On a $93M base, for a 6% increase. Almost all the money goes to “administrative expenses”. Last year Eric Roedl told the IAC he was forecasting 3%. This year he’s not talking to the IAC. To add to the injury, they are hiring another fundraiser to help persuade more donors to give to athletics instead of academics. VP for Advancement Mike Andreasen has a box on the president’s org chart, but does have any actual authority? Apparently not.
2013-14 FY:
2014-15 FY:
Regarding 5Million plus rise in Athletic budget:
Why can’t the president of this university and the senate establish a policy that the Ducks do not have more sports than the minimum required for membership in the highest NCAA level? We have constantly increased the number of teams, and so you can expect the budget to be increasing– all as academics continue to bail out academic learning for jocks and pay to deal with bad behavior by some athletes. I I have suggested a policy to limit sport teams before to no avail and maybe we can begin to change that. Richard Sundt, Art History
Richard, have you introduced such a motion in the Senate since the Constitution was adopted? If not, try it. You might well be surprised!
Old Man, you are living in an alternative universe if you believe the Constitution and the Senate are viable solutions. The Constitution was shredded by JH before the ink was dry and continues to be completely ignored. And your beloved Senate has been emasculated by Board of Trustees edicts and the total ineptitude of recent Senate leaders who kiss up to the administration. Shared governance does not exist anymore at UO. Need proof? The existence of the faculty union, which would not have been needed if we actually had some semblance of shared governance. The days of working with the administration are over. They don’t care about us, our students or this University. They suck up to donors who care more about athletics than academics while lining their own pockets. It is time to take back our University and get rid of our corrupt administrators. First step: support the GTFF when they strike at the end of this term. We cannot be a research university without them.
What the union gave you was contractually stipulated shared governance protocols that are grievable and arbitrable if not followed. Not saying they would be winnable but they do require the administration to sit at a table and defend their actions.
We had these so called guarantees in the form of OARs before the union contract and they did not work. What makes you think they will work better now? The language is essentially the same before and after. And to add insult to injury, the dolts in Johnson Hall, who publicly claim to have our best interests at heart, are currently hard at work trying to get rid of the only two, legislatively mandated faculty grievance committees (Faculty Grievance Appeals Committee and Promotion Tenure Retention Appeals Committee; http://committees.uoregon.edu/externalboards). If those go away, there will be no appeals procedures to help our assistant and associate professors who are denied tenure and/or promotion.
OAR’s never really had the force of law or a recognized body to challenge violations of them in a grievance process. The Collective Bargaining Agreement has the force of law, the union to pursue violations and a defined grievance/arbitration process the administration must respond to.
Again, I’m not saying a claim for violating shared governance policies would win but it would force the administration to answer for their actions, first before themselves (grievance….I know, not helpful) and then a 3rd party arbitrator. Enough of these creates discomfort and potentially costs money if they lose.
The point is that there is a clear process that ultimately requires them to answer to a 3rd party rather than just themselves. We won’t know until we try to hold them accountable through these new processes.
I agree with your other post that we have to band together in ways we haven’t before. I believe the Senate and the Union working together is the strongest approach.
You are obviously not so clueless. You are right in saying that the CBA is a stronger, more binding document than the old OARs which had many gray areas that were exploited by the administration against faculty. But the current CBA has not stopped the departure or retirement of many disgruntled current faculty and it has not provided encouragement for potential new faculty to come here. The Union must press for and succeed in strengthen academics and faculty governance structures in the next round of bargaining. Failure to achieve these goals will result in a groundswell of faculty interest to decertify the union. I am humbled by and have enormous respect for my colleagues who have sweated blood and spent massive amounts of personal time getting the union off the ground. But it is now time to produce results or else we will look elsewhere for leadership to take back our University.
Hang in there, Young Fella. It aint over ’til its over, and we need all the help we can get.
If anyone believes some change is coming to limit sports or that coltrane is going to change anything or fix any resl problems then you are delusional. It is all the same with new faces. the sdministration will continue to line their pockets and do a z they please. Even if someone for real change land s in the presidents office that person will either sit and roll over or be forced out.
Change can occur but it will happen slowly and only if we faculty stop bickering among ourselves. First step: support the GTFF salary and leave requests and their strike if that happens. Second: Regardless of your original view regarding the faculty union (I was strongly against the union), support the upcoming faculty union CBA negotiations. This stance assumes the union will propose a CBA that raises salaries, stabilizes diminishing benefits, rectifies salary inequities, increases the number of TTF, improves our teaching facilities, decreases class size, decreases teaching loads to increase research time and includes guarantees about the independence of the Senate and the necessity for a real shared governance system. We can take back this university from our greedy administrators, autocratic trustees and egotistical donors, all of whom view the UO as their own private playground, but it won’t be easy. It will only happen if we faculty work together without the usual faculty bitching and moaning about the “poor quality” of other parts of the university. We are in this together.
Nothing is going to happen unless there is student involvement. A few years ago, around 50 undergrads demanded to meet the Pres to protest tuition hikes. If that is the best the U of Owe student body can do, then no way any of this is going to change. While the faculty and the faculty in waiting are getting cheated, students are the main victims in this scam. Both union and Senate have to create an outreach to those on campus and potential admits, without them, I can’t see you folks winning this thing….
I’ll just say this Young Man to your suggestions about what the Union should do. The Union, like the Senate, is only as powerful as it’s membership. You, as much as anyone else, are the Union. I hope you are showing up and putting in sweat equity to make all those things you feel so passionately about happen.
Nah, I’m with Young Man. We’ve had a union for what, 2 years? A contract for one year? And everything’s not fixed yet? After 20 years of disinvestment in academics and hyperinvestment in athletics? Decertify for sure!!
Seriously, I’m glad Young Man is passionate and committed. Clueless is right, we’re all needed to take back our university. (I’ll be curious to see what other leadership might pop up to help us do it, though.)