June 12, 2008

 

Dear Colleagues:

 

On this eve of our spring commencement, I write to wish you a happy and productive summer and to comment on the many developments of this spring quarter and the agenda for the summer and academic year ahead.  These times are busy and sometimes disruptive but I find the energy and focus of our campus enormously heartening. 

 

As you know, last week the state board of higher education appointed a distinguished panel of university representatives and citizens to constitute the formal search committee for my successor.  We are all gratified that the chancellor made several visits to campus and conferred with a large cross-section of our faculty, staff and students in planning for this process.  My objective from the outset was to enable the search process to use the summer months constructively, and I am pleased at the pace of events.

 

You have undoubtedly heard within the past hours that the board of governors of the North Carolina system has chosen our Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady to become chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  This significant promotion of Dr. Brady speaks highly of her distinguished tenure with us.  I join all of you who have worked with Linda in greeting her departure with thanks for her service and deep regret that we have lost her talents to this new calling.

 

During the brief period after I was informed of Dr. Brady’s likely opportunity, I quickly consulted with university leadership, including both the outgoing and incoming Faculty Advisory Councils and the University Senate president and vice president.  I have decided to appoint Dean James Bean of the Lundquist College of Business as senior vice president and provost for the next two years.  Happily, Dean Bean accepted my offer, and his steady and proven leadership will provide a welcome bridge during the transition to a new presidency.  I am grateful for the immediate broad-ranging outpouring of support that came during discussion of this appointment. 

 

These personnel changes do not change a full agenda of university actions that are proceeding forward rapidly during the summer months and planned further for the academic year ahead.  A listing and brief description will give you a sense both of this formidable agenda and of the actions that are underway to meet it. 

 

•  We are pressing hard, with the help of important faculty leadership, to seek the release of salary dollars appropriated for the Oregon University System but not yet released for our use by the legislative Emergency Board.  We hope for action on this item by the governor and the Emergency Board in the next few weeks.  We are heartened by the more favorable revenue forecast that was given to the legislature in the last week of May but the outcome is not at all certain.

 

•  The OUS board on June 6 approved the sale of bonds for the Arena project, but we were disappointed with the earlier unfavorable decision of the hearings officer regarding a requirement for a conditional use permit.  Both the Eugene city attorney and the planning director had given contrary advice.  Nonetheless, we will continue to work to meet out schedule to break ground on this project in the fall.  The Academic Learning Center for Student Athletes – a wonderful gift to the university – appears to be on a positive construction course in the same Agate Quadrangle.

 

•  I am personally grateful to the many individuals who have helped plan in advance for the enrollment surge that will greet us when freshmen students arrive in September.  Many people have planned to make essential courses, sections, and student services available, and we have worked to assure that financial resources will be deployed to support these needed commitments.  Our housing staff has dealt creatively with an overwhelming number of unexpected applications.  All students who met application deadlines now have been assured they will receive places in university housing.  And innovative arrangements have been made with apartment owners for many more hundreds of attractive spaces near campus with access to student services and meals and in-facility housing staff.  Our next round of housing construction plans moves to the design phase yet this summer.

 

•  The perennial issue of parking is the subject of intense attention, both with respect to the possibility of underground parking associated with the arena and additional sites near west campus.

 

•  Building on this year’s successes implementing the campus Diversity Plan and unit Strategic Action Plans, we will continue to move forward with the goals espoused in these initiatives in the spirit of both innovation and collaboration.  This will involve continuing to share best practices with one another, reinforcing shared ownership and responsibility for making progress, and maintaining our focus on the goals that have become a major priority for the institution.

 

•  A number of items will receive closure before the departure of Provost Brady at the end of this month.  The new Science Council has been appointed and will provide a high-level forum for the discussion and pursuit of research and academic priorities focused in the natural sciences.  Our broader advocacy for statewide research and graduate education initiatives is of immediate interest as the OUS Board deliberates in July on its priorities for the 2009-2011 Policy Option Packages.  Responsibilities for reporting back to our accrediting agency, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, on assessment of student learning will be pursued rapidly through the summer in order to meet next fall’s report deadline.  On another front, we will continue to promote the University of Oregon Portland presence on a wide variety of disciplinary fronts in the stunningly renovated White Stag building in Portland’s Old Town.  This new location is already receiving high visibility and well deserved praise in the larger Portland metropolitan area. 

 

•  As we enter the leadership planning retreats during the month of July, we will develop the next steps in a number of initiatives: the provost’s academic excellence agenda, the continuing internationalization of the university’s programs, and the “big ideas” that will provide the conceptual bridge for our development and advancement efforts from the conclusion of the campaign into our next major fund-raising efforts.

 

There is much to do in the coming months.  This brief report cannot do justice to all of the many efforts underway to sustain our forward momentum as an institution.  I pledge to each of you my continuing full efforts and want you to know my gratitude for the efforts of the thousands of you who have helped maintain our progress.  Whether you will be here through the summer and able to enjoy the Olympic Trials, the spectacular Oregon Bach Festival, and the stunning summer climate of Eugene or have planned to travel away from campus, I wish you a most productive and enjoyable summer.  As always, if you have questions or comments, please write me at pres@uoregon.edu.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Dave Frohnmayer

President