10/29/2013:
Dear Colleagues,
This week, nominees to the University of Oregon’s new Board of Trustees—the institutional governing board recently established by the Oregon Legislature—will visit our campus for an orientation workshop. It is one of many opportunities our new trustees will have to become broadly knowledgeable about the university and their role as board members before their authority becomes fully effective in July 2014.
In my first year as president, I embraced and advocated for this shift in governance structure as a path toward sustaining our public mission in a time of great change for higher education. This reform is bold, and it is essential to the university’s ability to effectively manage its resources and plan strategically for the future. It offers a unique opportunity for faculty, staff, trustees, and leadership—working together—to strengthen the UO’s academic standing and further its reputation as a top-tier research university.
We welcome our prospective trustees with great anticipation as well as considerable purpose. Our board nominees’ time on campus this week will include a high-level overview of the university, and opportunities to become familiar with many aspects of our organization.
As we begin to implement this new governance structure, we look to our own institutional heritage—when the university’s first board of regents, present at its founding, worked in partnership with faculty, students, members of the community, and the state. And we look toward a bright future, as we employ a strategy of focused excellence that will continue to strengthen our ability to compete for the best faculty, the best students, and the public and private financial resources to advance our mission.
This is an exciting time for the university. Your ongoing commitment to excellence is evident everywhere, from the quality of the educational experience our students receive in the classroom, to the creativity and innovation of the research that begins on our campus. I look forward to working together as we continue the positive momentum of this great institution, sustaining and elevating the University of Oregon’s position as one of the world’s premier public research universities.
Regards,
Michael Gottfredson
President
10/27/2013: UO Board of Trustees to hold first meeting
President Gottfredson has made it very clear that the UO Trustees will follow Oregon public meetings law. Their website is here, and their first meeting is this Tuesday. Should be an interesting one. Here’s the meeting notice required by state law:
Will you live blog?
We need a detailed report on the croissant tab.
Not sure open meetings law guarantees public access to croissants. Maybe if they are like paper and inedible?
Stop saying “one of the world’s premier public research universities” unless you mean it. Saying it repeatedly does not make it true.
This has a better ring to it, I think.
Funny. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=305186292843662&set=t.1375715788&type=3&theater
“one of the world’s premier public research universities” gets 10,800 hits on Google.
“search for new university president” gets 116,000.
“This is an exciting time for the university.”
Wash, rinse, repeat. Gott knows how to recycle!
It’s always exciting to be on the sinking ship.
It’s exciting if you’re the parrot, not the cap’n, eh matey? ;)
After the board doesn’t understand the high level overview, I think we can all get ready for another org chart.
Honestly I want to be excited about the board, and for the future of the UO. Share with us the vision and the priorities for how the university will change. Some of us will be tempted with outside offers this year. While salary plays a role in these decisions, a lot of it to comes down to the direction of the university, and how the resources our departments get.