimum Requirement of a Masters degree, and yet this $110 ‘Director of Communications’ has a Minimum Requirement of a Bachelor’s degree? I am SO confused!??

  4. Anonymous 08/19/2020

    CAS had somebody doing roughly the same thing twenty years ago, and so did a number of other schools. It’s administrative spread: underfund central services, and the Deans will start to build their own operations, including communications.

  5. Anonymous 08/19/2020

    It’s not a new position. Lisa Raleigh retired or is retiring.

  6. DTL 08/19/2020

    Welp, the “hiring freeze” is pretty specific. No freeze on admin hiring. Go nuts! Check out Enjoy the large number of OA hires and the number of administrators making $$$$$.

  7. vhils 08/20/2020

    OK, guess I was wrong. Union still should have been smarter about new admin hires during the freeze.

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