Tag Archives: Beangrams

Provost to step down, Faculty Senate to search for replacement

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That would be a replacement for Provost Jim Bean of Northeastern. Bean was formerly UO B-school dean, then interim provost under Lariviere. He left UO after Rob Kyr and the UO Senate made it clear we would not accept him as UO President. The students abandoned him after a timely public records leak from Dave Hubin showed that their tuition money was paying for his BMW Z series. So Hubin’s mentor Bob Berdahl got the job, which didn’t work out well for anyone. Bean collected a sinecure from UO for a few years before Northeastern finally hired him.

The NE student newspaper has the usual lovely boilerplate from his President about how sorry he is to see him go, then and adds that he had trouble with the unions:

The provost’s tenure has also been marked by contentious relations with groups of graduate student employees and full-time non-tenure track faculty attempting to unionize.

In an email statement to The News, the Graduate Employees of Northeastern University Organizing Committee said that although they never met with Bean personally, they faced significant opposition from the provost’s office, which oversees graduate education.

“In our interactions with the senior administration, we have been met with nothing but condescension and dismissal of the very real concerns grad students face, such as late payment, lack of dependent healthcare, childcare, and dental coverage,” the statement said.  “While we hope that Provost Bean’s replacement will be more amenable to negotiation, we will nevertheless continue our fight for better working conditions at Northeastern.”

During the 2018 fiscal year, the provost earned $791,648, according to the university’s most recent tax exemption form, found on ProPublica.

“On a personal note, I will miss having Jim as a trusted friend and partner — one who never lost sight of what was best for Northeastern, and led us to our goals with wisdom and optimism,” Aoun said in the email. “He is also a world-class expert when it comes to Oregon pinot noir!”

A faculty senate committee will search for Bean’s successor this fall.

Imagine that – a Senate committee running a search for their provost, instead of a backroom deal. Wouldn’t that be a sight,

 

Former Interim Provost James C. Bean leaves for Northeastern job

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Finally. This will save UO a lot of money:

From: James Bean
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 1:00 PM
To: LCB Faculty; LCB Staff
Subject: New Adventures

Colleagues:

I have accepted an offer to become provost of Northeastern University in Boston beginning July 1, 2015. Northeastern presents a great opportunity to work with an excellent private institution that is redefining higher education as a collaboration with Boston, with industry and with the world. It has been on a steep rise over the past decade, improving in US News rankings within national universities from the 90s to #42 in the recent list. As some of you know, my son, a UO music composition graduate, begins a doctoral program in the Boston area this fall so we will have family there.

The LCB community has been a great home base these past 11 years. We are providing a fantastic education and experience to our students at all levels. Our success in tenuring three faculty this year shows that our research programs are developing as well. I thank all of you for your ongoing efforts on behalf of the College. In particular, I thank Dean Kees de Kluyver for providing me opportunities to contribute at UO after I stepped down as provost. Participating in the development of Sports Product Management, Sports Product Design, and the School of Applied Science has been very satisfying. I believe all of these will become major programs within UO in due time.

I wish the best for the College and the UO and look forward to witnessing future successes.

Go Ducks, Go Huskies (NEU not UW)!

Regards, Jim

For those Northeastern faculty and admins googling in, you can learn more about your new Provost by checking the tags below. Good luck.

Sac State stalls release of Jim Bean’s second consulting contracts

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11/6/2014 update: What a surprise. Jim Bean’s got *two* consulting gigs to top off his UO salary. And the Sacramento State University Counsel, Jill Peterson, is trying to use $2.20 in fees to delay the release of documents on Bean’s contract there. Must be some good stuff in those docs:

Screen Shot 2014-11-06 at 7.46.29 PM

10/26/2014: Jim Bean takes 2 days a week off from teaching for consulting work

Continue reading →

Genetics proposal aims to build research on the mystery of life

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9/1/2014: Diane Dietz has the report in the RG:

The university is floating a proposal to hire a “cluster” of three new professors to rebuild the classical genetics and genomics program at the University of Oregon and to launch a Center for Genome Function. … “You could think of it as re-establishing our eminence in this field,” said Eric Selker, whose work in epigenetics mirrors fundamental genetics research.

Researchers are likely to find out beginning this fall whether donors are ready to help with their cluster proposals.

The UO’s success in genetics in the 1960s and ’70s was built on just such a “cluster hire” as the university now contemplates, [Frank] Stahl said.

8/24/2014: Systems biology cluster hire proposal

Diane Dietz has the report on a real cluster of excellence proposal: Continue reading →

Harry B. Miller should ask for a refund

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6/16/2013: Those who have heard Bean babble on about online-ed and MOOCs will love this proposal for MOOAs. (Thanks to commenter for link.)

And by popular demand here’s the budget for LCB: Instructional salary expenditures up 44% since 2008, administrative costs up 194%. And that’s before the $320K + OPE beamer is back on the payroll, and all the new hiring that Dean Kees gets into below. Oh wait, Bean will probably get most of his money from the instructional account. Hilarious.

6/15/2013. I’m speechless. I like the banjo though, even if it’s missing a string ;).

Harry B. “Ham” Miller James C. “Beamer” Bean C. “Kees” de Kluwyer

I’ll get Bean’s contract in July, but I’m guessing he will get $320K, and keep the JH parking spot for his beamer. President Gottfredson should be embarrassed. LCB Dean Kees de Kluyver is shameless. Ham Miller was a central Oregon lumberman, great history and photos of the family business here. Read the entire letter from de Kluwyer on how Bean will escape his teaching responsibilities, and other LCB news:

2.      Jim Bean returns to LCB. As you know, Jim Bean will return to LCB on July 1 as the Harry B. Miller Professor of Business. For this summer and the 2013-2014 academic year Jim will still have significant central administrative responsibilities related to (a) preparing  bylaws and staffing proposals for an independent UO board, (b) developing a systematic plan to enhance the presence at the UO of faculty in scientific and technical fields, especially those with research and teaching interests in transformational areas, (c) shaping UO capital campaign objectives, and (d) continuing the planning for the White Stag facility and development of campus interests in Portland.
Jim will also hold the title of Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Programs in LCB. In this (part-time) role he will lead the development of a proposal for a Portland-based UO interdisciplinary graduate (Masters) degree program in Sports Product Management. The proposal calls for this cutting edge program to be offered by LCB, in conjunction with faculty from A&AA, SoJC and the Law School. In the development of this proposal, Jim will be working with Ellen Devlin (consultant), Roger Best (Emeritus faculty) and the Warsaw Center faculty and staff on the design of the program, with UO Portland staff on issues of space and administrative support, and with myself, the Deans of A&AA and Journalism, and the UO’s Senior Vice Provost on issues of implementation, staffing and funding.
Full email:
From: Kees de Kluyver <[email protected]>
Subject: Thank You for Another Great Year!
Date: June 14, 2013 4:24:13 PM P

Dear Colleagues:
With the academic year coming to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for an outstanding year of accomplishments and wish you a productive and restful summer. I hope to see you at one or more of our graduation ceremonies later today or on Monday. In the meantime, I ask you to carefully read the balance of this message for a few important announcements.  Please do not hesitate to call or visit if you have any questions.
1.      We have two “seniors” in the Dean’s office. Sergio Koreisha and Dave Boush will have the new title of Senior Associate Dean effective July 1. This change was made in view of recent and pending internal organizational changes (John Hull’s promotion to Assistant Dean for Center Operations, Jim Bean’s appointment as a part-time Associate Dean – see below) and to more closely resemble the most prevalent academic structures in peer business schools.  
2.      Jim Bean returns to LCB. As you know, Jim Bean will return to LCB on July 1 as the Harry B. Miller Professor of Business. For this summer and the 2013-2014 academic year Jim will still have significant central administrative responsibilities related to (a) preparing  bylaws and staffing proposals for an independent UO board, (b) developing a systematic plan to enhance the presence at the UO of faculty in scientific and technical fields, especially those with research and teaching interests in transformational areas, (c) shaping UO capital campaign objectives, and (d) continuing the planning for the White Stag facility and development of campus interests in Portland.
Jim will also hold the title of Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Programs in LCB. In this (part-time) role he will lead the development of a proposal for a Portland-based UO interdisciplinary graduate (Masters) degree program in Sports Product Management. The proposal calls for this cutting edge program to be offered by LCB, in conjunction with faculty from A&AA, SoJC and the Law School. In the development of this proposal, Jim will be working with Ellen Devlin (consultant), Roger Best (Emeritus faculty) and the Warsaw Center faculty and staff on the design of the program, with UO Portland staff on issues of space and administrative support, and with myself, the Deans of A&AA and Journalism, and the UO’s Senior Vice Provost on issues of implementation, staffing and funding.
3.      Two new additions to the BoA. I am pleased to announce two outstanding individuals have joined the BoA:
·         Ross J. Kari recently retired from the position of chief financial officer of Freddie Mac. He held this position since September 2009 and was responsible for the company’s financial controls, accounting, investor relations, financial planning and reporting, tax, capital oversight, and compliance with the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley. Additionally, he oversaw the Investment and Capital Markets division and management of Freddie Mac’s mortgage investment activities.
Ross is a veteran finance executive with broad experience in the mortgage business and financial services industry. Previously, he served as chief financial officer of Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati, Ohio. Before joining Fifth Third, Ross served as executive vice president and CFO of Safeco Corporation in Seattle where he managed a team of 250 financial professionals and helped grow business line revenue while enhancing essential risk management processes. From 2002 to 2006, he served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for another housing government-sponsored enterprise, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.
Ross spent a large portion of his career at Wells Fargo from 1983 to 2001, during which time he rose from senior financial analyst to executive vice president and chief financial officer. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and earned his MBA in Finance, graduating first in his class, both from the University of Oregon.
·         Merritt Richardson leads NIKE Golf’s efforts to create premium apparel and footwear for modern, athletic golfers around the world.  She is responsible for providing strategic guidance and aligning the creative ideas and energy of a team of product managers, designers and merchandisers against the needs of athletes to drive profitable growth for the business.
Prior to this role, Merritt’s experiences have ranged from administering the annual budget process for the entire company to directing the teams that create footwear for women runners; from a special assignment with the CEO to a stint in NIKE’s renowned Innovation Kitchen to overseeing the Brand’s efforts related to the 2012 London Olympics.
A native Oregonian, Merritt received a B.S. in Business Administration from Oregon State University, but her sport allegiances lie firmly behind the University of Oregon Ducks.  She is currently serving as a board member for the UO Student-Athlete Mentoring Program and is a past board member of the Oregon Club of Portland, which raises awareness and funding for UO Athletics.  She and her family are long-time devoted Duck football supporters, travelling to all games, home and away.
4.      Branding for a capital campaign. Many of you heard the brand story presentation by Chris Van Dyke at our most recent faculty meeting. Chris and the other members of the Songlines team interviewed many of you and generated distinctive themes that can be developed into a compelling message for the college. 
We plan to carry this effort forward so that, with all deliberate speed, we can identify a single differentiating slogan. To this end I have appointed a task force (Dave Boush, John Hull, Jim Engelhardt, Rebecca Monro, Katie Rohrer) whose charge will be to continue the discussion over the summer and into the fall.  They will talk with many of you who were interviewed by Songlines and any of you who wish to weigh in for the first time.
Perhaps most importantly, they will coordinate with Tim Clevenger, the newly-appointed Associate Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management to align our branding with the University’s efforts. Once we land on a single message, the task force will develop a full marketing communications campaign that we can present to potential donors to roll out in early 2014.
5.      Building Issues. Work on the Chiles Exterior Renovation project will begin on Tuesday, June 18.  For the first week scaffolding and temporary fencing will be installed and other prep work will take place.  The demo work of the bricks is set to begin around June 27.  The Chiles Complex will be closed off during the project with the exception of the IS/IT Offices and Building Management on the 3rd floor of Chiles.  The demolition will be noisy and staff most impacted will be temporarily moved.  Classrooms in Peterson & Lillis that are most impacted have been closed for the summer. The work will continue through the first part of September.  As the project progresses, we will provide updates related to timelines.   
Please note:
o   293 Anstett will serve as the Technology Lab space for Summer 2013, with 30 computers and one printer available for student use.
o   262 Lillis will be the Technology Classroom (takes the place of 225 Chiles),with 30 computers available for student use.
o   The BRI is closed during the summer — We will keep Katie Mercurio & Ben Foster up to date if any opportunities open up for its use
o   Access to Building Management and the Information Services Staff can be gained through 3rd floor of Chiles; the Lab area will be closed off
o   Classrooms in Peterson, Lillis & Chiles that are closed for summer:  Peterson (101, 102, 103, 105, 107); Chiles (128, 225 & 1225A & 125B); Lillis (111, 211)
o   The bike lockers between Chiles & Lillis will not be accessible.  If you have one, the Parking & Transportation area either already has or will contact you with a new space for summer.
If you have any questions about any of these building issues, please contact Frank Sharpy at extension 6-4794, Shandon Bates at extension 6-3814, or me.  We look forward finishing the update of Chiles.  Your patience is appreciated.
            Cordially,
            Kees
Cornelis A. “Kees” de Kluyver, Dean
Rippey Distinguished Professor
Lundquist College of Business
1208 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403
(541) 346-3300

KdK/tab

Interim Provost Bean still in charge of hiring

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6/6/2013: Mia Tuan? I suppose Charles Martinez came in second. Fair enough. UO is now searching for a provost and deans for CAS, the Honor’s College, and the Journalism School. Plenty of faculty and alumni anger about Michael Moffitt in Law and Kees de Kluwyer in the B-School. That leaves music and AAA?

James Bean
Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Mia Tuan has accepted my offer to become Interim Dean of the College of Education.

Her appointment will last from Sept. 1, 2013 until a permanent replacement arrives.  She will begin as the Dean Designate this summer to work with current COE Dean Mike Bullis to allow for a smooth transition in the fall. The permanent dean search will be a full national and international search. Internal candidates are welcome to apply for the position.

I want to thank the campus community for the valuable input I received that helped me during this interim selection process. It was very clear that, during her relatively short time in the College of Education, Mia has garnered a great deal of support from her colleagues. I received many positive comments supporting her appointment.

Mia has been at the University of Oregon since 1996, serving in a variety of capacities. (Mia’s CV) Her experience as Director of CoDaC and Associate Dean in the Graduate School give her a valuable perspective on the COE and its role within the University.
Mia and I have talked about the importance of continuing the momentum of the College’s academic, research and diversity initiatives during this interregnum. Under the leadership of Dean Bullis, the College has made significant progress in all of these areas, which has garnered national attention and praise and has consistently landed COE in the top rankings for education schools. I have great confidence that Mia will continue this progress. She will have support from many talented colleagues in the COE and the Provost’s Office, as well as the support of her former dean.

Please join me in thanking Professor Tuan for accepting this challenge and for the great service she will provide to the College and University.

Sincerely,
Jim

James Bean
Senior Vice President and Provost,
University of Oregon
[email protected]
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The University of Oregon is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Jim Bean’s memo on Gottfredson’s investiture planning

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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.

Continue reading →

Journalism dean search do-over

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Colleagues,
We present, for your consideration, four outstanding finalists for the Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication.  Candidates will be on campus for the next two weeks beginning Monday, June 3.  Campus visits are scheduled as follows:
  • Candidate A, June 3 and 4 [Ed: Dave Kurpius, LSU] 
  • Candidate B, June 6 and 7 [Ed: Derina Holtzhausen, OK State] 
  • Candidate C, June 10 and 11 
  • Candidate D, June 12 and 13
Campus visit itineraries, letters of interest and CVs are now posted for the first two candidates at:  http://provost.uoregon.edu/content/school-journalism-and-communication-dean-finalists  Information on the other two will be made available next Wednesday, June 5.
Please engage them at their public presentation and any other meeting to which you have been invited.  A survey link will be activated on the same webpage which will provide a mechanism to give me your feedback.  I look forward to reading your perspectives on the candidates. 
Regards, James Bean
Senior Vice President and Provost
5/29/2013

Candidate update: Bean forces Karen Sprague to step down

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Updated 5/24/2013: Having fired Karen Sprague for being insufficiently servile, Bean now has a list of replacements. Quality ones, actually. No doubt it’s a lot easier to get good people to apply when they know they’ll be working for Coltrane instead of Bean:

Colleagues:  

We present, for your consideration, an outstanding pool of finalists for Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies: 

Dr. Robert L. Davis, Professor of Spanish; Director of Language Instruction, Romance Languages; and Scholar in Residence, Global Scholars Hall 

Dr. Lisa Myōbun Freinkel, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Head, Department of Comparative Literature 

Dr. Amalia Gladhart, Professor of Spanish and Head, Department of Romance Languages 

Dr. Ben Saunders, Professor of English and Director, Undergraduate Minor in Comics Studies 

Letters of interest and CVs are posted at  http://provost.uoregon.edu/content/vice-provost-graduate-studies-finalists 

Please engage them at their public presentations and any other meetings to which you have been invited.  The schedule will be available next week at the link listed above.  After each candidate visit, a survey link will be activated on the same webpage as a way for you to give me your feedback. I look forward to reading your perspectives on the candidates.  Please contact me at [email protected] if you have any concerns or comments on the process. 

Regards,
Jim Bean
Senior Vice President and Provost

Update 2/16/2013: Apparently this happened Friday. I don’t know much about this but it seems to be yet another non-sensical Bean decision. Or just as likely a Lorraine Davis one, since Bean doesn’t know how to make decisions. A commenter says it all:

She wasn’t fired – she was asked to step down as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies. Just one more example of Bean focusing on the wrong thing. Instead of taking care of real problems ( Espy, deKluyver, Union negotiations) he’s focused on an area that doesn’t seem to be a critical issue right now. Something about deck chairs comes to mind. 

And now Gottfredson and Bean will have to redraw their org chart. The Executive Leadership Team will be in a tizzy for months.

Sprague Letter 10/15/2012: We’re get an increasing number of emails like this – please keep forwarding them. Given Johnson Hall’s abysmal track record the faculty needs to be in the loop sooner, rather than later:

Jim Bean has let me know that he is considering eliminating Undergraduate Studies – presumably dispersing the offices within it to other units.   New Student Orientation has already been moved to Enrollment Management – something that Lorraine Davis did shortly before this summer’s orientation began in July. 

               Jim’s decision does not seem to be based on dissatisfaction with performance — either mine, or that of Undergraduate Studies generally.    He prefaced his discussion with me by saying that he thought the creation of Undergraduate Studies was a “stroke of genius” and that I’d done a good job.   He gave three reasons for thinking that Undergraduate Studies is not needed, or perhaps no longer needed: 

1.      1.  “The portfolio is a potpourri of things that don’t make sense.”   Apparently, the rationale for bringing together the units within Undergraduate Studies (Orientation, First -year Programs, Academic Advising, Teaching and Learning Center, and Accessible Education Center (formerly, Disability Services) ) has never been clear to Jim. 

2.      2.   “When Undergraduate Studies was created, there was nothing else.  In particular, there was no Enrollment  Management or Office of Equity and Inclusion.  Now we have those things, so functions connected with students can be handled differently.”    It’s actually not true that Undergraduate Studies was created because there was no Enrollment Management group to provide its function.   At the time, Enrollment Management was headed by Jim Buch and it included the traditional units:  Registrar, Financial Aid, and Admissions.   Moreover, it was Jim Buch, along with John Moseley, who saw the need to connect units like those in Undergraduate Studies more tightly to the academic heart of the university, and so they moved them out of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs and into Undergraduate Studies.  In my opinion, that need still exists. 

3.      3.   “There are too many Vice Provosts, but we need another one (VP for Integrative Programs) and the faculty won’t stand for an increase in administration.” [Emphasis added.]

I don’t agree with Jim Bean’s ideas, and think that Undergraduate Studies has accomplished a lot, that our influence will continue to be needed, and that we are poised to accomplish even more in partnership with Ian McNeely in CAS.  I’m sending this message because I think it’s important for faculty to know what may happen to Undergraduate Studies.   If you want to talk with me directly, just give me a call or send an email. 

-Karen
Karen U. Sprague
Professor of Biology
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies

Coltrane to be interim Provost

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5/1/13, Some good news. Here’s hoping he got some commitments from Gottfredson on reforms as part of the deal. For the nostalgic, here are the FIVE BIG IDEAS, here’s Lorraine Davis’s To Do list for Bean when he returned from sabbatical last May, and from July 2012, here’s Bean’s promise to get faculty input into reviewing the academic plan and developing priorities:

Priorities:  Later this month, our leadership retreat will address the most pressing priorities for the Provost’s Office during this coming year.  The group in attendance will include the Leadership Council augmented by faculty, staff, student, Foundation and Alumni Association leadership.  I will present some ideas such as review of the Academic Plan and the Big Ideas, office and classroom space, etc.  The group will have an opportunity to add topics and to do an initial prioritization.  I have already spoken with Robert Kyr, President of the University Senate, about an online ranking process of these priorities, to be run by the Senate in September, involving the entire community.  From all this input, the President and I will settle on the priority topics for this year.

That would have been last September. Just in case anyone needed a reminder about the lack of faculty input into UO’s priorities – a question which Hubin finessed in the accreditation report, and which Rudnick made the mistake of bringing up at the bargaining table. Too bad Coltrane doesn’t start the job until July.

Dear colleagues: 

I am delighted to announce that Scott Coltrane, dean of the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences, has accepted my invitation to serve in an interim role as the UO’s senior vice president and provost beginning July 1. 
He will succeed Jim Bean, who will leave his current position of senior vice president and provost at the end of June, to return to the Lundquist College of Business. Dean Coltrane will serve in the interim position as we conduct a nationwide search for a permanent senior vice president and provost. 
I would like to thank all those who submitted nominations to fill this interim position and I’d especially like to extend my appreciation to members of the Faculty Advisory Council who served as the selection advisory committee for this appointment. 
The provost is the UO’s chief academic officer, heading our academic programs and overseeing the quality of our teaching and research. The provost ensures that we maintain a high quality faculty by providing leadership in appointments, promotions, working conditions and tenure. 
Dean Coltrane has served since 2008 as the head of our College of Arts and Sciences. He has also served as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and has extensive experience and familiarity with the fundamental issues facing our entire university – from the growth of recent years, to the space and staffing issues we are currently addressing, to facilitating our research mission. 
A prominent sociologist, Dean Coltrane’s own research has focused in part on families and fatherhood and the domestic divisions of labor and gender inequality. Prior to joining the UO in 2008, he served for 20 years in a variety of teaching, research and administrative positions at the University of California at Riverside. 
Please join me in congratulating Scott Coltrane and welcoming him to his interim role as senior vice president and provost. 
Sincerely, 
Michael R. Gottfredson

Beangram and UO admin salary comparison

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Updated with latest (last?) Beangram:

March 20, 2013 

TO:                  Officers of instruction, research and administration
FROM:            Provost Jim Bean
SUBJECT:      Multi-year salary adjustment program update 

I am writing to provide an update regarding the multi-year salary adjustment program announced in my email of March 4, 2013. 

The University is moving forward with its plan to give unrepresented Officers of Instruction and unrepresented Officers of Research a 1.5 percent across-the-board salary increase retroactive to January 2013. We are also moving forward with a 1.5 percent across-the-board increase for FY2014 and a 2 percent merit/equity pool for eligible Officers of Administration and unrepresented Officers of Instruction and unrepresented Officers of Research. The FY 2014 increases will take effect July 1. 

The University made the same offer to United Academics.  It has not been accepted at this time.  The same increases will remain available to United Academics while we negotiate economic issues with the union.

3/20/2013: I took the Chronicle data on median 2009 administrator pay at doctoral public universities from here, and matched it to the UO IR salary data for 2012, here. There’s some guess work in matching titles – seems like a fair amount of title inflation going on, and probably not just at UO. When in doubt I gave the JH folks the benefit of the doubt and put them in the higher paying comparator bin.

Keep in mind that administrators we are hiring deal with a *much* smaller budget than most of the AAU’s, since we’ve got no medical school or engineering to worry about. I think the median for PhD granting institutions is a reasonable comparator for most of these people.

You’d be hard-pressed to claim that UO is underpaying our admins – quite the opposite. From what I can tell generally the high pay extends down to the AVPs and Deans, etc. But I didn’t look at them that carefully. Comments welcome:

(A commenter pointed me to more recent data, I’m updating the spreadsheet that was here, I’ll post it tonight. (OK, never got around to that, sorry.) Meanwhile, I’ll point out that the Chancellor of UCLA is paid $409K, while President Gottfredson gets $540K.)

"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows …

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… he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” Samuel Johnson

Lame Duck Interim Provost Bean figures out how to give himself another raise, regardless of whether Gottfredson lets him have an administrative sinecure next year, or makes him start teaching. Fortunately it means raises for the rest of us too. “Around the O” has the details.

March 4, 2013 
TO:                 Officers of instruction, research and administration
FROM:            Provost Jim Bean
SUBJECT:     Multi-year salary adjustment program
With the cost of living increasing each year, it is critical that the University of Oregon be able to provide periodic adjustments to salaries in order to recruit and retain the highest-quality faculty and staff.  This is not something the UO has been able to do on a consistent basis for a number of years.  With that fact in mind, I am pleased to announce a new multi-year program that will provide cost of living adjustments along with the possibility of merit/equity increases.
For the academic year 2012-2013, this program will provide a 1.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) retroactive to Jan. 1, 2013 for all officers of instruction and officers of research who began employment on or before June 30, 2012.
In the academic year 2013-2014, the program will include a 1.5% cost of living adjustment effective July 1, 2013 with the possibility of an additional merit/equity increase (2% merit/equity salary pool available).  All unclassified faculty and staff (e.g., officers of instruction, officers of administration and officers of research) who began employment on or before Dec. 31, 2012 are eligible with some exceptions.  (See http://around.uoregon.edu/salary-adjustments for details.)  Merit/equity increase decisions will be based on academic year 2012-2013 performance reviews and reviews of current salary structures via processes established in each unit.
This multi-year salary program applies to all unrepresented faculty and officers of administration.  If United Academics, the newly formed faculty union, agrees to the program, it will be extended to represented faculty members as well.  (Please note:  Cost of living increases for classified staff will be bargained for as part of their contract negotiations between SEIU and the Oregon University System.)
Please visit http://around.uoregon.edu/salary-adjustments for additional details on this program.
The University of Oregon is home to some of the world’s finest faculty, researchers and staff.  Every day you are pushing the boundaries of human understanding.  Thank you for all you do to educate our students, create new knowledge and support the academic mission of this outstanding public research university.

Beangram for 2/28/13 on Karen Sprague replacement

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Two weeks ago Bean told Karen Sprague she wouldn’t be reappointed as VP for UGS – claiming the office would be reorganized. As a commenter wrote:

She wasn’t fired – she was asked to step down as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies. Just one more example of Bean focusing on the wrong thing. Instead of taking care of real problems ( Espy, deKluyver, Union negotiations) he’s focused on an area that doesn’t seem to be a critical issue right now. Something about deck chairs comes to mind.

A week later Gottfredson (finally) made Bean resign. But see below – apparently Bean’s not done screwing up those parts of UO that are still working after his 5 years of mismanagement. My read is that the office will not be reorganized, but that Sprague is still out. Punishment for speaking up too forcibly and publicly?

2-28-13 Provost’s Message

Colleagues,
I will soon begin an internal search for a new Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies. Senate President Robert Kyr and I have formed a search committee that includes Julie Newton (chair), Ian McNeely, Josh Snodgrass, Jennifer Joslin, and Roger Thompson.
The committee will begin meeting soon and aims to complete the search by the end of May. 
The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies reports to the Provost, is a member of the Vice Provosts’ Council and coordinates activities and planning for Undergraduate Studies with the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. The Vice Provost has management and budget authority over all component programs in the Office of Undergraduate Studies.
The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies will provide leadership for UO undergraduate initiatives and endeavors and oversee a wide range of undergraduate programs and services for the UO, including Academic Advising, Disability Services, First-Year Programs, the Teaching and Learning Center, and initiatives relating to General Education.
The Vice Provost also works closely with the Undergraduate Council, other faculty and administrative committees, student groups, Associated Students of the University of Oregon, and other constituencies involved in undergraduate education at the University.
The job opening with the complete description of duties will be posted on the Human Resources website after the search committee has reviewed it.
Please contact me if you have any questions at [email protected].
Regards,
Jim
James Bean
Senior Vice President and Provost,
University of Oregon
[email protected]