When I arrived at the University of Oregon in 2009 I didn’t know what a Provost was. I had never been in a departmental meeting. I didn’t know that service was part of the job, or even what service entailed. I didn’t understand the concept of shared governance, or why a university has or needs a Senate.
On May 15th, Oregonians received some good news in regard to our financial outlook. Short version: the State has roughly 770 million dollars more than they expected for the biennium budget (despite a 1.4 billion kicker, but that’s another story). However, much of that will be put into reserves for the predicted economic downturn heading our way. We need to contact legislators in order to make sure we can get the Public University Support Fund (PUSF) funded at 120 million. That would mean students would see a less-than-5% increase to their in-state tuition. Of course, we should still be asking…
May 23, 2019 SB 1049-A has moved out of the Senate in a 16-12 vote and is now headed to the House. Shenanigans continue as well as a complete and utter disregard for process: The Bill was scheduled for a vote tomorrow, then re-scheduled for a different time tomorrow, and then ended up on the Senate floor as “special business.” More details below, as well as a link to the full-text of the Bill. Word on the legislative street: more Dems in the House (vs. Senate) are primed to vote no. Keep the calls and emails flowing… SB 1049-A Latest…
The Board of Trustees at the University of Oregon is in an untenable situation. The people ‘below you’ on the organizational chart—represented by the people in this room—are supremely unhappy with the financial management and strategic vision of the university. Simultaneously the people above you, legislators and political appointees, are supremely unhappy with the financial management and strategic vision of the university. It seems the only people happy with university leadership on budget issues are donors (and trustees themselves). The mission of the university, approved by this body, is: The University of Oregon is a comprehensive public research university committed…
Events happening this week. We encourage you to participate! 1) UA t-shirts: We have new t-shirts at the union office. We are taking donations to help cover their cost (they cost UA about $11 each). Swing by, pick one up, and show your solidarity to campus! 2) Rally at the board of trustees. Wear your new UA t-shirt! DON’T BALANCE THE BUDGET ON OUR BACKS! Meet us at the Ford Alumni Center to take over the Board of Trustees meeting! Members of LERC, GTFF, SEIU, UAUO, and ASUO will sign up to speak to the BOT about the proposed cut to…
May 21, 2019 Today SB 1049 passed through the final budget committees and is headed to the Senate floor for a vote (if successful, will then move on to the House). We are hearing from lawmakers that your emails are starting to have an effect and we have a chance to stop this bill. But lawmakers need to hear from you right now in order to keep the pressure on. We need you to call and email your senator and state representative. Here’s how: PHONE. Time is running out so right now phone calls are more powerful than emails CALL…
The members of UA are proud to work at a comprehensive RI university that aspires to maintain its history of being a great educational institution in the face of years of declining investment in higher education. As the educators and researchers who are responsible for our core educational mission, we are committed to prioritizing student success and maintaining access and support for all qualified students, including domestic and international students, four-year undergraduates, transfer students, and graduate students. Budgets are an expression of values: we are dismayed that nowhere in his statement of budget reduction values does President Schill mention a…
On January 22nd, the majority of Bargaining Unit Faculty represented by AAUP-WSU made the choice to go on strike. Not for higher wages but for the protection of the academic mission of the university and our right to negotiate over our terms and conditions of employment. We stood strong for 20 days as the administration drug their feet to the bargaining table. Our #solidarity prevailed. The end result? A much stronger contract than the one the administration imposed on January 4th with restored protections and the preservation of our legal rights. We call this a win, but it comes at a price. Collectively…
“On January 23, 2019, members of CAS and Political Science surprised Lowndes and his students by dropping into his class to present him with the Tykeson Teaching Award. The award recognizes exceptional faculty who have demonstrated excellence in breadth and scope of teaching.” Read more here. Congratulations Joe!
The most interesting results of our recent survey on the process and prospect of breaking CAS into smaller schools came from the narrative comments. We have scheduled a meeting with President Schill to share both the concerns and hopes of our members regarding this potential, major re-organization of the university. We report on the major themes that arose in the narrative comments and the aggregated unit data of the responders. Concerns Less support for/value of Humanities and undervalued departments 35 Less collaboration/integration 28 More centralized admin/resources, less faculty voice 27 Moves away from traditional university/Liberal Arts structure and mission 16…