Who pays Glazier, and Duck Beach Sand Volleyball developments

8/21/2013 update: After telling the faculty on the IAC we had to keep her presentation about Sand Volleyball secret, AAD Lisa Peterson has now blabbed all about it to Andrew Greif in the Oregonian. Interesting double standard.


8/12/2013 IAC meeting update: The meeting took place as scheduled and lasted for about 40 min.

I said I’d talked to a few reporters about the rumors, and asked if the meeting was secret. AAD Lisa Peterson said it was her understanding that her presentation would be confidential. I asked why Beach Volleyball plans should be a secret. Ms Peterson said that she was not prepared to proceed unless the meeting was confidential.
The committee discussed this, and the consensus was that it was best to agree to confidentiality and maybe learn something and perhaps even have a chance to be consulted. So I agreed to keep the details of the meeting confidential, and I told Ms Peterson that I would explain this to reporters.

When I started taking notes on my laptop, she asked if I was blogging about the meeting. I reiterated that I had promised to keep the details of the meeting secret. She said she was just checking up on me to make sure. 

In terms of the substance of the meeting, I assume it’s public knowledge that any decision to add NCAA Sand Volleyball and be playing by spring needs to be submitted to the NCAA by Oct 1, that the USC Sand Volleyball facility cost $5 million, and that Nike sells beach volleyball gear.

Sorry, wish I could say more – but it’s a secret! 


8/10/2013 update: Word is that Rob Mullens is sending AAD Lisa Peterson to “consult” with the IAC about the possibility that UO might add a beach volleyball team. Monday at 3:30, second floor of the Jock Box. This is a sham, Rob Mullens made this decision long ago. The location is presumably to make it easier to keep out reporters and students wondering where their money is going, since they aren’t allowed up the stairs. Last time they held the IAC meeting in the student union and then the IAC, led by Andy Karduna, voted to kick out the student reporters – big mistake.

Here’s a pdf from the volleyball association on the current status of the sport. While Kilkenny’s competitive cheerleading dream seems to have failed to make it with the NCAA as a sport, “Sand Volleyball” has. That means it helps UO’s Rob Mullens boost his ranking in the NCAA Director’s Cup competition, for which he gets a fat bonus:

One of many bonuses in his ~$650K a year contract. Plus car, of course.

Meanwhile I finally got the BANNER reports on who paid Glazier. These take 5 minutes to run, but Hubin’s public records office managed to stall releasing them for months. Full dump here. The upshot? Jamie Moffitt had been charging half the cost to the academic side:

but Berdahl started making the jocks start paying the full cost in Feb 2012:

Gottfredson still hasn’t made a substantive response to the May 2013 Senate resolution on ending the millions in Jock Box and Matt Court subsidies, but he did cut back on the secret overhead subsidy Frohnmayer had given out. From what I can tell he didn’t backslide on the Glazier costs either, though it’s a bit hard to figure out – I’ve put the question to AAD Eric Roedl for clarification.


7/23/2013: Unverified rumor down at the UO faculty club beach cabana is that UO is going to add this, the latest NCAA women’s sport. They call it “Sand Volleyball”, video here. I’m on the Senate Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, which Rob Mullens is supposed to consult before adding new sports. This is the first I’ve heard. Maybe it’ll be the tit-for-tat for an end to the jock box and Mac Court bond subsidies? Or Kilkenny just got bored with watching baseball and competitive cheerleading?

Meanwhile, if you’re curious about how much of the bill for Mike Glazier’s fees on the Kelly/Lyles investigation UO’s academic side had to pay, it took15 days just to get an estimate from UO Public Records, and it ain’t cheap:

The University of Oregon has received your public records request for “(Existing) documentation revealing all sources of the funds used to compensate the law firm retained by the University of Oregon in connection with the recently completed NCAA investigation of the school’s football program; andWith reference to the preceding request, existing documentation which identifies all persons who participated in the decision that University of Oregon would incur such expense (involve counsel in the first instance and be “represented” within the investigation)” on 07/08/2013, attached. The office has at least some documents responsive to your request.  By this email, the office is providing you with an estimate to respond to your requests.

The office estimates the actual cost of responding to your request to be $523.98. 

UO to give students $450K in need-based scholarships!

8/13/2013: Just kidding, that’s how much Athletic Director Rob Mullens is paying the Nicholls State University Colonels football team to show up in Autzen and lose to the Ducks, 4 weeks before the UO students even show up for classes. Vegas has Oregon by 51 points. College sports at its finest. Sam Stites has the story in the RG. Meanwhile VPFA Jamie Moffitt says UO’s budget doesn’t have any more money for faculty raises, while President Gottfredson still hasn’t done jack about the UO Senate resolution calling for him to end the subsidies for athletics, and start redirecting some money to academics, starting in the fiscal year that began 7/1/2013, and send money for need and merit scholarships, starting 7/1/2014.

Bowerman on Duck plans to cut off local businesses

7/2/2013: Tom Bowerman in the RG letters, on an issue which has attracted a lot of criticism about where Rob Mullens is taking UO:

My father, a former track coach at the university, was a moonlight developer of apparel worn by various university athletes. The designs eventually contributed to forming a small business. This enterprise was once tiny but went on to become a fairly significant contributor to the university. If the new acquisition rule had been in place back then, the outcome would probably have been different. More importantly, my dad believed in equal access and developing local skills rather than chasing bucks and a few big names. I’m quite certain he would not be pleased by this rule.

Duck sports roundup with NCAA report.

6/26/2013 update. The public NCAA report is here. Hilariously pompous. Public Censure and Reprimand. Presumably much more will be released eventually, thanks to this public records opinion from Dave Frohnmayer’s DOJ. The NYT has this quote from Kelly:

Kelly, in a statement issued through the Eagles, apologized to the university and its fans. “I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties,” he wrote, adding that the investigation did not have a role in his decision to leave the university.

Whatever you say Chip, but are you gonna pay UO back for the $200K we spent on lawyers? One quick excerpt from the NCAA report, dealing with a special admit problem:

The institution discovered a deficiency in prospect H’s Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT) while performing a review of his academic credentials. Due to the deficiency,
prospect H was required to return to Houston immediately to take the earliest available
SAT. 

An assistant football coach and the former assistant director of operations sought
the assistance of the recruiting service provider in facilitating the prospect’s taking of the
SAT. The recruiting service provider contacted prospect H via telephone and ultimately
delivered to him the required SAT registration packet at a Houston area gas station the
evening before the test.  

Further, there was evidence that the recruiting service provider was involved in the
arrangements for prospective student-athletes to travel to the institution for their official
visits. Following the official visits of prospects E and F, the former assistant director of
operations sent the recruiting service provider a hand-written note he composed under the
former head coach’s signature, stating: 

I really appreciate your help in getting [the names of the visiting
prospects] and the whole crew here this past weekend. We’ll work on
getting [prospect A] here soon too! Thanks for orchestrating everything
and all your help with these guys. I hope you enjoyed the game . . .Go
Ducks! 

Rob Mullens, Lorraine Davis, and Jim O’Fallon have opposed letting the UO IAC be involved in special admits, despite language in UO’s most recent NCAA recertification saying the situation was under control. I wonder how much of that they conveyed to the investigators?

6/26/2013: After rejecting UO’s proposed plea bargain, Jim O’Fallon’s NCAA Committee on Infractions is expected to hand down the penalties this morning. O’Fallon’s recused, of course. Still no word on who will replace O’Fallon as UO’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA.

UO has now spent more than $200K on NCAA cleaner Mike Glazier, to defend the Duck brand against the Kelly/Lyles infractions. More if you value the opportunity cost of Randy Geller’s time at something positive. The academic side has paid about half this. No word yet if Gottfredson will go after Chip to try and recoup the legal and the other costs of his infractions.

Rumor is that a group of traitorous UO law profs are writing to President Gottfredson to protest the UO decision to effectively prohibit small local Duck paraphernalia manufacturers from getting licenses to use the Duck brand. Don’t these ingrates know who paid for their building, and what eternal reciprocal obligations they incurred in exchange?

Can Mike Andreasen keep his job?

6/6/2013: I’m all in favor of spending big bucks on fundraising. All the studies I’ve seen show it can pay off. But at UO most of the donations go to the jocks. I’m still waiting to see the Robin Jaqua gift letter, which may explain just how Duck athletic director Rob Mullens was able to roll Mike Andreasen and UO’s academic side for $5M. Meanwhile, this sort of thing does not build a lot of confidence in our team. Thanks to Anonymous for forwarding the email:

“I believe as an industry we are on the cusp of important new strides in building long-term sustainable international partnerships …”

Sent on behalf of Mike Andreasen

Advancement Colleagues:

I want to take this opportunity to share some of the early organizational changes that I have decided to make as we continue the transition to an Advancement model.   I look forward to sharing more details with you at one of our upcoming all staff meetings.  As we return to this model, we stand by our guiding principles:  a value of, and appreciation for, the many distinct programmatic responsibilities and expertise across the portfolios of University Relations and Development; a commitment to increasing our efficiencies and effectiveness as a unified unit; and our enthusiasm to take the very best of our previously Advancement structure and build upon it.

To that end I want to share with you some initial restructuring and a few personnel updates.

Tim Clevenger

I am pleased to announce that Tim has agreed to take on a new role in our Advancement organization as the Associate Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management.  In taking on the new role, Tim will lead, oversee and coordinate the university’s communications and branding efforts. He will work to consolidate and coordinate staff efforts across the Advancement team, and more comprehensively across campus.  Tim brings years of private sector experience in these fields and will lead our teams in this broad portfolio.  Additionally, while at the university he has developed an effective strategic and branding plan for the UOAA and as a member of the senior management team, he will continue to advance these important efforts.

Carole Daly

Carole has informed me of her decision to retire from the university in June 2014.  Carole has served the university with distinction and personal dedication and we look forward to properly celebrating and thanking her for her contributions to the UO.  In light of her decision, I am announcing the creation of a new senior leadership position that will combine components of Carole’s current role with the role of Executive Director of the UOAA.  As such, this new senior leader will be the AVP Annual & Regional Advancement and the Executive Director of the UOAA.  Tim and Carole will continue to serve in their current managerial roles until this position has been filled.

For the remainder of fiscal ’14, Carole will work directly with me and Vice President Thompson on developing a strategic fundraising plan for scholarships including a portfolio of leadership gifts in this area as part of the campaign.

AVP Annual & Regional Advancement/Executive Director of the UOAA

This new position will lead us through a very innovative and entrepreneurial approach to serve our donors and alumni.  This position will coordinate our approach to annual giving, alumni memberships, regional engagement including gifts, alumni chapters and will oversee a new alumni membership services model for the UOAA.  This model will provide a strategic opportunity to approach our prospect, donor, and alumni base with a more comprehensive overview of methods to engage with the university.  I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts and expectations of this new collaboration between the Development and UOAA teams, and to working with our colleagues in both areas as we further develop our strategies for this new exciting area.

John Manotti

After years of service in our central Development office and most recently as our AVP for Principal Gifts, I am very pleased to share with you that John has agreed to lead a very important new initiative for us.  In his new role of AVP for International Advancement, John will bring his in-depth knowledge of the campus; his years of successful fundraising, domestically and abroad; his commitment to our alumni and donors; and his positive energetic approach to one our most promising new efforts.  I believe as an industry we are on the cusp of important new strides in building long-term sustainable international partnerships with our alumni, parents, corporate partners, and sovereign nations.  While philanthropy and financial investment are often our most tangible measure of success, I am convinced that the broader Advancement effort is a more accurate view of our international opportunities and I couldn’t be more encouraged by John’s willingness to take on this challenge.  Working closely with the Vice Provost for International Affairs, John will work across campus and around the world to foster these new relationships and partnerships.

Paul Elstone

As part of our restructuring efforts and in response to several of the changes above, I have asked Paul to expand his management and oversight portfolio.  Paul will be elevated to Associate Vice President and the fundraising areas in the Museum for Natural & Cultural History, the Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Bach Festival, and the Office of Gift Planning will be added to his portfolio.  I want to acknowledge Paul for the leadership he has provided over the past three years and thank him for his willingness to take on this expanded role. In addition, Paul will work with colleagues across University Development to continue to improve the coordination of all major gift activity.

Best,

Mike Andreasen

Vice President, Advancement

University of Oregon

Secret meeting update. Chip Kelly was a cheat who skipped town on his debts

4/24/2013: Secret meeting update: 

SI is reporting UO held a meeting with the NCAA infractions committee last week to negotiate penalties. The charge of the UO Senate’s IAC says the IAC shall be consulted by the

3. The faculty athletics representative about all ongoing investigations and major violations.

And the Frohnmayer DOJ opinion says these investigations are a matter of public record. But FAR Jim O’Fallon and AD Rob Mullens have kept everything secret from the IAC, including this meeting. While making the academic side pay half the legal bills.

Another update: Duck sports and public records get the “O” brand priceless national recognition in the NY Times.


Update: Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano is unimpressed with Dave Hubin’s game:

Without that, there is no real transparency. There is no accountability, either. Oregon has played games with the media charged with covering one of this state’s biggest public entities, refusing to adequately and decently meet public-records requests. The Ducks have withheld information and moved slooooooooowly, then suddenly released documents on Friday nights, and on game days. UO released the original Lyles scouting reports, and said, “This is all we have,” then, a day later, recanted with, “Oh, yeah, that wasn’t all. Here’s a little more.” …

Glazier is a legend in a case such as this. And maybe he’s just trying to justify the steep cost of retaining him. The UO general counsel’s office and the athletic department are sharing the cost of his specialty law firm, which only means that taxpayers are on the hook here. 

Yes, the taxpayers deserve transparency. Yes, the public deserves a quick and reasonable turnaround on public records requests. And yes, Oregon’s athletic department needs to come to the NCAA, hat in hand, accept its punishment, and let the football program move forward. 

4/16/2013: That’s the conclusion from the documents UO released yesterday to KATU after 6 months of stalling by the Public Records Office. Randy Geller and Doug Park had been arguing NCAA docs were exempt, but I dug up this 1981 opinion by Frohnmayer’s DOJ saying just the opposite. Too bad guys.

Adam Jude has the story and the links in the Oregonian. The costs of the investigation and the sanctions UO is trying to negotiate with the NCAA will probably run into the millions. It’s been a huge distraction for new Pres Gottfredson – from what I can tell from his calendar he’s spent far more time in meetings about sports than about academic issues like Espy.
Here are the latest billings from the law firm of Mike Glazier, the NCAA fixer Rob Mullens hired to try and deal with this. Last I heard Randy Geller was still making the academic side pay half his bills:
Mullens and UO’s “Faculty Athletics Representative” Jim O’Fallon refused to talk about any of this with the UO Senate athletics committee, claiming NCAA rules prohibit it. They don’t. There was a clause in Kelly’s contract allowing UO to fine him for costs like this, but from what I can tell Rob Mullens let him leave town without asking for a dime. It’s much easier to spend other people’s money on your friends when nobody’s looking over your shoulder, right Rob and Jim?

Oregon holds out on multi-year scholarships for players

From the Chronicle, 4/19/2013:

Nearly two-thirds of the 56 most powerful Division I public universities now offer multiyear awards, according to a Chronicle review of public records. Yet few of those institutions do so for more than a handful of athletes. 

Among the holdouts are some of the wealthiest programs, including the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Oregon, and Texas A&M. At the University of Arizona, Georgia Tech, and the University of Louisville, this year’s NCAA men’s basketball champions, you can count the multiyear beneficiaries on one hand. 

Officials from some of those colleges say their hesitation is not about the money—they just oppose making long-term promises to prospects who may not hold up their end of the bargain. 

“Who gets a four-year, $120K deal guaranteed at age 17?” Christine A. Plonsky, women’s athletic director at the University of Texas, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. “The last thing young people need right now is more entitlement.”

Speaking of entitlement, AD Rob Mullens and most of the UO coaches have multi-year contracts that require UO to pay their salaries even if they are fired. And of course we know what Frohnmayer/Grier gave Bellotti, who is also getting more than $500K a year from PERS, as a result of some very unusual accounting tricks.

Wisconsin wasn’t afraid to give me a 4 year guarantee. Of course that was just for graduate school, not something that would bring in millions for the coaches and the athletic director. And I wasn’t a naive 17 year old prohibited from hiring an agent to look after my interests. Nice scam these guys have got going.

Students want jocks to pay more for band

Rob Mullens is not having a good year. First Chip Kelly left him. Then Jamie Moffitt raised his overhead $500K, thanks to our persistent questions. Then Kitzhaber announced he would shift the $900K subsidy the lottery gives him for athletic scholarships to the academic side. And now student government wants him to pay the $150K subsidy for the marching band. On the plus side, he’s saving $1.7M a year on Helfrich’s contract, and Kelly owes him $3.5M for leaving early. So stop bitching about money, Rob.

On the other hand, read this ODE letter from the Head drum major, explaining all the non-athletic stuff the band does.

Rob Mullens on "the industry", plus concussion contest!

1/18/13. Rob Moseley of the RG extracts a little too much honesty from UO’s well incentivized Athletic Director Rob Mullens, talking about the search for a new football coach:

“I think we do things the right way here; I think most people in the industry absolutely understand that,” Mullens said. “I just have confidence that, industry wide, people know what’s going on here, and people are doing it the right way.”

Uh, you’re supposed to take your $500K and pretend this is all about academics and amateurs, Rob.

Then there’s this quick contest. A free UO Matters coffee cup to the first winner, and apologies to Joe Moseley of “Around the O”, from whom I stole the idea:

  1. Research from UO’s Human Physiology program says concussion danger lasts for ____ months?
  2. Coach Dana Altman played Arsalan Kazemi against Oregon State ____ days after a concussion?
  3. ____% of UO athletes that know how to game the athletic department’s concussion test?
  4. UO has $____ million in insurance coverage from United Educators for an NFL type concussion lawsuit?
  5. VPFA Jamie Moffitt is making the athletic department pay $____ for this coverage, while hanging the rest on the academic side?

Clawbacks of Kelly and Mullens bowl bonuses?

1/16/2012: Ducks confirm Kelly’s going to the Eagles. So the contractual issues below are back on the table. Is UO going to take steps now to ensure it can recoup some of the costs of the Kelly / Lyles recruiting violations from Kelly, or is the academic side going to get stuck with the tab again?

12/20/12. Here are the contracts for AD Rob Mullens and Coach Chip Kelly, which include bonuses for bowl appearances and wins. If UO had agreed to a plea bargain over the Lyles recruiting infractions that included vacating some of these wins, could UO have clawed back the bonuses? I’ve got a question on that in to UO’s VPFA Jamie Moffitt. Due diligence, I think the lawyers call this. More later.

Mullens:
Kelly:
And of course Kelly’s contract includes a clause allowing UO to dock his pay for NCAA infractions, etc.

Geller blew UO money on Glazier: NCAA refuses plea deal

We’ve written a fair amount on UO General Counsel Randy Geller charging the academic side half the cost of “The Cleaner” Mike Glazier’s work on the Chip Kelly / Willie Lyles  scouting business – while he and UO “Faculty Athletics Representative” Jim O’Fallon refused to share any information about the infractions settlement  efforts with the UO Intercollegiate Athletics Committee.

An in-your-face violation of UO Senate rules, and our shared governance constitution, and one more example of the loss of institutional control by UO over its athletic department.

Not only that, it seems Geller, Mullens, and O’Fallon wasted our students’ money. The NCAA has just refused Glazier’s plea bargain offer, and is going to try the case in their “Committee on Infractions” kangaroo court. Charles Robinson and Rand Getlin have the story on Yahoo Sports:

The sources said the committee ultimately did not accept Oregon’s presentment, disagreeing with “various aspects” of both the infractions the school believed occurred, and the sanctions the school deemed appropriate. That impasse has made a full-blown hearing necessary. Had Oregon’s request for summary disposition been successful, the school could have avoided a hearing in which individuals such as head football coach Chip Kelly could be made to appear and take questions.

All’s not lost though: UO’s Athletic Director, Rob Mullens, can still hit up Chip Kelly for the legal fees and any NCAA fines and lost revenue – but only if he acts fast, before Kelly flees for the NFL:

Reporters trying to get info on this case should ignore O’Fallon and Geller’s claims that NCAA investigations are confidential. Take a look at the Oregon Attorney General’s Public Records and Meetings Manual, and particularly this 1981 opinion. Oregon law still trumps the NCAA, I think. Don’t forget to cite it when making requests to UO Public Records Officer Lisa Thornton, here. And ask for a fee waiver – how UO has been spending public money is certainly a matter of public interest!

November 12, 1981, Blaine Newnham. Order granted inspection of NCAA complaint against the University of Oregon, with some deletions. The conditional exemption for interagency advisory communications was not applicable, because the NCAA is not a public body. The exemption for information submitted in confidence was not applicable, despite NCAA demand for confidentiality and university agreement, because the information could not reasonably be considered confidential and the public interest required disclosure of information relating to staff misconduct resulting in substantial adverse consequences to university athletic program. No adverse consequences to continuing investigation were likely. Names and other identification of students involved were deleted as required by federal law. University president had option under ORS 351.065 to delete names of staff members. Names of other persons involved, without official responsibilities, were deleted to protect their privacy except in a case in which wide publicity naming the person had already occurred.

Of course this is all bad for the players. Kelly wanted them, they were willing to come to Oregon, and Willie Lyles was willing to arrange this mutually advantageous deal in return for a very modest emolument. But the NCAA cartel will collapse if the coaches and the players start negotiating over “impermissible benefits” – and it’s the job of the NCAA Committee on Infractions to enforce their rules on indentured servitude. The NCAA is the real guilty party here – and some day I hope their chickens will come home to roost. 12/2012.

Duck football is below the curve. Mullens’s pay is above.

Last year was the best ever for Duck football. Perfect regular season, second in the BCS. So good that AD Rob Mullens and Interim President Bob Berdahl argued that it was time to expand Autzen, and that if we did the athletic department might finally be able to follow through on its 2004 promise to start contributing towards academic scholarships:

1. The Task Force and the Athletic Department recommend a voluntary financial contribution by athletics to the Presidential Scholarship fund. This voluntary contribution will help symbolize the mutuality of the relationship between athletics and academics.

But the Ducks have not been doing so well when it comes to profits – the most recent data has them falling well below average, controlling for stadium size. In fact there are only a few AD’s doing worse. Oregon got trounced by places like Washington State, Wyoming, and Florida Atlantic – all with much smaller stadia:

The Duck’s problem is not revenue, it’s spending. So here’s hoping Mullens makes at least some effort to get his expenses under control before he tries to sell an Autzen expansion to President Gottfredson. Of course the Duck’s biggest variable costs are the salary for Mullens and his coaches. And those guys have no problem whatsoever diverting the money that should be going to fund scholarships to fill their own pockets. Rob Mullens is paid $200,000 or so more than his comparators:

Does Mike Gottfredson have the stones to rein in Rob Mullens and his buddies? UO will find out soon.

Thanks to an anonymous UO Matters contributor for the figures. Your bottle is on its way. Any defamation is the sole responsibility of UO Matters. English libel law does not apply, since this post was written under the influence of scotch.

Mullens cuts another secret financial deal with UO

10/16/2012: Word around the faculty club snookers table is that the jocks have signed another secret “Memorandum of Understanding” with our administrators in Johnson Hall. The 2009 MOU between Kilkenny and Frohnmayer in 2009 cost the academic budget millions. Last year, after many public records requests and petitions, we forced them to post it and some other basic financial information on their website. Steve Duin of the Oregonian wrote a great column about that episode, here:

Even as the University of Oregon football team geared up this fall for another BCS run, an enterprising student/faculty committee began asking questions about the hidden subsidies that sustain the myth the Ducks’ athletic department is self-supporting…. 

That memo capped the athletic department’s overhead assessment at 3 percent through June 2012. That is one half the assessment rate charged other UO auxiliaries this year, including ASUO. … 

As The Oregonian’s Rachel Bachman (now with the Wall Street Journal) detailed last fall, UO diverted $8.5 million in general fund dollars from 2002-2010 to pay for academic support — including tutoring and counseling — of its athletes.

I don’t know if this new MOU is about the tutoring costs, the overhead rate, the Willie Lyles / Chip Kelly costs and fines, the $467,000 Mac Court scam, the Skybox tickets, the bowl game junkets, or some fresh scheme dreamed up by Mullens and Moffitt. They’ll tell the Senate when they decide to tell the Senate. Or maybe they won’t.