Tag Archives: Frances Dyke: VP for Finance

So, who *does* Randy Geller work for?

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It’s complicated, I can understand why he’d be confused. Back in May 2012 interim President Bob Berdahl signed this 3 year, $200K deal between UO and Geller:

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But in January, the OUS Board had passed this policy, making Geller responsible to the OUS board and chancellor.

And now Geller is also the General Counsel to the UO Board of Trustees:

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And to top it off, Geller is still trying to push his “Legal Services Policy” through the UO Senate, which essentially makes him the lawyer not just for UO, but also for all UO faculty and staff – at least in his own mind:

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Someone should ask for a legal opinion on how Geller can resolve all these potential conflicts of interest. But the only person currently authorized to give such an opinion is – you got it – Randy Geller.

OUS board give UO cops guns, raises UO student’s tuition to pay for them.

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6/22/2013: Two stories from Eder Campuzano in the ODE: Guns … Tuition. How much will the conversion to an armed UOPD cost overall? Frances Dyke told the legislature it would be something like $66K. At one point she told the students and faculty it would save $76K.

Jamie Moffitt won’t explain what happened – she walked out of the meeting where I tried to get an answer – but my quesstimate is closer to $1-$2 million a year in new costs, recurring. The lesson? Never believe the numbers that come out of the VPFA’s office.

In utterly unrelated news, VP for enrollment Roger Thompson has an op-ed in the RG on UO’s efforts to keep college affordable.

University hires new VP for Finance and Administration for $236K

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5/4/2013: The university has successfully concluded an open national search for a new VP for Finance and Administration. The president reports to the faculty:

“Our former VPFA did an exemplary job of helping keeping the university on a sound financial footing in a difficult economic environment and doing so in a most transparent manner. Our new VPFA has the experience and vision to continue that success as the university moves forward.”

 The salary is a substantial $236K:

But the new hire has many years of experience as VPFA at smaller universities, and $236K seems to be the competitive wage for a university with 25,000 students and a research budget of $160M a year. Plus, the university is not taking much risk with a one year contract, and must pay accordingly.

Oh wait. Sorry. The above is the deal for OSU’s new VPFA, Glenn Ford. Here at UO, our VPFA is Jamie Moffitt, and we pay her $270K. 

She was hired in 2012 after a failed search for an outside candidate. She was on the search committee that rejected the other applicants – no conflict of interest there! Her previous financial experience seems to consist of a few years managing the budget for the UO law school, and then 18 months or so doing the same for the UO athletic department. During which time she proved her loyalty by hiding the details of the strange and expensive deals between Dave Frohnmayer and Duck booster Pat Kilkenny, whom he had appointed athletic director. Pretty risky to appoint an outsider who might not understand the benefits of “The Oregon Way”. And she’s proving her loyalty again, by hiding UO’s budget projections from the UO faculty:

City’s legal bill $419,000 in arrest

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3/26/2012: From the RG:

The total legal costs — $419,000 — dwarf the $5,583 in damages that a jury awarded Schlossberg in January, after deciding unanimously that his constitutional rights were violated by Solesbee during a March 13, 2009, encounter in front of an Umpqua Bank branch in downtown Eugene.

Part of the cost of having a police force, as UO will soon learn. Meanwhile we’ve posted an ad for a new Police Captain:

Police Captain, Safe Campus Team
Department of Public Safety

Open until filled; priority review of applications begins April 17, 2012
The University of Oregon in Eugene seeks an experienced, senior, commissioned law enforcement professional with superlative people skills and leadership ability to fill the position of Police Captain with the Safe Campus Team at the Department of Public Safety (UODPS).

Doesn’t sound cheap. And rumor has it they’ve also hired a $10,000 a month consultant. Meanwhile DPS Director Doug Tripp – already paid more than the Eugene police chief – is in Salem for 4 months, going through basic Oregon police academy training.

Frances Dyke told the campus – and Floyd Prozanski and the state legislature – that the conversion to sworn police would cost UO almost nothing. She lied. Will new UO CFO Jamie Moffitt come clean on this?

UO police will cost UO 5 to 15 professor slots

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3/1/2012: That’s my guess. Last year Doug Tripp and Frances Dyke told the faculty – and the legislature – that campus police were going to save UO $73,000. And you wonder why Johnson Hall has negative credibility. Here are the last ten years of DPS spending, from the Financial Transparency Banner tool:

2002-03                        $1,607,012
2003-04                        $1,612,250
2004-05                        $1,733,536
2005-06                        $1,789,688
2006-07                        $2,427,713
2007-08                        $2,166,847
2008-09                        $3,073,604

2009-10                        $2,831,690
2010-11                        $3,811,421

2011-12                        $4,287,098

$2.6 million, growth over 10 years, nearly tripling their budget. But now that the conversion to sworn police is starting, things are really going to get expensive. Word down at the Baron’s Den is that UO has hired a $10,000 a month consultant (a retired Eugene police captain) to plan how to spend all that money. Becky Metrick of the ODE has some news on the 6 year plan that is being put together. That will be an interesting budget to see.

Campus cops get guns, money

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Updated 2/10/2012: Becky Metrick of the ODE has the scoop:

The guns, which are being used solely for training purposes, were ordered back in November after Lariviere signed a directive that authorized the creation of an official police force.

“Part of that document required DPS to acquire firearms for the certification, re-certification and training and skills maintained,” Executive Director and Chief of the Department of Public Safety Doug Tripp said. “As a part of the certification process, we must provide weapons.”

Here’s what the ODE printed on October 10, also by Becky Metrick, just 4 months ago, after the OUS Board authorized conversion from a public safety department to a sworn police force:

One of the biggest areas of debate has been whether the police force will be armed with possibly glock 19 and glock 19 holsters, but the board explicitly stated that its decision Friday did not include the use of guns or tasers. Should the University decide it wants an armed police force, it will have to request that of the board at a future date. If the board decides to have an armed force, they will also have to look at ensuring that the force is trained properly in gun use, gun maintenance, and other factors.

Still, the issue is likely to re-emerge as many have begun to question the effectiveness of an unarmed police force, especially in the wake of the Oregon Court of Appeals’ decision two weeks ago, which abolished the Oregon University System’s concealed carry ban for weapons. Currently, a person is allowed to carry a concealed weapon so long as they have a concealed carry permit for their weapon. You can find arizona concealed carry permit information on gunlawsuits.org.

“There are police forces around the world who do not habitually carry arms,” board member Paul Kelly Jr. said. “This is a decision that’s to be made down the road.”

Obviously a lot of people have been lying to the UO students and faculty about this. But new CFO Jamie Moffitt doesn’t see what the fuss is all about:

According to Jamie Moffitt, the director of the advisory group, information about this step was sent out months ago.

“I’m surprised because we had a memo that talked about weapons to be purchased that was sent out to people, including student representatives,” Moffitt said. “This information has been out.”

She’s surprised that we’re surprised? I’ve got a request in for that memo. (Update: got it from another source. There is no sign that it was sent to students.) Meanwhile here are the last ten years of DPS spending, from the Financial Transparency Banner tool:

2002-03 $1,607,012
2003-04 $1,612,250
2004-05 $1,733,536
2005-06 $1,789,688
2006-07 $2,427,713
2007-08 $2,166,847

2008-09 $3,073,604
2009-10 $2,831,690
2010-11 $3,811,421

2011-12 $4,287,098

Or $2.6 million, 166% growth over 10 years.

Last year Tripp and Frances Dyke told the faculty that campus police were going to save UO $73,000. This year their budget grew $475,000. Dyke has now been put out to pasture as a “special assistant” to the provost. We’re paying her $223,118 – an $11,000 raise over last year. Still wondering where our administration blew our science faculty start up money? Don’t forget to thank Senator Floyd Prozanski for pushing the armed sworn police bill through the legislature – over the objections of many Republicans.

The Campus Police Website is here. Their “campus policing initiative” is here, with links to oversight committee’s, etc. Many broken links.

Thanks to bojack.org for the link.

Moffitt erases Frances Dyke from org chart

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1/27/2012: Apparently she’s still on the payroll though – as a special assistant to interim Provost Lorraine Davis. Sure is fun spending other people’s money on your friends.

Shades of John Moseley. I don’t envy Moffitt having to do the performance evaluations on the rest of  her crew. Lots of good people – but also cases who will presumably also soon be bought off with fat golden parachutes, filled with tuition money that should have gone to support research and teaching.

Laura Hubbard takes Buffalo job.

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1/9/2012: We’ve written before about the failed CFO search that led President Lariviere to appoint Jamie Moffitt to the UO job:

Jamie did not go through the same interview process as the regular candidates for this job. Lariviere’s letter says:

Frances Dyke announced in February that she will retire June 30, 2012. As a result, we launched a search for a chief financial officer. That search did not result in a hire. Considering the broad and crucial portfolio of the VPFA, and the failed CFO search, I determined that we cannot afford a pause in leadership in finance and administration. I asked Jamie to serve, and I’m glad she accepted. She will begin in her role as VPFA on Jan. 1, allowing a smooth transition to Frances’ retirement.

Sort of amazing she didn’t insist on some sort of transparency, to ensure at least a little buy in from co-workers and faculty. She did insist on a nice pay package though.

SUNY-Buffalo has now announced they are hiring UO’s AVP Laura Hubbard, the number 2 person in Frances Dyke’s office, as their VPFA. Ms Hubbard had apparently applied for the UO job, didn’t get it, then Lariviere declared the search failed and appointed Ms Moffitt. Moffitt has no experience at this level, and there are rumors of more departures, leaving UO pretty short on senior – or even not so senior –  finance and administration people. On the plus side, Frances Dyke is leaving at the end of June, unless her friend Lorraine Davis uses this as an excuse to keep her on.

Feces impacts rotating air accelerator

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10/28/2011: Check the dates in bold. Frances Dyke needs to fill this job by Tuesday. The person holding it was appointed in May. WTF? Please email [email protected] or post anon comment if you know what’s happening. As usual comments that start with Do Not Post will not be posted.

Notice of Intent to Reorganize and Reassign
Public Safety

Posting: 11423P
Location: Eugene
Closes: 2011-11-11
Note: UO Employees only

Frances Dyke, Vice President for Finance & Administration, in consultation with the Provost’s Office, wishes to announce a reorganization within the Provost’s Office. The reorganization is necessary due to the unexpected loss of key administrative and financial personnel within the Department of Public Safety (DPS) at a time that is critical to supporting the department’s core functions, including oversight of multiple searches currently underway, and its ongoing transition to a fully sworn police department. The reorganization involves the reassignment of a current employee from the Provost’s Office to DPS in order to fill the critical void with a proven and well-qualified employee with strong business and finance acumen. Specifically, the reorganization involves the reassignment of David Landrum, Director of Financial Services in the Office of the Sr. Vice President and Provost, to the position of Director – Administrative Services in the DPS. The reassignment is anticipated to be effective on or about November 1, 2011, pending consideration of any comments received in response to this posting. Any current UO employee who wishes to comment on the proposed reorganization or reassignment is encouraged to submit comments to Vice President Dyke at [email protected]. Comments and letters of interest must be received by 5:00 p.m. on November 11, 2011. Any current UO employee who wishes to review a copy of the Director – Administrative Services position description may request a copy from Finance & Administration Office Manager Katy Hatfield at [email protected].

RG investigates Dyke’s claims on campus police

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10/20/2011: VPFA Frances Dyke told the UO faculty, students, OUS – and perhaps also State Senator Floyd Prozanski and the state legislature – that conversion of DPS to a sworn, potentially armed UO campus police force was only going to cost $76,000. She told the ODE it might save $73,000. Apparently I’m not the only person who wonders if she was telling the truth. From a recent public records request:

Costs Associated with the Department of Public Safety
Requester: Bolt, Greg
Organization: The Register-Guard
Initial Request Date: 10/18/2011

This is a request under the Oregon Public Records Law for the following information on the University of Oregon’s Department of Public Safety: -A detailed annual expenditure budget for the UO Department of Public Safety for each year from 2001 to 2011, inclusive, -The number of DPS employees by job title for each year from 2001 to 2011, inclusive, -Total department PERS costs for each year from 2001 to 2011, inclusive, -Current PERS cost for an individual employee with the job title of campus security/public safety officer, -Any expenditure budget estimates or projections for the budget years 2011-12 through 2016-17, -Any estimates or projections of the personnel costs (payroll, OPE) associated with hiring or appointing sworn police officers, -Projected or estimated pay scales for sworn police officers, -Total projected or estimated PERS contributions for a force of 26 sworn police officers, and -Projected or estimated PERS contribution for an individual employee with the job title of police officer.

sorry, more athletics overhead subsidy

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10/18/2011: I’m tired of this too, but there’s big money at stake: About $3.2 million a year. More than the $2.8 million faculty raises will cost, more than the $2.4 million Frances Dyke spent remodeling Johnson Hall, more than the $2 million we spend on the Jock Box, more than the $1 million extra we’re now spending on the campus police.

Thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, I’ve now pinned the date for the decision to give athletics this $ multi-million break to sometime between Dec 2010 and Oct 2011. The old rate plan is described at http://web.archive.org/web/20101229003844/http://ba.uoregon.edu/content/department-assessments while the new plan, with the special athletic department only discount, is at http://ba.uoregon.edu/content/department-assessments. The special deal for athletics is the only big change. Yesterday I asked VPFA Frances Dyke, whose office is in charge of setting these rates, if she had any documents explaining this. Her response:

This switch was made sometime after April 2010, when Jamie Moffitt was appointed to clean up the athletic department’s finances. It looks to me like she cleaned them up by passing costs off to the rest of the university.

Given the OUS rule that the procedure used to set these rates must be “Auditable – recalcuable based on documented principles and procedures” I’m guessing that somewhere there is an explanation better than “I do not.” So I’ve asked Ms Moffitt to search her files for the documents. We’ll see what comes up.

Nostalgic?

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10/11/2011: I didn’t think so. The low point for UO was the April 2009 “Furlough Town Hall” where President Dave Frohnmayer, Provost Jim Bean, General Counsel Melinda Grier, and VPFA Frances Dyke tried to trick the faculty into agreeing to 5% pay reductions.

Frohnmayer had just taken a $100,000 raise himself, and was in the process of trying to spend $1 million on the neon “Old Town” sign in Portland. Inane. Bean claimed that UO was in the black on our Bend satellite and that we had a lean top administration, spending 38% of what our peer institutions spend. Wrong. Dyke revealed that she didn’t know how much faculty payroll was, and couldn’t divide.

All four of the people in this insulting dog and pony show are now gone or going. (Although Bean may be back). In addition, Diversity VP Charles Martinez is gone. VP for Research Rich Linton is gone. Lorraine Davis is back, but just for a bit. VP for AA Russ Tomlin is retiring. We have new VP’s for admissions and development and a new athletic director. The 5% cut in faculty pay that Frohnmayer’s administration proposed is history – replaced with raises. The staff furloughs have been mostly offset with overtime.

President Lariviere has engineered a nearly complete overall of UO’s central administration. Now we’ll see what they can do.

Rumor control

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has it that Jamie Moffitt, currently Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for Finance and Administration, will replace Frances Dyke as (interim) UO Vice President for Finance and Obfuscation, effective soon 1/1/2012. 

Now verified, with an email from President Lariviere:

Colleagues,

I am announcing the reassignment of Jamie Moffitt as the University of Oregon’s Vice President for Finance and Administration (VPFA), effective Jan. 1, 2012. Below is the public announcement the university will release.

Frances Dyke announced in February that she will retire June 30, 2012. As a result, we launched a search for a chief financial officer. That search did not result in a hire. Considering the broad and crucial portfolio of the VPFA, and the failed CFO search, I determined that we cannot afford a pause in leadership in finance and administration. I asked Jamie to serve, and I’m glad she accepted. She will begin in her role as VPFA on Jan. 1, allowing a smooth transition to Frances’ retirement.

I look forward to welcoming Jamie in her new role.

– Richard

——————————————-
Jamie Moffitt, the University of Oregon administrator who currently oversees all financial aspects of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, has been selected by UO President Richard Lariviere to serve as vice president for Finance and Administration. The reassignment will begin Jan. 1, 2012.

The vice president for finance and administration is a key member of the university leadership team and is responsible for campus operations, human resources, affirmative action and equal opportunity, campus planning, risk management, public safety, budgeting and finance, institutional research and emergency management.

The current vice president for finance and administration, Frances Dyke, announced in February that she plans to retire in June after 21 years at the university. The overlap will allow for a smooth transition of responsibilities as Dyke becomes an advisor to acting Provost Lorraine Davis.

“The vice president for finance and administration is at the operational core of the institution,” said Lariviere. “I appreciate the accomplishments and improvements during the past six years of leadership from Frances Dyke. The university is well-positioned to continue this trajectory with Jamie Moffitt’s expertise and determination.”

Moffitt has been the executive senior associate athletic director for finance and administration since May 2010. She was previously the associate dean for finance and operations at the UO School of Law from 2003 to 2010. In both positions, she reorganized budgeting and financial reporting processes and managed human resources and infrastructure improvements.

“I am looking forward to working more closely with the broader university community,” said Moffitt. “I am excited about the opportunity to strengthen and further align our central administrative and financial functions with the university’s core mission of teaching, research and service.”

The Athletics Department will begin immediately a search to fill the position being vacated by Moffitt. Athletics Director Rob Mullens expects to attract a strong pool of national candidates to the search process.

Before coming to UO, Moffitt was a senior executive at a venture-backed technology company in Boston and a consultant with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm.

Moffitt received her Bachelor of Arts degree (economics) from Harvard, her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degree (international business) from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Easy lesson on Oregon’s diversity:

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10/8/2011: From Bill Graves in the Oregonian, on the recent court ruling that people with a concealed carry permit can bring their piece to campus:

Portland State University President Wim Wiewel said the universities should take administrative measures immediately, such as requiring students to sign contracts and not to carry guns.

Eastern Oregon University President Bob Davies said the ruling is less of an issue in La Grande, where many students hunt.

The article also covers the OUS board’s split 9 – 3 decision to allow UO to have its own sworn police force. With this priceless quote from UO VP Frances Dyke – who earlier claimed that this would save UO money:

UO Vice President Frances Dyke  said costs would be minimal because the university already has invested in upgrading its public safety force, and it is working on an oversight plan.

A million dollars that could have been spent educating our students, or cutting their tuition. Fire Ms Dyke now, President Lariviere. I can think of at least 2 people who could take over her job Monday.