Outstanding Department Head Award
The Office of the Provost UO Matters recognizes two department heads each year with a new Outstanding Department Head award. Awardees each receive $5,000 $50 payable at their discretion as either Venmo or to their Academic Support Account (ASA) very cheap scotch.
The criteria for the award are aligned with the definition of leadership behaviors we value at UO, that actually work at UO, and therefore the nomination requests examples of the nominee’s exemplar behaviors in Leadership despite the fact central is hogging all the money, People Support when President Scholz is trying to cut People’s real pay, and following doing the right thing despite Policy & Procedures. Deans Faculty and Staff are invited to nominate one department head each.
Nominations are welcome in the comments. Winners will be selected by the UO Matters advisory board, consisting of everyone who’s bought me a bottle of Aardbeg.
Provost what’s his name’s announcement for his considerably less prestigious awards is here.
Meta: Who is UO Matter’s editor these days? What’s the best way to contact the editor for story ideas? Any chance of a posting about article pages views? I’m curious about circulation / reach. What was the most read article of 2024?
Has the editor considered a permanent advisory board / junior editors / regular contributors (with names posted somewhere on this site)? I also bet there would be some quality article submissions if there were a low barrier place to submit. Also, How much does this site cost to run? Are there ways for grateful people to donate to help offset the costs of website hosting / domain name registration?
Regarding the provost’s less prestigious award, the lead was buried: heads apparently have to be nominated by the dean, which means this is limited to heads who have mastered the art of kissing their boss’ ass (a useful skill, but not the only nor most important skill needed to be a great head).
Send me an email at uomatters at gmail. I’m still the editor (Bill Harbaugh) and I’m always looking for submissions that meet our rigorous editorial standards.
AI and I disagree with your assessment that $50 can only buy you a “very cheap scotch.”
Here is an excerpt from Google AI:
“At $50, you can access many quality single malt Scotch whiskies from reputable distilleries like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Highland Park, or even some Islay whiskies like Ardbeg, depending on the specific bottle”.
Those little airplane bottles are given only by cheap bastards…
You’re right, I was thinking of the price up here on Orcas Island, where the combination of WA sales and liquor taxes (highest in the country see https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-distilled-spirits-taxes-2024/) and monopoly mean that a middling bottle sells for $90. I think about driving the Caballero to Montana once a year and stocking up, but that road leads through hell (Idaho) and ends in damnation or cancer if you trust the science.