Tag Archives: Pernsteiner

11/30/2011: Not everyone had a chance to speak their piece today. Send me more, I’ll post them.

Chancellor Pernsteiner,

At Monday’s meeting, the Board of Directors said that trust is vital to the relationship between our University and the OUS, and I agree. But the past few days have shown that this community no longer trusts the Board, and it especially does not trust you.

The overwhelming sentiment on this campus is that your leadership threatens to drive our University into the ground. Given this irreversible erosion of trust, my question is this: will you consider stepping down from the board so that our institution can continue to grow and thrive, or will you cling to power at the expense of the 27,000 students, faculty, and staff who believe in a bright future for the University of Oregon.

Thank you,
Ben DeJarnette

Link to DeFazio’s strong statement of support for Lariviere and a UO Board and for the end of OUS. Where were you last week Pete?

Professor Robert Z. Melnick knows Pernsteiner, and ripped into Pernsteiner and Ciuffetti at the assembly, pdf here.

Professor and former CAS Dean Joe Stone – who also knows Pernsteiner – explains how UO has sacrificed for OUS, and gives his advice on the appropriate “beau geste” for Mr. Pernsteiner.

One pissed off P. B. Shelley explains the next steps the UO community should take regarding the OUS Chancellor, Board and staff:

Men of Oregon, heirs of Glory,
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you –
Ye are many — they are few.

RG story,  Oregonian story, KEZI video, 

11/28/2011: Time to change the OUS agenda: Please copy, edit as you like, and email to the list below. CC uomatters@gmail.com and I’ll keep a tally – hard for them to ignore a reasonable request like this, especially now.

Dear OUS Board Chair Donegan and OUS board members:

I’m writing to request that the OUS board address the issue of Chancellor Pernsteiner’s contract renewal, and specifically that you

a) solicit input on Chancellor Pernsteiner’s job performance from OUS Presidents, administrators, faculty, and other concerned citizens, and then

b) schedule executive and public meetings to address the issue as to whether or not his contract should be renewed, and if so on what terms.

As explained below this matter is fairly urgent. If you do not act now, the Chancellor’s current contract will automatically review, with no opportunity for public input or for your own review of his performance.

The Chancellor’s current contract, at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/971644/uomatters/Pernsteiner/Pernsteiner%20contract%202010.pdf automatically renews under its current terms unless your board meets and decides otherwise by 12/31/2011.

The terms of Dr. Pernsteiner’s current contract are quite controversial. For example, the Register Guard has a long story in February, focused on his use of the Treetops mansion in Eugene. ( http://registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25869291-41/chancellor-system-ous-state-university.csp ) This story was followed by several editorials in various newspapers raising questions about the expenses and legality of the arrangement.

Other terms of Chancellor Pernsteiner’s contract are also problematic. As just one example, he has been unable to provide documentation of the $23,320 in “professional expenses” he receives under his current contract, as shown by this letter from the OUS Board Secretary: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/971644/uomatters/Pernsteiner/No%20Pernsteiner%20receipts%20110308%20PRR.pdf . Obviously this is not consistent with normal business or employee procedures. It is also not consistent with his own contract, which explicitly requires such documentation. There are other questions regarding OUS expenditures for his maid service, the mortgage on his private home in Portland, etc.

Finally, Oregon SB 242 and SB 909 raise serious questions about the future role of the Chancellor’s office and job. Chancellor Pernsteiner should be asked to publicly explain how he sees his role in the future of Oregon higher education – and other stakeholders should be given a chance to explain how they see his role – before his contract is automatically renewed, without public discussion.

I appreciate your consideration of this potential agenda item.

xyz

email to:

George_Pernsteiner@ous.edu, mdonegan@forestcap.com, matt_donegan@ous.edu, l.w.eiland@intel.com, jill_eiland@ous.edu, ciuffettl@oregonstate.edu, lynda_ciuffetti@ous.edu, allyn_ford@ous.edu, jim_francesconi@ous.edu, paulkellyjr@comcast.net, rosemary_powers@ous.edu, ppulliam@pcc.edu, preston_pulliams@ous.edu, kirk_schueler@ous.edu, dave_yaden@ous.edu, paul_kelly@ous.edu, ryan_hagemann@ous.edu, charles_triplett@ous.edu, Marcia_Stuart@ous.edu, Diane_Saunders@ous.edu@ous.edu>@ous.edu>@ous.edu>@ous.edu>@ous.edu>@brooksresources.com>@eou.edu>@hk-law.com>@ous.edu>

11/27/2011: Or maybe the headline should read:

“Chancellor Pernsteiner loots Oregon student’s budgets to pay for his mansions, maids and croissants”

Sam Stites of the ODE has the scoop on the former interpretation, with some Aaron Marineau photos of the perpetrators fleeing the well manicured, spacious grounds of Treetops, OUS Chancellor Pernsteiner’s state owned and maintained 9,200 sq ft mansion. I swear the guy on the left is Frank Stahl. UO Matters deplores all senseless acts of vandalism, and this one is particularly senseless, since Pernsteiner’s money and the Treetops costs all come from student tuition and taxes. Guess who will pay. Here are a few other interesting Pernsteiner facts, in case you need something truly scandalous and corrupt to deplore:

• He was hired in 2004 by Neil Goldschmidt as an interim appointment, then made permanent after the molestation story broke and everyone was too busy to go through a public search process. 
• He does not have a PhD – unique for a university Chancellor. 
• He is paid $280,900 in straight salary – while OUS staff get furloughs.
• He gets another $23,320 for “professional development expenses.” He does not document how he spends this, despite state audit rules – he just takes it as a cash salary add-on. 
• He gets a free car with all costs paid.
• He gets a $12,720 retirement add-on, to top off his regular PERS account.
• He gets an all expenses paid mansion in Eugene, Treetops, which he uses about 4 nights a month, at a cost to the state of over $50,000 a year. Landscaping is $1300 a month.
• To fight a voter fraud investigation his lawyer claimed he lived in Eugene.
• We pay about $7,000 a year for his maid service.
• He gets another $26,000 from OUS in housing allowance to pay the mortgage on his own house, in Portland.
• He charges the state $52 a day for his personal food while he’s in Portland. 

And his contract will be automatically renewed unless the OUS board acts by 12/31/2011.