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GC Randy Geller’s holiday message to the staff and faculty

Last updated on 12/01/2015

12/11/2013: Geller: Faculty must be fully engaged

An email from President Gottfredson’s General Counsel Randy Geller, sent round today:

Work schedule for bargaining unit faculty members:

This is a reminder that under Article 32, Section 21, of the United Academics Collective Bargaining Agreement, bargaining unit officers of instruction who do not earn vacation will be considered to be on paid leave during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day (and during the week of Spring Break).

Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are paid holidays. However, bargaining unit faculty members (typically some officers of research) may be required to work on these holidays if necessary to maintain or operate critical facilities or operations. If a bargaining unit faculty member is required to work on a holiday for that reason, he or she may take an equivalent amount of time off with pay at a later date, as approved by the bargaining unit faculty member’s supervisor.

Otherwise, as provided in Article 17, Section 7, of the CBA, each bargaining unit faculty member must be fully engaged in teaching, research, and service work for the university to the extent of his or her appointment, and must be engaged in work or reasonably available for work for the entirety of the term for which the bargaining unit member is employed unless on approved leave. There is no blanket leave for the period between fall and winter terms.

You previously received information about the Governor’s Day.

Faculty members who are not subject to the United Academics CBA may make individual arrangements with their supervisors regarding work schedules.

Randy Geller
General Counsel
University of Oregon

Apparently Randy got left off the list of bowl game junketeers.

Update: I’ve got a public records request in to Hubin for this year’s Bowl Game junket list. Last year’s Fiesta Bowl junketeers are here – including our hardworking, if somewhat spiteful Randy Geller, and spouse:

1/28/2013: Dave Hubin’s PR office provided this complete list of the UO Fiesta bowlers, today. Not all those listed in the letter below went, but plenty of others did. Here are just a few:

12/13/2013: Former Journalism Dean Tim Gleason not “fully engaged”?

Interim Provost Scott Coltrane is paying Tim Gleason $218,524 a year:

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His mission?

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Full contract here. Tim’s not doing very well so far. His CBA blog is more about petty rumors and snide comments about economics faculty than about solid information on implementing the agreement. And now Randy Geller is elbowing Gleason out of the way when it comes to “campus wide messaging”.

4/18/14: Coltrane special assistant Tim Gleason drops ball again

It’s been two months since UO’s former journalism dean Tim Gleason has bothered to update the administration’s blog on faculty union contract implementation – one of his few job duties. I’m guessing he’s on time when it comes to cashing his paychecks though. Does anyone know what, if anything, Gleason *is* doing to earn $16,543.67 a month, topped off with a $1,666.67 stipend?

6/30/2014 update: Is President Gottfredson “fully engaged” over summer break?

He’s got a 12 month contract, but it seems like Mike Gottfredson is also breathing a sigh of relief over Randy Geller’s retirement, and taking a little vacation. Or maybe he just doesn’t want his schedule of meetings about the rape allegation modified limited hang-out to be public? Speaking of which, I wonder when his “external review panel” meets:

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76 Comments

  1. Three Toed Sloth 12/11/2013

    Still licking his wounds, is he?

  2. awesome0 12/11/2013

    Does going to a bowl game count as a critical activity?

  3. anon 12/11/2013

    Randy, you little pissant. Sending this out right after the faculty scrambled to do all those 8AM makeup finals?

  4. Grinch 12/11/2013

    That’s the JH holiday spirit! Fuck you too Randy.

    • Sam Dotters-Katz, ASUO President 12/14/2013

      This is really shameful. This is what the blog has come to be dominated by, filth and vitriol. The folks on here who trash people without the balls to do it with their name attached are one thing, cowards who project their insecurities onto the people they publicly smear. Discourse at the lowest common denominator.

      • uomatters Post author | 12/14/2013

        I think you’re overreacting to the phrase “fuck you”, Sam. It’s no worse than “without the balls to do it”, which you seem to favor.

        Randy Geller’s email was moronic, and Tim Gleason’s $218K contract is a scandal, as was Jim Bean’s $244K, Frohnmayer’s $100K, etc.

        I’m happy to provide a place for people to discuss these important things. Intelligent, rational discourse is good, but raw expressions of primitive emotions can also be appropriate.

        Given the UO’s administration’s long and continuing history of retaliation against faculty and staff I strongly advocate the used of anonymous comments (with a screen name to avoid confusion). Note that while the form asks for an email, you don’t need to provide a real one.)

        • Sam Dotters-Katz, ASUO President 12/15/2013

          Yea, saying fuck you to folks is super productive. It really moves the conversation forward. Unsurprising logic from you on this.

          • Thom Aquinas 12/15/2013

            Saying ‘fuck you’, (even with a sense of humor?) is probably neither productive, effective, nor efficient. Ultimately, however, it’s the deeds, not the words that make a difference. For example, how efficient, effective and productive one is in rallying the troops to have an open, fair, and democratic process for determining the voting student member on the UO board. Why was this possible at other Universities in OR but not at the UO? Your ‘moral’ outrage is both hollow and shallow.

          • Loose Cannon 12/15/2013

            Ben Cannon is aware of the problems with Sam’s nomination. But since he graduates this spring and will have to give up his seat then, there’s plenty of time for ASUO to copy the PSU process and get a legitimate member on the board before they take power in July.

          • Sam Dotters-Katz, ASUO President 12/16/2013

            Another predictable response from Bill’s Praetorian Guard, who use straw man tactics and personal smears to go after anyone who speaks up in the name of decency in our academic politics and dialogue on this blog. The number one criticism of this blog is that, while historically providing some value added and information, it has become more about vitriol and divisiveness. You certainly do a great job proving our point.

          • notastrawman 12/16/2013

            Wait, “who use straw man tactics” and “do a great job proving our point”. Who is “our” – are you implying that you’re a straw man, too? Make sure Dave writes you get a letter of recommendation.

            Serious advice though, stop digging your own hole.

      • Shameful 12/14/2013

        Why would Scott let Gleason keep that $20K Dean’s stipend? They are just looting this place. It’s obscene.

      • anonec 12/14/2013

        Has UOM established an Ethics Commission and asked Sam Dotters-Katz for nominations?

  5. Anonymous 12/11/2013

    Ease up people. He just got the memo from Gottfredson, telling him he’s off the Alamo Bowl list. Let him vent a little.

    • uomatters Post author | 12/11/2013

      Are you blowing smoke, or is there really a memo?

      • Grasshopper 12/11/2013

        Follow the money. Of course there’s a memo. No Randy, no spouse.

        • uomatters Post author | 12/11/2013

          OK, I filed a public records request. Any bets on how much Hubin charges, and how long it takes for a response?

  6. awesome0 12/11/2013

    He can come to my house to watch the game if he needs a place.

    • Anonymous 12/17/2013

      Your TV is not big enough for a UO administrator. Stand back.

  7. Anon 12/11/2013

    First of all, why is a Gottfredson letting Geller communicate this? Shouldn’t it be Coltranes job? Second, how much more tone deaf can the administration be? Is this really how to begin rebuilding morale after a year of collective bargaining?

    Gottfredson, please put a leash on this petty asshole and begin figuring out how you treat your faculty with respect. If you want it, you are going to have to give it. The majority of faculty I know work their ass off for this place…in spite of assholes like Geller, not because of their petulant emails. I know some management 101 classes you all could attend.

  8. Margo, Edith and Agnes 12/11/2013

    The wee wretched dr. nefaro strikes again!

  9. Anonymous 12/11/2013

    And why blame the Administration for this? Did we ever see one of these ridiculous things before we had a $$#%^$@%$ Union? Read the Memo: all it does is explain rules that are clearly stated in the CBA. Randy Geller did not ask for this. Gottfredson and Coltrane did not ask for it. It is brought to you by your wonderful Union. All these stupid rules are going to have to be spelled out now that the Faculty Union is running the University. Think about it. Some have called it the Death of the University. I’m not sure they are wrong.

    • curiouser 12/11/2013

      Wait … what? “the Faculty Union is running the University” ?
      I wondered why Gottfredson showed up to two Senate meetings in a row and his gunslinger got … umm … confrontational.

      • Anonymous 12/11/2013

        It appears that way. Take for example the ongoing Mandatory one-time reclassification of adjunct faculty. This may be a good idea, though likely will result in fewer people employed once the financial consequences play out. Certainly is a requirement of the union. Admin is struggling mightily to get there, not necessarily a bad thing.

        • uomatters Post author | 12/11/2013

          I don’t understand what you two are trying to say. Please spell it out. Gunslinger? Requirement of the union? I’m interested, but I don’t get it.

          • Anonymous 12/11/2013

            Ah yes, Mandatory One-Time Reclassification of Adjunct Faculty. According to the new CBA, all departments must determine, very soon, which of their adjunct faculty positions should be converted to career positions, which come with the advantage of longer contracts and opportunities for promotion. If a department does not convert a position to career position, but the person in that position feels it should be a career position, the employee can file a formal complaint (a “grievance”). Admin is trying to avoid grievances so is urging departments to think about this really hard, which of course is a good thing to do. For adjuncts who have slaved for years with poor benefits and low pay, this is a first step in the right direction. The problem is that this will be more expensive for departments and programs, and its not clear that more resources will be made available from the UO to support all the new career positions. So departments will have to decide which positions to label as “adjunct”, and then those positions will likely be terminated. Low pay becomes “no pay” for those adjunct instructors, and the career instructors maybe get a heavier work load … or the courses aren’t taught. Something has to give. If new funds are not made available to support new career positions, then some adjunct positions could dry up. It’s not clear how this is going to play out …

          • dog 12/11/2013

            My own departmental review of this mandatory reclass is on
            Friday and the results are predictable, in a statistical sense.
            We will reclass those in multi-year servitude and this is the right thing to do, however, we will to creatively fabricate an expanded set of duties to go along with this.

            We will likely, after this, to be unable to handle term adjuncts like we did in the past and that has serious implications for our ability to teach the classes that CAS likes to increase their student credit hours.

            I am not sure how this will play out but I agree with the general sentiment that the actual number of “NTTF” will now go down.

          • curiouser 12/12/2013

            I wouldn’t say “the Union is running the University” but it has allowed Faculty to be more empowered. This is, of course, a threat to those who don’t like change and don’t like rules to be spelled out and followed, leaving less grey area to manipulate when they see it’s to their advantage to do so and openings for the spiteful to practice their art. And it’s a potentially greater threat to administrators if faculty gain even more awareness and start using their empowerment, coupled with effective use of the Senate and Constitution, to initiate more real change–like ending athletic subsidies. When more subjects for change become exposed, people on both “sides” are going to react emotionally on blogs, in memos, and in Senate meetings. Nobody likes breaking in new shoes but the discomfort doesn’t last forever.

    • Anon 12/12/2013

      Yes, much better to let incompetent administrators or petulant assholes run things than have a few simple rules that everyone has to follow.

      The memo from Geller is technically correct and always has been – faculty are on contract during these holidays. They could always “make” you work during these breaks. What’s new is that now we are considered on paid leave during that one week so no one can “make” us work then. In reality, not much will change. You must not like the union – I get it. But having some rules written down that admin has to follow is a good thing in general.

      What’s at issue here is Geller using this to flex his wimpy muscle. It’s petty and misguided and Gottfredson needs to muzzle this asshole.

      • Thérèse Philosophe 12/12/2013

        Flex that wimpy muscle, Randy!

  10. Anonymous 12/11/2013

    Looks like boiler plate to me. Perfect for an auto factory. The UO Administration did not ask for this. You bring a Faculty Union to a University and force tenure-related faculty into the same bargaining unit with adjunct instructors postdocs and lab technicians (which BTW does not make any sense), and this is what you get.

    • uomatters Post author | 12/11/2013

      I call bullshit on you. The administration did ask for this. The union fought it. Now Geller is trying to enforce his petty demands.

    • Three Toed Sloth 12/12/2013

      And as for that 12% raise headed your way: you’re welcome!

      • dog 12/12/2013

        A 12% raise that essentially is over a 3.3 year period when it is all finally doled out (which won’t be until July 1 2014) I doubt that is significantly better than would have happened under non-union circumstances but we will never know. 12% only looks great, and therefore worthy of thankfulness, when your salary was frozen From May 2011 until Nov 2013.

        • anon 12/12/2013

          Wow, you got a raise in 2011. For the many of us that have not had a raise since 2008, it looks really good. And if you believe you would have gotten that without the union..well, as the saying goes, I have some real nice beachfront property for sale.

          But that really misses the point. The administration is accountable now in so many ways that they never have been and never would have been without the Collective Bargaining Agreement. They can no longer sit in Johnson Hall and make unilateral decisions like they used to. The CBA is already forcing a culture change in hundreds of small ways across campus that will add up to something significant.

        • dog 12/12/2013

          within the context of being a CAS tenured faculty member I know
          that we would have gotten higher raise amounts if CAS was allowed to continue on to Phase 2 and 3 of their external equity adjustment plan. If you were a recently hired assistant professor in CAS
          you would have not gotten the 2011 equity raise since you were
          already hired, at equity. I don’t know about other situations.

          I don’t really care very much about the raise issue, I care that, for whatever reasons, there are these long periods of no raises. That doesn’t help anyone or anyone’s morale

          • uomatters Post author | 12/12/2013

            My dept is now using the union raises as a recruiting/retention tool. “Sure, the pay sucks but thanks to the union at least we’re on track for regular raises.”

          • anon 12/12/2013

            Glad you see the light now Dog – with a union, those long periods without raises should be a thing of the past.

          • dog 12/13/2013

            the bulk of the last raise drought was due to state freezes –
            if this happens again, will the Union overrule the state?

          • Three-Toed Sloth 12/16/2013

            There was always less to the “freeze” than met the eye. It was a great PR tool, for sure, but it did not prevent OSU from putting through raises (which did not cost their president his job); nor did it prevent PSU from negotiating salary increases. Much as he may dislike them, unions are a big Democratic consituency, and one thing Kitz and his (likely Democratic) successors don’t need is a lot of defections from pissed off and highly articulate academics.

    • Anon 12/12/2013

      It’s a fallacy to speak for these categories (tenure track, post docs, etc) as if everyone feels the same way that you do. A childish fallacy.

      The real facts are that we would not have a union if many tenure track, non tenure track, post docs, etc did not want one. Of course,some didn’t. But we are well past that now. I’d challenge you to figure out ways to help the union meet the varied and complex needs of its constituents. Or, you can sit on the sidelines and complain like a child.

  11. Anonymous 12/11/2013

    The beatings will continue until morale improves.

    • mousey 12/12/2013

      Time to contemplate the wise quote above:
      “Shake your chains to earth like dew which, in sleep, hath fallen oer you”. Shelley 1819

  12. Anonymous 12/11/2013

    This is a reply to “Mandatory One-Time Reclassification” above (wasn’t showing a “reply” button).

    You say: “Admin is trying to avoid grievances”

    A good way to avoid grievances from aggrieved (former) adjuncts might be to make more resources available.

    But no, easier to blame the Union than press Admin to adequately fund education at an educational institution.

    • uomatters Post author | 12/11/2013

      Yes, Gottfredson is giving Jim Bean $240K not to teach, and Tim Gleason another $200K. And his $220K lawyer thinks the union is the problem?

      • Anonymous 12/12/2013

        How many adjuncts is Bean worth?

        • uomatters Post author | 12/12/2013

          Bean is worth one hand clapping.

  13. Hen 12/12/2013

    I did not get Geller’s email. Who did he send it to?
    Feeling left out.

    • Cat 12/12/2013

      I got mine today as a mandatory forward from our dept head.

    • Aristotle 12/12/2013

      Be thankful you didn’t get it! – At least YOU were not treated like an imbecile.
      Geller explained in lawyer speak what always was and always will be, except he tried to make it sound as if he’s imposing a new rule on us. My IQ sank to 32 ºF while I was reading, so I can’t give you specifics. Maybe after recovery…

  14. Joe Hill 12/12/2013

    Geller and Gleason’s first proposal to the union said something about faculty having to take unpaid leave if they left campus during winter and spring breaks. The union eventually convinced Rudnick this was idiotic, and they compromised on the language Geller cites. The intent was to maintain current UO practice while saving face for Randy. But he’s too dumb to let it go (or write something coherent) so he sent this out to the dept. heads.

  15. Hen 12/12/2013

    I did just get the Happy Holidays email from “the University of Oregon”. How sweet.

    • anon 12/12/2013

      Me too. My email program flagged it as junk.

    • Aristotle 12/12/2013

      We sent a Happy Holiday card to ourselves? ? ? I honestly don’t recall. Might have to do with my IQ recovery.

      I can’t believe the administration tries to pretend again they were the University?? Didn’t we end that fallacy during bargaining? Or are they containing the fall-out from the Geller message?

  16. Phthonus 12/12/2013

    Gottfredson just gave him a $9,000 raise. What’s really bothering you, Randy?

  17. Old Grey Mare 12/13/2013

    How many $$$ in lowered morale do these asinine memos cost UO?

  18. anon admin 12/14/2013

    Everyone agrees it’s past time for Gleason to move on to another university. But if he used a sabbatical for his job search, he’d have to return to UO for a year or repay it. Instead Bean agreed to give him this “special assistant” job and a raise. If he finds another job, great. If not, he gets his sabbatical next year with his new higher pay as the base, and JH has washed their hands of him.

  19. flyonawall 12/14/2013

    Come one, he’s been pretty busy trying to control the PR flack after the snowball fight went all crazy and viral.

  20. broke musician with tenure 12/14/2013

    erggh. Gleason makes 4 times my salary. I teach on average 40 hours a week, and do research for about 35. Reading this blog makes me understand how superior teaching and learning is just not considered important by the administration. only perks and coverups, millions go to waste on people who do NOTHING.

    • Thomas Aquinas 12/14/2013

      only if you think sending blinkered memos is nothing…

  21. Anonymous 12/14/2013

    Rank filthy stinking corruption.

  22. honest Uncle Bernie 12/16/2013

    I guess since Gottfredson is not part of the bargaining unit, he can take a break — as long as he works it out with his superiors!

    Did the union really negotiate a deal that makes it impossible to travel, say, the day or two before Christmas?

    Hard to believe they would be that stupid, or that Geller would be that petty.

  23. No No No 12/16/2013

    No, the union did not agree to that. Quit sniping everyone and read Article 17 paragraph 7. Randy added another line in his letter.

    The person who thinks their raise would have been higher if CAS were able to implement steps 2 and 3 may not know that the funds for those steps were used for other things when Lariviere got fired.

    As for Sam: I am very uncomfortable with your comments on this blog. You are a voting rep on the new board. Is your anger about the blog, the language used here, and your opinion of some faculty exercising their right to free speech and press going to come up unconsciously or consciously when you sit and decide something at the table? I’m worried that you will turn the board against the faculty. There are a bunch of us that are pro union, pro independent board and pro uo matters.

    • honest Uncle Bernie 12/17/2013

      I didn’t think I was “sniping” anyone when I asked a question about the CBA.

      Would you care to quote the relevant section of the CBA and provide an exegesis?

      • uomatters Post author | 12/17/2013

        Bernie, I’m fully engaged on a referee report. We’re all locked up together for a while though, how about if you dig up that CBA language and compare it to Randi’s email for us?

        • honest Uncle Bernie 12/17/2013

          Sorry, am tied up myself and then off for some R+R (paid research and reconnaissance) activities, I guess according to contract.

          Maybe I’ll let No No No do the honors.

          But — if Geller was quoting the CBA with

          “each bargaining unit faculty member must be fully engaged in teaching, research, and service work for the university to the extent of his or her appointment, and must be engaged in work or reasonably available for work for the entirety of the term for which the bargaining unit member is employed unless on approved leave. ”
          that doesn’t seem to me to leave much room for leisure travel, etc. That trip to visit Grandma might just be hard to justify.

    • Sam Dotters-Katz, ASUO Presidento 12/18/2013

      I’m all for free speech, that’s why I exercise it on here from time to time. If you support free speech, that shouldn’t be a problem to you. No matter what position I hold, I will always find it offensive and misguided when folks in our academic politics are abusive towards each other. That doesn’t mean I choose sides before we look at an issue. If you are worried that I am predisposed to oppose the faculty that is incorrect. I was part of a group that sued to protect the Willamette Riverfront several years ago, hardly a move by someone owned by the Administration. I’m pro union as well, faculty, staff, or otherwise. I was the only student body president in the state to stand up in support staff this fall when they voted to strike, and worked with other student leaders on campus to organize to educate students about not crossing the picket line had the strike happened. Educating yourself might cure that paranoia of yours.

      • teacher of the moment 12/18/2013

        You had me convinced until the last sentence. Back to square one for you.

  24. uomatters Post author | 12/16/2013

    Correct correct correct. My recollection is that Rudnick, Blandy, Gleason and Geller – where was Gottfredson? – proposed a rule that faculty couldn’t leave campus during breaks without permission.

    The union shot this down, and in the CBA agreed to *no* change in the current rules. Randy’s email is just his latest attempt to save what’s left of his face, and should and will be ignored.

    Regarding Sam, he’s just a kid who likes throwing snowballs. No big deal, he’ll graduate this June and ASUO can have an open and transparent process to replace him on the Board.

    • anon 12/17/2013

      Correct on both accounts above. And, as a bonus, faculty in the bargaining unit get the week between Christmas and New Year off paid meaning they don’t have to be “available” for anything. Nothing besides that little perk has changed.

      To be fair, there is a real problem with a few faculty on campus who believe they can take off beginning with finals week (they give their finals during week 10) and not respond to anything for 4-5 weeks. That is obviously too far the other direction and shouldn’t be tolerated by any of us – admin or hard-working, dedicated faculty.

    • Sam Dotters-Katz, ASUO Presidento 12/18/2013

      Bill, sorry but us students are avoiding snowball fights for the time being ;)

  25. Old Grey Mare 12/19/2013

    Sam, it’s “we students”, not “us students.”

    It’s hard to disengage from teaching.

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