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UO Matters

President Michael Schill has been very, very good to his upper admins. Faculty & staff, not so much.

Relative to other “Very High Research” public universities. I think this is what is commonly called “administrative bloat” – though these are salaries, not numbers. 2018 means the 2018-19 FY. From the Chronicle of Higher Education, here. (You may need to create a free login with your UO id). The…

Trustees to meet May 26, 29th, & June 5 on budget, bargaining, and COVID-19

That would be the OSU Board of Trustees. The UO Board will meet June 4th. No agenda has been distributed yet. Public Meetings Notice May 15, 2020 The Oregon State University Board of Trustees will meet on Friday, May 29, to consider the university’s operating budget for the coming fiscal…

Senate to hear from Pres, Prov, etc on Zoom, Wed May 13, 3-5PM

SENATE MEETING AGENDA – MAY 13, 2020, 3:00 – 5:00 P.M. Updates here. Location: Zoom (Please see link to meeting below the agenda. ) The results of the recent elections are here. Turnout was very high. 3:00 P.M.   Call to Order Introductory Remarks; Senate President Elizabeth Skowron New Joint Senate/Administration…

Faculty union members vote 633 to 14 to ratify wage freeze / contract extension

(Now updated with a long response from the administration, below) Thus ends a busy three weeks that began with President Schill’s Weakly Progressive Pay Reduction ultimatum on April 16, and finished with an overwhelming demonstration of faculty trust in union President Chris Sinclair and Exec Director Dave Cecil, and the…

Contest for best “why I would like to work remotely during a pandemic” request

5/6/2020 update:

The latest email from HR is here. It gives the faculty a 6 day extension on the demand for requests for remote teaching. I clicked on the Remote Work Request Form link in the email. I was surprised to learn that there’s a university policy requiring all employees to demonstrate honesty in communication & conduct. I guess there’s an exemption for JH administrators.

In any case I’ve got a fifth of Laphroaig for whoever submits the best reason in the comments for wanting to work remotely. In keeping with UO policy, all entries must start with “Honestly, ”

5/5/2020: HR gives faculty til Friday to get BMI up to 40 & request opt-out from in-person teaching

Faculty Union voting opens on contract ext / wage freeze

5/6/2020 update: 

If you’re a card-carrying member you should have received an email from UAUO with a link to an electronic ballot at 1:30 today.

Imagine that – the members of an organized faculty labor cartel voting on the terms of their contract with Johnson Hall’s hiring cartel. It must make our Board of Trustees’ already cold blood run even colder. I voted Yes, and yes of course I tried but you can only vote once. Voting closes Friday at 4. at 5PM. (extended by an hour because it started a little late.)

If you’re in the bargaining unit but not a member you can join here, although I imagine it’s too late to have a vote this time. If you’re not sure if you’re in the bargaining unit email [email protected].

5/5/2020 update: Faculty Union to send wage freeze agreement to members for vote this Wed