Sorry to be so blunt, but it’s hard to see how else to interpret this. Cocktail party version: I was trying to get some info about Gottfredson’s sexual assault review panel. Dave Hubin tried to charge me $508 for the public records, so I made requests to the universities where the…
UO Matters
Update: (Posts on prostitute warning, public records, and panel history here.) Two weeks after my public records request, UO has finally disclosed what it is paying the panelists Gottfredson, Mullens, and Holmes appointed to review their response to the rape allegations and UO policies. $10K each, plus expenses: Honorarium The…
Josephine Wollington has the story in the RG about this very unusual mid-negotiation change and the positive response from the union leadership. This is great news, Rudnick and Matthews have been an expensive disaster for UO. It seems that the new leadership wants a less confrontational approach, and isn’t going…
Update: The official UO post on the mission statement mentioned below is now getting some comments, here. As President, Dave Frohnmayer would trot out UO’s AAU membership as a way of silencing faculty who criticized him for shifting priorities, administrative effort, and money towards his goal of running a big-time…
The UO faculty union and the Senate fought hard with President Gottfredson over academic freedom. Gottfredson and his negotiators Tim Gleason, Doug Blandy, Randy Geller and Sharon Rudnick wanted the union contract to include rules requiring civility and proper respect, and they didn’t want the university to give explicit protection for…
7/7/2014: I’m no law professor, but this complaint against UOPD Chief Carolyn McDermed and others raises plenty of questions about UO’s new sworn and armed police department: The court docket is here (courtesy of the RECAP program that Aaron Swartz and Carl Malamud helped create). The complaint, well worth reading…
8/21/2014: I’m hoping Coltrane’s meeting with the RG editorial board goes a little better than Gottfredson’s did! 8/21/2013, here: … And if a president proves lacking in either vision of his own or the ability to execute the vision of others, the board can replace him. Gottfredson’s response to this…
President Gottfredson’s relationship with the Senate was bad. He pointedly ignored Senate resolutions on athletics, set up a variety of “administrative advisory groups” to bypass Senate committees such as the IAC, and started pointless fights over academic freedom, legal services, and delegation of authority. The Senate had a resolution for a vote of no confidence in Gottfredson scheduled for October, and it’s difficult to see how it could have failed.
Fortunately Chuck Lillis saved us from that, and in the process gave most of us a lot of faith in the Board. (Although everyone seems to think they could have negotiated a tougher deal than Sharon Rudnick’s $940K giveaway.)
Now it’s up to Interim President Coltrane and Senate President Rob Kyr to try and rebuild some trust between the administration and the faculty and Senate. The message below is Kyr holding out the olive branch. Let’s hope Coltrane responds quickly by undoing Gottfredson’s mistakes. We need some quick, clear demonstrations that things are going to change.
To: University of Oregon Community; University Senate & Senate Executive Committee
From: Robert Kyr, University Senate President
Written by former Yale President Benno Schmidt for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, here. Scott Jaschik has a review in InsideHigherEd.com. Among other things, the report argues boards should not rely on search firms for presidential searches. … The report also urges trustees to be more engaged on issues…
From https://www.aplu.org/document.doc?id=4030. Thanks to a retired UO administrator for the link. New Provost’s session Risa Palm Georgia State University July, 2012 My experience set is one of having moved to various parts of the country and having to adjust to new situations: I was dean of large college twice (Oregon and Chapel Hill) and provost three times (LSU, SUNY system and now GSU). When you are new to an institution, you can always rely on the “three letters” story. If you haven’t heard it before, talk to an experienced provost! Some thoughts on your new position: 1. Congratulations – you have intense new responsibilities and an opportunity to make a major impact on the academic achievements of your university 2. But you only have 5‐6 years to get this done! The sense of urgency is important for your success. 3. You have a short honeymoon in which to make some major decisions: a. Do you have the right leadership team in your office and in the deans who report to you? Most common regret is that they did not replace people sooner. You will need to delegate . . . so you need to trust the people to whom you are delegating! b. Does the administrative structure above you (at the university level) give you the latitude you need ‐ ‐ ‐ be sure to negotiate this early. The relationship with the CFO is particularly important. 4. First impressions (of you!) count – be visible, get out of the office to learn about the institution (even if you come from within). 5. Establish a strong working relationship with your president/chancellor . . . your major job is to ensure the success of the entire team.…
That’s what the Athletic Director told the Board of Trustees, at the University of Hawaii.
8/17/2014: While UO’s focus on big-time college football has made millionaires of coaches and administrators like junket queen Lorraine Davis, it’s created some tradeoffs for fans. John Tapogna, president of the ECONorthwest economic consulting firm, gives his personal cost-benefit analysis of going to a Duck football game in this RG…
It’s a national scandal – the NYT has the details here. Notre Dame was trying to make football players write papers. Fortunately the players, or their coaches, hired real students to do the work before any actual damage was done. Jim O’Fallon’s NCAA Infractions Committee will conduct a thorough investigation,…
8/15/2014: Ducks will finally pay for player’s insurance. It’s amazing what can change when the judge rules you’ve been running an illegal cartel. Now it turns out the NCAA was never against this, honest. UO PR flack Rob Moseley has the spin, here.
7/3/2011: Ever wonder what happens to college football players who suffer career ending injuries? They don”t get workmen’s compensation, because they are “student-athletes”, not employees. Very clever.
However, the NCAA will *lend* “student-athletes” money to buy their own insurance. I know, and you thought the NCAA was a heartless cartel. Read on, friend:
“The impetus behind it was really to keep student-athletes and their eligibility safe from unscrupulous agents,” said Juanita Sheely, the NCAA’s associate director for travel and insurance. “One of the ways they would entice them is: ‘I will get you this insurance coverage if you sign with me.’
UO’s Org Chart has gone through a lot of changes lately. New Presidents, Provosts, General Consuls, Deans and VP’s of this and that. The only constant seems to be Special Assistant to the Provost Lorraine Davis, who went on PERS in 2005, but is somehow still collecting a paycheck too.…