Tag Archives: Kees de Kluyver

UO hires Sarah Nutter as B-School Dean, from George Mason

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The LCB has been without a permanent dean since Kees de Kluyver “retired” in spring 2015, to take a year’s leave at full pay, and give up his tenure.

Nutter seems like a great hire, who will add some real diversity – as in diversity of thought – to UO’s leadership. Google Scholar on UO’s new Dean:

Financial reporting, tax costs, and book-tax conformityDA Guenther, EL Maydew, SE Nutter – Journal of Accounting and …, 1997 – ElsevierWe investigate the role of book-tax conformity in firms’ financial reporting activities using a
unique set of publicly traded firms that were forced to switch for tax purposes from the cash
method to the accrual method. Prior to the mandated change, little trade-off existed …Cited by 202 Related articles All 7 versions Cite Save [HTML] aaapubs.org

The effect of political sensitivity and bargaining power on taxes: Evidence from federal contractorsLF Mills, SE Nutter, CM Schwab – The Accounting Review, 2012 – aaajournals.org ABSTRACT: We investigate whether politically sensitive contractors pay higher taxes and
whether their bargaining power reduces these tax costs. Using federal contractor data, we
develop a new composite measure of political sensitivity that captures both the political …Cited by 44 Related articles All 5 versions Cite Save

A re-examination of the effects of personal deductions, tax credits and the tax rate schedule on income tax progressivity and income inequality JC Young, SE Nutter, PJ Wilkie – Journal of the American Taxation …, 1999 – aaajournals.org We refine and extend Seetharaman (1994) using tax-return-level Statistics of Income data
that represent the population of 1992 federal individual income tax returns. Our results
indicate that while the standard deduction, exemptions and tax rate schedule continue to … Cited by 13 Related articles All 5 versions Cite Save [PDF] 63.150.153.70

[PDF] Accumulation and Distribution of Individual Retirement Arrangements, 2000 PJ Sailer, SE Nutter – SOI Bulletin, 2004 – 63.150.153.70 IRA’s held by most taxpayers in 2000. In general, contributions to traditional IRA’s could be made by individuals who received taxable compensation (eg, wages, salaries, commissions, self-employment income). For 2000, the contribution limit was the smaller of $2,000 or the individual’s … Cited by 10 Related articles All 2 versions Cite Save More [PDF] taxfoundation.org

[PDF] Corporate business activity before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986PJ Wilkie, JC Young, SE Nutter – Statistics of Income Bulletin, 1996 – taxfoundation.org_ he Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA 86) marked an important shift in Federal income tax policy. While previous tax acts provided incentives or disincentives for various business activities and industries, TRA 86 attempted to create a more “level playing field” by …Cited by 9 Related articles All 3 versions Cite Save …

A nice 2014 puff piece with video, here:

… If you could pick anyone — dead or alive — to be your mentor, who would it be? Katharine Bushnell. She was born in 1856 and died in 1946. She was a medical doctor, a Christian writer, a medical missionary to China, a Bible scholar. She wrote “God’s Word to Women” that came out of a lifetime of social reform for women. She was an awesome, amazing, kick-ass woman and she did it in a time where there wasn’t a single thing in her favor.

What do you love about academia? For those that are privileged enough to be part of it, it’s the best job in the world. You have the opportunity to empower people every day, with students, with faculty, to explore really interesting questions. As an organization, some refer to academics as herding cats. Your leadership style has to be collaborative. Strategic. There are political aspects to the job. It’s persuasive. You lead by example. …

And a more substantive one here.

In 2014 her GMU pay was $330K. Here’s a GMU blurb:

sarahnutter-dean

George Mason University has selected Sarah Nutter as dean for the School of Business. The school’s acting dean since May 2013, Nutter will head a U.S. News & World Report top 100 business school that counts almost 4,000 students in its five undergraduate majors and seven graduate programs.

Nutter, an accounting professor and former Internal Revenue Service economist, was one of three finalists for dean. She has served in a variety of leadership roles at George Mason, including as the presidential fellow, interim university chief of staff and chair of the steering committee of Mason’s strategic visioning process. She also is a senior scholar at Mason’s Mercatus Center and has previously served as the accounting area chair and director of the executive MBA program. …

 

And today’s announcement from UO:

Colleagues,

I am thrilled to announce that Sarah Nutter, the current dean of the school of business at George Mason University, will take the helm of the University of Oregon Charles H. Lundquist College of Business on January 17, 2017.

In her new role as dean of the Lundquist College, Nutter will lead a college that was founded in 1914 and today enrolls more than 5,000 students in a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, including accounting, finance, sustainable business practices, entrepreneurship, and sports marketing. Nutter has served as dean at George Mason since 2013.

The UO is gaining a talented dean with significant experience in academic leadership and strategic planning, built on an inclusive approach that has permeated every aspect of her work. This is an exciting time for the UO and for the Lundquist College of Business, and Sarah has the vision, academic background, and leadership skills that are needed to leverage the college’s considerable strengths as we work to enhance excellence and deliver world-class educational opportunities to our students.

After earning her PhD in accounting from Michigan State University, Sarah joined the faculty at George Mason in 1995. She is a senior scholar in the Mercatus Center at George Mason and has served as chair of the accounting department and director of the business school’s executive MBA program. In addition she was a presidential fellow with responsibility for campus-wide initiatives.

In addition to Nutter’s inclusive approach in working with internal constituents, the dean and professor of accounting also transformed the advisory boards and councils for the business school by enlisting a 200-strong group of executives and business professionals to help guide the college.

We also want to express great appreciation to Bruce Blonigen, who has been serving as interim dean for the last several months while also chairing this critical search. I would also like to again thank James Terborg for his service as interim dean in the year prior. Their efforts have gone above and beyond.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah Nutter to the University of Oregon and the Lundquist College of Business.

Sincerely,

Scott Coltrane

Provost and Senior Vice President

UO accounting alum’s scholarship gifts end with student-loan Ponzi scheme

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I’m no expert on the use of charitable contributions to buy prestige, but this case out of UO sure has some interesting twists, and might even displace the Avery Fisher Hall naming rights buy-back and the Central Park Zoo story on my syllabus.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that UO accounting alumnus and donor Bob Jesenik raised $350M from investors in his Aequitas firm, promising them high returns from buying up and aggressively collecting on the student-loan debts that students at the Corinthian for-profit business and technical colleges had taken out to pay their tuition.

Corinthian had low completion rates and high default rates. In 2014 the Obama administration caught them lying to students about their job-placement record, and let students apply to have their tuition loans forgiven. The SEC alleges that Jesenik knew Aequitas couldn’t collect on these debts, and was lying to his investors – except of course some special insiders – while he used their money to pay his own salary and perqs and keep Aequitas’s creditors quiet. I’m no finance professor, but they’ve got a name for this kind of scheme. (The role that the strict defamation laws of the time played in preventing newspapers from reporting on the fraud is particularly interesting.)

While this was going on Aequitas was pledging to give scholarships to UO finance students – with plenty of publicity from UO – and Jesenik was using the prestige to get stories in the business trade press that helped make his company look profitable and encouraged new investors.

Diane Dietz has the story in the Register Guard, here, complete with quotes from Duck PR Flack Tobin Klinger, who is uncharacteristically spin-free about this sad story:

The SEC lawsuit filing, here, has the gist:

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From the RG:

As part of Aequitas Capital Management’s effort to look solvent — even wealthy — in the eyes of investors, the company earlier this year announced it would give scholarships to students of finance at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

The image-polishing tactic by the high-flying Lake Oswego finance firm went along with opening a swank new office on Park Avenue in Manhattan, the use of a private jet, and “posh dinner and golf outings,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.

…  It’s unclear exactly what the Aequitas collapse means to the universities. The UO faced a similar situation in the late 1990s with Capital Consultants, a Portland investment firm owned by class of ’64 alumnus Jeffrey Grayson.

Grayson, like Jesenik, had prospered financially and also volunteered for his alma mater. He served as president of the UO Foundation in the mid-1990s. He became co-chairman of UO President Dave Frohnmayer’s “Campaign for ­Oregon,” a then-record-setting UO fundraising drive.

In 1997, Grayson pledged $1.5 million toward a remodel of the UO’s old law school building. The UO was so pleased that it sought special dispensation from the state to name the building after a living donor, and upon completion, it became Grayson Hall.

But Grayson had provided only $850,000 by the time his investment firm — known for its risky, unorthodox deals — collapsed amid an SEC investigation and accusations that he was hiding losses from his investors.

… Because of the donor secrecy provisions in the state law — requested by Frohnmayer and adopted by the Legislature — there’s no public account of how much Aequitas or its principals gave to UO or to OSU.

Actually, I don’t think it does. The Oregon DOJ’s Task Force on public records reform, led by AAG Michael Kron, has catalogued all the public records exemptions in a spreadsheet here. The donor exemptions are narrow:

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And while the secretive UO Foundation’s lawyer was able to convince AG John Kroger to claim the public records law didn’t apply to them, from what I can tell UO has never claimed to be exempt, and has provided donation amounts in the past:

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UO paying tenured full professor $327K to teach zero classes

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Note: This deal was done before President Schill arrived. The blame should go to Coltrane, or whichever of UO’s many other recent presidents or interims put this in de Kluyver’s contract and gave him raises while UO’s business school slowly sank and then disappeared from the US News rankings.

UO Management Professor Cornelis “Kees” de Kluyver:

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Apparently his performance review as business school dean did not go well:

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A few months later Around the O had the story of his contract non-renewal, here. While Kluyver collects $327K to teach nothing, UO is paying an interim a similar amount to do the dean’s job, while we search for a permanent replacement.

Kluyver wasn’t at UO long enough to earn a sabbatical, which in any case would only have paid 60% of this.  In fall he plans to go on the “Tenure Reduction Plan”, meaning three more years at 50% pay, in exchange for what is typically a 50% teaching load. For a research inactive LCB prof 50% would be 2-3 courses a year.

I wonder what, if anything, he’ll teach then? His predecessor Jim Bean was supposed to teach after he was forced out as Interim Provost, but instead Johnson Hall gave him a series of administrative sinecures, until he eventually found gainful employment back east.

Needless to say regular UO faculty do not get these sorts of deals – the administrators only give them to other administrators.

160over90 Branders to try out media campaign plan on faculty, staff

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11/17/2014: Today, 4PM in the Alumni Center. Deputy Chief Strategic Communicator Tobin Klinger has the report here.

11/14/2014 update: Strategic Communicator Tim Clevenger fiddles with the brand, as grad students burn away

Job #1 was keeping us in the AAU by boosting research and grad student enrollment. But UO’s IR office reports that grad student enrollment has dropped yet again: down 100 just this year:

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Business school does “360 degree” review of Dean, posts all comments

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No, of course I’m not talking about UO and our B-School Dean Kees de Kluyver. This is for Eastern Michigan. Survey responses here. Seems like a constructive exercise.

Will this ever happen for UO administrators? Maybe. After a secret performance review of President Gottfredson last spring – the Senate wasn’t even told it was being done – the OUS Board extended his contract through July 2016. As the RG editorial board noted last summer about Gottfredson’s lackluster first year at UO:

“And if a president proves lacking in either vision of his own or the ability to execute the vision of others, the board can replace him.”

Fortunately, as the editors also note, we now have an excellent independent board:

“These people won’t be content to be figureheads. They will expect the UO to perform as the state’s leading institution of learning and research, and as a primary engine for Oregon’s civic, cultural and economic development. All of them have achieved their various types of success through careful investments of their money, time and energy. Now they’re investing a part of their lives in the UO, demonstrating a commitment to the university and a faith in its potential.

And fortunately UO’s Trustees are indeed taking charge and planning a new review for Gottfredson. Here’s hoping it involves an open process, along the lines of what other universities do.

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

Now w/ docs: Orwell meets Dilbert, from the guy Bean hired as LCB dean

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5/13/2013: Anyone go to the Friday LSB faculty meeting about Songlines?


5/2/2013: Updated with contract and invoices at bottom

5/1/2013:

From: “Tracy Bars” [email protected]

To: “LCB Faculty” [email protected] “LCB Staff”, [email protected],  “LCB OA’s” [email protected]

Cc: “Chris Van Dyke” [email protected]

Subject: May 10th LCB Faculty Staff Meeting Materials and Dean’s Message
LCB Faculty Staff Meeting, Friday, May 10, 10-11:30am, Room 211 Lillis – Agenda Attached
Sent on behalf of Dean de Kluyver
Dear Colleagues:
As the attached agenda attests, the upcoming faculty meeting will be a busy one. To expedite things, I want to take a few minutes to provide background information to agenda item #6 – the marketing/communications project we have initiated with Songlines Communications.
As I shared with you a few weeks ago, an anonymous donor gift allowed us to retain Songlines Communications (Songlines) to “create a unifying brand story that succinctly, elegantly, and emotionally communicates the Lundquist College of Business’ unique identity and differentiates our value proposition from that of our competitors.” The brief stipulated that “the story should help to answer the question “Why Lundquist?” or “Why Oregon’s business school?” relative to all the alternatives. Moreover, it should leverage and blend with the overall University of Oregon brand story/positioning.”
After examining prior research, mining college and UO documents, surveying how other business schools describe their mission and competitive advantage, and conducting more than 40 in-depth interviews with faculty, staff, students, alumni, board members, recruiters, employers, and other stakeholders, we are one step closer to our goal–to develop a brand identity that will:
1.     Provide a clear sense of the Lundquist College’s organizational identity based on our mission, values, culture, core competencies and strategic objectives,
2.     Articulate, in an authentic and compelling way, this identity to external constituencies in a clear and consistent manner,
3.     Serve as a guide for long-term strategic planning and a set of guardrails for “moment of truth” judgments and decision making.
As we begin to digest the findings and recommendations we have received we must remind ourselves that characteristics such as academic excellence, experiential learning, a world-class faculty, or ideas such as a focus on sustainability or global business, while highly desirable, do not differentiate us effectively from our peers. The challenge, therefore, is not only to capture these truths in a brand story, but also to express them in a way that is different, exciting and memorable. Over time, a brand idea that meets these criteria can identify a specific organization without even stating its name.
To this end Songlines has created a number of “Story Themes”–each different in emphasis, representative of a different, unique combination of characteristics, and capable of supporting a broad spectrum of stories that reflect key insights about the Lundquist College of Business. What differs in each is the lead idea or central focus of the theme but all these themes share the over-arching notion of Thought Leadership and have application in all areas of study at the College.
For example, one theme is A New Business Model–the idea that at the Lundquist College of Business we are thought leaders on how to integrate concepts such as responsibility, sustainability and a focus on values into a new business model for the 21st century. Another is the New Oregon Way which leverages the pioneering spirit that characterizes much of Oregon and the UO and emphasizes our reputation in innovation, creativity, and quality of life issues.
In the weeks to come, we will work with Songlines, UO Communications, and our external relations staff to refine the list. As we do so, we should heed Songlines’ advice:
“First, whatever brand theme is ultimately selected, what is most important is that the College “pick a lane” What distinguishes great brands from other institutions is the fact that they know who they are, they embrace a set of values that reflect their unique identity, and they commit to behaviors consistent with who they are and what they believe. In doing so, they also decide who and what they are not. They have, in other words, picked one lane over another. There are consequences to picking a lane, the most important of which is the commitment to stand for something. This commitment is what defines and builds a community. It also builds the power to influence. It engenders loyalty and draws in those who share the point of view. But because these decisions describe what an organization is not, they also alienate. Presented with a clear choice and point of view some people will select the organization and others will not. Committing to a lane requires discipline and courage.
“Second, we strongly recommend that once the college selects a “lane,” it proceed with purpose and confidence. Our research has convinced us that the Lundquist College of Business is special and unique. It offers a combination of educational advantages and opportunities not offered by any other institution. The problem is that not nearly enough people are aware of these strengths. It may be the Oregon Way to be humble and modest, but we would encourage the college to be proud of its curriculum and accomplishments and to express pride in all it communicates to its constituencies.”
We look forward to Songlines’ update and your reactions and suggestions as we move forward with this important project.
Cordially,
Cornelis A. “Kees” de Kluyver, Dean
Encl:    10-MAY-2013 Faculty Staff Meeting Agenda
           08-FEB-2013 Meeting Minutes

Public records updates: The B-school faculty is good for the scotch, right?

From: UO Matters 
Subject: request for Songlines contracts and invoices 

Date: May 1, 2013 8:34:34 PM PDT 

To: Lisa Thornton Cc: [email protected], Tracy Bars , [email protected] 

Dear Ms Thornton: 

This is a public records request for contracts between UO and Songlines Communications (Songlines) to  

“create a unifying brand story that succinctly, elegantly, and emotionally communicates the Lundquist College of Business’ unique identity and differentiates our value proposition from that of our competitors.”  

And also any invoices, from 1/1/2012 to the present. 

I ask for a public interest fee-waiver on the grounds that making this information public will help  

“leverage and blend with the overall University of Oregon brand story/positioning.”  

I’m ccing LCB Dean Kees de Kluyver, as he should be able to easily provide these documents, without exceeding the one-hour threshold for a fee. 

And, a near instantaneous response from Dean de Kluyver:

On WednesdayMay 1, 2013, at 8:41 PM, Kees de Kluyver wrote to the PR Office, his staff, and the consultant:

Please comply and furnish details as requested.. Kees 

This is a novel and welcome response from a UO administrator. I’m a little embarrassed for being so snarky. You reading this, Randy?

Sure enough, at 9:50 AM Dean de Kluyver sent me the docs, pdf here. No charge, no redactions:

Update: Moffitt passes his "business school case study" to the UO business school

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3/19/2013 update: Law School had been planning on banking 45% of CnC revenue as profit

Law Professor Q: The particular question that interests me the most concerns the division of revenue from CNC courses. How much of this revenue goes to CNC/CRES/ADR, and how much goes to the law school’s general coffers? I know that the gross revenue per student for a four-credit course is $600. I’m interested to know how much of the $600 goes to CNC/CRES/ADR, and how much of the $600 goes to the law school’s general coffers.

Answer of sorts: The CNC budget was created at the same time and following the same process as the JD program budget. Revenue projections are made based on student enrollment, grants, gifts or other fundraising events. The CNC program requests an expense budget to meet their program needs. (These expenses do not roll up to a larger ADR center budget. The ADR Center has a separate budget index for their program expenses.) As a management tool, CNC program expenses can not exceed program revenues. However any surplus goes to the law school total budget. This has varied greatly over the past three years. In my first year, most of CNC was funded through the CNC foundation funds. In 2012, the program was just better than break–even. This year, there were surplus revenue dollars remaining after all program expenses that were targeted to law school general fund. In addition, the CNC program is allocated their share of the 35% tax base and a 15% overhead assessment for law school resources. In summary, in AY2013/14 over 45% of CNC revenues were budgeted to law school general fund to cover tax, admin support and surplus; 55% was budgeted for direct support the CNC program; 0% was budgeted to support any other ADR activities. But I don’t think you can use these numbers looking forward. The program needs and admin support needs may vary greatly depending on the outcome of the program decisions. We will start from bottoms up this year. 

_Kelly Sparks_
Associate Dean, Finance & Operations
University of Oregon School of Law
[email protected](541) 346-3643

3/18/2013 update: Not so fast, it seems. See bottom for an email from the LCB administration. Apparently their faculty was a little surprised to read about the program transition on UO Matters, rather than being consulted first by their own dean, Kees de Kluyver. The meat:

LCB is making no commitment to additional courses and any proposals generated will be run through a normal course approval process. Should any new courses be approved, staffing for those courses will follow our regular search process.

3/15/2013: The fallout from my post on the law school’s Conflict not Conflict courses last month is slowly coming clear. As I explain below, the consequences are very likely going to be borne by one of the CnC instructors (who has a UO philosophy PhD). He may lose his job over it. This is not right. I want to apologize to him for my role in this outcome and encourage people in the law and business schools to do the right thing by him.

On Thursday several law school faculty sent me Moffitt’s official announcement and self-serving email to the faculty, posted below. The background? Moffitt raked in the cash from the CnC courses, and bragged about it to the NYT:

At the University of Oregon, Michael Moffitt, the law school’s dean, has started clinics on nonprofit groups, environmental policy and probate mediation. He has also set up law courses for students in other parts of the university, which brings revenue to the law school. 

“The problem is that we have been selling only one product,” Mr. Moffitt said. “But if you are getting a business degree, you need to know about contract law. City planners need to know about land-use law. So we at Oregon are educating not just J.D. students. 

“Demand is through the roof,” he added. “I feel like I am living a business school case study.”

Moffitt apparently still hasn’t come clean to NYT reporter Ethan Bronner about the fact that most of the profits – about $200,000 a year – came from the CnC courses. The combination of Moffitt’s NYT quotes and my post raised a lot of questions with law school faculty and alumni. FWIW, here’s my current take on the situation, informed by a report on the CnC program that was passed to me along with the Moffitt email, and which I hope will eventually be public:

1) Courses on the philosophy and social implications of sports should be taught in universities. Given UO’s history, what better place than UO? We should do this, and we should do it well. 

2) My original post implied that these CnC courses were guts for the “student-athletes”. This is not true. The courses have tough grading curves, if anything tougher than average for UO courses. And I don’t see any indication that they were particularly popular with the jocks.

3) I think lots of people read the Football and Conflict exam that I posted and thought the course, taught by an instructor with a UO philosophy PhD, was an apologia for athletics. Having seen the report, I can say this is not true – this course was in fact a skeptical inquiry into the role of sports in life and society. The same seems to be true of the rest of the CnC program.  

4) The real problem is not that UO taught these courses, it’s that the law school treated the program as a cash cow. The courses were set up to maximize short-term revenue. Too many courses with overlapping material. No prereqs for upper division courses. Masters courses taught by adjuncts that were already teaching too many courses. Moffitt took the money, rather than invest the profits back in improving the program.

What’s going to happen now? Moffitt’s email explains that the CnC program is going to be taken over by the business school’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Program. Kilkenny’s endowment will presumably go there too – where it probably should have been in the first place. But the law school will retain “ownership” of the CnC program and courses. Very weird. Moffitt still won’t take responsibility, just the profits?
So, who *is* going to take the fall for all this? Obviously not Michael Moffitt. And CnC Director, Josh Gordon will move to the LCB. But the fate of the other CnC instructor is still unclear:

3/15/2013 email from Moffitt:

From: [email protected]To: [email protected]Subject: law-fac-staff: Josh Gordon Transition to Warsaw Sports Marketing Center
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:09:39 +0000 

Dear Faculty & Staff,
Below please find a statement that Lundquist College of Business Dean Kees de Kluyver and I will be issuing jointly later this evening.  The headline is that Josh Gordon will be moving to the business school starting in the Spring term to work with the Warsaw Sports Management Center.  The law school will retain “ownership” of the CNC program and the affiliated courses.  We already had time scheduled into the faculty meeting tomorrow to talk about the CNC program and about next steps.  I look forward to seeing you then. 

Michael
Michael Moffitt
Philip H. Knight Dean
University of Oregon School of Law
– – – – –
Statement from Kees de Kluyver & Michael Moffitt
The study of sports and society is an emergent academic field concerned with the institutions, politics, economies, and communities within and around sports culture.  This summer, the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the Lundquist College of Business will be exploring new curricular possibilities around sports and society to complement its existing sports business concentrations.  In support of this project, Josh Gordon will be reassigned to work with Paul Swangard and the Warsaw faculty, effective Spring 2013.  The hope of both the Law and Business Schools is to better serve Oregon’s students and academic mission through the development of rigorous courses supported by clear pedagogical objectives. As with any curriculum, all curricular proposals emerging from this work will be reviewed using normal faculty governance procedures, including the undergraduate program committee of the Business School and the University’s undergraduate committee on courses.

3/18/2013 email from LCB:

Dear LCB Faculty and Staff,

In the absence of Dean de Kluyver who is travelling, I wanted to provide some additional context to the announcement that is being circulated by the Law School below. Our intent in working with the Law School is to determine if we might be able to serve the student demand that existed in the cancelled courses (the second largest population of which were PBA students). Josh Gordon will remain under contract and paid by the Law School during this period and there have been no promises made beyond the existing contract term. LCB is making no commitment to additional courses and any proposals generated will be run through a normal course approval process. Should any new courses be approved, staffing for those courses will follow our regular search process.
 Statement from Kees de Kluyver & Michael Moffitt [as above]

Dave
David M. Boush
Associate Dean for Administration
Marketing Department Head
Gerald B. Bashaw Professor of Business 

Update: UO MBA’s and Kees de Kluyver

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1/7/2013: If you believe the WSJ on these things, de Kluyver’s decision to increase UO’s MBA tuition by 50% may not have been totally prescient.

9/4/2012: Diane Dietz of the RG has a comprehensive story on UO’s MBA programs, with many interesting quotes from LCB Dean Kees de Kluyver, here:

They [University of Washington, the University of Arizona and the major California universities] were at tuition levels north of $65,000 or $70,000 (for two year degrees). We were lagging at levels half or less than that,” he said. “If you want to be taken seriously, you can not be priced half somebody else’s offering, because you simply will not be considered.” At half price, it’s impossible to sell the program as a Mercedes, he said. …

Meanwhile, the UO is planning to shift its Portland-based Executive MBA program out of stall. The Executive MBA program was ripe for a revamp last fall after de Kluyver hired a new director, Wes Balda, an academic with experience in creating graduate-level business education programs, including at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. … But after seven months, Balda resigned.

As of June, Balda was still on the payroll for $150K. de Kluyver gets $315K plus a $30K “overload”, but no beemer. Provost Bean has failed to deliver with the Portland programs, as with most everything else he’s touched. Lorraine Davis’s efforts to mop this one up are here.