Tag Archives: Scott Coltrane

Provost Search Committee named

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Recent Provosts:

John Moseley
Linda Brady
Jim Bean (Interim)
Lorraine Davis (Interim)
Scott Coltrane
Frances Bronet (Interim)
Scott Coltrane (Interim)

Search Committee announcement:

Provost and Senior Vice President Search

The University of Oregon is embarking on a crucial leadership recruitment effort: the selection of a new Provost and Senior Vice President. As the chief academic officer of the institution, the new provost will lead the academic units, work with deans and department heads to shape our academic programs, and lead our efforts to retain and attract world-class faculty.

On August 19, 2016, President Schill named the following members of the Provost Search Committee:

  • Geraldine Richmond, search committee chair – Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry
  • Yvette Alex–Assensoh – vice president for equity and inclusion
  • Bettina Cornwell – professor of marketing
  • Erica Daley – associate dean of finance and operations, School of Law
  • Andrew Dunn – undergraduate, ASUO external director of staff
  • Karen Guillemin – professor of biology
  • Dean Livelybrooks – senior instructor of physics
  • W. Andrew Marcus – dean, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Gabriela Martinez – associate professor of journalism and communications
  • Laura Lee McIntyre – professor of school psychology
  • Jamie Moffitt – vice president for finance and administration
  • Aaron Montoya – web communications specialist, College of Education
  • Paul Peppis – professor of English
  • Chris Sinclair – associate professor of mathematics
  • Eleanor Wakefield – graduate teaching fellow, English
  • Frances White – professor of anthropology
  • Keli Yerian – senior lecturer of linguistics

Provost Scott Coltrane to retire 7/1/2017, Geri Richmond to lead search

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Coltrane recently gave business school dean Kees de Kluyver a remarkably generous golden parachute – 1/2 a Gottfredson, more or less. Will that now be the precedent for Coltrane? Presumably he’ll get a well earned sabbatical year – but at his professor’s salary, or his provost’s salary? The difference is enough to fund a lot of merit scholarships:

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Retirement announcement:

Dear Colleagues and Students,

Over the last few years, as the University of Oregon weathered some tumultuous times, Scott Coltrane has stepped up time and time again to provide clear vision, strategic leadership, and a welcome sense of calm. He has worn nearly every academic leadership hat there is at the UO—dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, interim provost, provost, and interim president. The university community owes Scott a tremendous debt of gratitude for all that he has achieved since arriving on campus in 2008.

Scott recently told me that he plans to retire as provost on July 1, 2017. As a friend, I am sincerely excited for Scott and his family as he enters a new phase of life. As president of the UO, I will very much miss Scott’s wise counsel, his deep appreciation for and understanding of our faculty and all elements of our university, and his grace under pressure. He is the epitome of what a great provost and academic leader should be in today’s higher education landscape.

Scott helped lay a strong academic foundation here at the UO, which will benefit this university for many years to come. Most recently, he led the effort to hire three world-class deans and our new vice president for research and innovation. Over the next year, Scott will play a vital role in helping these new leaders find their footing here and ensure their smooth transition. In addition, Scott has been pivotal in helping us attract and retain a talented corps of academic and research faculty members, including those connected to the funded Clusters of Excellence. It is impossible to overstate the positive impact of these hires on the future of the UO.

In addition, Scott oversaw the completion of our strategic framework, championed diversity and inclusion on campus, launched the public phase of our current campaign, served as a tireless and successful fundraiser, helped the university enhance its Title IX policies, and improved the UO’s focus on issues related to student success. As dean of CAS, he successfully guided the college through a time of tremendous growth, established several new majors, created new quality metrics, and reorganized the dean’s office. He accomplished all of this while maintaining his academic and research standing as a sociologist.

Perhaps the most important thing Scott has done for our university is the thing he was not hired to do. Not long after Scott was permanently hired as provost—a job his entire career prepared him for—President Gottfredsen’s term in office came to a premature end. Scott stepped in without a moment’s hesitation. His leadership, intelligence, and decency calmed our university and made it possible for me to get a good start this past July. All of us can be truly grateful to Scott for his service and his love of this institution.

Please join me in wishing Scott the very best in retirement. As is tradition in academia, Scott will not be heading off into the sunset immediately. We will have plenty of time during the coming year to properly celebrate his accomplishments and contributions to the UO.

In the meantime, we will launch a national search for a new provost and start the necessary planning to ensure a smooth transition. I am delighted that Geri Richmond, Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry, has agreed to serve as chair of the search committee. We will share additional information about our plans in the weeks and months to come.

Sincerely, Michael H. Schill, 

President and Professor of Law

UO hires Sharon Rudnick & Jeff Matthews to negotiate new GTF contract

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Just kidding. I have no reason to think that noted big-tobacco lawyer Sharon Rudnick or her HLGR partner and zoning variance expert Jeff Matthews will ever again work for UO. And, in my opinion, the rumors that FAR Tim Gleason will be on the admin team are clearly anti-university.

But negotiations between the administration and the GTFF really do start Thursday Nov. 12 in the EMU ballroom, 1-5PM, according to the GTFF website. That’s less than 11 months since the strike. Why so soon? Because Scott Coltrane and Jeff Matthews dragged the last negotiations out way past the expiration of the two year contract.

Here’s hoping things go a little smoother this time:

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Chronicle posts softball interview with Coltrane on AAU, turnover

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Doesn’t sound good about staying in the AAU. Gets asked about how difficult it is to run UO, says not different than other large publics. Here:

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Coltrane’s schedule for this week is here: The “meeting with faculty member” is with me, to talk about the Senate motions on athletics and on faculty participation in administrator hiring and review. Why would that be confidential – Coltrane agreed to it in the middle of a Senate meeting.

MONDAY, APRIL 27

New York City, New York

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

Return Travel to Eugene

4:00 p.m. — Student Life regular meeting

5:00 p.m., EMU Amphitheater — Men and Allies United: Walk, Talk and Roll to Prevent Sexual Violence
Interim President Coltrane participates in Sexual Assault Awareness Month by speaking during the Men and Allies United rally.

THURSDAY, APRIL 30

8:00 a.m. — Athletics regular meeting

9:00 a.m. — Meeting with faculty member

11:00 a.m. — Board Leadership regular meeting, via conference call

4:00 p.m. — Student Orientation Staff
Interim President Scott Coltrane thanks student orientation staff for their leadership work to welcome the incoming classes. President Coltrane will provide advice for what he hopes each leader will share with the new students coming to the UO.

6:00 p.m., EMU Amphitheater — Take Back the Night
Joining with the campus community, interim President Scott Coltrane will participate in the annual Take Back the Night event as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

FRIDAY, MAY 1

8:30 a.m. — Meeting with acting Provost Frances Bronet

1:00 p.m. — President’s Diversity Advisory Community Council
Interim President Scott Coltrane attend the quarterly meeting of the community groupt that provides advice and perspectives related to equity, diversity, and inclusion at the UO.

5:30 p.m. — Parent Leadership Council reception

SATURDAY, MAY 2

11:00 a.m., Autzen Stadium — Spring Football Game

Civil rights historian Taylor Branch lectures Scott Coltrane about NCAA cartel

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4/16/2015 PM: I didn’t see our Faculty Athletics Representatives Jim O’Fallon or Tim Gleason or PAGIA Chair Kim Sheehan in the audience – there were a lot of empty reserved seats – but Interim President Scott Coltrane got quite the lecture tonight from Taylor Branch about civil rights, college sports gone bad, and the responsibility of university administrators and faculty to act with courage to fix things.

Dave Hubin tells me that the video will be posted soon. Meanwhile, here’s Coltrane lecturing the UO Senate last week about how we should keep our mouths shut and stop interfering with how the UO administration, the athletic department, and our big-time sports boosters want to run their plantation:

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4/16/2015 AM: Taylor Branch is the Pulitzer Prize winning MLK biographer and author of “The Shame of College Sports” – a biting critique of the NCAA and its “Committee on Infractions”, of which former UO Faculty Athletics Representative Jim O’Fallon (Law) is a longtime member.

Branch’s lecture is Thursday at 7:00 PM, in the brand new Straub 156 lecture hall.

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NCAA Infractions Committee Member
Jim O’Fallon, UO Law Professor Emeritus		 The Shame of College Sports, by Taylor Branch,
Pulitzer Prize winning MLK biographer		 Backup $108K FAR Tim Gleason (Journalism)

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Coltrane and Bronet make two wrongs right

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First it was Interim President Scott Coltrane’s decision to tell Interim UO General Counsel Doug Park to drop the counterclaim by UO and Coach Dana Altman against the survivor of the alleged basketball gang rape.

Now Interim Provost Frances Bronet has told the GC’s office to return the student’s confidential counseling records, which University Counseling and Testing Director Shelly Kerr had turned over on Doug Park’s request. Bronet has also issued a strong guarantee that the confidentiality of UO student counseling records will not be broken again.

Josephine Woolington has more on the national implications of Kerr’s decision to turn over the records to Park, and Bronet’s reversal of it, in the RG here.

MEMORANDUM

March 20, 2015

TO: Campus Community

FROM: Provost Frances Bronet

RE: UO’s Commitment to Confidentiality of Student Counseling Records

Last December, the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) obtained copies of therapy records maintained by the University Counseling and Testing Center (UCTC) in response to a litigation hold sent by a student’s attorney. OGC then scanned the records electronically to preserve and secure them. No one at the OGC has reviewed the records. Subsequently, national debate has centered on how access to these records could impact students seeking counseling on university campuses. In response to these concerns, I am affirming that University of Oregon students will have the same level of strong confidentiality that they have in private, off-campus therapy.

In order to emphasize the university’s commitment to the confidentiality of students’ records I am announcing the following actions:

  1. OGC has returned all records at issue so that they may be preserved and secured by the UCTC.
  2. I am instructing all UO employees that they must rigorously respect the confidentiality obligations of therapists in UO clinics and counseling centers.
  3. The university promises each student who comes to UO clinics and counseling centers that, consistent with law and ethics codes, in the future no records will be accessed by anyone not involved in their care, unless:
    • the student signs a written release,
    • a court orders release,
    • the therapist needs to coordinate treatment with others,
    • the therapist needs to prevent harm to the student or others,
    • the therapist needs to provide anonymous, aggregate information to the Director of Affirmative Action to compile statistics regarding sexual assaults.

I will form a committee made up of licensed therapists, faculty, General Counsel, and staff to propose new or clarified policies on how the confidentiality of medical and psychological records for any university departments that handle protected health information will be maintained and protected, and when records may be released. The committee will share a draft of these policies with the UO community in April 2015.

I am grateful for the advice and energy many members of our community have brought and continue to bring to this vital issue, and to our many members of the UCTC for their hard work, dedication, and care for our students.

I urge UO students to use our counseling and mental health services without fear that their counseling records will be disclosed to other parties or UO departments. In addition to the UCTC, I want students to know that other confidential support services are available in the following offices:

Students can call a 24-hour hotline at 541 346-SAFE to speak with a confidential counselor who can explain options and connect students with resources. They can also access such confidential services at the following website: safe.uoregon.edu.

I will resend this message to all students at the start of spring term.

Sincerely,

Frances Bronet

Acting Senior Vice President and Provost

Coltrane’s “Campus Conversation” on sexual violence prevention fails

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3/2/2015: Campus Conversation” on rape response, 4PM today, Alumni Center.

I couldn’t make this, but the word from others is that this was a massive fail, with Coltrane getting called out repeatedly by the students for his lack of progress and efforts to pass off the blame.

2/27/2015: How much is the athletic budget contributing towards Miller Nash’s legal fees for defending basketball coach Dana Altman? Anything? I don’t know. Let’s find out:

On Friday Feb 27, 2015

Dear Ms Thornton –

This is a public records request for documents showing how much UO is paying the Miller Nash attorneys who are defending UO and Dana Altman against the lawsuit from the survivor of the alleged basketball gang rape.

Specifically, I am requesting documents showing how much has been spent so far, and how much of that has been paid for by general academic funds, athletic department funds, and other sources such as insurance, UO Foundation money, etc.

I ask for a fee waiver on the basis of public interest.

2/26/2015, 4:20PM: UO drops counter-claim, but still blames survivor for “damage to a good man’s reputation”, and claims *she* is discouraging rape reporting.

This is a first for Johnson Hall: admitting a mistake. It took “Sven Praoc” and 2100 petition signers to get them to do the right thing.

No news on when Coltrane will apologize for his prejudicial allegation of an “unlawful release” of UO Presidential Archives. Baby steps.

Josephine Woolington has the story in the RG, here. It appears Coltrane got some lousy legal advice, either from UO attorneys Doug Park and Sam Hill, or UO’s hired Miller Nash attorneys, Michelle Smigel http://www.millernash.com/michelle-smigel/ and Michael Porter http://www.millernash.com/michael-porter/:

Coltrane, however, criticized the online petition that characterized the UO as having filed a lawsuit against the victim, as opposed to responding to a lawsuit. He said he was advised by attorneys that it’s routine to counter a suit.

“Their suit would have us pay legal fees, and I was told it’s typical when you respond” to also file a counterclaim, he said.

…  The UO’s updated response, however, still contends that Jane Doe’s attorneys “filed a lawsuit with unfounded allegations that damage a good man’s (Altman’s) reputation in an attempt to curry favor and gain traction in the media and create pressure for a public university to pay a hefty sum to (Jane Doe) even though it has done nothing wrong.”

The university argues that Jane Doe’s allegations threaten not only the UO and Altman, “but all sexual assault survivors in Oregon’s campus community.

“The publication of false allegations about Oregon’s handling of a report of an alleged sexual assault creates a very real risk that other survivors will wrongly be discouraged from reporting sexual assault and sexual harassment to Oregon,” which conflicts with the goal of a federal civil rights law, known as Title IX, the response said.

Say what? UO’s revised and sanitized response to the lawsuit is less intimidating to victims who might consider exercising their civil rights than was the previous version, though no less offensive:

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Full docket w/ old and new language here, thanks to recapthelaw.org

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UO tells librarians to shush about Presidential Archives records release

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1/22/2015 Presidential Archives records release investigation update:

FOR INTERNAL-LIBRARY USE ONLY

Dear Library staff, faculty, administrators,

As you read in President Coltrane’s recent message, we have recently learned that significant numbers of archived records have been released, despite the fact that some of these records contained confidential, private, and sensitive information about faculty, staff, and students.

Because this is a complex situation involving issues of privacy, legality, institutional responsibility and more, I am working with others to review all pertinent information. The University’s assessment of the current situation is underway, with the help of an outside investigator.

If you receive any media inquiries about this situation, please do not try to handle them yourselves, but refer these calls to Tobin Klinger in UO’s Public Affairs group, [email protected], 6-5558.

I will share as much as I can in the coming days. In the meantime, thanks for your continued dedication to the UO Libraries’ mission and work.

Best wishes,

Adriene

Adriene Lim, Ph.D., MLIS
Dean of Libraries
Philip H. Knight Chair
University of Oregon Libraries
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
Phone: 541-346-1892
Email: [email protected]

1/22/2015 update: UO administration now snooping through library patrons’ circulation records

Is nothing sacred? The paranoid UO administration is now snooping through library circulation records showing who checks out what when. Rich Read reports the latest in the Oregonian, here:

… Asked whether the material escaped from the President’s Office or University Archives, Klinger said the archives. “It had gone from the President’s Office to the Archives for their processing in the Archives,” Klinger said. …

A patron, it turns out, is someone who makes requests from the library. “We have an ask out to the patrons to return the records,” Klinger said.

Klinger declined to make Coltrane, the interim president, available for an interview Wednesday. “Not today,” Klinger said. “I’d circle back in a few days or a week or so.”

Yup, Assistant Duck PR flack Tobin Klinger is now in charge of deciding if and when Scott Coltrane is available to talk to the press. Wow.

I’m no librarian, but here’s the official ALA policy on library circulation records:

The Council of the American Library Association strongly recommends that the responsible officers of each library, cooperative system, and consortium in the United States:

    1. Formally adopt a policy that specifically recognizes its circulation records and other records identifying the names of library users to be confidential. (See also ALA Code of Ethics, Article III, “We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received, and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted” and  Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.)
    2. Advise all librarians and library employees that such records shall not be made available to any agency of state, federal, or local government except pursuant to such process, order or subpoena as may be authorized under the authority of, and pursuant to, federal, state, or local law relating to civil, criminal, or administrative discovery procedures or legislative investigative power.
    3. Resist the issuance of enforcement of any such process, order, or subpoena until such time as a proper showing of good cause has been made in a court of competent jurisdiction.

1/21/2015 update: Diane Dietz in the RG: UO employees release piles of presidential documents; administrators want them back

The University of Oregon has given a professor who got a hold of 22,000 pages of uncensored presidential documents until Thursday to give them back, UO spokesman Tobin Klinger said.

Klinger declined to say what would happen to the unidentified professor — who got the documents at some point in the library archiving process — if he declines to return the documents.

Two UO employees who gave the documents to the professor were placed on paid leave, Klinger said. “Paid leave will stand until we have greater clarity on what transpired,” he said.

The spokesman declined to identify the two employees — or the professor in question.

“I’m not going to confirm an identity for that individual that was the recipient. The request is out for cooperation; I don’t want to do anything that’s going to necessarily influence that,” he said.

The trove of records consists of internal and external correspondence to and from the UO president from 2010 through the presidency of former UO chief Michael Gottfredson, which ended last August when Gottfredson abruptly resigned.

“Some of those would technically constitute student records just because they would be identifiable to the student that was involved. Employee records (and) faculty records that would be protected as well were a part of that, to a degree,” Klinger said.

“It does not appear — and we don’t have any reason to believe — that there’s anything in terms of social security numbers or financial data or medical records or anything of that nature,” he said.

But were there embarrassing documents?

“I wouldn’t want to speculate,” Klinger said.

The University of Oregon is notoriously reluctant to release public documents, even though the university is bound by Oregon public records law.

It often takes months for the university to provide requested records. And sometimes the records the university finally supplies are completely redacted. …

And Richard Read in the Oregonian, here:

University of Oregon officials have placed two employees on leave after the “unlawful release” of 22,000 pages of records from the president’s office, including confidential information on faculty, staff and students.

Interim UO President Scott Coltrane sent out an email Tuesday night, addressed to colleagues, saying an investigation was underway. Although no Social Security numbers, financial information or medical records apparently were divulged, Coltrane wrote that, “We are committed to taking steps to mitigate the potential injury associated with this situation.”

… It’s unclear whether the professor who has the information is willing to return it. “We’ve made the initial outreach,” [UO Deputy Chief Strategic Communicator Tobin] Klinger said. “The ball is in the professor’s court.”

Oregon law requires public institutions, such as the University of Oregon and state agencies, to release information upon request.

But the public-records law exempts various types of information from disclosure, safeguarding personal privacy, trade secrets, personnel records, financial data and other sensitive material. Officials can redact confidential information before releasing documents.

Although Coltrane’s email said the records were “unlawfully released,” he did not explain what was unlawful. …

The material includes correspondence between the university’s last four presidents and parents, students and faculty members, Klinger said. “It’s the typical type of correspondence that you would expect to go to and from the President’s Office,” he said.

Klinger described the breach as serious but not catastrophic.

“I don’t want anybody to equate it to a financial institution having their records hacked and spewed all over the planet,” he said.

1/20/2015:

Date: January 20, 2015 at 7:39:38 PM PST
From: “President’s Office” <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: Archive release investigation

Dear Colleagues,

We have recently learned that a significant number of archived records from the President’s Office have been unlawfully released. These records contain confidential information about faculty, staff and students, but our current understanding is that no social security numbers, financial information or medical records were shared.

We have launched an investigation of the incident, and we have put staff members on administrative leave, pending that investigation. The information was sent to a university professor, and we have already requested that the professor return the information and refrain from any public release of confidential information. To our knowledge, only one record has been shared externally at this point.

We are committed to taking steps to mitigate the potential injury associated with this situation.

Sincerely,

Scott Coltrane, Interim President

Trust breaks down, Coltrane says no hardship fund language in the CBA, GTFF strikes

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Update: The Register Guard can’t make sense of Coltrane’s actions either. Story here:

The GTFs went into a last-ditch mediation session with UO officials today with a sense of optimism, [UO biology grad student and bargaining team member Steve McAllister] said.

The dispute had winnowed down to a single issue — the union’s demand for two weeks paid medical and parental leave. University bargainers proposed a way out in the form of creating a $150,000 graduate student hardship fund that students could tap for $1,000 or $1,500 in the case of illness or the birth of a child.

The rub: The university refused to write the specifics of how the hardship fund would operate, including details about eligibility, into the proposed two-year contract, union leaders said. …

The university did not clarify why it doesn’t support detailing the hardship fund operations in the contract for the GTFs, and then administer the fund for those graduate students without fellowships in an identical manner.

The graduate student federation is adamant that the terms belong in a legally enforceable contract, McAllister said.

“What we basically have today is they’ve said, ‘Hey, we’ll do this great program for you’ and we’ve said, ‘Great. Do you promise?’ And they’ve said, ‘Well, no. We don’t.’

Meanwhile, the breakdown in trust in the UO administration has driven another spike in UO Matters readership:

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This is not a healthy situation. The UO administration should be a credible voice on important matters like this. People shouldn’t have to rely on an opinionated blogger like me, who has to pay for UO public records with occasional raids on my scotch budget.

Unfortunately, the millions of dollars that Johnson Hall has poured into PR flacks and “Around the 0”, coupled with the disingenuous and confused email messages on this strike from Scott Coltrane, Frances Bronet, Barbara Altmann and Doug Blandy, and Dave Hubin’s willingness to abuse Oregon’s public records law to hide information, have, in Scott Coltrane’s passive words, meant that “Trust has broken down”. Presumably Coltrane will present a plan for fixing that at Wednesday’s Senate meeting. But will anyone trust him?

12/1/2014 update: Coltrane won’t sign, GTFF will strike, and “Trust has broken down”.

Yeah, maybe your $300-an-hour zoning lawyer can tell you how that happened. Although I think it will be hard to top the explanation your $14,000 a year English composition instructors gave you, now in the Emerald, here.

From: President’s Office Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 4:52 PM
Subject: Mediation concluded, strike expected

Dear colleagues and students,

It pains me to send this update about the negotiations with the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation. Mediation has failed and regrettably we are expecting the GTFF to strike beginning tomorrow.

I care deeply about each student and employee here. I have been hopeful every day that this could be avoided. Unfortunately, the bargaining teams met today and could not reach an agreement.

We have been negotiating for a year. The university has moved toward the union proposals at almost every negotiation and mediation. Most labor negotiations include give and take. Today’s offer included a hardship fund that would provide financial support for graduate students in need. Nevertheless the GTFF authorized a strike vote months ago in the spring, and have reiterated that position repeatedly. Trust has broken down and rebuilding that trust will be a priority when this is over.

Tomorrow will be a significant day on campus. It is dead week and academic life will go on even if many of our GTFs strike. We respect each person’s right to choose for him- or herself about whether to participate. It is one of the great things about our country. Please be respectful of one another.

For our students, we have a job to do and serving students is our focus. Final exams will be held and graded, and student grades will be entered. And we will all look forward toward winter term.

Sincerely,

Scott Coltrane
Interim President

11/29/2014 1:11 PM update: GTFF to Bronet: Put sick leave in the CBA, and it’s a deal

The GTFF’s response to the latest proposal from the administration is here. The only remaining sticking point? They want the details in the CBA. I’m no $300-an-hour zoning-easement lawyer, but in economics we teach that this is just the sort of thing that contracts like the CBA are for. Here’s hoping Provost Bronet gives Jeff Matthews appropriate instructions soon:

The GTFF’s executive council voted that they could be willing to accept the fund as an alternative to paid leave. However, to do so, critical language about the fund must be in our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The GTFF proposed language to do so and was willing to discuss alterations that would work for the Administration. However, the Administration still refused to accept any CBA language to guarantee the rules of how the fund might operate.

Question: Why does it need to be in the CBA?

Creating a CBA is the reason we hold negotiations. It is an enforceable, legally binding agreement between employer (UO) and employees (GTFs). Having a legally binding contract is essential in any agreement, so it can be used for future references and there is something in place in case of anything going wrong between two parties. More information on these types of agreements can be found here. The language that is written into the CBA must be followed by both sides. If either side violates the CBA, formal procedures exist to correct that, including a third-party arbitrator to correct any violations. Working out a deal, without any guarantee of follow through, undermines the intent of the collective bargaining process. Writing new policy for graduate students does not guarantee the needs of its graduate employees are being addressed.

The Administration is unwilling to include any CBA language for the fund other than (1) it exists, (2) there is at least $150,000 in the fund, and (3) GTFs, because they are grad students, can access the fund. So, the only legally binding portion of the fund would be its existence, size, and the fact that GTFs can access it. The rules of the fund, all details about how the fund operates and how grad students can access the fund, are left up to the Administration. That is not good enough.

11/28/2014 1:40 update: Provost Bronet to faculty, students: Shelter in Place until Monday

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GTFF rally for 5PM Monday at Johnson Hall draws politicians like … draws …

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Update: Looks rainy, but there’s plenty of room inside the lobby, as the UO Coalition discovered last spring.

Coltrane could have settled this a month ago and saved our department heads a lot of time, and the GTFF a lot of megaphone batteries. But no:

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Thanksgiving Day Update: 62-year-old university president fails at ultimatum bargaining with 25-year-old students. His lawyers cash in again.

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Bob Berdahl forgave millions in athletic department debts, and tried to hide it. Coltrane?

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At Berkeley. Full report from the UC-Berkeley faculty investigators, here.

Along with these challenges, Kasser had two more important issues to deal with: the completion of Haas Pavilion and reducing the athletic budget. When Tien stepped down in 1997, the cumulative deficit for the combined programs was over $8 million. By 1999, his replacement, Chancellor Robert Berdahl, forgave the total accumulated debt, which had reached more than $18 million. Increasing tuition as a result of the economic downturn during Tien’s term added substantial cost to the several hundred athletic scholarships. The department also needed to address Title IX compliance by adding three new women’s sports and improving facilities. Finally a central campus “tax” on all auxiliary programs called “full costing” and myriad problems associated with the completion of the Haas Pavilion all played some role in the generation of these deficits.

Then Berdahl tried to hide what he’d done from the Berkeley faculty:

The Coley report was such an eye-opener for the administration that Berdahl’s head of public affairs, Matt Lyon, insisted the report remain confidential for fear of a negative faculty reaction.

At UO, we’re probably close to $50M by now. What will Coltrane do?

Coltrane, Bronet meet with Senate Exec on Strategic Planning, policy review

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Update: Good news for shared governance. Going on now, room 402 Alumni Center. I’ll do a little live-blogging.

Kyr introduces them by noting that this is the first time in 4 years we’ve had a President or a Provost willing to meet with the Senate Exec. Discussion is about how to get faculty/staff student input into developing goals, and a strategic plan for achieving them.

“Competitive Excellence” Plan docs are here.

Chuck Triplett then discusses how he’s going review and revise all the policies we inherited from his former employer, OUS. He’s proposing completely rewriting UO’s “policy on policies”, now to be run by a “Policy Advisory Committee”.

His new procedure contains no mention of the UO Senate. Zippo. Under the current policy on policies, the Senate has considerable power. I’m imagining there will be a few questions!

Q: Where are we out of compliance? Who can come after us? CT: Our academic accreditors, who insisted on the policy library. Hubin: We will *not* be subject to the planned accreditation review in 2017. It will be postponed due to the transition.

JB: Where is the Senate in your flow chart? Our Constitution is quite clear on the Senate’s role.

CT: We’ve identified the policies that involve academic matters as commonly understood.

JB: That’s nice, but the Senate Exec gets to decide, not you. I want the Senate Exec written into the process. RS: Yes.

CT: [Words come out, but I don’t hear a commitment to do this.]

Coltrane: Lots of policies, we need to do some triage. PAC will do much of it. Suggests Margie Paris as a faculty member. [?].

Bronet: PAC will be Senate led.

JB: Where’s the list of policies? CT: I’ll send it to you, but it’s just titles.

Coltrane: BTW, We just discovered we never adopted the UO PD complaint and grievance procedure. It will come your way soon.

Pretty good session. Coltrane leaves. Era of good feelings continues.

Next, Carol Stabile on Sexual Violence Task Force.

Recommendations:

1) Office of Gender Equity, headed by a VP. Report will explain what resources this would require. [Very expensive. Check the budget and staffing of the VP for Equity and Diversity to get some idea].

2) Senate Committee on Sexual Violence.

3) Support Campus Climate Survey – need that information. Need to assess what programs work, what don’t.

4) Wants to postpone Sorority/Fraternity Rush from fall to winter.

5) Improved implementation. End mandatory reporting. Audit Penny Daugherty’s AAEO office, there have been many complaints. Revise policy on sexual/romantic relationships between faculty and students. Develop proposals for mandatory courses. Funds for SWAT and women’s self defense. Track problems with sexual assaults involving Fraternity and Social Life. No data on which houses are on probation, etc. Let Ombuds office be confidential. Restart Committee on Alcohol and Drugs. More Title IX training for greek life, athletics. New booklet. MOU’s with SAS, Womenspace, EPD.

BH: Why nothing about athletics. This is were all the trouble started? CS: They wouldn’t talk to us. We had no cooperation from them. Locked down tight. BH: Seems like that makes it more important to have recommendations. RK: Yes. JF: Yes, very bad for UO reputation. JB: Make recommendations about athletics. Put them on the spot.

Long discussion about how to deal with the problem of the uncooperative athletics department and the PAGIA.

10/15/2014: Provost Bronet strips Mission Statement of 160over90 brander crap

New draft here. No, don’t click on that link. Trust me, it’s fine. Let’s all move on and hope Bronet posts some of Shelton’s secret budget model docs soon.

9/7/2014 update: Let’s throw “Go Ducks” on the end, and call this turkey done

The UO mission statement blog has now attracted a fair number of rather critical comments, including:

(1) As a UO retiree and graduate (Ph.D., M.A.), I was dismayed by this draft statement.  Is the UO still a public university? The only mention, under “Lead,” is to declare that it is a “preeminent public residential research university.” Similarly, under “Define,” we find it placed “in Oregon, the West, on the Pacific Rim, and the world.” Geographically correct (though the syntax needs work), but there is no indication in these packed-together phrases that the university aspires to serve Oregon, its population, or its students in any real sense. …  (5) I don’t agree with those who’ve said that the university’s declared mission is unimportant.  To me, at least, it matters that the university have recognizable aims, clearly stated.  The mission statement is a public document.  If I were on the faculty of the university, I’d wonder what this statement demanded of me, and whether I or my department might someday be publicly judged by it.

But probably all for naught, the Trustees are scheduled to vote this week, and they’ve put the original text in the docket.

Update: Administration’s mission of mass distraction accomplished. Faculty take knives to the mission statement in the official JH blog comments, here:

What does “sustainability”—a trendy word I realize we feel must go in there somewhere—mean as a component part of community? (Is it still the Edison Elementary School motto (with hand motions!): “Safe and respectful, including all learners”? Can we follow the lead of Anonymous and think about what we mean by this in a university?)How is “define” as aspect of “vision”? What does it mean to “seek definition”? What does the phrase mean: “seek definition through the recognition”? Can one do that? Does it clarify anything to say “seek definition through the recognition of the quality of…”? Someone needs to fix the punctuation to make the next part flow the way it seems to be intended: “We seek definition through the recognition of the aspiration, passions, and success of our students”? Our students apparently have a singular aspiration and plural passions.

Come on, you know you can’t resist – add your comments here. Or don’t, and instead read up on what really will matter, Brad Shelton’s budget model. Oh, wait, that’s a secret – website hasn’t been updated in a year, and apparently the Senate Budget Committee (report here), the deans, and the department heads are also in the dark. Here’s the projected data for the 2013-14 FY that ended in June. It will be very interesting to see how much more CAS gets taxed this year, and how much more the law school gets subsidized:

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Another busy week for Interim President Coltrane

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12

1:00 p.m., Living Learning Center, Courtyard — Hike to the “O”, Tentative
Interim President Coltrane joins in the revival of the traditional painting of the “O” atop Skinner’s Butte as the “O” receives the 201st coat of paint.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13

9:00 a.m. — Executive Leadership Team weekly meeting

11:30 a.m. — Faculty Advisory Committee weekly meeting

1:00 p.m. — Meeting with acting Provost Frances Bronet

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14

9:00 a.m., Knight Library, Browsing Room — University-wide Diversity Committee Meeting
Interim President Coltrane and acting Provost Bronet speak at the first meeting of the academic year. The diversity committee a campus-wide body serves to advise the university and the Vice President of Equity and Inclusion on the full range of issues pertaining to equity, inclusion and diversity.

11:00 a.m. — Strategic Initiatives weekly meeting

2:00 p.m. — Meeting with acting Provost Frances Bronet

3:00 p.m. — Meeting with Ombudsperson Bruce McAllister

4:00 p.m. — Student Life regular meeting

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15

10:00 a.m. — Budget and Finance weekly meeting

11:00 a.m. — Meeting with acting Provost Frances Bronet and University Senate President Rob Kyr

11:30 a.m. — New UO Foundation trustees luncheon
Interim President Coltrane welcomes new members of the University of Oregon Foundation Board of Trustees.

Stop by Student Affairs welcome booth

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16

UO Foundation Board of Trustees meeting

9:00 a.m. — UO Foundation Board work session

1:30 p.m. — UO Foundation Board fall meeting

5:00 p.m., Erb Memorial Union, Ballroom — Weaving New Beginnings, 20th Anniversary Celebration
Annual reception for all, students, faculty, staff of color and allies to meet, mingle and celebrate the new year and the diversity of the University of Oregon.

6:30 p.m. — UO Foundation Board dinner

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

Volunteer Board Summit, Homecoming Gatherings
Interim President Coltrane and university leadership participate in a series of volunteer board meetings throughout the day.

3:30 p.m., 13th & Agate — Homecoming parade
Interim President Coltrane and Wendy Wheeler-Coltrane participate in the annual student celebration. The parade begins at the corner of 13th Avenue and Kincaid and travels along 13th to University, ending at the EMU.

4:30 p.m., Erb Memorial Union, Amphitheater — Pep Rally
At the conclusion of the homecoming parade the Oregon Marching Band, Cheer, and the Duck join together for a pep rally for all of the campus community, friends, alumni, and other visitors.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18

5:00 p.m. — Homecoming Football Game
The Ducks take on the Washington Huskies at Autzen Stadium.

UO Senate to meet on conduct code, legal services, Transparency Award.

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Synopsis:

Coltrane looks like he likes the job, and his colleagues. The faculty and staff clearly like Coltrane too. He gave a brief talk, answered questions, easy rapport. What an improvement. (Funny how when Berdahl and Gottfredson kept insisting we were all colleagues it was so plainly manipulative. Coltrane didn’t even mention it, but here I am saying it myself, with only a fleeting second thought: remember, we pay El Jefe $120K more than *Berkeley* pays its Chancellor.)

VPSA Robin Holmes blows off the Senate meeting that deals with her #1 job responsibility: Student Conduct. Rumors of her impending departure spread.

Wednesday October 8, 2014, Lawrence 115; 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Senate website and membership list, here. This will be a packed agenda. Coltrane will talk and answer questions, there’s a long important motion on student conduct code changes, and a weird proposed change to the Legal Services policy we adopted last year.

Watch Live | Senate Agenda |

3:00 pm     1.   Call to Order

1.1           Introduction to University Senate

1.1.1        Orientation to Open Committee Meetings

1.1.2       October 22nd Senate Meeting

1.1.3       Progress Report from UO Senate Task Force to Address Sexual Violence and Survivor Support

3:05 pm     2.   Approval of Minutes

2.1       April 23rd, 2014; April 30th, 2014; May 14th, 2014; & May 28th, 2014

3:10 pm     3.   State of the University

3.1       Remarks by Interim President Coltrane with discussion

13 PhD programs in top 20% nationally. [Anyone know where that list is?] Incredible time of opportunity. Tipping point. Time to reinvest in academics and faculty. BOT is good. Working on “strategic plan” with metrics to guide where resources go. This will be done with faculty input. He’s going to try again with the mission statement. [He gave 160over90 another crack at it?] Vision Plan for campus planning. 18 month process. Some meetings are already happening. There’s going to be a new “Diversity Action Plan”. “Clusters of Excellence”: Internal funds for 1-2, looking for donations for more. Will have a plan in 2 weeks for hiring 150 new TTF faculty. OAR revisions. We are joining with the other state universities and CC’s to go to the legislature for $750M in new funds. Public phase of fundraising campaign will start soon. Announces $10M Tykeson gift (which sounds like it willmostly be for CAS administration? Weird.) Committed to shared governance, thanks Senate for tackling tough issues. Claims that Gottfredson’s Secret Sex Review Panel has been working cooperatively with the Senate’s Task Force. Hmm.

Opens floor to questions: Q: 150 new TTF? A: That’s the goal, if we can raise the money. 1/3 cluster hires, rest through normal hiring process in departments. Q: More support staff to? A: Yes. Gives shoutout to Jamie Moffitt’s formula for new hires. Q from student: When will the scholarships for prospective teachers start? A: I will get back to you. Q: What % of students are now Pell eligible? A: 37%. More funding for these students will be a big part of what we ask the state to provide. Q: Why new TTF’s instead of cheaper instructors? A: Balancing act.

Takeaway: Relaxed informative talk, breath of fresh air, not terrified of the faculty or his own shadow. Era of good feelings commences. 

3:30 pm     4.   New Business

4.1       UO Senate Leadership and Service Award for Officers of Administration: David Espinoza, Assistant Director/Testing Center Director.

Espinoza gives a shout out to his colleagues.

4.2       UO Senate Classified Staff Leadership Award: Theodora Ko Thompson, Admissions Specialist (Office of Admissions)

Ko Thompson gives an impassioned speech in favor of lifelong learning and respectful workplace policies.

4.3       Wayne Westling Award: Susan Gary, Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor (Law)

Susan Gary is being given this award for her excellent work on the UO Constitution, under Lariviere. Which makes her participation in Randy Geller and Mike Gottfredson’s effort to sabotage shared governance with the BOT’s Delegation of Authority especially poignant. That fiasco was quite damaging to the faculty’s authority, and to the new Board’s credibility.

Gary is unable to be here. Kyr reads her speech.

4.4       Motion (Legislation): Change of Membership for Committee on Courses; Frances White, Professor (Anthropology) & Chair, Committee on Courses

Easy, passes.

4.5       Motion (Legislation): Proposed Revisions to Student Conduct Code Dealing with Sexual Misconduct; John Bonine, Professor (Law) and Caroline Forell, Professor (Law)

3:56 PM: The proposed changes are carefully documented by Bonine and Forell, here, and here are the motions:

Robin Holmes, VP for Student Life, has sat on these recommended changes (or similar) for 3 years. Last year, after the basketball rape allegations became public, Bonine and Forell decided to do her job for her. Strangely, she hasn’t even bothered to show up to watch them and the Senate do it. Is she still on the payroll?

John Bonine goes through the history and the law and the BOT’s power grab, taking authority for student discipline away from the faculty  for the first time in 138 years of UO history.

Motions 1,2 pass quickly. Lots of discussion on 3. Sorry, I’m paying attention not blogging. 3 gets postponed til November. Weintraub and Freinkel want to run it by the student conduct committee. At this point that committee’s name, having failed to do its job for years, is mud. The Senate is fed up, and wisely decides to let Bonine work this out. 4 passes.

Motion 5 postponed.

It’s now 5PM, and the Senate adjourns. Lots and lots of work still on the table – see below for seome of it:

4.6       Motion (Resolution): GTFF Bargaining; Regina Psaki, Professor (Romance Languages & UO Senator

4.7       Motion (Legislation): Committee Requirements with Revisions, Slate 1 (Service Reform 2014-2015); Committee on Committees

4.8       Motion (Policy Adoption): To Amend Legal Services Policy; Margie Paris, Professor (Law) & Immediate Past Senate President

This motion from Margie Paris puzzles me. Paris says in her motion that

1.5 WHEREAS, two of the amendments in the section on “Right to Legal Advice or Representation” are problematic because they contravene an important agreed-upon provision in the Joint Draft about the fact that the Office of General Counsel must be the sole provider of official legal advice and representation to the University of Oregon and its units; and

1.6 WHEREAS, the intention underlying the problematic amendments was to ensure that the Legal Services Policy did not preclude the Associated Students of the University of Oregon [ASUO] from continuing to fund and obtain services from the Office of Student Advocacy; and

1.7 WHEREAS, the intention underlying the problematic amendments can be served by removing them and adding a paragraph clarifying that the Legal Services Policy does not preclude the ASUO from continuing to fund and obtain services from the Office of Student Advocacy;

Section II

2.1 BE IT HEREBY MOVED that the Legal Services Policy as approved by the Senate on April 9, 2014, be amended by removing the words “and the Associated Students of the University” and “or organization’s” from the first sentence of the section entitled “Right to Legal Advice or Representation,”

But it seems to me that the Senate knew exactly what it was doing when it added these sentences to the motion last year. It intended to give ASUO the right to use its funds to get outside legal advice, as an organization, in case of a dispute with the UO administration. I’m guessing Margie knew this too. From the Senate minutes, here:

Senate Vice-President Kyr called for discussion on the main motion.

Senator John Davidson (Political Science) stated that he used to work as a staff attorney for ASUO legal services, and they used to give advice to the ASUO on lots of matters, including various legal matters. Then for a while they were told they could not do that, and that they had to get their legal advice from General Counsel. He stated that the language on the language under the section on the right to legal advice and representation says that students and employees have the right to pay someone like legal services fees to get that kind of advice. He asked if ASUO as a body is part of the university and would have to get permission from the President and the General Counsel, or are they employees and students. He asked Senator Sayre if they were thinking about the ASUO legal services when they drafted this.

Senator Sayre stated that the independence of the ASUO from the university and its financial independence did not come up in their discussions, rather, what did come up was the fact that everyone always has the right to seek legal advice on any such matter. He further stated that the redundancy of this clause was entertained, but they believed it was important to include it, and thus it was included twice: in the preamble and in the right to representation section. Senator Sayre stated that they discussed moving it from one spot to the other, and it ended up being in both places, and that the principle is important enough to repeat.

Senator Davidson asked if it would be possible for him to make a motion to have that section on right to legal advice or representation be amended to read “every employee and student of the university and the Associated Students of the University or Oregon shall have the right…” The motion to amend received a second. Senate Vice-President Kyr called for discussion on the amendment.

Professor Bonine asked Senator Davidson if he wanted to go a little further down in that sentence and say “at the employees, students, or organization’s own expense,” because that would allow ASUO funds to be used. He suggested Senator Davidson might want to clarify that.

Senator Davidson stated that he moved those words that just got added.

Senate Vice-President Kyr called for further discussion on the amendment. Seeing none, Senate Vice-President Kyr called for a vote on the amendment. The amendment passed unanimously by a voice vote.

So why is our former Senate President carrying water for the administration on this, and not being clear about her motives?

4.9       Motion (Resolution): The UO Senate Award for Shared Governance, Transparency, and Trust; William Harbaugh, Professor (Economics) & UO Senator

4:30 pm     5.   Open Discussion

4:40 pm     6.   Reports

4:40 pm     7.   Notice(s) of Motion

7.1       Motion (Legislation): Amendment to IFS Senator Legislation (US13/14-04)

4:45 pm      8.  Other Business

8.1       Reception for Award Winners: A Time to Celebrate

5:00 pm     9.   Adjournment

 

Interim President Scott Coltrane demands respect from faculty

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Mike Gottfredson wanted respect too. So he got Doug Blandy and Tim Gleason to demand that the faculty union CBA included a clause requiring that the faculty respect him. Then he had Blandy and Gleason and Randy Geller write this “open letter”, attacking me for blogging about him without due deference. Neither attempt worked out very well for our former President.

Scott Coltrane’s approach is a little different. From next week’s official schedule:

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This is basic good management stuff. It’s a testament to how long it’s been since we had common sense in Johnson Hall that it seems so extraordinary. And it works for me. You’ve commanded my respect, President Coltrane.

I’m not ready to shut down UO Matters, but its popularity depends on the river of lies, avarice, and mismanagement that’s come out of UO’s senior administration for so long. If that dries up, no one will bother to read this blog. Except Jim Bean and Lorraine Davis. They’ll be here forever. And faithful UO M reader and new UO Faculty Athletics Representative Tim Gleason, of course.

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