Presumably Blonigen and Moseley will be candidates – I haven’t heard otherwise.
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to provide an update on two critical academic leadership searches that were interrupted by the pandemic but will be re-launched this fall: one for the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the other for the vice president for research and innovation.
When Bruce Blonigen initially agreed to serve as interim CAS dean in 2018, we had planned to launch a search for a permanent replacement in 2019. Bruce graciously agreed to serve an extra year, but then the pandemic caused us to hold back the search until the university and college were on more stable footing. As we return to in-person activities this fall, we will relaunch the search for a permanent dean to the university’s largest academic unit.
I am deeply grateful to Bruce for serving with distinction as interim dean of CAS since 2019. He stepped into this role just as we were preparing to open Tykeson Hall, a groundbreaking facility focused on the successful collaboration of academic and career advisors, advisors and faculty members, and students. He has provided leadership and direction to the university’s largest college through the launch of several multi-year initiatives, the shift to remote learning, and other operational challenges brought on by COVID-19. He has been an important advocate for the future of CAS and a thoughtful partner in working together to leave the college in a position of strength and stability. Bruce plans to return to teaching and research in the Economics department in the fall of 2022.
Similarly, in the Spring of 2020 the search for a permanent VPRI was paused as a result of the pandemic and Cass Moseley was appointed interim vice president for research and innovation. That search will also be restarted in the coming weeks.
I also thank Cass, who has provided critical leadership for research and innovation during her tenure as interim VP. She facilitated the maintenance of critical projects and infrastructure during the early phase of the pandemic and the phased scale-up of research activities as conditions permitted. She also played a key role in the launch of the Monitoring and Assessment Program to provide COVID-19 testing for the UO and surrounding community. Cass has very ably led the division with integrity and ongoing success and has provided invaluable guidance and direction to the university as a whole during the pandemic.
We will be finalizing the search committees over the next few weeks and engaging with an executive search firm to fill both of these critical positions.
Details on the searches will be posted on the provost’s website when they are available.
If you have any questions about these searches, please reach out to me via [email protected].
Best wishes,
Patrick Phillips
Provost and Senior Vice President
Ah, yes, Tykeson Hall — how is the new advising setup working?
One of 3 things.
1. Bruce really needs a break and misses research (he’s a great researcher).
2. Bruce didn’t support their strategic vision of CAS (breaking up CAS?, taking away from the arts?, etc)
3. They need to do an external search for a lot of reasons, but when it fails, Bruce will end up with the permanent job, more resources and a raise.
FWIW I think Bruce has done as good a job for CAS as anyone could have hoped, given that Johnson Hall lets the Law School steal our undergraduates’ tuition money. I hear many good things about Cas Moseley too. I hope they both apply for the permanent jobs.
well i would never vouch for any CAS dean or deanlet, I do think
Cas Moseley is pretty good. She is centered, down to earth, and
exercises common sense most of the time, which is a rare commodity at the UO.
On the CAS external search – it might not necessarily fail if the
find a candidate that is all about merging CAS with the Knight
Campus …
Sure need some new leadership here. Arts and music have been pretty awful for quite some time at the UO. Not much creativity in the programs nor in visiting exhibitions or concerts. Please get someone who understands that arts education is actually a core function of the U.
how would you improve the visiting music performances? In a way that would attract audiences?
To me, the “attract audiences” is secondary to the creativity of the performances. UO has the arena for audience pleasers, your Brad Paisely, your Foo Fighters, n such. If you bring great performers, the audience will be there.
Not sure I follow. I think we are talking about different things. I was thinking that you were thinking of the classical music scene at UO, associated with the music school, the Bach Festival, various invited performers, including but not limited to the UO chamber music series. I happen to think that all of these are excellent, and in some cases truly world-class, but not without their troubles, including very much attracting audiences. It seems that you are talking about the pop music scene — at the Matthew Knight Arena? Well, it’s nice to cross paths, let’s stay in touch!
Actually neither. I was talking about performances, lectures and art exhibits that serve to educate your students while providing much needed entertainment to a more inquisitive audience. This should be a core function of the U, but has dropped off more and more, as the emphasis on sports and “top draw” entertainment has grown, IMO. Barbara Ehrenreich, Amiri Baraka, David Murray, Vijay Iyer, Carl Cox, Ken Vandermark, Caroliner Rainbow, A Wei Wei, among others have been at the U, but each year, there are fewer and fewer such visitors. No reason for this. Vancouver Jazz Festival, Seattle, SF and PDX venues bring lots of excellent performances. Only reason we don’t get spill over is lack of will, $, oh yes, and poor management.
I don’t disagree with you. However, music is under the School of Music and Dance. Art is under the College of Design. What would you like the next CAS Dean to do given that context?
Didn’t know music and visual arts were separate…..Next dean? Get to work! Lots to do!
Correct me if I’m wrong but in the last fifteen years or so there has not been a person of color in any of the CAS leadership positions, and currently we have four white dudes running the entire show + Karen. Anything wrong with this picture?
You seem to have been here long enough, but I guess you haven’t caught on yet that top-down mandates only apply to the rest of us, not the administration.