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Posts published by “uomatters”

A letter from UO Law Professor Ofer Raban on the Administration’s agreement with the UO Palestine group

To the Law Faculty, the UO President, and the General Counsel, posted by request of Professor Raban: On May 23, UO President Karl Scholz announced that the university has reached a mutually beneficial agreement with UO Palestine—a coalition of four student organizations that demonstrated on campus for almost a month. The agreement includes, among…

Jim Bean’s memo on Gottfredson’s investiture planning

Reposted in honor of Pres Scholz’s investiture:

5/23/2013: An anonymous source in the Provost’s office sends this memo about Gottfredson’s investiture ceremony:

Memo: Investiture Contingency Planning
Date: 5/23/2013
From: Provost Jim Bean
To: President Mike Gottfredson

Mike, I’m starting to worry about faculty turnout for your Knight Arena Investiture Ceremony next Thursday. I’ve warned the department heads that we’ll be taking attendance, but they don’t seem to care anymore, even when I dropped a hint that those 2% merit raises you put on the table might be at risk. It’s a big hall, and we need enough appropriately garbed faculty types in the audience to keep this from turning into another embarrassment for you.

President Lariviere had a huge faculty turnout for his investiture, in no small part because he’d just fired a widely despised General Counsel, and an Athletic Director who was burning through the academic side’s money like, well, like it was the academic side’s money. Something to think about. But if you’re not quite there yet I hope you’ll be happy with the ELT’s plan B:

VPAA Doug Blandy will grant all Duck student-athletes PhD’s and adjunct faculty status. They just need to pass a simple online exam he wrote. The Jock Box advisors say they can help out as usual, since it’s not even proctored. Mullens has cleared this with FAR Jim O’Fallon, who says that adjunct status won’t affect their NCAA eligibility so long as we don’t pay them. As if!  (Say, this gives me a great idea for if the faculty go on strike.)

I got a deal on academic regalia from “Parties R Us”. The media will want a few full-professor greybeard types to focus on. I’ve lined up Frog, the guy who sells joke books on 13th – you’ve seen him, looks just like a biology professor. And then there’s the guy who bikes around campus yelling “Go Ducks, but LTD can kiss my sweaty nut-sack.” Turns out you were wrong about him being CAS Dean Scott Coltrane, but no one will know the difference. Best to keep him away from the mic though.

Dave Hubin tells me you’ve signed off on the heartfelt extemporaneous comments that Ann Wiens and the Gallatin Public Affairs consultants wrote. It took me a while to find a professor willing to deliver these. Tublitz is in Italy, and while Harbaugh was plenty interested after I brought up the stipend, it’s hard to hear him when he’s sober. In the end Frank Stahl agreed to do it. I think you’ve met him, very distinguished and his voice carries well.

Oh, one last thing – I’m afraid I won’t be able to make the ceremony. The Caddis fly hatch is peaking, and I’ve got a fishing date with John Moseley over at the lodge in Bend.

Good luck though, really.

Jim.

Pres Scholz to reopen “toxic” faculty club that “reeks of white male privilege”

Presumably GC Kevin Reed will be on the board this time. More here:

About UO Faculty Club
The Office of the President, Office of the Provost, and Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art host the UO Faculty Club. In its third incarnation, the Faculty Club means to provide a place where faculty can gather in a welcoming and collegial space. Gatherings take place weekly on Thursdays from 4:00 – 6:00 pm in the JSMA. Snacks and soft drinks provided; beer and wine available for purchase at the bar.

Posted on 4/3/2019: GC Kevin Reed believes “toxic” Faculty Club “reeks of white male privilege”

Over the past year or so I’ve received many angry emails from UO’s $352,612 a year VP & General Counsel Kevin Reed, above, accusing me of various things and threatening me with various forms of retaliation. I’m posting this latest because he cced others, and because it might be of more general interest:

From: Kevin Reed <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: University Service Opportunities

Date: April 3, 2019 at 9:10:31 AM PDT

To: Senate Executive Coordinator <[email protected]>, “William Harbaugh” <[email protected]>, Elizabeth Skowron <[email protected]>

Cc: [names and addresses of OA, SEIU, and ASUO student leaders redacted]

Bill [Senate Pres Harbaugh, me] and Elizabeth [Senate VP Skowron]

I write in my capacity as a proud Officer of Administration at the University of Oregon.  In that capacity, and as a person who is committed to improving the functioning of shared governance at UO,  I write to question your decision to hold “informational sessions” relating to opportunities to serve the Senate at the “Faculty Club.”

The Faculty Club is not open to OA’s, classified staff, GE’s or students.  It is not an environment where any of those crucial constituencies are likely, in my view, to feel welcome or to show up. Neither to I believe it to be a place where members of UO’s marginalized communities feel in the slightest bit welcome. Indeed, the Faculty Club has earned a reputation on campus as being an exclusionary group, dominated by white men.  Exactly the sort of “good ole boys club” I think the Senate would want to distance itself from.  Curiously, however, Senate leadership has chosen to treat it as its clubhouse.

Indeed, a respondent to a recent campus survey on faculty hiring had this to say about the Faculty Club:

“The faculty club – an extension of UO senate and Bill’s blog is a place where gossip takes place in an exclusive zone.  Sidebar conversations empower those who show up to a space that is less than welcoming to anyone outside a core group of faculty. It reeks of white male privilege – even the name Faculty Club is destructive and screams of exclusion and privilege. Why does the UO community not actively resist these toxic activities?”

As an OA who truly thinks UO deserves better, I could not have said it better.  I add, however, that the message this sends is especially toxic in the context of the current budget situation, in which the president has called for significant cuts to programs.  On his blog, the Senate President has been posting conversations that suggest that there is bloat that should be targeted for cuts in the ranks of student workers, classified staff and officers of administration who are dedicated to making this university a safe and highly effective organization.

I believe the University and the Senate deserve better.

Kevin S. Reed

219 Johnson Hall | Eugene, OR 97403-1226

(541) 346-3082 | [email protected]

My response:

Hi Kevin,

Faculty Union to present wage demands, Thursday at 12:30 in 125 Chiles. See comments for live-blog!

Thursday is the day! We need a strong turnout this Thursday, 12:30-3:30 in Chiles 125, as the UA Bargaining Team presents our economic package to the administration. Our Article 26: Salary represents a significant increase to faculty pay through across-the-board, merit, and equity raises, as well as promotion increases. The UA…

[Secret] Provost candidate #1 is James Antony

Currently serving as dean of something or other at UCSD. His Ph.D. is in Higher Education & Organizational Change. You can find his cv and letter at https://president.uoregon.edu/uo-search-provost-and-senior-vice-president. According to his Google Scholar page he’s done research on athletic scandals and faculty satisfaction. Seems like a good fit! Whoops, Ed…

UO Senate’s action to kill numerical student course evaluations now part of a national movement

The Chronicle has the report here, highlighting new research showing bias and irrelevance of the old evaluations and new efforts to replace them with meaningful feedback from students and colleagues, A snippet: What sparks this kind of change? Growing concern about the inequity of student course evaluations has inspired some…

Pres Scholz to bring 4 provost candidates to campus for our inspection

University of Oregon community members,  The University of Oregon’s search for its next permanent provost and senior vice president will soon move into the finalist stage, and I invite you to meet the finalists later this month. I am pleased that we received applications from a robust, well-qualified pool of…

OSU hits up state taxpayers for big-time Beaver sports bailouts

Government Relations at Oregon State UniversityFebruary, 2024 Update.This week, the Oregon Legislature convened it’s short 35-day session. Due to the short timeframe, each legislator is limited to introducing two bills and committees restricted to three. That does not mean that legislators won’t be tackling policy issues this year; in fact, reforms…

Provost Woodruff-Borden wants faculty to dumb down courses now, in prep for possible Grad strike

The Senate’s Academic Council has not even approved an Academic Continuity Plan yet – unless they’ve done so in secret – but Provost Woodruff-Borden is already encouraging faculty to trade academic rigor for administrative expediency. Full email here. A snippet: Instructors and research groups are strongly encouraged to develop coverage…