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Futile update #2: Provosts gone wild

2/17/2013: Time to get real. Gottfredson’s not going to fire Bean. He’s not even going to fire Geller. It’s up to us faculty. Sure, we could fight with conventional weapons, like Tublitz’s senate resolution. But that would take years. No, this requires a really stupid and futile gesture. And

So get to work. Post your list of our Provost’s five two greatest accomplishments, and suggested wording in the comments. I’ll add some fluff and a signature,

and send the letter off to academic headhunter firms. Surely there’s a Dental Hygienics College somewhere in Dubai that needs a leader.

2/16/2013: I thought I’d repost this classic, since it bears on both the never-ending Bean and public records issues. Note the part at the end, explaining Berdahl’s revocation of the fee-waiver policy which had been instituted by Lariviere after a year of hard work and perseverance (some have called it intimidation) by the Senate Transparency Committee.


5/4/2012: When Richard Lariviere found out about the secret Frohnmayer/Bellotti deal he wrote:

“This institution did not follow acceptable business practices in the past. That will not be repeated by my administration.”

Apparently that message didn’t get through to John Moseley, Jim Bean, and Lorraine Davis. I wrote a little about their latest deal here. All in all this involves maybe $60,000 in UO money, plus a bunch more from OSU. In addition to the questionable UO contract addition, there are some expense issues. In a nutshell, after a 2009 audit investigation raised a few issues with Moseley’s contracts and expenses – he was charging UO for his travel between his homes in Eugene and Bend – UO promised the auditor that Moseley would not receive any more reimbursements  … :

The auditor made it a point to cc James Bean on the report. Moseley and Bean broke that deal within 2 months:

and

  
The full document dump is here – many interesting expense charges and more info on the contract extension. It was obtained in response to this public records request:
Dear Ms Thornton –

In the documents you sent me last week in response to my 4/4/2012 request there was a letter from acting Provost Davis stating in part

 The March 2011 interagency agreement between OSU and U0 clearly articulated the percent of FTE necessary for you to oversee the transfer of undergraduate academic programs at OUS-Cascades from UO to OSU. OSU agreed to reimburse UO for your time from July 1 to December 31, 2011 at 0.5FTE and January 1 to June 30, 2012 at 0.25FTE. It is my understanding the time necessary to oversee the program transfer was underestimated and resulted in an agreement between you and Jim Bean to increase your FTE to 0.5 FTE for the time period of January 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012.

This is a public records request for

a) a copy of that OSU/UO agreement

b) any letters, emails, notes, cocktail napkins, or other public records documenting the side agreement in which Jim Bean agreed to pay John Mosley an additional 0.25 FTE

c) any expense reports submitted by Moseley to UO or OSU or OUS from June 31 2009 to the present.

I ask for a fee waiver on the grounds of public interest. The golden parachute contracts between UO and Moseley involve the expenditure of a lot of UO and now apparently OSU money. They have been the subject of news stories in the Oregonian, Register Guard, and Bend Bulletin. In June 2009 OUS issued an audit report (attached) finding irregularities with Moseley’s previous contracts and travel expenses. The Oregon Politico database indicates that Moseley has been reimbursed for in-state travel since the agreement described in this audit report.

It turns out there is no written agreement between Moseley and Bean for the extra 0.25 FTE salary and benefits that Lorraine Davis is paying special assistant to the provost John Moseley – not even a cocktail napkin. (Davis did write out a contract to legitimize it, after Bean went on sabbatical.) These are acceptable business practices?

A few hours after getting these documents via a public records request, I got this email from Dave Hubin announcing that Interim President Berdahl was revoking the public interest fee-waiver arrangement which Richard Lariviere helped set up. Lisa Thornton of the Office of Public Records had been giving these waivers for the past 8 months, and I used one to obtain these documents.

Less transparency, less trust.

62 Comments

  1. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    You better hope the union gets a CBA with some solid retaliation protections in place before Jim Bean comes back, friend.

    • Anonymous 05/04/2012

      While UOMatters may be the frontman/frontwoman, there are many behind and in support of the effort. Bean has gotten himself in so deep, with Davis and the others all implicated, that he couldn’t do anything at this point. JH is where the knees should be knocking.

  2. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    Moseley got Bean to sign off on the mileage for his visit with Melinda Grier to evade the auditor’s ban on mileage expenses. Priceless.

  3. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    Does everyone in JH get to expense their Mekala’s lunches?

  4. Anonymous 05/05/2012

    This post is defamatory. Every one of these weekend trips, lunch meetings, cocktails, and club memberships was essential to advancing UO’s academic mission.

  5. Anonymous 05/05/2012

    You can bet that if some lowly professor charged UO for commuting trips from a home in Bend or over on the Coast to Eugene, BAO would be after him/her with a vengeance…

    Appears that RMB has got UOM in his cross-hairs. And it would appear that RMB went to the same school of management as LGD, JTM, FD and RT. RMB is making RL look much better than he was…

    • Anonymous 05/05/2012

      Keep an eye on Geller.

    • Anonymous 05/05/2012

      Dog on Cross-Hairs

      You need bullets to make cross-hairs effective. Not hot air.
      This business with JTM is a system abuse on many levels. It needs
      full exposure.

      Now this dog has been actively looking ON line for a shitstorm deflector to give to UOmatters as a token of appreciation. Can’t find one yet (Apparently amazon is out of stock). I’ll keep looking.

  6. Anonymous 05/07/2012

    Things like this remind me of the value of the chancellors office. I wish they did more stuff like it.

    • UO Matters 05/07/2012

      Surely you are not suggesting we can’t count on the UO VPFA and General Counsel’s offices to enforce state laws and OARs?

  7. Anonymous 05/07/2012

    @uomatters lol!

  8. Anonymous 05/08/2012

    How do we get language in union negotiations/bargaining that stipulates clear breakdowns for JH salaries and reimbursements and stipulates that average JH salaries do not exceed average faculty raises? Sounds doable to me and what a great edge to put JH on.

    • Anonymous 05/08/2012

      That’s the sort of wishful/delusional thinking that got us into this union mess. You do realize that the administration has to agree to the CBA, right? Are you willing to go on strike to ensure that this sort of thing is in the contract?

      If you’re really serious about it you should get involved in union meetings – where are they again?

    • Anonymous 05/09/2012

      Is that even possible? The JH are not in the bargaining unit. How can the union dictate their salaries?

  9. Angry old lady 02/17/2013

    I have this thought going through questioning what it would take to get the legislature to investigate the UO and their shenanigans of the last decade…

    SOMEONE should be interested in the money grabbing, self serving, authoritarian, lip service, back stabbing, bold face lying administration around here….ANY TAKERS? I mean they have become so slimy they could teach classes on – How to make big $$$ corrupting a university…and no one can stop you. $6.66 CASH per credit hour!

  10. Anonymous 02/17/2013

    “5/4/2012: When Richard Lariviere found out about the secret Frohnmayer/Bellotti deal he wrote:
    ‘This institution did not follow acceptable business practices in the past. That will not be repeated by my administration.'”

    Horshit Harbaugh never stops. “Secret deal”? What secret deal? You mean Bellotti’s contract? Bellotti got exactly what was due under his contract, and nothing more. You literally don’t know what you’re talking about, just as usual.

    Just fyi, Harbs, Richard Lariviere–that Patron Saint of UOMatters–thought you were just as big of a pain in the ass as every other UO Administrator.

    • Bill Harbaugh 02/17/2013

      Read the AG’s report on the secret Frohnmayer Bellotti deal. As for Lariviere I know very well that he thought I was a pain in the ass. I was elected to the Faculty Advisory Committee, I met with him for two hours most every week for a year and a half, and he told me that to my face at least every other meeting. Sometimes with a small touch of affection, but always with a great deal of honesty. Which is why I think Richard should be the next fucking Pope.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      I don’t believe it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that what Harbaugh calls a “secret deal” is what the Atty Gen’l calls a deal “not reduce to writing.” It’s not unreasonable to call a deal–an employment contract no less–sealed by a handshake “secret”. Other words one might use include “inappropriate,” “unprofessional”, “risky”–indeed the AG makes very clear that the deal left UO legally vulnerable. You may use a different descriptor yourself, but that different of opinion does not in any way make Harbaugh “mentally ill”. (Unless I am too.)

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      Thanks for watching my back, Anon. What sort of person could read through the entire post above and decide that the most egregious part is “secret Frohnmayer Bellotti deal”?

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      I didn’t say that was the most egregious part. It was just the first thing you started with, and it was horseshit.

    • Peter Keyes 02/17/2013

      I think the ill-tempered Anonymous here should get on your case for your really serious transgression – you have violated the FAC cone of silence to reveal that Richard Lariviere thought you were a pain in the ass. Does compulsive candor equal mental illness?

  11. Anonymous 02/17/2013

    I disagree. Equating “secret” with “unprofessional,” “inappropriate,” “risky,” etc. strains credulity. Harbaugh uses the phrase “Secret Frohnmayer deal” all over this blog in many different contexts, and always to imply deception, fraud, working against the UO’s interests, etc; no other reading is tenable. Should Bellotti’s contract have been in writing? Of course. Was there anything “secret” about it? Not even close. And in the end, Bellotti’s severance reflected only what was promised to him under his contract.

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      Any thoughts about the secret Bean/Moseley deal described in the post?

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Bill, why are you so determined to fabricate mistrust on this blog? Do you not realize what damage you cause?

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      Any factual issues with the events described in the post? (Other than the definition of secret. My recollection is that Grier ignored RG public records requests for the contract for 6 months or so, which certainly makes it secret to me.)

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      I’m not going to play that game with you. You know what you were trying to do. I know what you were trying to do.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      And by the way, one of the reasons it took Melinda so long to do things is that you deluged their office with pointless, inane requests. See above about what I said about the damage you cause.

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      I’m trying to get UO a new provost and an effective public records process. What are you trying to do?

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      What was pointless about asking for Moseley’s contract and expenses? Lorraine certainly thought the former was a big deal when she dressed Bean down for it!

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Pointing out that at least half of your posts are false, bizarre, paranoid, character assassinations that have a tangible and negative effect on the University of Oregon.

    • Anon from Above 02/17/2013

      Horseshit, indeed–by which I mean this feeble effort to defend the Belotti deal and Grier. Both gone: good riddance–and for good reason.

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      What is the tangible negative effect of this post on UO?

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      You write “When Richard Lariviere found out about the secret Frohnmayer/Bellotti deal he wrote . . .”

      First, as I mentioned, that’s not true; there was never any secret deal. Second, you’re talking about events that happened three and a half years ago. There is literally no purpose in that statement other to tarnish a legacy and generate mistrust of UO’s leaders.

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      Or are you confusing what’s good for UO with what’s good for UO administrators?

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      To “Anon from Above”–I didn’t defend the Bellotti-Grier deal. Did you miss the part where I said it should have been in writing? What I said is that the contract wasn’t “secret” as Harbaugh characterized it.

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      And plenty of those administrators are still around, still dragging UO down. Bean, Davis, Geller, …

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      “Or are you confusing what’s good for UO with what’s good for UO administrators?”

      It is a significant disservice to the UO to lie and mislead about its administrators. It takes away the administrators’ time, unjustly generates mistrust and dissension among faculty who might believe the lies, and makes the administrators look worse to third parties with whom the UO might have or desire relationships.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      The real problem with the stuff on this blog is that it makes it really hard for the dud administrators like Espy to find another job somewhere else. They stay at UO forever. Until we get a president with the balls to just start firing them.

    • Anon from Above 02/17/2013

      Hear hear! (to the last anonymous)

      To the reply to Anon from Above: are you then suggesting that it was public knowledge, indeed made public (as my own salary is), that Belotti had a hand-shake contract? My recollection is that this was big news, even to UO President Lariviere. What the heck would constitute a secret deal for you if this didn’t?

      Boy, publish the test from one football class, and all of a sudden all the athletic boosters are blogging.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Do I really have to explain this again?

      “Secret” implies “hidden.” It implies deception. It implies ulterior motives. At least in the way Harbaugh uses it.

      The deal was sloppy. It should have been in writing. It was not a “secret.”

    • Old Man 02/17/2013

      Let’s have no more shooting of the Messenger. Things got really bad around here, and many of those involved are still hanging around. They should be shoved out so the healing can start.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Thank you, Old Man, for putting it plainly!

    • Anon from Above 02/17/2013

      Oh, don’t be so condescending, Anonymous. I know what all these big, complicated words mean–without any explanation. I stick by my interpretation. By any standard, it was both sloppy and secret.

  12. Anonymous 02/17/2013

    Anon from Above–

    Bellotti’s contract was “secret” only in a narrow sense that is utterly divorced from Harbaugh’s intended implication. Why do you think he used the word “deal”? We’re talking about a simple employment contract, for crying out loud. Every coach in the country has one. But now it’s a “secret deal” that somehow implicates Frohnmayer? What? Was the mafia involved too?

    I don’t mean to make a bigger deal of this than necessary, but Harbaugh does this kind of thing All. The. Time. And someone has to say something eventually.

  13. harbaugh 02/17/2013

    who is it that has to say something,Anonymous?

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      I’m this person, Harbs:

      “It is a significant disservice to the UO to lie and mislead about its administrators. It takes away the administrators’ time, unjustly generates mistrust and dissension among faculty who might believe the lies, and makes the administrators look worse to third parties with whom the UO might have or desire relationships.”

    • UO Matters 02/17/2013

      While letting the public records office use fees and delays to hide basic information about how public funds are being used generates trust and goodwill?

  14. Anonymous 02/17/2013

    I am exceptionally glad to know that every football coach in the country has an unwritten, handshake contract.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      You seem dumb

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      “Seem,” madam? Nay, it is. I know not “seem.”

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      To be fair, Bill, you’re not “dumb” per se. But you do have serious issues, and they unfortunately become serious issues for other people.

  15. Anonymous 02/17/2013

    The usual anonymous Frohnmayer/Kilkenny/Bellotti apologists (probably Randy Geller and various underlyings at Harrang et al) are sure swarming over any post that makes either Frohnmayer or Kilkenny look bad for their various under-the-table dealings and pay-for-play schemes.

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Enjoy living in your fantasy world.

  16. Nicholas Ekblad 02/17/2013

    The fight for transparency continues: oregoncommentator.com/2013/02/16/the-fight-for-transparency-continues/

  17. UO Matters 02/17/2013

    It’s hard to follow the threads here. Can the people posting as Anonymous please start using screen names? It’s easy, just use the Comment as pull down menu and go to Name/URL and type in some consistent name. You don’t need to put in a URL. It’s still anonymous. Or just sign your posts with one, like Dog does.

    • Bluto 02/17/2013

      Your Delta Tau Chi name is… Pinto

    • Anonymous 02/17/2013

      Dog says

      thanks for the Invitation UOmatters.

      I think I will repeat things I have said earlier on this issue.

      We can have an prolonged anon bitch session about whether the admin is Good or Evil as each of us lives in our fantasy world.

      Instead, I would again pose the statement, list three things that our admin has done to positively improve the academic environment of the you in terms of curriculum and teaching support and opening up new degree programs and new faculty professional development opportunities.

      Here is my list:

      1. … I got nothin’

    • Anonymous 02/18/2013

      Omega says

      I agree with dog. Perhaps it is time to post this as a question for the masses. Ask perhaps if people are willing to share their general rank (nttf, ttf, gtf, scullery maid) as well.

      As a scullery maid I addled my brain and there are a few things happening that look interesting but could have terrible side effects so I came up with an answer close to Dog’s. Maybe but right now I got nothin’

      I would be truly interested in seeing what is working. Perhaps it is just me but when I look around things seem to be heading off to a very dark place. I do not think this is because of admin more a lack of admin… and as I have said before the Faculty as the ultimate academic authority (or should be) bear most if not all the burden.

      And yes, as the eternal optimist, who will hang my hat on any cliche, I believe that we will rise up, and build a better tomorrow. I just hope it is soon.

  18. Anonymous 02/18/2013

    Worthy cause but I got nothing to contribute sorry. He almost single handedly convinced the faculty to unionize? Maybe the AFL-CIO will hire him. If I had a week I could think up something positive. No, not after the double-crossing he did with the Espy report.

  19. Anonymous 02/21/2013

    you’re probably out enjoying your single malt right now – Bean is out!

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