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UO Matters

Econ Prof Keaton Miller to discuss faculty raise proposal with Trustees and Senate this week

The UO Trustees presentation is at ~9AM Tuesday at https://youtube.com/live/M9VWXXsCDtY?feature=share and the UO Senate one will be sometime after 4PM Wednesday, at https://uoregon.zoom.us/j/97954327496. Supporters are asked to chant What do we want? Average! When do we want it? In three years! at their computers (while muted of course, we’re not…

Professor Bill Harbaugh, a.k.a. UO Matters, to retire from UO on March 15

I’ve taught at UO since 1995, and thanks to my students and colleagues in economics and other departments, and the many helpful staff and OA’s, it has been a wonderful place for me. That said I’m looking forward to a new and different life at the end of a dirt road on Orcas Island. The blog will continue with help from others, so keep those rumors and documents coming. Guest posts, including non-defamatory ones, are always welcome. uomatters at gmail dot com.

To my students: Yeah it is weird that my paycheck stops a week before the end of the term, but I think they’ll still let me post your grades.

Departing Law Dean Marcilynn Burke should thank UO’s undergrads for subsidizing her success

Back in 2014 UO’s VPFA Jamie Moffitt signed off on this deal giving millions in subsidies to the law school, which at the time was run by her husband Michael Moffitt. The money came from UO’s “Education & General fund”, which is to say mostly undergraduate tuition and state support:…

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…

VP for Enrollment Roger Thompson finalist for Missouri State Prez job

Thanks to a reader for the link. https://news.missouristate.edu/2024/01/18/missouri-state-announces-three-finalists-for-president/ It’s a transparent open search run with no apparent interference from a search firm. Three finalists announced publicly and brought to campus for the university to meet with and provide feedback to the Board, *before* the final hiring decision. Astounding. Thompson should…

Around the 0’s well-paid PR flacks write Senator Dembrow and your unions out of history.

Senator Michael Dembrow and the university unions organized to end the old system, where the UO Board members nominated the children of their friends to be UO’s student trustees. Here’s the legislative history, check the testimony. Here’s Around the 0: The University of Oregon Board of Trustees is seeking applicants…