6/17/2013: Protesters showed up by the thousands … evolved into a broader movement by groups and individuals irate over a range of issues including … lavish new stadium projects. Whoops, never mind, that’s in Brazil. Here in Eugene everyone’s cool with Phil Knight’s plan to spend $5 million on new…
Posts published in “Uncategorized”
6/15/2013: In the Oregonian, here: … And Brad Avakian, Oregon’s labor commissioner, assures me he is anxious to prosecute an equally egregious case here. “If an intern comes to us and says, ‘I think I’m doing free work for my employer,’ we will investigate the case,” Avakian said Friday. “If they…
6/10/2013: Architect of Kitzhaber’s education plan plans to leave. Nigel Jaquiss has the scoop in WWeek. Some search firm sure took us on this guy – I wonder if they also handled the Medgar Evers presidential search?
6/10/2013: Betsy Hammond reports that only 61% of Oregon HS grads go on to college, vs. national average of 68%. 6/7/2013: New work by Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney shows the returns to higher education are dramatically higher than stocks, or anything else, even for those who get some college…
6/6/2013: I’m all in favor of spending big bucks on fundraising. All the studies I’ve seen show it can pay off. But at UO most of the donations go to the jocks. I’m still waiting to see the Robin Jaqua gift letter, which may explain just how Duck athletic director…
(The Dec and Jan spikes were apparently a bug in counting iphone hits.)
There is a bug in blogger polls and it keeps dropping responses. I’m deleting all the polls. I’ll find a replacement program, since I think polls are fun.
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.
5/29/2013: Details on Julie Hermann here. UO searches here and here, also by Parker Executive Searches.
5/29/2013: Oh wait, never mind. It’s Randy’s wife Jennifer Geller and the 4-J school board, bargaining with the 4-J teacher’s union.
5/17/2013: It sure looks that way to me, and Lane County Registrar Cheryl Betschart has asked him for an explanation. You remember Pernsteiner, right? Last time I asked this question Pernsteiner had his lawyer, Bill Gary of HLGR, send this response to the registrar, claiming Pernsteiner intended to return to…
Insidehighered, here. 5/16/2013.
5/11/2013: We wouldn’t want to have the football players mingling with students at meals. Might give them the wrong idea about why they’re in college.
Motion to have the UO athletic department pay the costs of athlete only tutoring and the Knight Arena land, passed 19 to 4 with 4 abstentions on 5/8/2013. President Gottfredson’s report to Senate due 7/8/2013. Payments by the Athletics Department for Academic Purposes Number: US12/13-20 Date of Notice: Wed, 02/13/2013 Legislation,…
5/3/2013: UO tuition increases. Diane Dietz reports in the RG on UO’s proposed 6% tuition and fee increase. That’s at least $15M in new tuition revenue on top of the the $29M or so from last year. The union wage proposal costs about $25M, but not until 2014-15. From OUS: And…