Update: A hearty congratulations to the losers of the Senate and committee elections. Names of the unfortunate winners are posted here.
Regarding the UO Board legislation, SB 270. FAQ here.
Live blog disclaimer: My interpretation of what people said, meant to say, or what I wished they’d said. Nothing is a quote unless in quotes.
3:00 pm 1. Call to Order
3:02 pm 2. State of the University
2.1 Remarks by Robert Kyr, Senate President
3:20 pm 3. New Business
3.1 UO Senate Leadership and Service Award for Officers of Administration;
Presented to Stephanie Bosnyk, Assistant Dean of Operations, Lundquist College of Business (Jim Bean came in second.)
Unable to make the meeting, he’s enjoying his retirement traveling. Very personable written remarks – handy with plumbing and can run a sewing-machine! Slips in a pitch for SEIU and for higher compensation for staff. Slick.
3.3 Wayne Westling Award;
Kyr: Paul’s put UOCC minutes and process onto the web, improving transparency and efficiency.
Engelking: Remembers Wayne Westling with admiration. Great story about how he (Paul) was tricked into becoming Senate president.
Paul Simonds, Senate Parliamentarian: As oldest “dead president” he inducts Kyr into the society, with two bottles of wine, one for each year. Might be worth showing up at Collier House tonight.
Approved.
3.6 Announcement of Spring Election Results (Kyr)
Yeah. Good group.
3.8 Signing of Facilities Scheduling Policy & the Conferral of Posthumous Degrees
Policy (Kyr)
Pres Gottfredson has agreed and is signing. Free at last.
3.9 Academic Freedom & Freedom of Speech Policy (Kyr)
Gottfredson wants to divide these into 2 policies, so we’ll put these off until next year. Strange – the union contract has a lot to say about these issues as well.
3.10 Legal Services Policy; Margie Paris (Law), Senate President-Elect & Chair, Legal Representation Policy Review Committee
Paris: Harbaugh noticed that the UO is now independent of the DOJ, Stahl suggested removing that part. She now proposes delaying until fall so she can consult with UO’s General Counsel.
3.11 Senate-Administration Joint Review of the Office of Research, Innovation,
and Graduate Education [RIGE] (Kyr)
Committee’s report was due June 15, but it will take much longer.
Blonigen: We have a big charge, putting the committee together took a long time, lots to deal with here. Hopes to meet with stakeholders and with the many complainants about RIGE’s operations and Espy over the rest of the term, then work over the summer to benchmark RIGE with other universities, hope to have report in the fall.
3.12 Motion (Legislation): Committee Requirements with Moderate Revisions, Slate 2
(Tenth-Year Review 2013); Robert Kyr, Senate President & Chair, Tenth-Year Review (Committee on Committees)
Kyr: Moderate revisions to campus planning and the committee on committees.
Campus planning: “Committee shall be consulted early in the process”
Harbaugh and Mitchell propose amendment to include all facilities controlled by UO. Keyes brings up land use issues. Paris proposes postponing til we can figure it out. Approved.
Committee on committees: This committee is supposed to appoint the faculty members of the administration’s advisory groups, when appropriate. Gottfredson has not been doing this. Motion strengthens the Senate’s hand a little.
Approved unanimously.
3.13 Motion (Legislation): Working Groups for Administrative Advisory Groups (Paris)
Paris: During the review of committees we discovered that there are a lot of administrative advisory groups that are “owned” by specific administrators. Sullivan: Amendment to allow looking into all such working groups. Approved unanimously.
3.14 Motion (Legislation): Working Groups for Faculty Research Awards Committee (Paris)
Approved unanimously
The Senate is now an hour ahead of schedule!
5:25 pm 4. Open Discussion
Stahl: Announces that Nathan Tublitz wants to submit a notice of motion for a vote of no confidence in President Gottfredson.
Woah! Here is the text of Tublitz’s motion, posted with his permission:
Dear Senate President Kyr and Vice President Paris:
Last week I put forward to the Senate a motion of no confidence in President Gottfredson. The following day, after a meeting with the Senate Executive Committee and some FAC members, I agreed to hold off submitting my notice of motion only if the President endorsed the University Constitution and put forward his best effort to ensure that SB270 contained a clause guaranteeing our right to develop and maintain our own internal governance system free from interference by outside groups, including any future UO Board.
The statement released yesterday by the President on his website (http://president.uoregon.edu/content/president-gottfredson%E2%80%99s-comments-shared-governance [1]) contained no such statement. Neither did the “press release” issued today on his behalf by Administrative Spokesperson Barbara Altmann. Nor has such a statement been issued at the current union negotiations by the Administration’s bargaining team which speaks for the President. It is clear that the President has no intention to ensure the continued existence of our ability to generate our own internal governance system, a right enshrined in the 1876 University Charter and which has been the foundation of our governance system for the past 137 years.
The President’s unwillingness to go to bat to secure our governance system is the latest of many his actions since he took office that, taken together, demonstrate a disturbing lack of leadership and understanding of the University’s history and traditions.
Therefore, with this email I formally give notice to the Senate Leadership of a motion of no confidence in President Gottfredson. There is no Constitutional reason not to accept my notice of motion. Thus, please add my notice to the Senate agenda for tomorrow’s meeting and announce the notice of motion at the Senate meeting.
Please confirm in writing that you will add the motion to the Senate docket and that the motion will be announced at tomorrow’s meeting.
Sincerely, Nathan Tublitz
Kyr: This is now an executive session, under the Oregon public meetings law, because this is a personell matter.
No blogging about the exec session, because I am registered with the Oregon Secretary of State as an “Institutionalized News Media Organization” and the public meetings law forbids me from reporting on this. I’ll be back when the executive session part is over.
5:32: Executive session is over. Can’t say what was discussed, but the Senate will not be voting on this proposed motion at this meeting, which is the last until Fall.
Kyr: I am very happy that Margie Paris is now taking over as Senate President.
Long standing ovation for Kyr. My opinion is that Kyr has done a stellar job as Senate President and has fully earned the respect of the faculty which he now holds, for his untiring, selfless, and productive service during two incredibly difficult years. He’s negotiated many minefields and has come out of them with the respect of those who’ve worked with him, and at times against him. I say that despite having had him shoot me down on a few issues. We’ve been lucky to have him, and it’s great news for UO that he will continue to serve on the Senate.
5:35 pm Adjournment