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dear colleagues, universities today face headwinds from a multitude of sources.
in the political sphere, one party castigates us for being ideologically unbalanced and intolerant of free speech and the other for being unaffordable and elitist.
trust in universities is battered by a deluge of criticism and well-publicized scandals involving sexual violence, administrative misfeasance, and admissions improprieties.
political support has diminished with public trust.
many public universities, including the university of oregon, never recovered from the N recession in terms of state funding.
underfunded pension plans, skyrocketing health-care costs, and skepticism about our mission and operation have created tremendous pressure on our twin missions of education and research.
despite these challenges, i am incredibly optimistic about the future of higher education, generally, and at the university of oregon, in particular.
i know some of you will read this, roll your eyes, and think to yourself, “he gets paid to be an optimist” or “he would say this even if the sky was falling.
” but any of you who know me know i am a straight shooter.
i do not pull back from saying what is on my mind.
american higher education, despite its challenges, remains the envy of the world.
each day, particularly in our liberal arts curricula, we teach our students to think critically, grow individually, and prepare for lives as informed global citizens.
for first-generation students, like i was more than N years ago, we open the doors of opportunity and expose young people to cultural and educational riches that used to be only the province of the wealthy.
are we perfect? of course not.
can we do better? you bet.
are people left behind? yes, too many lower-income students and racial and ethnic minorities never get the chance to take advantage of what we offer or leave without ever feeling they got what they needed.
but in my bones, i believe that we are getting better both in knowledge production, knowledge transmission, and opportunity promotion.
at the university of oregon, i spend too much of my time banging my head against the wall about why state legislators don’t appreciate our value and reading occasional letters and blog posts that try to twist the facts into elaborate conspiracy theories that demean our dedicated faculty and administrators.
but then, i go out of my office and meet with our faculty, staff, students, and alumni and see how positive what is happening here is.
whether it is walking across campus, hosting a dinner at my house, or in a random aisle at costco, i often bump into faculty members who will tell me how thrilled they are to be here, excited they are by their research, and engaged they are in the work of their colleagues and students.
as i walk down Nth avenue, wait for a flight at the eugene airport, or attend a women’s basketball game, i meet students who tell me how much they love being at the uo and how being here has transformed them.
or when i attend meetings of presidents of peer schools like those in the association of american universities, i hear repeated comments that the trajectory of the uo over the past five years has been “unprecedented” and “remarkable” (their words, not mine).
i am an empiricist by nature, both in my scholarship and my approach to management.
therefore, i am suspicious of extrapolating from anecdotes, wonderful though they might be.
so let’s look at some hard data.
over the past five years we have increased the faculty by N new tenure-related scholars.
many of our searches yield candidates with multiple offers from schools that often sit above us in the academic pecking order.
we have launched or greatly expanded cutting edge academic and research programs in areas as diverse as the knight campus, environmental humanities, science media, black studies, and data science.
federal research awards have increased substantially; this year alone the dollars awarded in the first three quarters exceed those for all of last year, and our research expenditures are approaching an all-time record.
our fundraising campaign has surpassed an almost unthinkable $N billion mark, including a gift that is the biggest ever to a public flagship research institution.
our renewed focus on student success and diversity is having an impact.
graduation rates have increased by almost N percentage points and student carrying loads have also increased.
the number of young people receiving full tuition scholarships and advising through pathwayoregon has hit an all-time high—N,N this year—roughly one in four of our resident students.
looking more broadly, only half of our students graduate with debt and of those who take out loans, the average indebtedness is about $N,N, which is less than both the national and state averages.
and our student diversity reached an all-time high, with N percent of this year’s entering class coming from diverse backgrounds.
i could go on and on with our progress, but i want to close by returning to our challenges.
first, as all of you know, we are experiencing a difficult funding environment caused by a drop in international enrollment and state funding that lags behind rising operating costs.
a couple of weeks ago i saw no choice but to require a reduction in expenditures of $N.
N million.
while i don’t want to minimize the impact of these reductions or the pain they will cause some members of our community, i have directed the provost and our vice presidents to allocate the cuts in such a way as to preserve our core missions of teaching and research.
indeed, some academic units, such as the college of arts and sciences, will experience cuts that are less than N percent of their budgets.
when you step back, the financial challenges are tough but not insurmountable.
we are also experiencing, for the first time since i became president, some leadership turnover.
dean andrew marcus stepped down a year ago after five years of distinguished service as dean of cas.
provost jayanth banavar announced last week that he will step down at the end of the school year.
dean christoph lindner of the college of design will move to the uk to become a dean at the prestigious university college london.
and, i suspect, we will see more turnover in this year or next.
this type of change is normal and reflects a healthy institution.
we should be proud to have leaders and deans that other schools try to hire.
we also want leaders to step down once they feel they have done what they can do to move the institution forward.
the uo is a vibrant university that cannot afford to stagnate; we will always require fresh leadership and new ideas.
in closing, as i near the end of my fourth year of service as president, i am as proud and excited to be here as i was the day i set foot in eugene in N.
we have accomplished only a small portion of what i believe we can achieve together.
like oregonians throughout history, we will always face difficult challenges.
we will be tested.
but we will always overcome and succeed.
we will do so because we are the university of oregon, and we are all committed to advancing knowledge, teaching, and caring for our students.
michael h.
schill president and professor of law.
april N, N dear university of oregon community: i am writing to let you know that jayanth banavar will complete his service as provost and senior vice president as of july N.
in stepping back from his academic leadership position, jayanth, a renowned physicist, will assume his appointment as a professor in the uo’s department of physics in the college of arts and sciences.
i am delighted that he will continue to be part of the uo community.
i want to thank jayanth for his distinguished service as provost over the last two years.
he has served in one of the most challenging executive roles at any university with great warmth, caring, and an unwavering focus on strengthening and building academic excellence at the uo.
during his tenure, he has implemented major changes within the office of the provost to improve academic affairs, made impressive strides that bolster the uo’s academic foundation, and been a champion of diversity and inclusion.
among his numerous accomplishments, jayanth solidified the use of a more transparent budget model for our schools and colleges and an innovative academic hiring plan that is strategically increasing our faculty ranks.
he also advanced our coordinated effort to revolutionize student advising on campus, helped launch an ambitious interdisciplinary data science program, assisted in the revamping of our clark honors college, and recruited several deans and outstanding scholars, including nobel prize-winner david wineland.
there is no doubt jayanth has made an indelible and lasting positive impact on the uo during his tenure as provost.
i personally appreciate his sense of humor, his ability to approach an issue both analytically and with empathy, and his constant dedication to doing what is best for the institution.
i respect his decision to step down and am very grateful for his service to the uo.
going forward, we will strive for a smooth transition that maintains all of the momentum and progress that jayanth has delivered in the office of the provost.
over the next few weeks, i will consult with campus stakeholders and faculty leaders about selecting an interim provost and the process for filling the role permanently.
the provost is the chief academic officer of the institution, and ensuring that we have effective leadership in the position is vital to achieving our shared academic goals and objectives.
please join me again in thanking jayanth for all he has done to serve the university of oregon.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
march N, N dear colleagues, on march N, i wrote to let you know that the university of oregon’s budget situation is becoming more challenging and it is imperative we move forward with efforts to reduce the uo’s annual operating costs.
since then, i have met with a variety of campus stakeholders to receive advice and guidance.
those meetings have been extremely useful in shaping our next steps, including helping identify priorities and principles to guide us.
we all have a shared goal of ensuring the institution maintains a strong, upward trajectory even as we grapple with state funding challenges and decreases in international enrollment.
based on analysis by vice president for finance and administration jamie moffitt and her team, we must reduce about $N million in annual recurring expenditures from the education and general budget.
i have provided the provost and vice presidents with cost-reduction goals for their units and asked them to develop plans for achieving those savings.
we will prioritize our core academic and research activities; therefore, i have set higher savings targets for administrative units than i have for schools and colleges.
administrative functions will be subject to a N percent budget reduction, and decreases for schools and colleges will be in aggregate no more than N.
N percent.
the provost’s office will do everything possible to ensure that the changes in our schools and colleges have as little negative impact as possible on academic activities and programs, including career faculty and staff members.
each vice president will have discretion for how best to deliver savings within their units, but i have asked them to consider some guiding principles and priorities, including: affordability—we must not step back from our commitment to making the uo accessible to first-generation, underrepresented, and lower-income students.
we will shield pathwayoregon and diversity excellence scholarships from cuts.
student success—to the fullest extent possible, units across campus should prioritize funding for efforts that support student success programs.
ensuring that we provide students with tutoring, mentoring, and advising are at the core of a great educational institution.
ultimately, this will help us to maintain affordability by enabling students to persist and graduate on time.
we will also protect our student success investments in tykeson hall and the new advisors that are being hired to bring our student-to-advisor ratio closer to the national average.
campus safety—we will protect our law enforcement and title ix (prevention and enforcement) initiatives from budget cuts because we must provide a safe campus environment for students, the faculty and staff, and the broader community.
related programs and positions should be prioritized by individual units as they contemplate budget-reduction plans.
revenue generation—initiatives and programs that generate revenue should be priorities that vice presidents weigh in their budget-reduction considerations.
for this reason, frontline fundraisers and student recruiters will be protected.
in addition, programs and efforts that support enrollment growth goals should be similarly prioritized.
given that nearly N percent of our education and general budget pays salaries, it is impossible to achieve savings without affecting jobs.
the uo already runs a very lean operation after decades of state disinvestment, and our staffing levels are below most of our peer institutions nationally.
that means that many of our units will have to consider difficult decisions that may affect the level of service provided to the campus community.
in some cases, we may need to stop doing things that are not aligned with the priorities i have identified or the uo’s teaching, research, and service mission.
i will meet with and review the provost and vice presidents’ planned budget reductions.
while i am not going to mandate a hiring freeze, to the extent reasonable, i have asked vice presidents to consider whether savings can be achieved by leaving open positions vacant or through attrition.
in cases where it is necessary to move forward with workforce reductions, plans must be reviewed and approved by human resources and the office of the general counsel.
in close coordination with human resources professionals across campus, we will diligently work to ensure that colleagues who are affected by budget reductions are offered a full range of support services and treated with the utmost dignity and respect.
we are entering a challenging period, but the hurdles we face are not insurmountable.
we will continue to forcefully make the case in salem that the state’s public higher-education system needs a consistent and stable funding model that does not continually look to oregon’s students and families to fill gaps in public support.
the uo will continue to pursue a growth strategy that seeks to stabilize revenue swings by carefully and modestly increasing nonresident undergraduate enrollment over the next few years.
and we will continue to leverage donor support to invest in academic initiatives—such as the knight campus, the presidential science initiative and the humanities fellowship program—that expand and strengthen our world-class academic and research programs.
by working together, the uo can and will come out of these budget challenges stronger and with a clear focus on our very bright shared future.
i thank each and every one of you for all you do to make the university of oregon a special place.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
dear university of oregon campus community: over the last few months, we have communicated with a wide variety of campus stakeholders to let them know that the university of oregon is going into a difficult budget cycle.
vice president for finance and administration jamie moffitt has given many presentations articulating the increasing expenses that are putting pressure on our fy N–N budget.
we have been clear that without additional state support—a requested $N million for all of oregon’s public universities—we will be unable to hold resident undergraduate tuition increases at or below N percent and would likely be forced to look at budget cuts.
while i hope that the legislature will provide public universities in the state with the funds we requested, it is now evident that, even if the state does fulfill the request, we will need to reduce expenditures over the next two years.
in addition to rising costs attributable to personnel, pers, and health care, we are experiencing the full impact of a substantial reduction in international student enrollment.
the uo enrolled large classes of students from abroad as recently as the N–N academic year.
since that time, however, like many other american universities, the numbers have begun to fall off.
over the last three years, international enrollment has dropped by almost N,N students, representing more than $N million in recurring tuition revenue.
this decline should stabilize over the next few years as revenues slowly increase from our domestic enrollment growth initiatives.
as a result, unfortunately, we will need to reduce annual operating costs by between $N and $N million.
while some of these reductions can be implemented immediately, some will take more than one year.
vice president moffitt, provost jayanth banavar, and i will spend the coming weeks seeking additional advice and input from campus stakeholders about how to manage this situation without eroding the tremendous progress we have made in many areas across campus over the past few years.
we also want, as much as is possible, to protect programs and services that are vital to our core academic and research mission.
it is my intention to come back to all of you in less than a month with a more detailed plan about how we will move forward.
given that almost N percent of the uo’s general-education budget comprises salaries, the reality is that any cost-reduction efforts will affect jobs and people.
i recognize that this news will cause anxiety among many in our campus community, but i believe it is important to be transparent about what lies ahead.
i can assure you that we will look at every available option to mitigate the human impact of budget cuts on our campus community.
finally, i want to address what can sometimes feel like an incongruent narrative that exists as we contemplate budget cuts at the same time that we have construction cranes busy all over campus helping to build tykeson hall, the knight campus, hayward field, and an addition to our student health center.
the vast majority of construction projects and programmatic investments we are making across campus are the result of targeted donor gifts, specific state capital allocations, or auxiliary funding sources.
the reality is that these projects and investments—which generally involve little to no general fund dollars—are the very thing that will keep the uo on a path toward excellence even as we wrestle with the volatility of state funding and international enrollment.
thank you for your hard work and dedication to the uo.
by working together, we will be able to weather the challenges that are ahead of us.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
march N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in eugene: good morning.
yesterday jamie gave us a sobering review of the university’s budget situation.
while it presents challenges for all of us, it is something that we will manage our way through without harming all of the progress we have achieved over the past four years.
that to me is very important.
i will not re-cover all of the ground that jamie covered, but bottom line, with a drop in enrollment, especially among international students, and an increase in costs such as pers, salaries, benefits, and health insurance, we are facing, next year, a substantial gap in resources.
even if we were receive the additional $N million we are seeking from the state legislature for all of oregon’s public universities, we estimate that we will still experience a shortfall of $N to N million dollars next year if we were to do nothing.
that is unacceptable and it is now evident that we must act to reduce expenditures over the next two years.
today, i am sending a memo to campus explaining the current situation and notifying them that vice president moffitt, provost jayanth banavar, and i will spend the coming weeks seeking additional advice and input from campus constituencies about how to manage this situation.
as we reduce our expenditures we will make decisions based upon our values.
rather than simply cut evenly across the board, we will seek to protect, as much as possible, the programs and services that are vital to our core academic and research mission, and not erode our recent progress.
in particular, i will propose that certain areas, particularly those having to do with affordability, access, student success, and safety, be spared.
we also need to approach these reductions in a humane fashion, recognizing that N% of our expenditures are labor-related.
as you know, we will set non-resident tuition in this meeting, and will set in-state tuition later this spring in the hope that we have a clearer picture of our finances.
enrollment is a very important part of these conversations.
late last week, roger thompson provided me with an update on our enrollment outlook for next year.
as of march N, interest in the uo is at a record high, with just under N,N applicants, a N percent increase over last year.
he reports increases in applications from students in oregon and double-digit percentage increases in applications from non-resident students from across the country.
these increases have been particularly large in the areas we have invested additional recruiting resources such as colorado, arizona, washington, texas, and the upper midwest.
our applicant pool is also stronger academically and more diverse than last year.
applications are important but, of course, many of these students will have lots of choices.
we need to convince these students to choose the uo by showing them all of the advantages we have to offer.
we plan on hosting N separate events in eugene and all over the nation and world.
indeed, roger and i will be taking a road trip through southern california in a couple weeks where we hope to meet lots of prospective students and their parents and loved ones.
in salem, our team is working tirelessly to increase our state operating funds this session.
the legislature will consider a revenue package that could generate as much as $N billion to fund public education.
as maria indicated, we are working with our students and labor unions to make the point that funding k-N and undergraduate education is essential for the future of our students and for the state.
the co-chairs of the joint ways and means committee are expected to release their proposed budget this week, and we will know more about whether our voices have been heard.
the uo’s priority bills are moving along well and gaining support.
the bill to create a matching fund for the sustainable city year program has already received a public hearing, and we expect hearings in the next few weeks on measures that would provide state support for uo programs including prison education, the oregon research schools network, and the oregon institute of marine biology.
the legislature has been focused on other broad safety issues that will have an impact on the university of oregon, including bills related to preventing and responding to workplace harassment and sexual assault.
last week, we were made aware that a bill would be introduced to disarm police departments on the uo’s and psu’s campuses.
we are working with legislators, uopd, students, and others to address this measure and ensure we continue to have every tool in our toolbox to keep our campus and community safe.
the Nth congress is also underway.
with the new majority in the u.
s.
house of representatives, congresswoman suzanne bonamici has taken on an important role as the chair of the subcommittee on civil rights and human services.
that committee has jurisdiction over issues related to civil rights, including title ix.
we look forward to working with her both to showcase our efforts to combat sexual harassment and to be part of the national effort to deal with this problem.
related to title ix, the uo joined with other oregon institutions in late january in submitting comments on proposed changes to responding to campus sexual assault, and we will be launching our second sexual assault climate survey in april.
president trump is expected to release his budget on march N.
uo is working with aau and aplu to advance student aid and federal research priorities.
unless congress comes to an agreement to lift budget caps, discretionary spending will be subject to sequestration or an across-the-board cut of up to N percent.
also, i am pleased that bob guldberg has agreed to headline the annual uoaa capitol hill reception on may N.
he’ll deliver a talk and have a chance to engage with the oregon congressional delegation.
a few other important notes before i complete my remarks.
i would like to thank karen ford for her work in conceptualizing a new fellowship program to support faculty in the arts and humanities in their research and creative projects.
in funding this program, which will provide a dozen fellowships a year from the president’s success fund, i am hoping to bolster our wonderful humanities and arts faculty and their research.
in an era where student enrollments are declining in these fields, we need to send the message that the uo will always be a comprehensive university that values the humanities, humanistic social sciences, and the arts.
yesterday, you heard about our exciting plans for partnering with ohsu in a joint center for biomedical data sciences.
this center will join both institutions in research to fight cancer.
i just want to say how excited i am about this partnership.
along with our research seed grant program that has already funded N collaborative and discussions to establish new degree programs, we are progressing well with leveraging the strength of both our state’s premier academic institutions in service of the state, our students, and our community.
finally, as you walk through campus you no doubt have seen the remnants of last week’s two snowstorms.
i would like to take a moment to express my deep gratitude to the scores of people who worked during the storm that dumped a foot of snow on campus.
these men and women worked through extreme conditions, some for N plus hours straight, to ensure our students who live here were safe, warm, and fed; to clear trees and snow from walkways and roads; and to prepare our campus for reopening.
it was a heroic effort.
they could have called in sick or said they couldn’t get in.
but they didn’t.
they did it because they take pride in doing their jobs well and they care about our students and the entire community.
we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
i am proud to be their president.

.president michael h.
schill sent the following tuition recommendation message to campus: february N, N dear campus community, last week, i received the N–N tuition and fee recommendation from the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab), a body comprising students, administrators, and members of the faculty and staff.
among the recommendations is a tuition increase for nonresident undergraduates of N.
N percent, a $N-per-credit-hour change that equates to a $N increase in tuition for full-time, out-of-state students.
the board also recommends a $N-per-term increase in the health center fee to accommodate significant growth in the number of students seeking help for mental and physical health concerns, a $N increase in the recreation center fee, and a $N increase in the emu fee.
in addition, the tfab also recommends accepting the proposals from schools and colleges for tuition rates for the university of oregon’s many graduate programs.
after meeting with students earlier this week to seek their input, i am writing to share with the broader student and university community that i intend to accept the board’s recommendation on tuition and fees for the next academic year.
pursuant to university policy, however, i will solicit additional public input on the plan before i forward my final recommendation to the uo board of trustees for consideration at its next regular meeting on march N–N.
this is a different tuition-setting process than in years past, and, to be clear, this recommendation does notaddress resident undergraduate tuition rates at the uo.
our in-state tuition rate closely correlates to state funding from the oregon legislature, which started meeting last month, and the university has joined all public universities in the state to make the case that higher education needs at least $N million in new state support to keep resident tuition increases at or below N percent.
the uo will delay setting resident tuition until may, when we hope to have a better sense of enrollment projections and how public higher education will be funded in the state budget.
we will conduct a public input process to set resident tuition that mirrors development of the nonresident tuition recommendation.
ensuring access and affordability to the uo for all oregon students is among my top priorities.
as noted in a recent op-ed in the oregonian that i penned with campus leaders representing students and the faculty and staff, the current state budget proposal contains no new funding for higher education.
given the complex set of increasing costs faced by the uo—many of which remain beyond our control—flat funding would create substantial financial challenges on our campus and for other institutions across the state.
the only way to address those would be through a combination of hefty tuition increases and difficult budget cuts.
i hope that it does not come to that, and we will work tirelessly over the coming months with stakeholders on campus and across the state to demonstrate the value of higher education and make the case in salem for additional state funding.
the state of oregon has made progress with regard to public funding for higher education over the last few legislative sessions.
unfortunately, the reality is that state support for colleges and universities remains below prerecession levels, is still among the lowest in the nation, and clearly is not keeping pace with increases in our operating costs.
as i wrote in the editorial, oregon cannot afford to fall further behind.
in closing, despite the challenges, i remain extraordinarily optimistic about the future of the university of oregon and am steadfast in my commitment to protect the progress we’ve made to enhance excellence in teaching, research, and support for student access and success programs.
together, we’ve come too far over the last few years to retreat, and we must remain vigilant in our pursuit of excellence in all that we do at the uo.
i welcome your input before i submit my recommendation to the uo board of trustees on friday, february N.
please provide any feedback on my proposals outlined here via this online form.
the online comments will remain open until N:N p.
m.
, wednesday, february N.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
president michael h.
schill gave the following remarks at the city club of eugene meeting on january N, N: good afternoon.
thank you to the city club for inviting me to talk about the university of oregon and our important relationship with eugene, the region, and state.
like the city club, the university of oregon is committed to open inquiry that advances society, and i look forward to a great discussion today.
i am pleased to be back to speak at the city club again to share the exciting progress we have made on the goals and priorities i first detailed three years ago, and to talk about our future plans.
before i talk about some of the great things that are happening at the institution, let me take a moment to comment on the important, mutually-beneficial relationship that the university of oregon and the city of eugene have enjoyed for almost N years.
it is obviously not without friction from time to time—that is to be expected in any town-gown arrangement —but i genuinely believe that eugene, lane county, and the southern willamette valley are vital components to the secret sauce that makes the uo the world-class university that it is today … a university that is on a trajectory to new levels of excellence and strength that will benefit not just the region but the entire state of oregon.
this place and this community matters.
when we talk to students about why they want to attend the uo or when we recruit faculty and administrators, living in eugene is frequently mentioned as a big plus.
people are attracted by the bucolic nature of community, by our culture of progressive engagement, and by the opportunity to live in a community that is both attractive, affordable, and safe.
we understand that the uo plays an integral role in supporting the region’s economy.
that role is only going to grow and strengthen in the years to come as the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact begins to take root and flourish and as we welcome the world to eugene in N for the track and field world championships.
we are all fortunate and we all prosper because of the strong symbiotic connection between the university of oregon and eugene.
since arriving at the uo, i have been delighted to find our mayor and city manager, as well as our council, to be great partners.
none of us should take this relationship for granted.
instead, we should work diligently to protect and nurture it.
now i’d like to transition to talking about some of the exciting things that are happening at the university of oregon, and i want to start with the priorities that we set when i arrived on campus three and a half years ago.
during my tenure at the university, i have been laser focused on improving the university of oregon and its ability to teach future generations and create impactful research.
while we have made tremendous progress toward achieving these objectives, they remain our fundamental priorities.
we want the university of oregon to be the very best public research university that we can be to benefit students, the state, and world.
to do that we continue to strive to: build our academic and research excellence; improve student access and success; and enhance the student experience and campus diversity.
for each of these priorities we have taken major leaps forward but for each we still have plenty of progress yet to achieve … for that we need the support of our community and so many others who understand the benefit higher education affords our economy and society.
now i want to talk about student access and success.
educating students from every walk of life remains our primary mission and we are committed to ensuring that every qualified oregonian student who wants to attend the uo has a path for doing so.
we want the uo to be the school of choice for the state’s best and brightest.
we want the uo to be the school of choice for all those who are the first in their families to attend college.
we want the uo to be the school of choice for graduates of our community colleges and for our returning veterans.
in order to achieve these goals we have our many merit- and needs-based scholarship programs like our incredibly successful pathwayoregon program.
we celebrated N years of pathwayoregon this fall.
this ground-breaking program provides full tuition and fees for academically-qualified, pell grant-eligible oregonians.
i want to emphasize the profound impact of pathwayoregon—which is focused on providing not just a free education to oregonians from low-income families—many of them are the first in their families to go to college and many are under-represented minorities—but we also wrap-around services to these students, including enriched advising, tutoring, and other academic support opportunities.
it has made a huge difference.
pathwayoregon was the first of its kind in the state, and to date, more N,N oregonians have received a free education at the uo thanks to the program.
this fall we welcomed our most diverse freshman class (N percent are ethnic or racial minorities) and our second most academically qualified class in history.
getting here is just the beginning, of course.
oregon has a problem in both k-N education and undergraduate education.
too few of our students graduate and some that do are not well-prepared for their future employment.
one critical way to address this is for the state of oregon to better fund education.
another ways to help is for us to be smarter about how we support students at the uo.
so we have also invested in student success with new programs, initiatives, and soon, a new space focused on student success—tykeson hall—under construction at the heart of campus.
the uo is reimagining how to combine academic and career advising to create a successful experience from the moment students step foot on campus to the time they leave and beyond.
we are hiring N new advisors to work in that building when it opens this fall, increasing our advising staff by over one-third.
even before tykeson hall, we have increased our four-year graduation rate from N percent to N percent.
it’s the best in oregon, but this is still not good enough, which is why we are doubling down on student success as we look to the future.
i will talk more about this in a moment.
turning to our academic and research efforts: as we shift into N, the N opening of the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact building is getting closer and closer.
it is hard to believe that it was almost two and a half years ago that penny and phil knight made a half-billion dollar gift to make this $N billion vision possible.
the knight campus allows us to dream big about our academic future and reinvent the way we think about applying scientific discovery to solve big problems.
all you have to do is drive past on franklin boulevard to see the physical progress on an amazing N,N-square-foot facility set to open this time next year.
our team has hit every milestone laid out for the knight campus on time or, in many cases, early.
when the vision for this project is fully realized over the next decade, the impact on the uo and eugene will be stunning: N new principal researchers and their teams will support about N new, high-paying jobs N new undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc researchers will work and learn in this new environment our faculty will conservatively bring N percent more federal money for research to our community this will translate into an estimated $N million in annual economic activity that spins off the knight campus, even before we begin to think about the discoveries, technologies, and cures that come from research conducted on the knight campus … research that will be focused on improving the health and wellbeing of the citizens of oregon, the nation, and the world yes, the vision is grand and audacious, but we are making tremendous strides toward its realization.
our director, bob guldberg, started work this summer, continued strategic planning, and launched our first faculty hires.
bob is an incredible researcher and entrepreneur in his own right.
guldberg studies muscle and bone growth and development, focusing on potential regenerative therapies following traumatic injuries and degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
his lab is already up and running as he continues his groundbreaking research.
the knight campus is allowing us to deepen our relationship with oregon health and science university.
ten research teams are already working together on promising programs to advance science and the human condition.
let me round out my comments about the knight campus by noting that it is recession-proof.
the project is fully-funded by the generous support of phil and penny knight, and the building, hiring, and work on the campus will move forward no matter what happens with the economy or state funding in the years to come.
but the knight campus is not the only initiative that we’ve launched over the last few years to strengthen our academic and research capabilities.
the university has continued to bolster its academic leadership as we have hired new deans and welcomed provost jayanth banavar.
we have also sharpened our focus on investing in academic strengths in promising areas.
a few examples: we have launched a new data science program focused on helping interpret and make sense of huge amounts of information.
this has applications in nearly every field imaginable from health care and science to linguistics and business marketing.
our nationally-ranked college of education recently received a $N million grant that will allow the educational and community support unit to continue its work helping teach students with disabilities.
it’s the largest grant ever awarded to our university and an example of the way in which our research is being applied to help local students and communities.
the university continues to invest in and carve out a name for itself in its innovative and collaborative programs such as zebrafish research, obesity prevention, neuroscience, sustainable and urban design, volcanology, green chemistry, and many other programs.
another key priority is enhancing diversity and the student experience.
as i mentioned, our student body continues to become more diverse.
but we are not satisfied.
thanks to the continued advocacy of students and faculty of color, we continue our efforts to recruit under-represented minorities to our campus and to make them feel welcome and part of our community.
some of the ways we’ve made progress to create a more welcoming campus with diverse perspectives and curriculum: we’ve broken ground on a new black cultural center created a black studies program revamped our multi-cultural curriculum we are in our third year of hosting an african american speaker series on campus renamed a residence hall for a prominent black alumnus and required all units to create and implement diversity action plans on campus as we continue to expand our academic offerings and enhance our diversity we will also modestly grow the number of students on our campus to meet the needs of our community and state.
we recognize that growing the institution, even if modestly, has an impact on the local community, and we are committed to working with our neighbors and partners to ensure that we thoughtfully manage those impacts and proactively work to mitigate potential challenges.
obviously, all of the progress we have described costs money.
turning to our fundraising campaign: this fall we extended our fundraising campaign by $N billion to $N billion.
it is likely that we will hit our original goal of $N billion in the next few weeks.
thanks to the urging and ambition of our supporters, rather than declare victory, we are upping the stakes and continuing to raise more money for the university’s highest priorities.
a major focus of this campaign extension will be on student success including: additional support for pathwayoregon and increasing merit-based aid like our presidential scholarship reducing the tuition for our nationally-ranked clark honors college increasing support for “dreamers”—students under daca and others not eligible for traditional financial aid increasing pipeline programs that help under-represented and first-generation students understand they can attend college continue to support expanded advising at the uo to help students find their passions and great careers after college expanding experiential and global studies programs that prepare students for the job market creating programing for the black cultural center our campaign extension will continue to seed these efforts as we also seek to build a new N,N-square-foot classroom building with a focus on environmental and sustainability programs.
we also will pursue new funding for the basic sciences, interdisciplinary projects in the humanities and social sciences, and the presidential science initiative.
the third pillar of our extended campaign is to complete fundraising for the knight campus so that it may reach its full billion-dollar potential.
there is so much to be excited and optimistic about, however the university of oregon does face formidable financial challenges.
my job as president of the university of oregon is to provide opportunity for oregon students, make this university the best it can possibly be, and ensure that every dollar we receive is well-spent and accounted for.
our operating costs continue to increase.
there is no escaping the reality that we are a people-centric enterprise, and those talented and hardworking teachers and researchers cost money.
more than N percent of our budget is personnel.
with pers and health care costs rising rapidly, a good portion of our budget is escalating out of our control.
on the revenue side, an equally large share of our budget, more than N percent, comes from tuition.
but we know that increases in tuition are challenging to students so we want to work hard to keep increases below N percent.
we must look to our elected leaders to ensure that higher education is better funded to benefit students, their families, and the state.
and to be honest, what we are hearing from salem so far this year is very concerning.
there is no more urgent need that increasing support to education, and that should k-N and undergraduate education.
we will be making our case in the coming weeks and months—proactively meeting with our alumni, legislators, employees, and labor leaders to advocate for more resources for higher education as we enter the next legislative session.
i look to all of you, as active community members, to help us remind legislators that having a strong public university that is accessible to students of all backgrounds is vital to our economy, prosperity, and happiness.
we would welcome your active support, so if you would like to help us make the case for education in salem, please let me or any of my staff know.
these are exciting and seminal times for the university of oregon and eugene.
i am honored to lead the institution during this important era of evolution and change at the state’s flagship institution.
more importantly, i am eager to build and strengthen our partnerships and relationships with the community to make eugene, the region, and state an incredible place to work, play, learn, and thrive.

.december N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in eugene: hello.
you have heard or will soon hear about many of the key initiatives and priorities of the university during this board meeting including: enrollment, student success, faculty hiring, budgeting, and—coming up this afternoon—tuition setting, legislative session, and the knight campus.
with so much of this already covered elsewhere, i will try to keep my remarks brief.
today i will talk about three things: the assessment of the college of arts and sciences structure, the data science program, and the potential changes to title ix and our efforts to address sexual assault.
i will start with cas.
as you know, earlier this year andrew marcus announced he would step down as dean, effective at the end of this month.
i am immensely grateful to him for his service, leadership, and fervent passion for the arts and sciences that he brought to his work.
this leadership change created an important opportunity to not only consider who should lead the college, but also to analyze the structure of cas to determine if the combination of disciplines is best suited to deliver on our mission of excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, and creative work.
as you all know, cas is the heart of the university, it is far and away the largest academic entity on campus, last year accounting for two-thirds of all credit hours and receiving more than half the general fund allocated to schools and colleges.
this is where most students take their core education courses and the academic area that anchors all students still exploring majors.
the question we seek to answer during this period of transition is whether the college in its current size and scope is optimal.
should it stay one college, be split into two or three colleges? and what would any such changes mean for other colleges, students, inter-disciplinary collaboration, and our overall aspiration of excellence? to consider these very important questions provost banavar and i sought nominations and empaneled N people to serve on an advisory task force to analyze the structure of cas.
the group is made up of faculty members and staff from natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities in cas, as well as one student, executive vice provost brad shelton, and two deans—sojc’s juan-carlos molleda and clark honors college’s gabe paquette.
senior divisional dean karen ford will chair the task force.
needless to say, the creation of this task force and talking about potential changes has created some uncertainty and insecurity among some members of cas and our university community.
indeed, some faculty members are convinced that jayanth and i already know what we want to do and are using the task force to implement that plan.
that is not accurate.
nothing could be further from the truth.
now is the right time to think about what we’re doing.
the task force will begin meeting soon and will continue its assessment through winter term with a charge to deliver its analysis to me and the provost on april N.
i expect that jayanth and i will come back to the board for a discussion of this matter in june.
i am extremely grateful to karen, and all the members of the task force for their service to the university conducting this important assessment and helping to advance humanities and the sciences on our campus.
and once again, i want to offer my thanks and very best to andrew marcus as he returns to the faculty.
he has served with grace and vision and thoughtfulness.
next, i am very excited to announce that the data science initiative has moved into the next phase of implementation.
biology professor bill cresko has been appointed founding director of the data science program.
he will work with faculty, staff, and students across campus, along with a steering committee of campus leadership to create and grow the research and educational components.
this is important on the research side and teaching side.
data is growing in importance in how we do research here and when students go out to get jobs.
in areas such as environmental big data, business analytics, biomedical data science, and data science of social interactions and social impacts, if affects every part of our university.
the focus of the data science initiative will be informed by the work of the data science visioning committee.
this group developed a comprehensive proposal for how best to develop the program.
jayanth and i approved their recommendations earlier for this process and we are very excited that data science is moving into its next phase of development.
as you all know, providing seed funding for this initiative on data science was one of the first investments i made from the fund for excellence created after we received an anonymous $N million dollar gift in N.
it is a major step forward.
it’s not going to be the easiest.
it is incredibly hard to hire top notch talent because google, amazon and similar companies are hiring the same people we want to hire.
we need to be creative and strategic about what we are doing.
this is very exciting and i am so grateful to bill for his work to advance this exciting and important realm.
finally, i want to talk about our efforts to address sexual harassment and violence on campus in relation to the federal government’s proposed changes to title ix.
as you know, title ix is the federal law that requires public schools and universities to provide equal access to education regardless of a person’s gender, which includes ensuring survivors of gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence, are able to continue to attend school and flourish.
last month, education secretary betsy devos proposed an overhaul of rules for how schools handle allegations of sexual harassment and assault under title ix.
those proposed changes are now officially out for public comment.
the N-day public comment period ends january N.
these proposed changes have raised concerns across college campuses, including at the university of oregon.
while we engage with many other institutions around the state and nationally in reviewing the proposed rules and providing commentary to the department of education, the university of oregon remains committed to our students, faculty, and staff and to ensuring that they feel safe and engaged in all of our facilities, programs, and activities.
we will continue in our efforts to reduce sexual assault and misconduct, discrimination and harassment, as well as assessing and innovating our prevention and investigation processes.
the proposed rules do not change our mission to ensure that all individuals can enjoy full access to their educational opportunities.
our title ix coordinator, darci heroy, and members of our general counsel office will be participating in the review and comment period, as we expect many other institutions will as well, and we expect to have robust and open conversations as we learn more.
members of the public should also feel free to submit their own comments to the department of education by following instructions in the notice of proposed rulemaking.
the initial assessment by our general counsel and title ix coordinator is that many of the proposed rules are consistent with our existing framework.
with that said, if the rules are finalized as currently proposed, we would have to consider some changes to our adjudication processes.
the standard of proof—preponderance of the evidence—would not likely change.
but rather some changes to the nuts and bolts of how the processes work might have to change.
for example, we may have to hold live hearings with cross examination conducted by advisors, based on the proposal as currently written.
we might also have to allow for different methods of questioning and information review by the parties involved.
there may be other changes as well, but, again, the rules are not final, and we are still reviewing the proposed rules and assessing their impact.
some of the proposed changes could be positive in giving survivors greater autonomy in choosing whether to move forward with a formal conduct process or whether to explore different alternative resolutions.
the proposed rules also give greater clarity on the expectations for support and interim measures to be provided to both complainants and respondents.
the proposed changes to the adjudication processes are mixed and involve some positives and negatives for both parties, but lean more heavily towards protections for respondents.
the bottom line is that our title ix experts are still analyzing a lot of this information and will work to provide input on the proposed changes.
and again, it does not change our intent to continuing to seek ways to improve our prevention, response, and adjudication process to keep students safe and able to pursue their education at the university of oregon.
one other note regarding this issue—the university of oregon is among the N institutions that will take part in the association of american universities’ sexual assault campus climate survey in late winter, early spring.
we participated in N and found the data very useful for advancing our efforts on campus.
students will receive more information about the survey next term.
this survey and many other ongoing effort on campus continue to help us seek to make this the safest campus possible for every student.
thank you and i am happy to take your questions if you have any.

.october N, N dear university of oregon community, saturday’s horrific massacre of N innocent men and women in pittsburgh, as they worshipped together, no doubt shocks each and every one of us.
it should.
the N souls whose lives were extinguished were targeted solely because of the god they worship.
these killings follow on the heels of the murders of two african american shoppers at a grocery store in kentucky last wednesday and the attempted delivery of pipe bombs to a number of people who were selected apparently because of their political beliefs.
the events of last week did not come out of thin air.
to say that our nation and our politics are polarized trivializes the problem.
civility and reasoned discourse seem to have given way to hate and the politics of distrust and division.
each day, we are assaulted by racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, misogyny, nativism, and homophobia, sometimes from the very people who have been elected to lead us.
in our bubble in eugene and on the campus at the university of oregon, we are not immune to hate.
last year the number of bias-related crimes and incidents reported to the city nearly doubled over the prior year.
on campus, we have seen fliers produced by white supremacist groups spewing the rhetoric of hate.
and, sometimes in class, we have experienced difficult moments where empathy has given way to antipathy.
i want to express my solidarity with all of the groups on our campus who have been the victims of hate and all who share in my outrage at the horrible events of the last week and the current state of affairs in our country.
but, there are two other important messages i would like to convey.
first, we are part of an academic community, one dedicated to rationality over emotion.
it is here, at the university of oregon, where each and every one of us has the opportunity to explore our differences, gain understanding of each other’s perspectives, and, with that understanding, hopefully banish demonization and replace hate with empathy and respect.
please expand your usual group of friends and engage in those conversations in the classroom, over dinner, and in the residence halls.
and seek out your advisors and professors, and other resources on campus if you need someone to speak with, or to find avenues to become more involved.
secondly, please take seriously your opportunity to vote.
as november N approaches, vote for candidates who model the behavior we want in our leaders.
regardless of party, vote for leaders who eschew hatred and bigotry.
vote for candidates who provide solutions to our problems and not just those who articulate our frustrations.
and whatever the results of the election, get involved and engaged—embrace our shared democratic values.
and as you engage and seek to fix some of the problems my generation has caused, model the type of civility and empathy that is so absent today.
take care of yourselves and treat each other with respect.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
dear members of the university of oregon community, the university of oregon is proud to be a welcoming and inclusive campus that supports the rights of every member of our community, including people of all genders and gender identities.
recently, there have been events that have left many transgender students and members of the faculty and staff within our community feeling concerned and vulnerable.
this is not acceptable, and i want everyone to know that the uo will continue to be a place where anyone can live and study in safety, with dignity, with authenticity, and in an environment that is free from discrimination.
we remain committed to providing safe and equitable access to all of our programs, activities, and facilities regardless of gender identity or expression.
the uo respects everyone’s right to self-determination and to live as their true selves, and in support of that commitment our institution continues to offer gender-neutral housing and bathroom options, gender-neutral support and education services, and programs that honor people’s pronoun and name preferences.
as our title ix coordinator recently stated in this message, our commitment to the fundamental protections of title ix remain unwavering.
i hope that those who need support will take advantage of the wealth of resources that are provided at the uo.
i want to reassure all of our students, the faculty and staff, and visitors to our campus that you are, and remain, welcome here at the university of oregon and an important part of our community.
best regards, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
dear university of oregon community members, when i arrived at the university of oregon in N, i heard the same clear and overwhelming message from virtually every constituency i met with: the university needed strong, decisive, and consistent leadership from johnson hall.
the faculty, staff, and alumni, along with our board of trustees, were not satisfied with the uo being known more for athletics and a recent incident involving sexual violence than our academics.
these internal concerns were reinforced by an article published in the chronicle of higher education my first year which pointedly bore the headline “an academic reputation at risk.
” the message was clear: we needed to focus on building excellence, which included both a greater emphasis on academic research and helping our students learn, graduate, and move on to successful and fulfilling careers—and we needed to do it right away.
after years of changes in our executive leadership and governance, our community was hungry for progress, but a simple question demonstrated the challenges that would need to be overcome in order to move the institution forward in a meaningful way.
i had not even unpacked my boxes when i asked how many faculty members would we have in september.
as it turns out, at the time no one kept that data in the central administration.
to make matters worse, we didn’t have the ability, for a variety of reasons, to get the data in real time from individual academic units.
my question and its answer, which encapsulated one of our greatest challenges, were just the first of many illustrations of the extraordinary decentralization of the university of oregon circa N.
i asked more and more questions, and learned that five of our eight schools and colleges were spending more each year than they were taking in.
i learned that, although some departments were experiencing significant drops in student demand, they continued hiring more teachers, all without oversight by johnson hall.
schools and departments spent millions of dollars on duplicative computer systems that did not speak to each other.
even more worrisome, those duplicative computer systems operated on an antiquated internet backbone that was in danger of collapse and which conveyed data at speeds so slow that it was faster for scientists to drive hard disks in their cars between eugene and portland than utilize our networks.
for a rich university, this type of wasteful behavior might be a sustainable, albeit indefensible, use of resources.
but not at the uo, where state funding regularly ranks among the lowest of its peer group.
we have taken a number of steps over the past three years to address some of those challenges and to make sure that we create a culture of transparency, efficiency, and accountability at the university.
for example, we now have current information on faculty members, student credit hours, and faculty workloads down to the departmental level.
this information is now available online.
we also have developed a centralized and transparent process for determining tenure-related hiring.
rather than having academic departments fill slots each year based on who has retired or left the university, they make recommendations to their deans, who then make recommendations to the provost based on an assessment of overall needs in their schools and colleges.
following a collaborative discussion among all deans and a committee of senior faculty members informed by data on operational and mission metrics, the provost publishes a plan authorizing searches for all to see.
in terms of the budget, we have sought to ameliorate the havoc that changes in student demand and state retirement and health-care costs have had on our academic departments by changing our financial model.
rather than continue the old practice of tuition following student enrollments, with all costs for faculty and administration picked up by the schools and colleges, we created a new system in which we pay for all tenure-related faculty members centrally and make budgetary allocations to schools and colleges for the rest.
we have also taken steps to realign some administrative services.
for example, rather than every administrative unit having its own independent communications staff, we have tried to improve collaboration and coordination and achieve economies of scale by moving to an integrated model.
we have begun rationalizing it services throughout the university to achieve better and more reliable service, greater data security, and hopefully some economies of scale.
most recently, we have realigned development staff to better meet the fundraising needs of the university.
in the campaign extension, which i announced last week, N percent of the fundraising will be done centrally, largely out of the president’s office.
at present, however, only N percent of the fundraisers report centrally.
obviously, some realignment of resources is necessary for us to be successful in raising money for university-wide priorities such as student advising, need-based scholarships, a new classroom building tentatively dedicated to environmental sustainability, and research initiatives.
when taken together, many of the changes we have made are quite significant, particularly in light of the historically decentralized nature of our university.
while all of the practices we adopted exist among many of our peer universities, there is no denying that the results have been jarring for some members of our community.
indeed, some have talked about the “centralization” of authority in a way that suggests a zero-sum game—increased authority in johnson hall must necessarily come at the expense of our colleges, schools, and departments.
i fundamentally do not see it that way.
i served as a dean for N years at two different universities prior to becoming president of the uo.
for good or ill, i always try to view campus decision-making through my current lens as president as well as from the perspective of a dean or faculty member.
to be candid, if i were wearing my dean hat, i would have mixed feelings about some of the changes we have made at the uo.
i would greatly appreciate that the financial risk for tenure-related faculty members and their benefits has been lifted from my shoulders.
i would also be relieved that the revenue of my college or school wasn’t solely determined by the course choices of undergraduate students.
and, if my own and my faculty’s priorities aligned with central priorities, i would be delighted to participate in university-wide initiatives.
on the other hand, i might not like the fact that the provost could second-guess my budgetary decisions.
i would be frustrated that some services i consume would no longer be under my direct control.
and, if my school or college’s programs did not align with central academic priorities, then i think i would feel left out or pressured to find ways to align.
i also probably would not love being held accountable for a set of metrics that i approved, but perhaps never wanted.
a more robust role for the president and provost in academic matters might also implicate issues of shared governance.
one of the great strengths of american higher education is that decision-making authority with respect to academic matters is shared among the faculty, deans, the president, and the provost.
this is the way it should be.
curricular decisions, degree requirements, faculty qualifications, tenure decisions, and similar matters should require faculty approval.
similarly, research and creative work are not done by administrators; they are undertaken by academic faculty members and judged through peer review.
many folks outside academia are critical of shared governance and express frustration with the slow pace of change it often fosters.
nevertheless, i remain firm in my belief that this is the best system i know of to promote the creation of knowledge and its transmission to future generations, and i will work hard to make it more effective at the uo.
i am comfortable that the greater role provost jayanth banavar and i are playing in our university is consistent with our joint commitment to shared governance and the appropriate role of faculty members as custodians of the institution’s academic mission.
each major initiative we have undertaken—whether it be the knight campus or the data science initiative—as well as possible future initiatives in resilience and the humanities and social sciences have been conceptualized and are governed by our faculty.
before we created the new faculty hiring process and budget allocation process, our ideas were discussed and modified after many meetings involving faculty members, deans, and members of the university senate.
and now that those procedures are in place, every faculty slot the provost approves in the institutional hiring plan has been proposed by the faculty and discussed by deans and faculty members.
of course, there is no precise formula to determine the appropriate balance of decision-making authority in a university.
it is fair to write that our old, extremely decentralized model was harmful to our mission and wasteful of resources.
the point of shifting some of the administrative burden to johnson hall is to establish the capacity to steer our university toward the goals we mutually agree to pursue and to create more bandwidth for academic leaders to attend to core local unit activities.
but we need to be careful that we do not go too far and lose sight of the fact that virtually all of the important work of scholarship and education takes place outside of johnson hall by our exceptional faculty members in our schools and colleges.
our deans and department chairs will always play the central role in setting local academic priorities, promoting world-class research, raising funds for these purposes, and serving the educational needs of our students.
as we begin the school year, i am excited about our future.
as i meet with presidents and teachers around the nation, i hear them talking about our great faculty achievements, about our research initiatives, and about our students and the education they receive.
i no longer hear about an “academic reputation at risk.
” as jayanth and i, along with our deans, lead the university, i commit that we will continue to seek out and listen to the views of all relevant constituencies, including the university senate and the asuo.
while we might not do what every person or group wants, i also commit that we will be transparent and give reasons to support our actions.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
dear university of oregon community members, in october N, before my arrival on the uo campus, the university announced what was then an audacious goal of raising $N billion to strengthen this institution in ways never before considered.
it has been an honor to work alongside so many of you toward this unprecedented goal.
thanks to the incredible generosity of our alumni and friends, we have reached $N.
N billion and will, at some point over the next year, cross that $N billion threshold.
it has been a massive undertaking that has transformed this campus in amazing ways and created new opportunities for oregonians.
i am deeply grateful to the more than N,N donors who have contributed to the campaign.
however, we are already looking ahead.
borrowing a metaphor from our track and field heritage, we intend to sprint through the tape and keep going.
as bill bowerman once said, “there is no finish line.
” in that spirit, i am pleased to announce that the uo will extend our fundraising campaign by adding $N billion to our goal.
why are we extending the campaign instead of declaring victory? simply put, each one of you has helped put the university of oregon in a position where we enjoy incredible upward, positive momentum.
as with all great universities, as we make progress we also see more opportunity.
what once seemed unattainable is now within our grasp.
our donors have told us they are ready and willing for even more success.
we want to harness this energy and raise the resources that will enable us to be among the very best institutions of higher learning in the nation.
the first focus of this campaign extension is fundraising hundreds of millions of dollars to secure access and success for students of all backgrounds.
over the past several months we engaged in strategic planning with deans, faculty, and other campus stakeholders to identify priorities, pockets of opportunity, and aspirational goals.
those conversations guided the creation of new fundraising targets, each grounded in our mission to be a great research institution that is committed to the success of our students.
here are some examples of what we will be asking our alumni and friends to support: we will raise millions of dollars in sustaining support for pathwayoregon—a groundbreaking program celebrating its tenth year—that provides free tuition and fees for qualifying federal pell grant-eligible oregon residents.
more than N,N students—over half of them first-generation college students and a large percentage of underrepresented students—have benefited from this program in the last decade, and we want to double, perhaps even triple, the pathwayoregon endowment to make it self-sustaining in perpetuity.
we will seek significant new resources for merit-based scholarships such as the presidential scholarship program, which awards up to $N,N per year to high-achieving oregon students.
to attract the best and brightest young scholars, we will seek additional scholarship support and prioritize reducing the higher differential tuition for the robert d.
clark honors college, which is ranked among the top N public honors colleges in the country.
the uo has always been a place that supports dreamers and daca students, many of whom are in this country and undocumented through no fault of their own, and whom do not qualify for federal aid.
while the uo currently provides a track for these students to attend college, we will raise funds to reduce the cost of attendance for these amazing students, who deserve access to the same opportunities as their peers.
we will boost financial support for pipeline programs—such as the summer academy to inspire learning and oregon young scholars—that demonstrate to young people throughout the state and nation that college education is within their reach.
we will help our students graduate on time and find jobs that will enable them to achieve their dreams.
we will raise funds to support the expansion of advising and employment programs in our new willie and donald tykeson hall, with its emphasis on college and careers.
we will partner with donors to invest in experiential education programs to give undergraduate students hands-on learning and research opportunities that position them to quickly move into the job market.
we also want to build campus resources that optimize the learning experience to ensure that the next generation of uo students have the types of facilities and classrooms that will enable them to discover and grow.
our plan is to seek funds for a new N,N-square-foot classroom and faculty office building tentatively earmarked for environmental and sustainability programming.
in addition, we will raise money to complete the black cultural center, which will break ground this fall, and ensure that we have the resources to support long-term staffing and programming in the new building.
but scholarships, advisors, pipeline programs, and new buildings are meaningless if they are not undergirded by world-class academic programs and faculty.
we are fortunate that we have a strong academic foundation across campus.
we want to further strengthen research by amassing resources for the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact and the new presidential science initiative.
this science initiative focuses on improving human life through the science of brains and behavior (neuroscience), chemical building blocks (material science), understanding and extracting knowledge (data science), and health and wellbeing (microbiome science).
we also will work with our faculty in the humanities and social sciences to identify interdisciplinary programs that could make enormous contributions to the state of humanistic knowledge.
these efforts will magnify those of our deans to fundraise for faculty support and research facilities within their schools and colleges.
our deans and campus leaders have worked hard to develop new fundraising priorities and goals in each of their units to take full advantage of the momentum of this campaign extension.
i look forward to working with them and their many volunteers in achieving new levels of philanthropic support for their individual programs.
as part of this work, we must achieve the goals of this campaign extension using existing resources.
last week, vice president for advancement michael andreasen unveiled a plan to reorganize development functions so that our limited personnel are assigned to support the areas that require the most effort.
new teams of central fundraisers will focus on access and student success, our classroom building and associated environmental research projects, and science initiatives.
the university of oregon is at an inflection point.
we are bending the arc of progress northward toward new levels of academic and reputational excellence.
extending the campaign by $N billion is an important way to leverage the creativity, curiosity, talent, and innovation of our faculty, staff, and students across this campus in transformational ways; to send the message that we are bold, independent innovators who will not be defined by our history or preconceived notions of what it means to be a public university.
this campaign extension is about engaging our exceptional faculty in further pursuit of academic excellence, providing new ways for our generous alumni, donors, and friends to support this amazing university, and telling the next generation of uo students that we are committed to giving them all the tools they need to be extraordinary.
i am excited to work with all of you to make these dreams a reality.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
dear university of oregon community members: it is incredibly exciting to see the university of oregon campus return to life at the beginning of the academic year.
the crisp fall air, the flaming hues of changing leaves, and hustle-bustle associated with move-in, the first day of classes, convocation, meeting new people, and rekindling friendships gives me a renewed sense of energy, hope, and enthusiasm.
i cannot wait to see what each of you—students and members of the faculty and staff—accomplishes and achieves in the coming year.
one of the shared values that binds us together as one of the nation’s great public institutions of higher learning is our commitment to students.
the primary mission of the uo is to create and convey knowledge to the next generation so they can go out into the world to become leaders, artists, innovators, musicians, scientists, teachers, small-business owners, informed citizens, critical thinkers, and problem solvers.
over the past several years, we have greatly expanded our efforts to ensure that students from every background and income level can come to the uo and succeed.
we just celebrated the Nth anniversary of pathwayoregon, an extraordinary commitment to the young people of our state that any federal pell grant-eligible student with a N.
N gpa or greater who is admitted into our freshman class will not pay tuition or fees.
the pathwayoregon program also includes best-in-class advising that has boosted graduation rates tremendously.
some N,N students have already received a free education thanks to this great program.
as pathwayoregon demonstrates, financial support is helpful, but does not eliminate all barriers to academic success.
we need to provide great advising to all of our students, remove curricular roadblocks to timely completion, and help students plan for life after graduation.
that is why earlier this year i committed to hiring N new advisors who will enhance our ability to guide students.
and we are going to try something new: academic advisors will not only be able to assist students in selecting their courses, they will also be able to help shape students’ careers.
we plan to have the vast majority of our new advisors hired and ready to go when the new college and careers building, willie and donald tykeson hall, opens in the fall of N.
research repeatedly shows that one of the keys to succeeding in college is feeling a sense of belonging and connection to the community.
we have done a lot in recent years to promote inclusion.
among the most important innovations are our first-year interest groups (figs) and our academic residential communities (arcs).
we now have more than N figs and N arcs.
over the past couple of years, we added figs in food studies, popular music studies, and digital arts.
we are also offering new arcs in health sciences and native american and indigenous studies.
in N, we are planning to open a new latinx arc.
while a lot of great things are in the works, we are not waiting until N to elevate our game.
i would like to share with you information about new academic resources we will provide to our students this fall: student one stop: this new website—www.
uoregon.
edu/onestop—connects students with the huge swath of support services available on campus, including information about academic and career advising, financial aid and scholarships, housing, class registration, safety, diversity resources, technology, and so much more.
in the past, due to the uo’s decentralized structure, finding these things on the uo’s many webpages was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
but now students can simply click the student one stop link at the top of almost every uo webpage and those resources will be at their fingertips.
it is easy.
use it.
guide app: this new mobile phone application connects students to a host of campus resources that are individually tailored to them—reminders on when it is time to apply for scholarships and financial aid, information about how to get a tutor or advisor for a specific school or college, how to prepare for an advising session, or how to explore student life resources.
students can search for and download the app “guide by eab global” and they will be prompted to access a custom university of oregon app that authenticates for each student.
the app then displays a unique dashboard for academic appointments, class schedule, major information, and more.
there is much more work to be done, but there is also so much to celebrate at the beginning of the term in our focus on advancing the uo’s ambitious student success efforts.
the new resources and tools we have launched this week are a meaningful down payment on our long-term commitment to student success at the uo, and i am confident they will pay dividends for our students in the years to come.
thank you.
as always, it is my great honor to lead the university of oregon.
i hope each one of you has a great start to the N-N academic year.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
september N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in portland: thank you, chair lillis.
let me first thank asuo president maria gallegos and vice president ivan chen for being here to represent student government.
ensuring that we have open lines of communications with our students is a high priority for me and my entire administration.
i am very much looking forward to working with maria, ivan, and the rest of asuo on making sure that student voices are heard and well represented.
i believe we have a good foundation for a fruitful and productive working relationship.
i look forward to working together with you and all students, faculty, staff, and alumni to advocate for the university of oregon, especially in salem, so that we get a good budget, which is essential to our collective success.
i also want to recognize senate president bill harbaugh, who is starting his second tour of duty as president of the university senate.
what is he thinking? i sometimes wonder when bill has time to eat or sleep, given that he is always teaching, in meetings to discuss senate business, or posting to his blog.
his energy really is amazing.
i will always view myself first and foremost as a member of the faculty, and i steadfastly believe in the principle of shared governance.
i remain deeply committed to working with bill and the rest of senate leadership in a consultative and collaborative manner on vital academic matters.
we have much to do in the coming year as we continue our march toward enhancing academic excellence at the uo.
i am confident that, though we may not always agree and sometimes engage in fairly heated debate, we have the underpinnings necessary for a respectful and constructive relationship.
and i think you are seeing some of the fruits of that in terms of what chris (sinclair, former senate president and vice president) talked about yesterday to the board in terms of core education.
thank you for your service bill and i look forward to continuing to work with you.
before i make some comments about the start of the term, i want to take a brief point of personal privilege to thank the university of oregon board of trustees for the faith and trust they have placed in me as president of this remarkable institution.
the last three years have literally flown by, and i am incredibly proud of the progress that we have made and the momentum that the uo currently enjoys.
i am surrounded by talented, smart, and capable administrators, faculty, and staff, and it is only with their support and skill that we’ve been able to achieve so much in such a short time.
it is my great honor to work with these people and to lead the uo at this pivotal point in the university’s history, a moment in time when we are re-imagining and reshaping what it means to be a flagship public research institution both in oregon and in this nation.
i am humbled by the board’s generosity to me in the form of a new contract.
as i have discussed with a couple of you, i plan to donate the entire performance-based bonus that you have given me to a scholarship fund in memory of my mother, ruth schill, who passed away almost two years ago.
i am proud to be a first-generation college graduate like many of our current students.
i was fortunate to have my mother’s support, encouragement, confidence, and love which convinced me that i could go toe-to-toe with anyone at princeton.
i can think of no better way to honor her memory than to establish a need-based scholarship that will be awarded annually to support a deserving first-generation student at the university of oregon.
the start of the academic year is just a few weeks away.
i can already see more faculty members buzzing around eugene and most will be back by september N.
incoming first-year students will begin moving into their residence halls shortly thereafter, with classes officially starting on september N.
the beginning of the academic year is always a time of hope, renewal, and excitement on the uo campus.
you can feel the campus starting to wake up and come alive with energy and excitement as we prepare for the start of the N-N academic year.
we have already kicked-off the new term celebrating something that has been absolutely transformational for so many oregonians—the N-year anniversary of pathwayoregon.
when pathway launched in N, this innovative program was the first of its kind in the state—covering N percent of the cost of tuition and fees for academically qualified pell-eligible oregonians.
more than that, we provide wraparound advising and academic support services to help these students succeed and thrive during their time at the uo.
over the years, parts of it have been copied by some of our peers across the state, and we consider that the highest form of flattery.
i always like it when we can be first, but that really is not the point.
what matters here is the amazing impact that pathwayoregon has had over the years, including: more than N,N oregonians have enrolled in pathwayoregon and graduated from the uo over the last decade.
that’s an amazing statistic when you stop to think about it—the number is bigger than our entire freshman class this year.
N percent of the students who have benefited from pathway over the last decade were the first in their families to attend college.
N percent of the pathway students over the last decade have been students of color.
the retention rate for pathwayoregon exceed the national average for first-year students by N percent.
today, more than N percent of the resident students who attend the uo are enrolled in the pathwayoregon program.
they pay no tuition, no fees, and many graduate with no debt.
i could talk for days about the impact of pathwayoregon, but rather than listen to me, i’d prefer to have you hear from our students in this video.
pathwayoregon, and the opportunities it provides our students, would not have been possible without the generous support of our alumni who have contributed generously to create an endowment fund and those who donate annually to the program.
at present, an endowment for the program funds about N percent of the annual cost of pathwayoregon.
i wouldn’t be surprised if you all heard an announcement in the next month or two of a major initiative to raise an additional $N million in gifts to significantly bolster that endowment for the long term.
to support that effort and to thank our donors, kyle henley and his communications team will launch a campaign next week marking the N-year anniversary of this amazing program.
it includes a website that tells the story of pathwayoregon and some of its graduates with words, data, video, photos, and much more.
in addition, the team will share that broadly with internal and external stakeholders and is working on public relations placements in media outlets throughout the state.
starting my substantive comments with a focus on pathwayoregon is a perfect segue into another topic that i will increasingly focus on this year—achieving significant milestones in the student success initiatives we launched about three years ago.
you’ll recall that it was in november N that we set a goal to improve the uo’s graduation rates and systematically look at how we can help our students graduate in four years.
the uo already has the best graduation rate in the state, but we obviously are not content with that and recognize that we owe it to our students, their parents, and oregon’s taxpayers to do all we can to improve our graduation rate.
i want to recognize the great work that associate vice provost for student success doneka scott has done over the last few years to bring us to a point where some of the things we have been working on are now starting to come online and bear fruit.
some of these achievements include: this fall, we will launch a “one-stop” website—www.
uoregon.
edu/onestop—to help our students tap into the huge swath of support services that are available to them—academic and career advising, financial aid and scholarships, housing, class registration, safety, clubs, and so much more.
in the past, due to the uo’s often decentralized structure, finding some of these things on the uo’s website was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
you can go from one site to another and another.
but now all a student has to do is click the “student one stop” link at the top of almost every uo webpage and those resources will be at their fingertips.
i like looking at things on a big computer screen or even on paper—some refer to it as analogue; perhaps the better word is old.
i am told that our students do everything on their phones these days.
this fall we have also launched a new mobile phone app called “guide” that will connect uo students with a host of campus resources that are individually tailored to them—reminders on when it is time to apply for scholarships and financial aid within a college, information about how to get a tutor or advisor for specific school or college, how to prepare for an advising session, or how to connect with some student life resources.
they will also be able to schedule appointments with advisors through the new app and eventually will also be able to schedule appointments with tutors.
we are not the first in this area, but we are pleased to be state-of-the-art.
these two new tools will complement each other and work in tandem with other student success investments that the board is well aware of—our effort to hire more than N new academic advisors and the construction of tykeson hall, which will open in N as a one-stop center for our career and academic advising programs and the home to the college of arts and sciences, division of equity and inclusion, and more.
we have searches underway for a tykeson hall director as well as a director of tutoring services.
there is much more work to be done, but there is also much to celebrate at the beginning of the term in our efforts to advance the uo’s ambitious student success efforts.
i would be remiss if i did not mention that one of our greatest campus partners in these endeavors—college of arts and sciences dean andrew marcus—has decided to step down at the end of the calendar year after more than five years as the leader of the university of oregon’s largest and most expansive college.
i am deeply grateful to andrew for his exceptional leadership of cas.
he has been a principled leader, a voice of reason, a source of institutional memory, and a tireless advocate for the faculty and students of cas.
the most enduring symbol of andrew’s legacy is tykeson hall, which is under construction in the heart of campus.
every day, i literally watch it rise from the ground outside of my office.
they are making great progress.
andrew’s vision is to create an innovative place where students can tap into academic advising, career guidance, and portfolio-building resources in one location.
it will be a place where generations of uo students will set themselves on a path to a more meaningful future, and it could not have happened without andrew’s leadership.
during his time as dean, andrew has realigned the college’s budget with transparency, fairness, and wisdom.
he has helped recruit and hire wonderful divisional deans and dazzling new faculty members as well as retain standout professors and researchers, efforts that have helped the uo solidify and strengthen its academic foundation in a wide range of disciplines.
andrew also launched new degrees and programs to serve the evolving demands and needs of students, including the center for environmental futures and the new black studies initiative.
i know firsthand how difficult the job of dean can be and i was a dean of a school with one department compared to andrew’s, which is more than N! i want to personally thank andrew for the tremendous impact he has had on the college and the broader university of oregon.
he leaves a deep and lasting legacy that will not be soon forgotten.
thank you, andrew.
provost banavar and i have already started consulting with the college’s leadership team and members of the cas faculty about how best to move forward when andrew steps down at the end of the year.
having strong, capable leadership within the college of arts and sciences is a top priority, and we intend to develop and share a search plan in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition in cas.
we are proud that the university of oregon is the great liberal arts university in the state of oregon.
and cas is the heart and soul of liberal arts at the uo.
with that, i will conclude my remarks.
i am happy to answer questions.
thank you.

.june N, N dear university of oregon community members, as we close out the N-N academic year, i offer my warm congratulations to all of our graduates.
i also want to thank everyone—faculty, advisors, graduate instructors and researchers, and staff—who helped our graduates reach the finish line.
i look forward to standing in matthew knight arena and watching those caps fly, as the class of N prepares to take flight.
together, we accomplished quite a bit this year.
we took big leaps forward in advancing our academic enterprise: we broke ground on the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact and hired a permanent executive director to lead this extraordinary effort to further the mission of science in the service of society; we invested in promising new academic programs—from data science and science media to embedding education researchers in high schools—and we continued to hire and invest in world-class scholars in fields such as obesity prevention, black studies, anthropology, and volcanology to name a few.
it is fitting that the year was bookended at the start by the groundbreaking for tykeson hall and at the end by the announcement that we will hire two dozen new advisors to work in that same building when it opens in N as part of our new expansion and integration of academic and career counseling.
i am incredibly excited to join with the college of arts and sciences, undergraduate studies, and student life in an initiative that will support student success from the moment they step foot on campus to the time students leave and beyond.
there is nothing more important.
as someone who will probably go down in history as the least athletic university of oregon president, i joined with many of you in cheering on the achievements of our scholar-athletes, both on the field and off.
in particular, i was thrilled and inspired by our pac-N champion softball and women’s basketball teams who demonstrated the very best in intercollegiate athletics time and time again.
i also enjoyed watching our students excel in activities as varied as producing art, making music, and acting.
for our university to soar we need to become more diverse and inclusive.
toward that end, over the course of the past year every school, college, and administrative unit created diversity action plans in their corner of campus.
we opened a new native american academic residential community, announced that we would build a black cultural center, and redoubled efforts to recruit and support underrepresented students, all of which was on display during last week’s showcase oregon.
like most universities across the united states, we experienced tension between the rights and values of free expression and the need to create a safe and inclusive environment on an increasingly diverse campus.
with few exceptions, these tensions were resolved in a way that should make us proud.
we also held robust discussions from a variety of perspectives and disciplines during our freedom of expression event series that explored our differences and commonalities.
as i wrap up my third year as president, i have been reflecting on what i’ve learned about our students and this paragraph is specifically addressed to them.
you are impressive, brilliant, passionate, and entrepreneurial.
while the vast majority of you love being part of our uo community, some of you feel marginalized and unsafe on our campus.
some of you do not feel heard or supported, or fear speaking up for what you need or believe.
i am reminded that we, as an institution, and i, personally, need to listen more, engage with you in a more supportive way, and strive to better understand all perspectives and needs.
this will be a priority for me and everyone on our campus going forward.
i want all of you—every student and every member of our campus community—to benefit from the amazing wave of success our university is riding.
we have some of the greatest minds solving big problems—from protecting our earth and making our bodies work better to creating new products and advocating for justice.
we are making a difference, making the world more beautiful and interesting, and preparing a generation of leaders.
we are, in short, part of something really special here at the university of oregon.
i am proud to be your president.
thank you for a wonderful academic year.
enjoy the summer.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
june N, N president michael schill delivered his remarks during the university of oregon board of trustees meeting on june N, N.
welcome to the board, marcia.
you have been a great supporter of the uo for years and you bring to us incredibly valuable experience and expertise with respect to executive leadership and k-N education.
i am closing my third year.
it is amazing to think we have wrapped up another academic year.
three years have flown by.
thank you, amy, for your service to our students.
we look forward to working with incoming asuo president maria alejandra gallegos-chacon and her executive committee in the year ahead.
i am sorry chris is not here for us to thank him for his service to the university as senate president.
welcome back, bill, for another tour of duty.
and as of yesterday’s senate meeting professor elizabeth skowron will be joining the senate leadership team next year as vice president.
elizabeth, we will look forward to working with you.
as we prepare to send another graduating class into the world, i want to touch on some of the successes and challenges of the N-N academic year.
this year we made tremendous progress on each of our key initiatives of improving academic excellence, student success, and advancing the diversity and experience on campus.
we've covered or will cover many of these issues during this board meeting, so i will only touch the surface of most of them.
feel free to ask me questions.
academic excellence the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact has rocked our world and indeed the whole world.
we have thus far raised close to $N million in gifts and state support, with the most recent being a gift of $N million coming from lorry lokey for faculty chairs and another $N million, which we will announce soon for faculty research support.
the vision is philanthropy and state support of about a billion dollars.
the support makes it possible, what goes on in the knight campus is what we do.
bob guldberg will join as director in july, and was here this week as we hosted our inaugural event in the knight campus lecture series.
digging has begun on franklin boulevard for two new, state-of-the-art laboratories where the knight campus will be located.
partnerships with ohsu have been created and we just launched a joint research program for eight uo/ohsu pairs of scholars.
david conover’s office has taken the lead on that.
we have a small grants competition.
i am very excited about the success so far.
contacts and partnerships with entrepreneurs and corporations are being explored.
this is part of what we told the state.
science in the service of humanities.
science is important.
period.
but the knight campus is about getting that science out into the world to make our world a better place.
an advisory board is being formed.
throughout the state and indeed, the nation, there is excitement and interest in what we are doing here.
we continued making more tenure- and tenure-track faculty hires this year.
when all of the comings and goings are settled this year, we expect to have increased our ttf ranks by more than N individuals since we set our aspirations toward this goal of N.
this is a net increase which includes our retirement.
this year’s hiring spanned all of the schools in the university although we have had some focus on priority areas such as black studies and genomics.
next year, as you heard, provost banavar has approved a hiring plan, which will include focused hiring for the presidential data science initiative, the knight campus, the business school, and hiring in every part of the university.
we re-opened the beautifully renovated chapman hall, home to our honors college, as we continued to invest in modernizing our research and classroom infrastructure including those in pacific and klamath halls.
we have prioritized eustis hall in our next biennial capital request to the hecc.
yesterday we saw it ended up fairly high on the state list.
our laboratories are untouched for decades, and so we need to renovate them to serve our faculty and students.
i’ve talked to you in the past about our investments from the presidential fund for excellence, which was made possible by an amazing anonymous gift.
you have already heard about data science, sojc’s new media center for science and technology, the college of education’s oregon research schools network, and our matching program for up to nine new endowed faculty chairs—one for each college or school and one each for the three divisions in cas.
we have so far successfully matched three—music and dance, the natural sciences in cas, and the lundquist college of business.
we have also invested in two really exciting academic programs in the college of design—the urbanism next initiative that examines the impact of autonomous vehicles on cities and the biology and built environment center that studies the impact of building technologies on health and the environment.
access and success and as we discussed yesterday, we are using a portion of the anonymous gift to seed the extraordinary expansion of advising that will take place in tykeson hall.
related to student success, carrying loads and graduation rates continue to increase.
our most recent data indicates that we have a seven percent increase.
we expect that to fluctuate in the next year or two.
we expect even more dramatic progress as tykeson hall comes on line with an additional N advisors.
we have also expanded pathwayoregon and increased our commitment to the state of oregon by increasing our resident enrollment.
what is remarkable about pathwayoregon is when we started this program we budgeted for N,N students.
we are on track to enroll as many as N,N pathway students; over one-quarter of all resident students.
it is an $N million dollar a year commitment to serve bright, lower income students in the state of oregon who want and deserve all the benefits a college education will bring them.
diversity and student experience equity and inclusion is vitally important at our university and its importance grows each year as our student body and our state becomes more diverse.
vice president for equity and inclusion yvette alex-assensoh will present on the ideal framework and its implementation through diversity action plans later today.
we have also made great progress over the past year in implementing our response to several of the demands of the black student task force including: implementing a new multicultural requirement.
offering a second year of the african american lecture series–which by all accounts was another success.
continuing our work on creating a black studies program.
and planning and fundraising for a black cultural center, which now has architectural renderings.
we expect to break ground in the fall as we continue to fundraise.
this year we opened our native american academic residential community housed at the new kalapuya ilihi residence hall, which you saw at a previous meeting.
we worked hard to advocate for the preservation of daca and continue our work to ensure latino students from across the state come to the uo and receive support and connections once on campus.
like other universities throughout the nation we are challenged by the growth of diversity on campus, the desire for inclusion, and our commitment to freedom of speech.
although we thankfully escaped visits from controversial troublemakers like milo yiannopoulos and richard spencer, we experienced some protests and interruptions by students and incidents involving the posting of white supremacist propaganda on campus.
last summer i asked deans juan-carlos molleda and marcilynn burke to put together a set of events throughout the university on freedom of expression.
these events took on even greater meaning after charlottesville and the interruption of my state of the university speech in october.
the lectures, roundtable discussions, art exhibits, and other events explored the tension between free expression and creating an inclusive campus.
in all, we hosted more than a dozen events on a variety of thought-provoking topics.
i was impressed with the discourse, energized by our student’s insights, and frankly, i came away with some new thoughts and perspectives on our fundamental legal and ethical responsibilities when it comes to speech and expressions.
funding we have talked at length about our budget, so i will not revisit the topic, except to say that funding is and will remain our greatest challenge in the coming years.
we, like all universities in the nation, have increasing costs relating to wages and health benefits.
but what is particularly damaging to oregon public universities (and to the entire state) is the cost of pers.
as you remember, this year and next year we had to add to our recurring expenses $N million to pay for pers.
for fyN we expect to add $N million more.
that is $N million per year; the equivalent of over N faculty members! as you know we have entire teams working on this because we know that we cannot continue to deliver an excellent education without more money to cover the large increases.
and our students and their families are counting on us to stretch every tuition dollar and to provide our students with an outstanding education and opportunity to participate in world-changing research.
that brings me to the two new topics i would like to briefly discuss: differential tuition at the last board of trustees meeting in march, you voted to allow to allow the university to charge differential tuition for the lundquist school of business.
at that meeting i told you that i would bring to you a framework that would help guide the deans, provost, and ultimately me, in future proposals.
after several months of discussion and consultation, i would like to present you with that framework.
the framework includes consultation with the asuo and the senate budget committee, the latter with a particular focus on academic impacts that may result from a proposal.
while the senate did pass a resolution last week to establish a task force on differential tuition, we have been told that they are likely to not do that because the senate budget committee has a role per framework.
i think that’s right—we do not need more university task forces that simply duplicate work; we need to collaborate and work together.
the framework is focused on some core principles that center on the value to and impact on students, as well as an ancillary impact on the school and entire institution or other programs.
you have the full framework and i will review that briefly here.
any proposal to enact differential undergraduate tuition should: demonstrate the tangible value to students that warrants increased costs, such as the potential for greater earnings, improve student services, or accelerate time to completion.
demonstrate how differential tuition would substantially increase the quality of the student experience.
provide a plan for how the school/college will mitigate the impact of the proposal on students with the greatest financial need, especially to avoid “major shopping” where students may select majors based solely on affordability.
focus on strategic investments or services that could not otherwise be provided without serious detriment to the school/college.
contain an analysis of market comparisons and information at comparator institutions.
show that the proposal has been thoroughly vetted at the program or school/college level before submission to administration, with particular attention to student review and input.
be made available to the senate budget committee for review.
while this framework is not something you will vote on, i wanted to share with the board how we are thinking about these guidelines, and how we hope to move forward.
honorary degrees finally, after a decade-long hiatus, i am pleased that we have begun a process to again to bestow honorary degrees to outstanding individuals who have shown outstanding scholarship or artistic achievement in their lifetime, or performed extraordinary public service or contributions to society in their lifetime.
later today we will discuss the two names forwarded for your consideration: businessman and philanthropist lorry lokey and artist carrie mae weems, both of whom are oregonians who have made significant contributions to society.
if you approve these individuals as honorary degree recipients later today and if they accept, we will move forward on details around a visit in which they can engage with the community.
our hope is that mr.
lokey can attend commencement on the Nth given his proximity to eugene and his plans to already be in the area, and that ms.
weems might be available to visit in the fall when students and faculty are available to celebrate her artistic works.
i look forward talking more about both of them, but for now i will let us get back to the agenda.
thank you.

.june N, Ngood afternoon, i’m michael schill, president of the university of oregon.
welcome to showcase oregon.
this celebration of the university of oregon’s work to advance and sustain equity and inclusion on our campus happens every two years—and so much has happened to both activate, advance, and challenge our university’s work in this arena in two short years.
our campus, state, country, and indeed the world, has been undergoing a revolution of sorts in how we perceive privilege, treat one another, and tackle hard issues such as racism, homophobia, misogyny, white nationalism, and more.
i know there are many of you in the room who have been fighting these battles for a lot longer than two years; some have been fighting for decades and generations to create a world in which every person is able to live their lives without bias and judgment based on the way they look, who they are, what they wear, who they love, how they express themselves, or where they come from.
in fact, the work on the ideal framework began about four years ago… about one year before i arrived on campus.
even though i did not begin the process i am proud that i made it a priority and accelerated this important work in ways that moved it beyond planning to the current phase of implementation.
aspects of the implementation process were prompted and informed by a number of national and international issues, but the foundation for this work made our response to these issues much more effective.
for example, over the last two years as the black lives matter movement gained momentum our campus challenged itself to address the demands of the black student task force.
our country faced the end of daca and challenges to dreamers’ ability to work and gain an education in this country.
our campus has benefitted by the work of the latino strategies group in designing a training that is helping to institutionalize resources and support on our campus for dreamers.
white nationalists and the antifa brought violence to american streets and some college campuses, the me too movement empowered women to stand up to their harassers and for people to finally listen and believe those who’ve been beating these drums for decades.
our understanding of gender expression and the many forms in which we see ourselves as people and live authentic lives took leaps forward.
and each of these movements and changes had impacts here at the university of oregon.
indeed, we have been reworking our processes and policies to ensure that we have the best strategies in place for addressing these issues.
and we are celebrating an important milestone today at this showcase.
diversity, equity, and inclusion are vitally important at our university and its importance grows each year as our student body and our state become more diverse.
it is important for the quality of the education and research we impart and produce.
under the direction of vice president for equity and inclusion yvette alex-assensoh and her team of colleagues in dei, as well as the leadership of the schools, colleges, and administrative units, we are moving from planning into the “activation stage” through the our diversity action plans.
units all across campus have created plans to help make the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion a reality on our campus.
additionally, five working groups are gathering to study and make recommendations about how to provide campus-level support for climate surveys, implicit bias, onboarding, recruitment, and leadership succession plans for my review and consideration.
i invite you to visit their posters and provide feedback that can be included in the final recommendation.
we also have a host of panels, known as dap-talks, on issues that are important to our success and we are grateful to the presenters and facilitators from campus and beyond who are leading this aspect of our engagement.
as part of our dap-talks, i encourage you to visit with our newly elected asuo officers and other students to learn about next year’s work, as the asuo can be an important leader and partner in these efforts.
i invite each of you to review the posters, attend dap-talks, and at the end of the day, celebrate the successes of our campus with the awards ceremony.
thank you, yvette and to the entire staff of the division of equity and inclusion, and all who helped make this event a reality.
we are also very grateful to scholars and practitioners from university of california at irvine, dr.
douglas haynes and former pdcc member dante james and christina james, of the gemini group, who are infusing our day with latest information on best practices and also providing individual consultation for all of the daps.
this is one day, but we must make it a continued, focused priority every day.
thank you for being here and for your work to advance this critical work.
enjoy showcase oregon!.
the associated students of the university of oregon recently approved a resolution in which they endorsed the boycott, divest, sanction (bds) movement against israel and resolved to prohibit the purchase of products from certain firms because of those companies’ presumed connections to israel.
the nonbinding resolution refers only to expenditures and purchases of the asuo, and encourages the broader campus community to follow suit.
it did not explicitly adopt the parts of the bds agenda that call for a boycott of intellectual engagements and collaborations with israeli universities and scholars.
first, i would like to acknowledge the respectful manner in which students debated the issue.
the arab-israeli conflict is one of the most difficult social and political issues of modern times, and it is very important that our community approach discussions of this matter with mutual respect.
while emotions understandably were high, that respectful behavior was manifest at the asuo meeting at which this topic was debated.
i would also like to acknowledge that the asuo didn’t go so far as to adopt the tactics of the bds movement with respect to boycotts of intellectual interchange between israel and other nations.
not allowing the free interchange of scholars would harm the very mission of our university and interfere with academic freedom.
while i wholeheartedly support the right of our students individually and as members of a student organization to express their first amendment-protected opinions, i feel it is important to briefly comment on the asuo action because it contradicts the asuo mission to support the interests of all students in a diverse community.
the university of oregon is committed to the principle of inclusion, and over the last three years each school, college and administrative unit on our campus has focused – through the ideal framework and diversity actions plans -- on efforts to enhance and strengthen policies and practices that make this campus welcoming and inclusive to all.
i believe the asuo resolution is inconsistent with these values.
regardless of the relative merits of the palestinian authority and the state of israel, it is important that all of us make every effort we can to avoid dividing our community along the lines of ideology, religion or national origin.
to many jewish people, myself included, the bds movement not only seeks to criticize the policies of the current israeli government, but also calls into question the very right of the state of the israel to exist.
as asuo considers future legislative actions on behalf of the student body, i hope our student leaders will seek ways to band together in support of our common humanity.
i am looking forward to partnering with our campus community – including asuo and all student organizations – toward that end.

.may N, Ndear colleagues, ensuring the university of oregon has an inclusive and welcoming campus for students, staff, faculty, and the community is a top institutional priority.
we must continuously look for ways to strengthen and enhance efforts to address and reduce incidents of discrimination and harassment.
to further these efforts, the uo is consolidating its title ix and affirmative action and equal opportunity offices under a newly formed office of civil rights compliance.
the new unit will be led by darci heroy, current associate vice president and title ix coordinator, and will report directly to the president with dotted lines to the vice president for student life and vice president for finance and administration.
the move to streamline operations and merge these investigatory functions aligns the uo with emerging best practices within higher education as institutions across the country seek to improve consistency and coordination of policies and processes for investigating and responding to all forms of discrimination and harassment.
the new office of civil rights compliance will bolster the uo’s investigatory capabilities, reduce confusion about where to report, and ultimately improve our ability to respond to and resolve a variety of civil rights complaints.
the restructuring will bring together two offices that have similar investigatory roles on the uo’s campus.
the title ix office is responsible for institutional oversight of all complaints related to gender discrimination and sexual harassment.
the aaeo office is responsible for managing complaints of other discriminatory or harassing behavior, including discrimination based on race, age, disability, or national origin.
the two offices already work closely on a variety of issues and initiatives, and we believe they will function even more effectively as a combined unit with consistent processes, oversight, and management of all claims of discrimination at the uo.
other important functions of the aaeo office, such as disability accommodations and affirmative action reporting, will remain in the office of human resources portfolio.
under this new structure, there will no longer be a separate aaeo office or director.
people involved as a complainant or respondent in an outstanding case with either the aaeo or title ix office will have their cases continue without interruption.
in the coming weeks and months, the office of civil rights compliance will roll out new tools for reporting any incident of harassment or discrimination.
during the transition period, here are the key contacts: for questions about issues related to all prohibited discrimination and harassment, employee reporting obligations, or to make a report, you can contact darci heroy (non-confidential) at N-N-N or titleixcoordinator@uoregon.
edu.
for concerns involving students, contact the confidential crisis staff in the dean of students office at N-N-N, via the safe line at N-N-safe, or visit safe.
uoregon.
edu.
for questions or information related to workplace disability accommodations contact martin stanberry, ada coordinator, (non-confidential) at N-N-N or martin@uoregon.
edu.
for questions or information related to affirmative action, contact judy rideout, senior affirmative action specialist, at N-N-N or jbr@uoregon.
edu.
we believe this new structure will continue to improve our investigation and response functions, and ultimately better serve our university community.
if you have any questions or concerns feel free to reach out to any of us.
you can also connect with darci heroy at N-N-N or titleixcoordinator@uoregon.
edu.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law jamie moffittvice president for finance and administration r.
kevin marburyvice president for student life.
april N, N as a leader in higher education, the university of oregon has a profound duty and mission to promote and celebrate diversity of all types.
bringing people of different backgrounds and beliefs together lifts communities throughout our state, nation, and world and also enhances our primary missions of education, research, and service.
in addition, perhaps more than ever, each of us needs to understand the perspectives of people who are different from ourselves so that we might build a community based upon trust and mutual respect.
endeavoring to create a diverse community is not enough.
for all of the benefits of diversity to take root and flower we must ensure that all students, faculty, and staff feel embraced and part of our community.
this is the principle of inclusion.
and sometimes we have to go further to ensure that real, rather than symbolic, inclusion occurs—in other words, we may need to take actions to provide different groups particularized support.
this is reflected by our commitment to equity.
we promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in many ways—through our outreach and pipeline programs, admissions policies, curriculum, and support for multicultural groups.
we also sponsor or support an amazing variety of extracurricular events meant to educate and enrich, including this month’s indigenous devotion to education awards, professor regina kunzel’s talk on queer history, the screening of damon davis’s documentary on standing up to oppression, and the “don’t touch my hair” exhibit at the jordan schnitzer museum of art.
despite our efforts, there is still more work to do.
also, we are not an island; we are challenged by outside forces.
racism, misogyny, antisemitism, xenophobia, and intolerance for people of different gender identity and expression and sexual orientation are a part of our nation’s history.
progress has been slow and not in a straight line.
with the polarization that accompanied the election of N, ugly acts of hate have intensified throughout the united states, in oregon, and even in eugene.
we see this in vile messages sometimes posted or chalked throughout our campus.
we hear it in the occasional taunts of white supremacist visitors to our campus.
you might be wondering what the specific purpose is of this message.
i have written and spoken numerous times condemning the intolerance of racists and white supremacists, supporting the rights of dreamers and our lgbtq and native nations communities.
well, it is clear to me that from time to time our collective community, particularly our most vulnerable members, need to hear that the leaders of the university remain deeply committed to and protective of our core principles.
a second reason for this message is to express my unwavering pledge to doing everything within the law to ensure that the voices of hate do not threaten our community.
while we cannot under federal and state law or university policy prohibit people from coming on to campus and expressing their views, we can and will require them to follow university rules governing conduct.
if those rules are not strict enough, we will work with the university senate to change them.
we will also go further and take actions to protect members of our community who are targeted, harassed, or physically threatened.
if you hear of someone who plans to come on to our campus to spread hate, or if you or someone you know is threatened, please let us know by visiting the respect.
uoregon.
edu website or by calling N-N-N.
each provocation by ignorant haters will be met by an even more vigorous effort to promote the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion that we cherish.
as many of you know, all of our units on campus are implementing diversity action plans.
in june we will provide an opportunity to share the work that is ongoing as well as the additional steps that we are taking as a campus to embed equity, inclusion, and diversity into the fabric of campus life.
we will continue to work vigorously with our diverse student organizations, faculty and administrative groups such as native strategies, adpi, los patos, and black strategies, and with the university senate to empower, incorporate, and celebrate our differences, while at the same time not losing sight of the fact that we are part of a broader community committed to learning and tolerance.
we will continue to fight for the rights of our dreamers to remain in the united states and get their degrees.
i invite each of you to join us in this effort to reclaim and promote our shared humanity.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
april N, N president schill delivered the following remarks during an unveiling of the new hayward field.
welcome to all the members of our university of oregon community who are with us today.
welcome faculty, staff, students, alumni, neighbors, and friends.
today, i have the privilege of announcing a major new milestone in the advancement of the university of oregon, a progression that has been primarily fueled by the generosity of our alumni.
the university of oregon is on a rapid ascent toward achieving our highest aspiration—of taking our place among the great public research universities in the nation—so that we may amplify our ability to discover, to prepare the next generation of students for purposeful lives, and to create impact that makes our world a better place.
when i stated that goal nearly three years ago upon my arrival in eugene—following many years of leadership churn and state budget cuts—i know a lot of folks must have thought i was delusional.
but i also experienced a sense of hope, hunger, and recognition—in other words, a belief—that oregon, with the right support, could make a surging come-from-behind move, just as our track and field, softball, football, and basketball programs had, under the right care and leadership.
we asked our faculty to dream big.
how could we achieve prominence? they answered with an idea to create a brand new campus linked to the main campus but separate in its inclination.
eighteen months ago we received the largest gift ever made to a public flagship university—half a billion dollars—to launch the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
we have recruited an eminent director and the first two buildings will soon mark the entrance to our campus in grand style.
the knight campus and the excitement around its announcement has created a virtuous cycle.
we now regularly recruit terrific faculty who come because they understand that the knight campus, the energy it creates, will provide the momentum for growth in their own fields.
people like nobel laureate david wineland and neuroscientist david mccormick.
civil rights historians leslie alexander and curtis austin.
award-winning author and graphic novelist mat johnson.
even more important, the promise of our trajectory has stemmed the outflow of our leading faculty to other schools.
people understand that we mean business when we say that that our ascent will be steep.
additional philanthropic support has followed phil and penny’s gift to feed our academic programs—a $N million anonymous gift for our highest priorities, a $N million gift from tim and mary boyle to restore our edge in zebrafish research, a $N million investment in new faculty chairs from lorry lokey, and a recent mellon foundation grant to fund the environmental humanities, to name a few.
this series of events in recent years—an independent board, strengthened administrative and academic leadership, outstanding faculty achievements, extraordinary philanthropy from amazing donors and friends, the successful launch of the knight campus—have set the university of oregon on a rocket-fueled course toward new levels of excellence and national prominence, a course that is unprecedented in our history.
i would in fact posit that it is unprecedented among public institutions of higher education in this country in this modern era.
our current trajectory toward eminence would not have been possible were it not for the generosity of two people—phil and penny knight.
from the beginning phil and penny believed in a vision that a great public university needed to have a strong academic foundation.
three multi-million dollar gifts made in the Ns—the biggest in our history up to that time—expanded and modernized our library, the hub of intellectual activity on campus; established the knight endowed chairs and professorships for our best and brightest faculty; and funded the construction of our law school building.
a great public university is defined by incredible academics but punctuated by tremendous athletic programs.
and phil and penny made sure that the uo had best-in-class facilities by playing leading roles in the building of autzen stadium, hatfield-dowlin complex, jaqua academic center for student athletes, matthew knight arena and marcus mariota sports performance center.
and today we celebrate another milestone in our trajectory, another magnificent act of philanthropy led by phil and penny, one that is particularly meaningful to me and our entire community—the next chapter in the university of oregon’s legendary track and field program.
when i made my first visit to campus in N, people took me around to show me what took place where: path-breaking science took place in the lokey science complex; accounting and business research and teaching at lillis; social sciences faculty in plc.
football was across the river.
but the heart and soul of our campus was at hayward field.
we could spend the whole day talking about the historic moments that have taken place at hayward field: where steve prefontaine broke records, push boundaries, and became a legend.
where mary decker and annette peters dominated and thrilled the nation.
where great distance runners became known by just one name: renfro, davis, pre, salazar, chapa, rupp.
where nick symmonds led three locals to a mind-blowing sweep of the N.
where ashton eaton redefined what it meant to be the world’s greatest athlete.
where english gardner planted seeds of greatness that flowered into olympic gold and raevyn rogers anchored an oregon triple crown—magic moments that are part of track and field lore.
but perhaps the most consequential moment occurred just over N years ago when a skinny, tow-headed kid from portland stepped on the hayward field track and met a man named bill bowerman.
the rest, as they say, is history.
today as we celebrate the next chapter of hayward field, we also celebrate something at once more personal and yet universal—the relationship between a runner and a coach; a teacher and a student; an inventor and an entrepreneur; and between an alumnus and his school.
with a deep appreciation of where we have come from and a profound optimism for what is yet to come, i am thrilled and honored to unveil designs for the university of oregon’s new hayward field.
the new hayward field will be the finest track and field facility in the world when it is complete in N.
fully funded by gifts from phil and penny and more than N additional donors, the revitalized and reimagined hayward field will give athletes—including the u of o’s outstanding student athletes—a magnificent, unparalleled stage on which to boldly showcase the power, beauty, and capabilities of the human body—to run, to jump, to soar, and to push the limits of what is possible.
in N—more than N years after the first track was installed at hayward field—this hallowed ground will be the centerpiece for the iaaf world championships oregonN.
the eyes of the world will be on eugene, oregon, as athletes from every corner of the globe come to our beautiful and vibrant city and state to take part in a global athletic event that is only eclipsed in stature and size by the olympics and world cup.
it will be an extraordinary opportunity for our university, our community, and our state to command the world’s attention and tell our story—the story of bowerman and knight and prefontaine, but also the story of george streisinger and ken kesey and geraldine richmond.
our new hayward field is about so much more than one historic event—it will be home to the university of oregon’s championship track and field program led by coach robert johnson.
it will be a venue for pacific-N championships, ncaa championships, the prefontaine classic, the olympic trials, state high school championships, all-comers meets, and much, much more.
the new hayward field will continue to be the heart and soul of the track and field world, the birthplace of the running movement, as well as a cherished asset that everyone in eugene and throughout oregon can claim and be proud of.
the new hayward field will honor the legendary student athletes and coaches who have competed and led here, and it will be an unrivaled canvas for the legends that are to come.
this new facility will be a place fitting for the university of oregon to honor our past and celebrate our future.
i know for many people, oregon’s track legacy is tied to its physical space, and some will have mixed feelings about seeing the east grandstands replaced with a new silhouette.
however, our storied and historic track and field legacy is not made of wood and metal, it’s made of the people who competed here, the sweat and tears of the athletes, the leadership of coaches, the cheers of the fans, the crushing defeats, and majestic come-from-behind wins that made our pulses race and our hearts flutter.
hayward field is a culture as much as a place, and that culture, built by hayward, bowerman, knight, prefontaine, and so many others, will live on—and flourish—here.
this amazing complex will also be more than a world-class and highly sought-after sports venue.
from the new iconic bowerman tower, generations of admitted students, faculty recruits, and visitors to the university of oregon will get their first panoramic glimpse of our beautiful campus and a sense of how they will fit into our community.
and once they arrive, those who are interested in human physiology will study there.
dedicated laboratory and classroom space will help advance our understanding of the human body and the limits of human performance.
we will work with our faculty partners to ensure that the academic facilities incorporated into hayward field match the quality of the competition field.
this is just one piece of an important campus-wide transformation to ensure that we have the facilities necessary to serve the evolving demands of our faculty and students.
before i close, i ask that you indulge me a moment with a personal reflection about the two people who have made today possible—phil and penny knight.
when i was first contacted about becoming your president more than three years ago, i saw the potential of the university of oregon.
the university had a proud history of being the home of iconoclastic and entrepreneurial graduates and professors.
it had a strong reputation appreciated by people who never stepped foot anywhere near the state of oregon.
it had just gained independence to advance its mission and attract philanthropy from alumni whose love for the university was as wide as the willamette is long.
in short, it was a school ready to assume its rightful place among the very best universities in the nation.
but a lot of universities have good governance structures, storied histories, and great ambitions.
yet they do not have the trajectory we enjoy now, nor that i predict we will have in the future, because their university families do not include folks like phil and penny.
their love, their devotion, their resources to building our university provides not only the current wherewithal for us to move forward, but it provides an inspiration to alumni who will follow them.
as i told them on the day we had that wonderful announcement unveiling the miraculous $N million gift to fund the knight campus N months ago, phil and penny knight give us the ability to dream.
those dreams can include national championships.
they can include nobel prizes.
they can inspire young people from the forgotten places, the savannahs of kenya, the streets of montreal, the suburbs of portland, the coasts, forests, and high deserts of oregon—who can come to the university of oregon to succeed.
the u of o is a place where they can dream big and prepare for—as phil knight’s coach and teacher, bill bowerman, spoke of often—the struggles and competitions that lay ahead, far beyond oregon.
today we celebrate—as we come out of the curve and into the straightaway of the university of oregon’s ambitious race to greatness.
the message for every student, every faculty and staff member, and every alumnus is clear: don’t come to the university of oregon to be the best in town.
don’t come to be the best in the state or even in the country.
you come to the university of oregon to be the best in the world.

.march N, N dear university of oregon community members, late last night, the university sent out a campus safety advisory about two serious crimes involving uo students that happened recently in neighborhoods near campus within the eugene police department’s (epd) jurisdiction.
we sent this information to campus as soon as we were able to confirm these incidents with epd.
these assaults follow a series of armed robberies and other crimes in recent weeks near campus that have shaken our collective sense of safety and security.
they are of serious concern to us, as we know they are to our students, their families, faculty, staff, and neighbors.
there is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of our students.
we are writing to share information about the steps we are taking to address off-campus safety, and to urge everyone on campus to take care of each other.
we have been very impressed with the way our students and others have stepped up to watch out for their friends and classmates by taking extra precautions such as walking together and reporting suspicious activities.
we are a community that looks after each other.
but there are additional actions we have taken which we would like to remind you about.
it is vitally important that if you see or learn information about a crime or suspicious activity that you call police right away.
report criminal activity (such as a break-in or intruder, robbery, or assault) immediately to N-N-N, or for non-emergency situations on campus, to uo police department (uopd) at N-N-N.
while these incidents have happened off campus within the jurisdictions of eugene police, we are committed to working closely with epd to investigate these crimes and step up patrols.
this includes the following recent actions: uopd has added extra officers dedicated to patrolling city streets near campus.
uopd is working with the oregon department of justice to install neighborhood cameras early this week.
eugene police have extra officers in the area evenings and overnight.
epd has substantially increased the number of patrols near campus and has pledged to coordinate with uopd with respect to information and tactics.
uopd has contracted with private security to provide four unarmed (non-sworn) security officers to patrol city streets near campus until further notice.
the uo campus shuttle has expanded its hours and is running N p.
m.
-N a.
m.
daily.
a N-person bus has been added to the shuttle fleet to boost capacity.
the uo has developed a security plan to help students get safely to early-morning airport shuttle stops on campus, for those departing eugene for spring break.
we also urge every member of campus to take action to protect themselves.
here are safety tips from the uo police department: students are encouraged to use uo safe ride (N-N-ride ext.
N) or designated driver shuttle (N-N-ride ext.
N), or the uo campus shuttle (map.
uoregon.
edu/campus-shuttle), call a taxicab, or contact uopd for an on-campus escort (N-N-N).
be aware of your surroundings.
if you see someone in distress make yourself known and offer assistance if it is safe to do so, and seek immediate help from police or security personnel.
every person and situation is different; survivors must decide for themselves what actions or responses are safest in any situation.
if someone attempts to touch you against your will, you have the right to yell "no" loudly, or do whatever is necessary to get the person to let go, and flee to a safe place and seek help.
when safe, try to remember as much as possible about the person's appearance and behavior.
regardless of what happens during an incident, you have the right to report the crime and to receive services and accommodations.
the uo provides extensive resources to students impacted by crime.
the office of the dean of students is available to ensure students can receive advocacy, counseling, medical help, academic support, and other aid.
here are those resources: survivors have a right to report crimes to police and have crimes investigated and/or prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.
call N-N-safe at any time or visit safe.
uoregon.
edu to learn about options and resources.
for students, a range of support services are available through the office of the dean of students, N-N-N; uodos@uoregon.
edu.
for students, personal counseling and other support services are available through the university counseling center, N-N-N (available N hours); counseling.
uoregon.
edu.
for students, medical and sexual assault examination services are available at university health center, N-N-N; healthcenter.
uoregon.
edu.
for employees, the office of affirmative action and equal opportunity, N-N-N, and office of human resources, N-N-N, can assist in connecting to resources.
other community resources available are sexual assault support services (sass), N-N-N (N-hour crisis line) or N-N-N; womenspace, N-N-N or N-N-N (N-hour crisis line); and white bird clinic counseling, N-N-N or N-N-N (N-hour crisis line).
please, do not hesitate to reach out to any of the staff listed above if you need support or just want to talk.
we have posted a list of campus safety information related to these incidents at dos.
uoregon/help.
we want our campus to know we are working around the clock to address these issues, to protect our community, and to restore the sense of safety that is a hallmark of the uo.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law matt carmichaeluo police chief.
dear university of oregon community members, in the last week, a rash of five armed robberies near the university has disrupted our collective sense of safety.
one of my primary concerns at all times is the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff, and the proximity of these crimes to campus is distressing to us all.
i have asked police chief matt carmichael to do everything within university of oregon police department’s power to both help solve the crimes and increase efforts to protect members of the uo community from these types of incidents.
here is what we know at this time – a young woman was robbed at gunpoint early thursday morning walking on hilyard street near Nth avenue.
another young woman was also robbed at gunpoint in the early morning hours of march N in the same area.
there were three additional armed ­robberies in the past week ­at local businesses – one at a subway ­sandwich shop, another at tom’s market and also at the neighborhood market.
police believe that two men were involved in the tom’s market robbery.
we don’t definitively know that any of these incidents are linked, but the suspects do have similar descriptions.
additional details and the suspect descriptions are available on the uopd website and eugene police website.
anyone with information about the suspects or the incidents should contact eugene police at N-N-N or uo police at N-N-N.
while the eugene police department has primary jurisdiction over these crimes since they took place are off campus, uopd is actively working with eugene police to catch those responsible for the crimes, including participating in daily briefings and closely coordinating with eugene police.
uopd also has put additional officers in the field, and detectives have ramped up both electronic and human surveillance in and around campus.
in addition, we have expanded our campus shuttle services that provide secure alternatives to walking alone at night.
the uo campus shuttle program runs a free bus-stop style fixed route shuttle every N-N minutes from N:N p.
m.
until N:N a.
m.
every day of the week.
also, safe ride and the designated driver shuttle are available to all students, faculty and staff by calling N-N-N or email saferide@uoregon.
edu.
uopd also offers safety escorts by calling at N-N-N.
if you find yourself working or studying late, arrange to leave with a friend or utilize the services above.
if you do find yourself confronted by someone who wants money or personal property, give it to them without a fight and call N as soon as it is safe to do so.
try to get an accurate description of the assailant, and if a vehicle is involved, try to get the license number.
the more information that can be provided to law enforcement, the better.
be safe and take care of each other.
it is at moments like this when we rely upon the principle that we are all part of a community.
please watch out for yourself and others.
please be aware of any unusual circumstances and immediately notify campus police about any concerns.
i also encourage each of you to take a moment to familiarize yourself with the various campus safety tips at police.
uoregon.
edu/crime-prevention-tips.
one of the things that attracted many of us to eugene is its relative safety and quality of life.
i have every confidence that chief carmichael, uopd, and epd will restore that feeling of security and you have my pledge that i will do everything within my power to support those efforts.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
to university of oregon community members, last friday, provost jayanth banavar received the N–N tuition and fee recommendation from the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab).
in response, he opened a public comment period for campus stakeholders and held a public forum that allowed him to hear directly from students.
he and i greatly appreciated hearing from students at the forum, and thank everyone who invested time in this important process and shared their points of view.
the committee’s recommendations include a N.
N percent increase for resident undergraduate students and a N.
N percent increase for nonresident undergraduate students.
for resident students, this represents an increase of $N per credit hour, or $N per year.
nonresident undergraduate students would see tuition rise by $N per credit hour, or $N annually.
the tfab recommendations also include a $N increase in the student health center service fee, which will help expand health and counseling services for students.
after consulting with provost banavar, reading the online feedback, reviewing notes from the three tfab forums, discussing tuition issues with the associated students presidential advisory council, and listening at the forum, it is my current intention to support these tfab proposals—with a few modifications—for the next academic year in my final recommendation to the board of trustees.
this tuition plan ensures that oregonians have access to an affordable education at one of the nation’s top research institutions.
in addition, the proposed tuition level will provide budgetary support to invest in new tenure-track faculty lines, make more than $N million in strategic investments across campus, and uphold our compensation and benefit obligations to the uo’s dedicated faculty and staff.
it is important to recognize, however, that our budget remains vulnerable to unexpected fluctuations, including changes in enrollment, economic conditions, and state appropriations.
because of this budget fluidity, adopting this tuition level is something of a risk, and we could find ourselves having to seek additional revenue sources or cost reductions to meet the uo’s fiscal obligations.
nevertheless, in this era of rapidly increasing education costs, i believe that risk is worth taking.
further, i intend to recommend to the board of trustees that the uo adopt a differential tuition plan for the charles h.
lundquist college of business.
under the proposal, students would be charged an additional $N per credit hour for undergraduate courses taken in the business school.
this would generate an estimated $N.
N million of net revenue annually for instruction, advising, tutoring, and career services at the college.
the tuition proposal was discussed by student group leaders and the tfab both this year and last.
however, the tfab has not made a recommendation for or against the proposal.
this type of tuition structure is similar to other schools in oregon and among peer institutions in the pac-N and the association of american universities.
not having the resources from differential tuition places the lcb at a competitive disadvantage and could, ultimately, threaten its accreditation.
for that reason, i am inclined to recommend to the board of trustees that it adopt a proposal for differential tuition.
i recognize that even a modest tuition increase can be challenging for some, and we will work to ensure that the impact of this differential is not prohibitive to our most vulnerable students and their families.
therefore, it is my intention to alter the business school’s original proposal to permanently set aside N percent of the revenues generated by the differential tuition for financial aid targeted on the basis of need for lcb students who pay the differential tuition.
also, the pathwayoregon program will continue to provide full tuition and fees to academically qualified, pell grant–eligible resident students who start as first-year students on our campus.
in fact, one-third of in-state freshman receive the pathwayoregon benefit already, and we are committed to the growth of this program so that the doors of opportunity are open to oregon’s best and brightest students regardless of their financial situation.
in a similar vein, i am happy to announce that, in addition to these recommendations, i intend to propose a reduction in the tuition differential for the robert donald clark honors college.
currently, the honors college has a tuition differential of $N,N per year, which is among the highest in the country.
a strategic budget advisory group comprising students, administrators, and members of the faculty and staff has recommended that we allocate resources to reduce the tuition differential to $N,N per year.
the clark honors college is one of the top N honors colleges in the country, and this reduction in differential tuition level will make it easier to recruit to the university high-achieving students from oregon and around the nation.
i am very pleased that we are able to make this change.
in closing, i remain dedicated to our shared goal of accelerating the progress we have made recently, despite constrained budgets, in enhancing excellence in teaching, research, and support for student access and success programs.
we must remain vigilant in our pursuit of excellence in all that we do at the uo.
please provide any feedback on my proposals outlined here via this online form.
i welcome your input before i submit my recommendation to the board of trustees on tuesday, february N.
the on-line comments will remain open until N:N p.
m.
, wednesday, february N, for the board to review and consider.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
february N, N - president michael schill and oregon state senate president peter courtney wrote the following guest opinion piece in the oregonian newspaper, which also appears on the oregonlive website.
as presidents of the oregon state senate and the university of oregon, each of us has a unique perspective on how protecting undocumented children, known as dreamers, benefits oregon.
these protections create opportunity.
they create hope.
they create promise for a generation of young people.
it is also the right thing to do.
these children did not get to choose the country or the state in which they live.
their parents made that choice.
they went to elementary school, middle school and high school here.
they worked hard.
many participated in school activities.
this is the only country, the only state and the only home they have ever known.
today there is a major political effort to deport them to the country of their parents -- a country they don't know.
pure and simple, they are americans in thought, word and deed.
oregon is a leader in reaching out to these children.
in N, the oregon legislative assembly boldly embraced dreamers by granting them the ability to attend college, pay in-state tuition rates and receive need-based financial aid.
tuition equity levels the playing field for the nearly N,N oregon young people registered as part of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program.
the unjust end of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program would crush their dreams of earning an education and sharing their talents in the place where they grew up, the place they consider home.
morality dictates that these young people be allowed to remain in the united states to learn, work and make a life for themselves.
oregon is their home.
to uproot them would be wrong.
tuition equity and daca have given them access to opportunity and the same american dream their classmates enjoy.
it has allowed them to contribute to our economy in the light of day, rather than being relegated to the shadows.
that is why we urge congress to continue the program and provide these young people a road to citizenship.
it is also why we and others support senate bill N.
provisions of federal law require that prior to providing a benefit to undocumented students, including institutional financial aid, a state statute must be in place that affirms this authority.
sb N ensures compliance with federal law and eliminates the requirement that undocumented students must apply for the daca program to be eligible for scholarships or in-state tuition rates.
without this legislation, these students would lack basic protections that safeguard their right to continue their education after high school.
lawmakers and university presidents are not so different.
the reason most of us do the work we do is to provide a chance for young people to realize their full potential.
their opportunities should not be hindered by race, culture, background, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or birthplace.
we must make clear that the state of oregon, university of oregon and all our state universities support every student, no matter his or her immigration status.
citizens of oregon are valued and welcomed because of their diversity, not in spite of it.
our many differences enrich our state.
they enhance the learning environments at our universities and community colleges.
they help our economy flourish.
congress should act quickly to fulfill our moral duty to protect dreamers.
in the meantime, oregon will do its part to ensure that all our young people have the opportunity to pursue the bright future they deserve.
to punish young people brought here by their undocumented parents would be wrong.
it would be cruel.
it would be un-american.
they are every bit a part of our american family.

.january N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following remarks during the annual martin luther king, jr.
, skanner foundation scholarship breakfast in portland, oregon.
good morning.
i am michael schill, president of the university of oregon.
the uo is proud to support the skanner foundation and is thrilled to celebrate the success of the three skanner foundation scholarship recipients who are or will be attending the uo: hiermon medhanie, makayla agnew, and melissa duran.
i had the pleasure of meeting these talented young women this morning.
they have aspirations to use their degrees to pursue advertising, business and law and they hold great promise to be leaders in our community.
i thank all of you for your support of these students attending the university of oregon, and for supporting higher education.
last year on martin luther king day, i participated in a march in eugene so the last time i was here was two years ago—in N.
to be honest, it feels like an eternity has passed.
since my comments two years ago, the black lives matter movement continued to gain steam; donald trump won an election punctuated by racial tension; and white supremacy reared its ugly head nationwide and close to home.
in my position as president of the flagship university of this state, i am haunted as many of you are by the spectre of charlottesville—hundreds of men and women marching through the university of virginia with tiki torches with signs terrorizing students with messages like: “white lives matter” and “you will not replace us”.
then a protest, counter-protest and deadly violence leaving one person dead.
while those of you who are here today never deluded yourself about the demise of racism in the united states, charlottesville is a wake-up call to everyone else that we have much to do not only to make progress in achieving the dreams and aspirations of the reverend doctor martin luther king, but also just protecting the progress we have already made as a nation.
i ask myself, what should i be doing as an american and as a president of a major university to promote racial justice in this environment? as many of you are aware some of our students want me to ban or limit speech on campus by people who advocate racial intolerance.
under the law, i cannot do that.
but i don’t want to hide behind the law in justifying my action particularly on this day when we celebrate and remember dr.
king.
it was the constitution, including the first and fourteenth amendments, that protected his right to speak words that so many people of the time found distasteful and indeed repugnant.
where would we be if the racist politicians of the south had been able to successfully silence the leaders of the civil rights movement? so, how does a commitment to free speech coexist with the moral imperative that i support our students of color in the face of rising racial bigotry and intolerance? first and foremost, i can use my speech and the bully pulpit afforded to me to condemn in the strongest terms the messages of white supremacy.
there is simply no room in eugene, oregon, or this nation for racial bigotry and intolerance.
these views are the embodiment of ignorance which is the sworn enemy of higher education.
i can go beyond mere words and work with our student groups, our community partners, and our faculty and staff to promote the safety and security of our students.
i have instructed the university of oregon police department to do everything within its power to fight hate crimes within its jurisdiction and to develop strong relationships of trust with our students, faculty, and staff of color.
we have also instructed our staff to remove signs of hate from all places where we can do that consistent with the law.
i can also promote education and knowledge.
we at the university of oregon through our scholarship and our teaching can teach our students about the struggles of people of color in the united states, about the history of racism in our nation, and about how the problems of the white working class today cannot be laid at the doorsteps of black and brown people.
a third way to promote this understanding is to bring students together.
diversity serves many purposes in our nation; among the most important at a school like the uo is the opportunity for students from eastern oregon who may never have had a relationship with a black person to meet students from portland and develop friendships and greater understanding of their differences and shared humanity.
as president i can also help our black and brown students feel supported and included in our university.
many of you know about the great work of the black student task force; indeed former skanner scholarship recipients were among the leaders of this effort.
we have done much over the past two years.
we have removed the name of a building named after a leader of the lane county ku klux klan and replaced it with the name of our illustrious alumnus d’norval unthank junior; we have increased our efforts to recruit black students in portland and elsewhere to come to the uo; we have inaugurated a black speaker series including a standing room only talk last year by ta-nehesi coates; we have doubled the number of black tenure-track faculty in two years; we have begun work to create a black studies program and reform our multicultural course requirement; and we have raised $N.
N million to build a black cultural center dedicated to student success.
these are some of the things i can do as president of the university of oregon.
i want each of you to know that i and the university of oregon are deeply committed to the ideals of the reverend doctor martin luther king.
we will match our words with actions.
we cannot teach without enlightenment.
we cannot discover without open hearts and minds.
we cannot make the world a better place if we do not regard and protect the needs of every member of our community.
we are committed to working with our students and all of you to continue the quest toward the dream we are celebrating today.
thank you.

.january N, N dear colleagues and friends, as i write this open mike, i feel the earth move under my feet.
before you get concerned that i am singing carole king songs (she is one of my favorites) or having a nightmare about the cascadia subduction zone, you should understand that just outside my office massive trucks and bulldozers are busy breaking ground for the new willie and donald tykeson hall, the college and careers building.
since the start of the term, construction crews have been diligently digging, hammering, and preparing the site for a stunning new building that will open in fall N.
it is noisy; it is loud; and sometimes it feels like the earth really is moving, but it is all for a great and important cause.
the tykeson building will not only be placed at a central location on our beautiful campus; in many ways it will serve as a new center of gravity for our efforts connected to the single most important objective we all share—helping our students succeed.
it will provide us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to refocus and rethink how we deliver academic and career advising to our students, all under one roof.
in addition to adding much-needed office and classroom space to campus, the new building will house college of arts and sciences advising services and the uo career center.
it will provide an integrated approach to advising that will help students consider their career options and then work to devise an academic plan for getting there.
the construction of tykeson hall is the latest chapter of the conversation we started three months after i took office about the importance of doing everything we can to enable our students to succeed.
so much has happened since i stood in front of campus at the emu and made the case that on-time graduation promotes a student’s likelihood of earning a diploma and substantially reduces the cost of college.
we have already seen modest increases in carrying loads, retention, and graduation rates.
while i am pleased that we have made progress, there is much, much more to accomplish.
over the next year we will work with academic advisors in the division of undergraduate studies, the center for multicultural academic excellence, pathwayoregon, and all the schools and colleges to improve and enhance coordination through creation of a unified academic advising action plan.
the important work of improving our student success efforts is being led by provost jayanth banavar and dennis galvan, the interim vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies.
you can expect to see changes throughout the university to support these efforts in the coming year.
we cannot let our decentralized administrative structure stand in the way of our students’ success—and we won’t.
today’s students need more than just a degree: they need assistance and guidance in landing jobs that meet their needs and aspirations.
we owe it to future generations of students and to those who gave to this endeavor to get this right.
we must break down silos between administrative divisions and schools to devise the sort of comprehensive resources and advising that will prepare our students for fulfilling careers in a fast-moving and increasingly global economy.
in addition, we must create more high-impact opportunities for students to work with the faculty and more avenues for them to gain experiential education, such as internships and study abroad.
while the construction crews are building a strong foundation for the tykeson building, we must start now to lay the programmatic foundation for long-term success.
this is one of my top priorities for N.
speaking of construction projects and laying a foundation for the future, moving the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact closer to its launch will occupy a good deal of my time in N.
luckily, i will be working with a terrific team, including interim director patrick phillips; our newly hired executive director, bob guldberg, who will be joining us this summer; mike harwood from our planning and development office; and scores of others.
you may have noticed crews clearing the land on the corner of agate and franklin, and we anticipate breaking ground for the first two buildings in march.
prior to the time those knight campus buildings are ready for occupancy in N, we need to do a lot of planning.
among the most important tasks will be for us to work with our faculty here at the uo and potential partners such as oregon health and science university to determine the areas of applied science on which to focus.
our challenge is to pick areas that are not just hot today but that will be at the forefront of scientific advancement in N years.
we will then need to identify, recruit, and hire world-class researchers and postdocs to come to eugene.
part of the promise of the knight campus is the advancement of science with a tangible, beneficial impact on society.
we hope that the discoveries and innovations will make the world better and, at the same time, drive economic activity in the region.
one way this will occur is through the creation of companies that will bring new products and therapeutic treatments to market.
we will need to work with faculty members, alumni, and community members to create an ecosystem in eugene to promote this kind of activity.
that work begins now.
while the creation of the knight campus is the most dramatic academic undertaking at the uo, it is certainly not the only one.
provost banavar and i are working with faculty members and deans to support existing areas of excellence and seed new and exciting ones that will strengthen our university’s academic profile and meet our students’ needs.
we have already provided seed funding for the school of journalism and communication’s media center for science and technology, the college of education’s oregon research schools network, and faculty lines for the college of arts and science’s emerging black studies program.
we are also working with faculty members to conceptualize and fund new and exciting programs in data science, neuroscience, and the microbiome.
we have asked deans to work with their faculties to think about new and innovative interdisciplinary programs.
it is my hope that great ideas in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and professional schools will outstrip available resources.
that is the sign of a healthy, striving institution.
the provost and i will work with deans to find new resources through philanthropy, an increase in revenue, and the reallocation of existing resources.
the new institutional hiring plan will be one way we can achieve this.
i am also eager to move forward with online education.
the uo has been slow to move into this realm and, frankly, it is hurting us.
students today demand online options.
if we do not provide them, they will go (and are going) elsewhere.
more robust online offerings could generate revenue to moderate future tuition increases and help fund our march toward excellence.
what is more important, the creation of online course options would help our students graduate on time—saving them time and money and accelerating their move into the workforce.
i have asked the provost to move quickly and to work with our faculty and administrators to explore and implement models of online education that simultaneously maintain high levels of quality and achieve these objectives.
a new year is about resolutions.
before winter break i attended a quack chat talk by elliot berkman, associate professor of psychology, who presented research that shows much of the motivation to hold to our resolutions is driven by social connections and our own self-image.
i couldn’t help thinking as i listened to elliot that if we all work together toward excellence, expect and encourage each other to be great, and see ourselves as a world-class public research university, we will continue to enhance and increase excellence at the uo.
we have much work to do.
i hope you’ll join me in the effort to stay focused on the things that matter most—moving heaven and earth to help our students succeed and building an academic program of distinction.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
december N, N given the time of year, i thought i might talk to you in my president’s report about some of the amazing progress our school has made this year, and share a few incredible achievements by our students and faculty members that everyone may not be aware of.
academic institutions today perhaps more than at any time since the Ns have become focal points for controversy and disagreement reflecting some of the divisions in our society.
but in all of the noise, i want to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the significant progress we’ve made toward meeting our overarching goals of advancing academic excellence, supporting student success, and creating an outstanding and inclusive campus experience, so that our students can make a meaningful impact in our community, state, and world.
i’d first like to start with our work to improve our academic and research profile.
in my first speeches as president i said that we would strive to hire between N and N new tenure-related faculty members over the next several years.
as jayanth reported, this fall we had already increased our tenure-related faculty membership by N individuals—that is net new faculty members.
we’ll be adding more though the institutional hiring plan and though the knight campus.
these faculty members are terrific.
they include senior professors such as david mccormick, a senior professor in neuroscience, who joined us from yale this year leslie alexander and curtis austin, two historians who joined us from ohio state deborah thompson, a political scientist from stanford they also include young, upcoming stars such as chris herndon, an assistant professor in chemistry, who will become one of the anchors of our sustainable materials cluster leilani sabzalian, an associate professor in the college of education, who specializes in the scholarship of native american people, whose research focuses on supporting indigenous self-determination in public schools andrew kern, an associate professor in biology and a member of the obesity cluster, comes to the uo from rutgers university soon, these scholars will be joined by nobel prize–winner david wineland from the national institute of standards and technology, who will seed a new area of excellence in quantum computing, and robert guldberg of georgia tech, who will join us in the fall to lead the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
you will hear more about bob later today, so i will only say that i am incredibly impressed with the combination of skills, experience, and vision he brings to our campus, and i am so thrilled he is joining us.
also, i am very pleased that patrick phillips will remain as interim executive director, having created an outstanding foundation for bob and our faculty to build upon.
patrick is a tireless, visionary, and enthusiastic leader who has accomplished more than anyone could have hoped for in a short time.
he deserves our thanks and high praise for his work.
speaking of the knight campus, just over a year ago, the knight campus was still just an audacious idea on paper—a challenge and a dream.
today, under patrick’s leadership, we have acquired the land, created stunning architectural drawings, hired a talented new executive director, developed programming, and launched educational opportunities.
we will break ground on the campus very shortly.
and, over the past year, we have continued to complete our extraordinary leadership team with the hiring of provost banavar to lead our academic mission and two new deans—sarah nutter of the charles h.
lundquist college of business and marcilynn burke of the school of law.
there are far too many accolades to mention them all, but i do want to highlight a few of the honors bestowed on members of the uo faculty this last year: national medal of science–winner geri richmond scooped up another national award from the american chemical society: the priestly medal is their top honor biologist chris doe was elected to the prestigious national academy of sciences for his work in developmental biology and stem-cell research six faculty members were named as fellows by the american association for the advancement of science—alice barkan, biology; bruce blonigen, economics; judith eisen, biology; julie haack, chemistry and biochemistry; patrick phillips, biology; and monte westerfield, biology i have a long list of academic honors and awards here that i do not have time to read, but i will share this list with the board, and all are featured on around the o.
i am beaming with pride at these achievements.
i’ll also remind you of some of the major academic investments we made this year, including launching the interdisciplinary data science initiative purchasing a building downtown to give our arts faculty prime space to create launching the college of education oregon research schools network and the school of journalism and communication’s media center for science and technology the challenge match for endowed faculty chairs in every school, college, and college of arts and sciences unit, one of which has already been claimed a new $N.
N million commitment for doctoral education through the raymond fellows program these are just a few of our academic initiatives.
turning to our student success and access goals.

.
.in the second year of the oregon commitment, our effort to focus on student success, we doubled the number of stamps scholarships available, our most generous scholarship on campus we secured additional funding from oregon community credit union for the pathwayoregon program, which provides free tuition to all academically qualified federal pell grant–eligible oregonian freshman students the student success team launched an effort to more rapidly identify students who are academically at risk, reaching out to faculty members in key courses that students historically struggle in.
our campus continues its efforts to create a new culture in which students take at least N credits a term—the way to on-time graduation we have (i have only just learned) increased our four-year graduation rate to N percent, which is N.
N points higher than last year! however, there are special conditions that likely contributed to the increase, such as the unusually high level of credentials of the incoming class that might make this an aberration a couple more reminders of student achievement: N uo students earned prestigious scholarships through the gilman, boren, and fulbright programs to study abroad, and just last week we learned that recent uo marine biology and robert d.
clark honors college graduate sandra dorning won a prestigious marshall scholarship to study in the uk.
we are preparing our students to compete and lead on a global stage.
related to student experience and enhancing inclusion and equity—you are all very familiar with the progress we made regarding the demands of the black student task force, from renaming a residence hall in honor of a celebrated black alumnus to the more than $N.
N million dollars raised towards a new black cultural center.
you’ll also remember the thousands of people who came to listen to ta-nehasi coates, one of the extraordinary african american speakers we hosted on campus.
and it was only a few months ago that we opened our beautiful new residence hall, kalapuya ilihi, home to four academic residential communities including one dedicated to native american studies.
and we recently broke ground on willie and donald tykeson hall, the new college and careers building, which will be focused on advising and connecting students with career opportunities.
speaking of kalapuya ilihi, i was invited by our new faculty member-in-residence, deborah thompson, to the residence hall last weekend.
every sunday, deb and her partner make pancakes for the students who live there.
i ended up spending a couple of hours talking to students, and i have to say the experience was awesome.
first, i was inspired by how smart and engaged the students were.
but second, and more in keeping with what i said at the outset, i was struck by just how happy they were.
i asked about N students about their experience here at the university.
the word that came out of their mouths most consistently was love.
they told me that they loved the university of oregon and the education they were receiving and the experience they were having.
it wasn’t that they didn’t have suggestions or even some criticisms.
but even with our flaws, they couldn’t imagine being elsewhere.
i am immensely grateful to our students, faculty and staff members, and administrators for all they do every day to earn the love and loyalty of our students.
and i am also grateful to you, our trustees, for all you do, for your faith in me to lead the university in a time of unparalleled challenge, and for the hundreds of ways your efforts will translate into our continued reemergence as one of the great public universities in the nation.

.november N, N dear university of oregon community members, it is my pleasure to announce that i have appointed kevin marbury to the permanent position of vice president for student life.
kevin has successfully served in this position in an interim role since october N, proving himself to be an innovative and thoughtful leader who cares deeply about the success, health, and welfare of students at the university of oregon.
as interim vice president, kevin oversaw significant leadership and programmatic changes in the division that elevated the student experience and addressed critical issues facing students.
this includes the successful onboarding of the new dean of students, assistant dean of students for leadership and engagement, director of fraternity and sorority life, director of multicultural and identity-based support services, and assistant dean of students for crisis response and prevention.
he has also deftly helped manage the university’s efforts to address issues related to the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy (daca), fraternity and sorority life, the demands of the black student task force, and sexual harassment and violence prevention, including the implementation of the new responsible employee reporting policy.
prior to this assuming his current role, kevin was the director of physical education and recreation at the uo, a program that under his leadership became a benchmark of excellence for universities across the country.
prior to joining the uo in N, he was director of recreation and wellness at old dominion university, and he served as vice president for student affairs at edward waters college.
during the last year, it became abundantly clear to me that the university and students would be well served by the appointment of kevin permanently as vice president, rather than undertaking an external search.
his performance as interim vice president has been exemplary.
in addition, kevin’s efforts to reorganize the division of student life will take more than a year to fully accomplish, and we will all be better served if he remains in the role to see them through.
i came to this decision after seeking input from student leaders, senior administrators, student life leadership, academic leaders, and kevin’s peers.
i also sought out the views of the leadership of the university senate.
kevin’s strong background in higher education administration and student life leadership—here at oregon and in previous posts—provides him the tools and relationships to succeed at this critical time on campus in response to national dynamics affecting students.
this allows us to maintain strong and consistent leadership at a time in which we are making great strides, and when we still have much important work ahead to ensure all students thrive and feel welcome, secure, and included on our campus.
i am very happy kevin has agreed to take on this important challenge.
please join me in congratulating kevin marbury on his permanent appointment as vice president for student life, which takes effect immediately.
i ask that every member of our campus community work together with kevin and his leadership team to help ensure we meet the university’s critical mission—educating students and creating opportunity for them to become successful future leaders and contributing members of society.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
november N, N dear colleague and friends, for those of us in higher education, the period between thanksgiving and new year’s day is about completing research projects, taking and grading exams, and planning for the winter term.
this year, however, we should all be concerned with something going on thousands of miles away in washington, dc—namely, tax reform efforts being considered by congress.
simply put, many of the legislative proposals could substantially impede the ability of universities such as the university of oregon to deliver an excellent, affordable education to our students.
graduate students have the most to lose under this legislation.
about N,N graduate students at the uo currently receive full or partial tuition remissions plus stipends.
this financial support is vital in enabling them to afford years of graduate education without amassing huge debts.
in return for this assistance and as part of their training, graduate students help support faculty research and teach undergraduate courses in the humanities, social sciences, stem fields, and beyond.
tuition waivers or remissions to graduate students are not now taxable; this would change under the tax bill passed by the house of representatives.
undergraduates would not be spared from unfavorable treatment.
the bill also undermines the practice of lifelong learning by doing away with the lifelong learning credit that provides access to a diverse group of students, particularly nontraditional students.
the house bill also proposes ending provisions that permit the deductibility of interest on student debt and the exclusion of the value of tuition waivers provided to university employees and/or their family members enrolled at oregon universities.
the targeting of undergraduate and graduate students in the push for tax reform is the most damaging element of the legislation from the perspective of universities, but there is more.
under the bills being considered by both the house and the senate, the standard deduction would be increased substantially and the estate tax would be eliminated.
on the one hand, increasing the standard deduction—the amount that taxpayers get to deduct from their taxable income before applying their tax rate—sounds like good news.
proponents argue it will simplify and potentially lower taxes for millions and millions of americans.
detractors dispute those benefits.
the problem is that universities increasingly rely upon charitable gifts from alumni and friends to support their operations.
this is especially important at universities such as the uo, where state support accounts for roughly N percent of our total university budget.
in the united states, the tax system provides an incentive for charitable giving by allowing donors to deduct from their taxable income the value of their gifts.
but only people who itemize their deductions qualify for the charitable giving incentive.
so, as more and more people choose the standard deduction in lieu of itemization, the incentive for charitable giving will go down, potentially costing universities across the nation billions of dollars a year.
in a similar manner, the existence of an estate tax provides an incentive for people to give away money to charities like universities.
eliminating the estate tax would remove or reduce this incentive.
an additional provision in the tax law targeting private universities is a N.
N percent excise tax on endowments of more than $N,N per student.
this provision will not affect the uo because of its status as a public institution.
nevertheless, the precedent of taxing university endowments is one that should give us all pause.
it could easily be extended in the future to public universities and to schools with smaller endowments.
why is congress doing this? one explanation is that, in an effort to reduce the maximum corporate income tax rate from N percent to N percent while not ballooning the budget deficit, lawmakers are simply digging into all of the crevices of our nation’s metaphorical fiscal sofa looking for as much money as possible.
after all, these bills also eliminate the deduction of state and local taxes and reduce the home mortgage interest deduction, two of the most popular tax breaks in the internal revenue code.
but, as recent articles in the media suggest, some see elements in the tax reform act as an assault on higher education.
i will leave it for our political scientists to speculate why some members of congress apparently have chosen to target higher education.
here is what i am doing—and what i suggest that you, as students and members of the faculty and staff, can do.
first, the university of oregon is an active participant in the association of american universities and the association of public and land-grant universities, and both organizations are actively lobbying congress to restore the exclusions for graduate tuition waivers and employee tuition benefits as well as the deductibility of student loan interest.
they are also arguing that the charitable giving deduction be universal—meaning that it be available to everyone in addition to the standard deduction.
we support these efforts.
in addition, members of our governmental affairs staff and i have been meeting with our congressional delegation to let them know the impact of the current proposals on the uo and to urge them to vote against or modify them.
if that is something that interests you, more information is available at the american council on education website, including a portal to take action with congress.
while the house has already voted on its version of tax reform, the debate continues with the senate taking a different approach.
regardless of whether we succeed or fail in stopping elements in the tax reform legislation that negatively affect universities, it is clear that all of us—administrators, staff, students, faculty, alumni, and supporters—need to make the case that higher education in the united states should be cherished and nurtured, not targeted for cuts.
members of congress and our state legislatures need to rededicate themselves to the idea that affordable higher education is more than a political slogan—it is a priority that needs to be supported with tax dollars.
as the son of two parents who did not go to college, i experienced the transformational effect of higher education, and we need to make sure that that door is open to everyone who can benefit from passing through it.
expanding the federal pell grant program, defending the security of daca students, and expanding rather than reducing tuition support is a necessary component of that effort.
we also need to make the case for graduate education.
our graduate students will complete their education at the uo and go off to careers in academia, the professions, and industry.
the research they do here and the work they will do in the future will advance knowledge, fuel the economy, and enlighten generations to come.
our nation eats its own seed corn by reducing our support for them by taxing their tuition waivers.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
november N, N dear university of oregon community members, i am thrilled to announce that robert e.
guldberg, a prominent expert in bioengineering and celebrated scientific entrepreneur, has been named the executive director of the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
a year ago, when we embarked on the search for a permanent leader of the knight campus, we hoped to find an extraordinary individual with a rich applied science research portfolio, acute administrative know-how, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to harness the uo’s collaborative culture.
in bob we have found all of these qualities and much more.
bob comes to us from georgia tech, where he holds the parker h.
petit director’s chair in bioengineering and bioscience and serves as the executive director of the petit institute for bioengineering and bioscience.
he is also a professor in the george w.
woodruff school of mechanical engineering and the wallace h.
coulter department of biomedical engineering.
his research focuses primarily on musculoskeletal growth and development, regeneration of limb functions following traumatic injury, degenerative diseases such as skeletal fragility and osteoarthritis, and novel orthopedic devices.
he has advised more than N postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and published more than N peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
he serves on numerous advisory and editorial boards, and has held several national leadership positions including president of the americas chapter of the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine internal society (termis-am).
he is an elected fellow of termis-am, the american society of mechanical engineers, and the american institute for medical and biological engineering.
while bob holds impeccable academic credentials, it is his ability to effect change and create meaningful impact that really impressed our search committee.
bob describes himself as an engineer who speaks many different “languages”—engineering, biology, entrepreneurship, and the like.
this fluency is just what we need for the knight campus.
he has successfully navigated the path from scientific discovery to societal impact, having led large groups of scientists and helped translate research discoveries into technologies and companies that are improving lives and solving problems.
i am immensely grateful to professor patrick phillips, who has served as acting executive director of the knight campus for the last year.
under patrick’s extraordinary and selfless leadership, the knight campus has been transformed from an exciting concept to concrete reality.
patrick is a phenomenal leader who has created a stellar foundation for bob and the knight campus team to build upon.
i also want to thank the search committee, which patrick chaired, for their outstanding work to select the knight campus’s new leader.
i am delighted that patrick has agreed to continue serving as acting executive director of the knight campus until bob arrives in september N.
under bob’s leadership, and with the support of our outstanding faculty and the new top-tier faculty members to come, the knight campus will transform the university of oregon’s ability to teach and prepare students, create discoveries and innovations, drive economic benefit, and create a significant impact that will make our world better.
please join me in welcoming bob guldberg to the knight campus and the university of oregon.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
october N, N today, i had planned to share with the campus community some wonderful news about investments in three new academic programs, support for student success programming at the soon-to-be-built black cultural center and nine new endowed faculty chair positions for our schools and colleges.
we are able to make these investments thanks to an incredibly generous $N million dollar gift.
unfortunately, i was not able to tell you my good news in person, because my speech was disrupted by a small group of protesters.
instead, i am linking to a video in which i have delivered the speech for you to hear.
i strongly value free speech and academic freedom.
i had already planned to talk about these issues prior to today’s happenings, because freedom of expression is a pressing issue, and i feel strongly about our need to foster robust debate and discussion.
it is essential to our mission as a university.
i respect protesters’ rights to share their views, but i do not agree in shutting down another person's right to speak.
the vast majority of our students understand the value of free speech.
indeed, they understand that the reason many of the protesters today are at our institution is because of the courageous speech of others throughout the years.
they also understand that the right way to express their views is not to stop others from expressing their views.
i am saddened that the protesters have displayed a disdain for one of the core values of our academy, our democracy, and our history.
i come away from today’s experience with a new energy and determination to teach all of our students and members of the community the value of free speech and tolerance.
in my speech, which i hope you will watch, i announced a year-long series of lectures and panels about the role of free speech and robust debate in the university.
each of our schools and colleges will participate and a wide variety of voices, interests, and views will be represented.
it is only through more speech and robust debate that we will heal the differences in our society, not by shouting down those who seek to speak.
i invite you to watch my speech or read my remarks.

.video of investing in innovation: presidential fund for excellence the presidential fund for excellence provides funding for the university of oregon to make strategic investments in initiatives and priorities focused on achieving the university’s mission.
made possible by a $N million anonymous gift, the presidential fund for excellence aims to: secure the university’s preeminence in focused fields of teaching, research and discovery.
promote interdisciplinary work that elevates the university’s mission.
improve student experience and enhance student success to prepare them to be future leaders and agents of social and economic impact.
adopt innovative teaching and operating practices that improve the university’s ability to achieve its mission.
provide benefit to our community and state through these endeavors.
the first five initiatives presidential initiative in data science the uo’s presidential initiative in data science is an interdisciplinary initiative bringing together new and existing faculty to create new research and education programs focused on data science.
by ramping up its ability to analyze data and extract information about trends and populations, the university is responding to an increased demand across nearly all scholarly disciplines, and society as a whole.
the presidential initiative in data science will seek to hire eight new data science faculty in ay N-N in the natural sciences, social sciences, the college of business, and the school of journalism and communication.
each of the current hires are listed in the N-N institutional hiring plan and additional hires are expected to be made in future years as the initiative grows.
nine endowed faculty chair positions the president will develop nine new faculty chairs, one for each school and college and each division within the college of arts and sciences.
one half of each two million dollar endowment will be provided through the presidential fund for excellence, with the schools and colleges responsible for raising the second half of the funds.
the provost will work with the deans to develop a set of guidelines for each chair.
endowed chairs contribute to faculty excellence by funding support for salary and research, recognizing achievement, and by enabling the university to be more competitive in attracting scholars of the highest caliber.
black cultural center programming the creation of a black cultural center is among the top objectives of the university and the black student task force.
the black student task force identified student success and timely graduation as a top priority for the center.
in order to meet that need, president schill has allocated a portion of the excellence fund to support student success programming at the black cultural center.
with more than $N.
N million now raised toward its approximate $N.
N-$N million capital cost, and construction plans in development, groundbreaking is scheduled for N.
media center for science and technologyschool of journalism and communication the new media center for science and technology, based in the school of journalism and communication, will explore how scientific discoveries and technological solutions are conveyed and understood by a wide variety of audiences.
through experiential and traditional classroom teaching, students will learn how to be better communicators of science and technology.
faculty and students will work collaboratively with university scientists, external institutions, and private companies to research and evaluate best practices.
the presidential fund for excellence will provide seed funding to begin the media center for science and technology’s programs and research.
oregon research schools networkcollege of education the new oregon research schools network, in development by the college of education, is a five-year pilot program that aims to dramatically improve the quality of public schools in oregon and increase the number of college-ready graduates.
the network will be created by placing uo coe faculty members in up to N high schools across oregon, connecting schools with research and expertise provided by the college of education.
faculty members will teach students and provide pedagogical training to the high school teachers.
costs for each placement will be shared with local school districts, with an emphasis on schools with high proportions of first-generation and under-represented students.
the presidential fund for excellence will provide seed funding to launch the network and will also explore providing additional support to the university’s pipeline programs summer academy to inspire learning and oregon young scholars.

.september N, N president michael schill sent the following message to campus welcoming faculty, staff and students to the N-N academic year and inviting them to the state of the university address: dear university of oregon campus community, as i drove onto campus this week, i got a familiar feeling of excitement.
new students were settling into their residence halls and beginning to navigate the campus.
returning students were greeting each other and catching up on what they did during the summer.
in other words, the campus was coming alive.
it reminded me how fortunate we are to live and learn in such a wonderful community.
as we embark on what i hope will be an amazing N–N academic year, i want to write to you about the core values that are essential to our success as a great public research university.
these values are part of the way we “throw our o” and make an impact that provides scientific, artistic, economic, and social benefit to the region, our state, the nation, and even the world.
first, every person on our campus is part of our uo family.
you belong here.
as i stated in a campus message this summer, we value every student and member of the faculty and staff, regardless of immigration status, race, religion, ethnic or national origin, political view, socio-economic status, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation.
the quality of the education and experiences we provide at the uo are enriched by our differences.
second, as a community of scholars, we must look out for each other.
this starts with having zero tolerance for sexual harassment and violence.
it means respecting yourself and not abusing drugs or alcohol.
it means standing up to hazing and other forms of bullying and harassment.
we all have a responsibility to do something or say something if we see a fellow duck in trouble or at risk.
this weekend i sent a message to campus with darci heroy, associate vice president and title ix coordinator, strongly affirming our commitment to addressing sexual harassment and violence, and letting our campus know that recent federal changes to title ix will have little, if any, impact on our policies or practices.
the third value i want to talk about is our commitment to free expression and academic freedom.
free speech is the bedrock of higher education.
without the ability to speak out, question, and debate the tough issues of the day, we might as well not be a university.
free speech—peaceful, nonviolent expression of views—is essential for teaching and research, and for our ability to move our society forward in a positive direction.
if you don’t like what you hear, do not shut that speech down.
instead, speak out yourself.
finally, the university of oregon values the pursuit of excellence in everything we do.
this means striving to do your best, challenging the status quo, looking for new and better ways, and investing in the people and programs that exemplify these values.
i get excited when i think of the incredible ideas, writings, experiments, performances, designs, and discoveries our faculty will generate in the coming year.
each moment of insight or discovery that takes place at the university of oregon adds up to a cascade of knowledge that prepares our students to lead, benefits our state, helps us understand our world, and makes an impact.
this is our mission and how we improve society.
i will share more of my thoughts on the many ways we can support and encourage excellence in teaching, research, and service next week during my state of the university address.
i invite you to join me on friday, october N, at N:N a.
m.
in the erb memorial union ballroom as i provide this university update.
i hope you join me or watch the event as it is live-streamed on the uo channel.
it is going to be an outstanding academic year.
again, welcome, and go ducks! michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
september N, N president michael schill and associate vice president and title ix coordinator darci heroy sent the following message to all faculty, staff and students regarding the university's commitment to addressing sexual harrassment and violence: dear university of oregon community, the u.
s.
department of education on friday provided new interim guidance on title ix, the federal law that prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination in education, which includes sexual harassment and violence.
as was clearly stated in a recent reaffirmation of the university of oregon’s strong commitment to title ix, the new federal guidelines in no way erode our resolve to provide services to survivors, encourage those who experience sexual violence to seek help, and to be fair and equitable to all, including those accused.
we believe that the new guidance will have very little, if any, impact on our current policies and procedures related to title ix.
over the last few years the university of oregon has put tremendous time and energy into increasing staff and resources available to address the serious problem of campus sexual assault.
we remain as committed as ever to the goal of minimizing sexual violence and harassment.
at the highest level, the new federal title ix guidelines continue to require schools to address sexual misconduct cases with fair, impartial, and timely investigations that are free from conflict of interest or bias.
those investigations must use either the preponderance of the evidence standard or the clear and convincing evidence standard to determine whether a violation of the student conduct code has occurred.
the uo’s policies and systems clearly meet those standards.
we will continue to treat sexual misconduct cases the same way that we do other serious allegations of violations of our conduct code.
the uo already uses a preponderance standard in its student conduct code investigations, including those related to title ix, and we have no intention of moving away from that practice.
in addition, we are pleased the new guidance gives schools greater freedom to purse alternative resolution options, such as mediation, in cases where it is appropriate and both parties agree.
ultimately this provides us a greater ability to accommodate the wishes of students.
finally, the federal announcement is not related to, nor does it change, the uo’s new policy on reporting responsibilities for employees who learn that a student has experienced sexual assault or violence.
full details about the policy and employee responsibilities are listed on the title ix website.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law darci heroyassociate vice president and title ix coordinator.
president michael schill delivered the following remarks at the university of oregon board of trustees fall N meeting september N, N welcome.
i am thrilled to be entering my third year.
with your support and encouragement, the hard work of our administrators and faculty, and the financial support from many of our alumni friends, we have made excellent progress toward our objective of making oregon the best research university we possibly can be.
yet, i begin every day with a clear understanding of how much more we need to accomplish.
there is no time to take victory laps or feel complacent.
our potential is endless but, of course, so must be the work to achieve that potential.
in that spirit i want to express my great happiness that jayanth banavar joined us as the provost on july N.
he is the product of an amazing search.
i’ve never been on a search committee that was so unanimous in their decision.
i am thrilled that he is here to be my partner and to head up our academic program.
he has spoken about my work ethic, but when i am sending emails at N:N a.
m.
or N:N p.
m.
i can always expect a quick response from jayanth.
i think all who have gotten to know him respect him.
he has great academic values, interpersonal values, and great integrity.
jayanth is the perfect antidote for complacency.
as you heard him say twice, a typical jayanthism is the question he asks faculty almost daily: how can we hire people who are better than you? how can we improve our teaching? how can we prepare our students in the very best way? that is the spirit every faculty member should aspire to—continuous improvement.
he shared his view of excellence and how we know it, and i will share mine.
i think the question of what is excellence is not complicated.
it is a university whose faculty are judged by their peers in their disciplines, who are determined to have the scholarship of the very highest quality and impact.
there will be different standards in different fields.
jayanth will be working on this on our campus.
to be honest, we don’t know how good we are here at the uo.
it is through peer review that we will determine this.
and the question is not just about who effectively creates knowledge but also the communication of knowledge.
who inspires students to think critically, to really push them, to get them to bring out the best in themselves? that is what an excellent university does.
it helps students get degrees in a reasonable amount of time.
it is a university that is committed to equity and inclusion, and what it means to be human in our place and time in our world.
this is why i joined the academy, this is my Nth year.
it’s why i’m proud to be part of academia and thankful that this vision of excellence is shared by our board.
we are going to really focus on that in everything we do.
i want to take a few moments to provide a few updates and tell you about a new and exciting initiative we are launching.
chris sinclair gave you a set of priorities.
i’m excited to work with the senate.
those are important goals that are focused on academic matters as they are commonly understood in higher education.
knight campus search as you know, we are making rapid progress on the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
since the last board meeting, we secured the first $N million in state bonds for construction of the first two buildings on the campus.
we also took ownership of all the land that we will need for phase N and patrick has been steadily working with our architects to create an extraordinary design for the buildings.
we expect to have architectural renderings completed in the next couple months.
we have worked to create a financial plan for the campus, have created initial linkages to ohsu, and are continuing academic planning to prepare for faculty hiring.
i am also very pleased to say that we are getting closer to hiring our permanent knight campus director.
our search committee worked steadily through summer, which led to an impressive pool of applicants.
i hope and expect to make a selection in late october or early november.
i cannot thank patrick phillips and his stellar team enough for their work to date on this massive and historic undertaking.
fundraising the knight’s extraordinary half billion dollar gift was not only the largest gift ever to a public flagship university, it also lead to a record-breaking fundraising year for the university of oregon.
we will be officially releasing the N-N totals next week, but i can tell you that it will be close to $N million.
i am awed and inspired by the generosity of our alumni and supporters.
i am also incredibly grateful to mike andreasen and his terrific team for the groundbreaking year they delivered.
daca as you know, the trump administration announced this week the intent to end daca—the deferred action for childhood arrivals program that allows immigrants who were brought to the united states as children without documentation to stay in america to attend school, work, or serve in the military.
the president’s action means that the federal program will take no more applications and gives congress six months to come up with a permanent solution to the problem.
thousands of young people in oregon on the daca program and their families now fear for their future.
earlier in the week, i sent a message to campus about daca.
in it, i expressed my strong opposition to ending daca protections or creating the uncertainty this action has created.
in addition, i provided information for affected students about the services we offer.
we have already joined with other universities in support of daca and will take further actions as warranted to protect the rights of students who are here in the us through no fault of their own, so they may to flourish at our university.
this is their country.
they are getting educated and working.
i have sometimes been asked about what guides me in making comments or taking stands on sensitive political issues.
my own view is that a university president needs to try to keep his or her own political views separate from his or her role as president.
while i may feel strongly about some set of issues, my views are entitled to no more weight than anyone else’s views.
a university is the combination of many people, each with a right to have his or her own view on important issues of the day.
for the university to take an official view can sometimes feel like a violation of the rights of its individual components to free expression.
there are, however, some issues which affect higher education and our university and which demand comment or action.
daca is one of those.
and there will be more of those, in which i will keep my own views separate from those, and focus on the needs of the institution.
the shortsighted action of the trump administration in creating uncertainty among our students is just plain cruel and counter to the interests of our nation.
enrollment each year around this time, i get antsy and want to know how our enrollment numbers are going, and each year roger thompson, our vice president for student services and enrollment management, tells me to be patient and wait for our students to arrive so he can give me an accurate count.
and of course, each year, i manage to get him to take an educated guess.
according to roger, we expect to have on campus somewhere between N,N and N,N new freshman this fall.
in addition, we should have around N,N new transfer students.
this is very similar to last year when we welcomed N,N freshman and N,N transfers.
a big unknown is our foreign student population.
with changes to china’s economy and the current political situation this number is more fluid this year than in the past several years.
all fifty states will be represented and over N countries.
we expect this to be our most diverse freshman class ever.
with our new live-on requirement, we will have the highest percentage of new freshman living on campus in recent history.
data science finally, i am extremely pleased to announce an exciting new presidential initiative.
the university of oregon is launching a new interdisciplinary initiative focused on data science.
this is an initiative of the entire university.
provost banavar and i have appointed biology professor bill cresko to lead the presidential initiative in data science that will bring together existing faculty and recruit new faculty across schools and colleges to create new educational, training, and research programs at the uo.
this effort will touch most of the schools and colleges at the university and will also be integral to success of the knight campus.
like all good academic ideas, the initiative bubbled up from our faculty, deans, and department heads.
we have approved eight tenure-track searches for this year in data science in natural sciences, social sciences, the college of business, and the school of journalism and communication.
we expect to make many more hires in data science in the years to come.
this initiative responds to the increasing demand among employers and our researchers in fields as diverse as marketing and the sciences for students and colleagues who can manipulate data to extract information about trends and populations.
this is the direct result of our new institutional hiring plan that jayanth just spoke about, allowing us to centrally look for trends and needs among our departments, and direct attention and resources their way.
you cannot do work at the highest level without data science.
why data science? data science has been heralded for advancing nearly every kind of intellectual endeavor.
it has the potential to change nearly everything related to future discovery, innovation, and problem solving—from climate change and disease prevention to consumer behavior and financial investing.
for example, as david mccormick and chris doe told you at the last meeting, we are now able to map millions of neurons in the mind, but how do we make sense of all that information? or every time you click on a webpage or follow a link, you create consumer information that can be crunched and assimilated to create a unique and specific web experiences.
like those amazon ads that follow you.
that is data science.
there are tremendous opportunities for productive collaborations between data science specialists and our faculties and students in business, economics, communications, ethics and philosophy, language, and the list goes on and on.
we feel that we are in a unique position to maximize the impact of an interdisciplinary initiative in data science: we already have significant strength among many of our existing faculty.
we historically benefit from a lack of traditional barriers among fields.
this permeability is generated by our small size and by the absence of separate schools of engineering and medicine.
that leads to a really good interdisciplinary culture.
the knight campus will inevitably be home to data science scholars as well as consumers of data.
uo’s strengthening relationship with ohsu, whose faculty are hungry to develop relationships with our faculty, particularly in areas such as data analysis.
bill will be engaging with campus over the coming weeks and months as we launch these hires, and we will continue to share more information.
this new presidential initiative is an example of the kind of research and curriculum development the university of oregon should invest in and seek out.
it will raise the entire university.
this is what will inform our academic and our fundraising.
i am very excited to see where our outstanding faculty, department heads, and deans take us.
thank you.

.september N, N members of the university of oregon community, president trump this week is expected to make changes to the deferred action for childhood arrivals immigration policy, also known as daca.
i join hundreds of university leaders as well as local, state, federal, and business leaders in strongly urging president trump to continue this program.
i also write to let our students know that we support them, and to provide information about where our students and their families can go for assistance, should the need arise.
in a world full of ambiguities, there is no ambiguity for me about the importance of continuing daca.
my view of morality dictates that young people, many of whom were brought here as infants or toddlers, must be allowed to remain in the united states to learn, work, and make a life for themselves.
the united states is their home.
to uproot them would be wrong.
period.
but the argument for daca doesn’t just rest on principles of morality; it is also good for our country.
one of the reasons the united states became the greatest nation in the world is because it was founded, built, and shaped by immigrants.
millions and millions of people, including all of my grandparents, risked everything to come to the united states to escape religious, ethnic, and political oppression or to seek out a better life for their children.
the very act of coming here showed grit and determination, the willingness to assume risk, and courage—just the skills necessary to build our nation.
the future of our nation’s economic prosperity also depends upon embracing immigrants and making sure that they are educated to become productive citizens and positive contributors to the economy.
birthrates are declining among our country’s native-born, and immigrants currently make up about N percent of the workforce.
to uproot young immigrants from their schools and jobs or to force them into the shadows is the equivalent of shooting ourselves in our collective feet.
regardless of what happens in our nation’s capital, i want to again make very clear that the university of oregon supports every student, regardless of immigration status.
every person on our campus is valued and welcomed because of and not despite their diversity of thought, race, culture, background, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and birthplace.
our many differences enrich this institution’s learning environment, enhance the student experience, and are essential to our mission of teaching, research, and service.
as is currently our practice, the uo will continue to protect the privacy of students, follow the law, and treat every member of campus with respect and inclusion.
this means: the university of oregon will not facilitate immigration enforcement on our campus without legal compulsion, such as in the form of a warrant or a clear demonstration of exigent circumstances such as the imminent risk to the health or safety of others; the university of oregon police department will not act on behalf of federal officials in enforcing immigration laws; the university of oregon will not share with immigration enforcement any information on the immigration status of students unless required by court order.
the university is reaching out directly to students who may be impacted by the president’s decision to provide them with information about support and services.
several important points of contact and sources of information will continue to be updated as needed in the coming days and weeks: for current information on the status of daca and frequently asked questions about immigration issues, please see the immigration faq webpage.
justine carpenter, director of multicultural and identity-based support services, is the campus point-person in support of undocumented and daca students, carpenter and can be reached at N-N-N or justcarp@uoregon.
edu for additional information on the uo's support for daca students, please visit the uo dreamers workgroup website.
should an immigration official ask for information about a uo student, employee, or visiting scholar, please immediately contact the office of the general counsel at N-N-N or gcounsel@uoregon.
edu.
in the coming weeks and months, i urge everyone in our community to reach out and embrace those students who now face the uncertainty of knowing whether they will be able to remain in the united states.
as i have repeated on many occasions—we are a family.
families take care of each other, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that all of our students are supported.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law translations:en españolmandarin - 關於童年入境暫緩遣返計劃的聲明暨致學生聲援書vietnamese - lời phát biểu về daca và sự hỗ trợ cho sinh viên.
august N, N dear university of oregon community, over this past weekend we witnessed a tragedy in charlottesville, virginia.
white supremacists and neo-nazis, many of whom were armed and dressed in military uniforms, marched on the university of virginia’s campus and took to the streets to spew venomous hatred.
when they were confronted by counter-protesters, violence ensued.
dozens of people were injured and one young woman and two police officers were killed.
on behalf of the leadership of the university of oregon, i unequivocally condemn the hatred, ignorance, and violence expressed by these white supremacist and white nationalist groups.
our university community rejects any ideologies or groups that embrace racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or anti-semitic views.
under the guise of patriotism, too many people in our nation are betraying our common understanding that we are all “created equal.
” i am appalled by the voices of hate who feel empowered in our nation.
all of us must stand against this scourge of ignorance and intolerance.
the tragedy in charlottesville is a reminder of the critical importance of the work we are currently undertaking at the uo to build a truly inclusive community of academic excellence.
when students and faculty members return to campus in late september, we will continue, with renewed vigor and commitment, our efforts to make this university more respectful, more inclusive, and more welcoming to people of all races and ethnicities; all nationalities and religions; all sexual orientations and gender identities; and all abilities.
i hope you will join with me in this important work.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
june N, N dear members of the university of oregon community, i am writing to briefly interrupt finals to acknowledge the closure of a terrific academic year, to thank everyone for their contributions to the university of oregon, and to warmly congratulate all our graduates.
as we close the book on N–N, i am filled with gratitude, awe, and a sense of accomplishment for all that we have achieved together this year.
next monday, we will be celebrating the class of N at commencement.
this will be my second opportunity to say a few words to our graduates as they head off to make their mark on the world.
it is one of the special privileges of the job—looking out into the sea of green and thinking about the many ways in which you will shape our future, lead our country, and make the world a better and more interesting place to be.
you are woven into the fabric of the university of oregon, and i am immensely proud to call you oregon alumni.
remember, once a duck, always a duck! i will spare you a long list of all that our campus accomplished, both for the sake of brevity and for fear of leaving something out.
however, i will mention a few things: i am thrilled with the progress we made in launching the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact, the major advances we made to increase the diversity of our students and faculty and foster a culture of inclusion, and the stability we created in hiring outstanding deans who will lead their schools to new heights of excellence.
all of these initiatives (and so many more that have gone unnamed) are essential to our goals of supporting academic excellence, improving student access, and enhancing our campus diversity and experience.
to be sure, we have much more important work to do, and it will require the focused attention of all members of our community.
that, however, is a message for another day.
thank you for a fantastic year! i am optimistic and energized as we wrap up the academic year.
i wish you all an enlightening, safe, and happy summer.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
june N, N president michael schill reaffirmed the university’s commitment to sustainability following the trump administration’s decision to withdraw the united states from the paris accord: as national a leader in sustainability and environmental research and innovation, the university of oregon recognizes that climate change is real and one of the defining scientific and social challenges of our times.
the uo remains committed to leading and pioneering research and academic initiatives focused on finding creative solutions to the world’s environmental challenges.
the uo will continue its efforts to advance sustainable stewardship of our resources, including promoting responsible purchasing, reducing green-house gas emissions, minimizing solid and hazardous waste production, and promoting sustainable and efficient campus planning and design.

.may N, N dear university of oregon community members, the higher education coordinating commission’s decision yesterday to reject the university of oregon’s tuition plan is disappointing and creates uncertainty on our campus.
if it stands, we will be forced to make even deeper cuts at the uo than are already anticipated, including cuts that will likely affect student support services, academic programs, and jobs.
while we would like the hecc to reconsider its vote, we are already evaluating additional budget reduction steps that can be taken if this decision holds and the state does not provide additional support for public higher education.
no one wants to increase tuition, but the university is left with little choice given that tuition is the uo’s main source of revenue after decades of declining state support.
prior to the hecc’s vote, the uo’s tuition plan would have required more than $N million in budget reductions next year, which would come on top of more than $N million in cuts made in the previous fiscal year.
i have steadfastly expressed my view that we will try to shield the academic part of our university from the impact of this year’s budget cuts, but if we are forced to limit our tuition increase to less than N percent, then that aspiration will likely be impossible.
in the face of cost-drivers that institutions do not control—including retirement and health benefit costs—oregon’s public universities have been clear that significant additional state support for higher education is necessary to keep tuition increases low and to maintain critical student support services.
state legislators still have the opportunity this session to approve a higher-education budget that prioritizes oregon students and their families and makes the proposed tuition increase at the uo and other institutions unnecessary.
the state of oregon deserves a world-class research institution like the uo.
the hecc’s decision to overturn a tuition plan that was reached through months of inclusive campus engagement and careful deliberation by our institutional board of trustees, however, threatens our ability to deliver on that promise for all oregonians.
we will continue to work with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to make the case in salem that cutting higher-education funding and usurping campus independence will lead to untenable outcomes for the uo and all of higher education in oregon.
as we have said repeatedly, the uo stands ready and willing to provide hecc commissioners with the information they need to reconsider their decision about tuition on our campus.
this situation is very fluid and time is of the essence, given that the fiscal year starts on july N, but you have my commitment that we will communicate with the campus community as we hear more.
i appreciate your patience and understanding.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
april N, N dear university of oregon campus community, over the past few months, i have spent a lot of time in salem talking with lawmakers about the urgent need for additional state funding for public higher education.
elected officials tell me they understand the critical importance of higher education to the future of the state, but oregon’s challenging political and fiscal realities—specifically a $N.
N billion budget shortfall in the next two-year budget cycle—make it difficult for them to meet all of the state’s needs, including those of public universities.
it is with a significant level of uncertainty that we must move forward with budget planning for the N–N fiscal year that starts on july N.
the uo must take steps now, some of them difficult, to prepare for this uncertain future.
as we move forward, i am committed that we minimize the impact on our academic core.
to recap developments from the last few months, the state is proposing flat funding for public higher education, which in practical terms is a $N.
N million cut next year given the way state appropriations are distributed over the biennium.
in addition, the university is forecasting significant cost increases—largely created by salary growth tied to collective bargaining agreements and unfunded retirement costs—equaling approximately $N million in additional expenses next year, putting the total gap we need to close at $N.
N million.
with the shortfall in mind, in march the uo board of trustees approved a conditional N.
N percent tuition increase for resident undergraduates and a N percent increase for nonresident undergraduates.
i believe this tuition increase is too high, but it is necessary given our financial position.
public universities in oregon have calculated that it would take at least an additional $N million in biennial state support for most public higher education institutions to keep tuition increases to around N percent and preserve core student services next year.
this is why the uo’s tuition increase is conditional.
for every $N million in additional state support, we are committed to reducing our in-state tuition increase by roughly N percentage point.
however, we will not know where state funding will shake out until july, when lawmakers will likely finalize the state budget.
with decades of shrinking state dollars, tuition has become our primary source of funding.
we have adopted an enrollment strategy for next year that aims to attract a strong incoming class and modestly increase the number of new students, which would help manage rising costs.
the bottom-line is that tuition revenue and state support make up N percent of our general education budget, and there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in those areas with three months left until the start of the new fiscal year.
given what we know at this time, we estimate the uo will still face a budget gap of approximately $N.
N million next year that must be closed with either new revenue or budget cuts.
it is my judgment that it would be imprudent to wait until the late summer to take action.
therefore, i am taking steps now to reduce the projected shortfall by roughly one-half, or $N.
N million, for the fiscal year beginning july N.
those steps include the following: a N percent reduction in administrative general fund spending.
i have asked each vice president to provide a budget reduction proposal to me by may N.
given that labor costs account for about N percent of the university’s general education budget, it is likely that some of these cuts will require hiring freezes and layoffs.
i will review the proposed budget reduction plans and they will be vetted by the office of the general counsel and human resources.
we anticipate being in a position to communicate any reduction decisions by july N, with an october N implementation date.
schools and colleges will be exempt from this budget cut.
estimated savings: $N.
N million eliminating the strategic investment fund.
in the past, the university has set aside about $N million a year for strategic investments and asked a budget advisory group composed of students and members of the faculty and staff to review, assess, and award funding to various proposals submitted from campus stakeholders.
one million dollars of these funds have already been precommitted to tenure-track faculty hires related to the cluster initiatives.
as was announced earlier, we are not running the strategic investment process for the remaining $N million this year.
any new initiatives for fy N that would normally have been funded under this program will have to be supported with dollars reassigned from within individual units.
estimated savings: $N million ceasing the distribution of graduation incentive grants.
the university launched a program in N to provide $N,N grants to juniors and seniors at risk of not graduating.
while this program, funded by state appropriations, is promising, it is something we must halt—at least temporarily—given the absence of adequate state funding.
estimated savings: $N.
N million ceasing distribution of interest on auxiliary and designated operation funds.
many auxiliary and designated operations funds have been allocated interest when fund balances are positive.
going forward, we will suspend those interest payments and reallocate them to our general fund to help with the budget gap.
interest will still be distributed to grant funds, plant funds, internal bank funds, and restricted gift funds.
estimated savings: $N,N while i would like to write that the savings achieved from this $N.
N million of budget reductions would be enough for this year, that is unlikely to be the case.
as all of you know, i have assembled an ad hoc budget advisory task force made up of faculty members, students, and staff members that is looking more closely at additional strategic steps that could be taken to either raise revenue or reduce expenses over the long term.
my expectation is that any recommendations that come from this group will be more targeted than the initial steps i have outlined here and will be announced later this summer.
despite these painful financial realities, i remain optimistic about the trajectory of the university of oregon.
as we move forward, we will work diligently to protect our academic and research programs and accelerate our recent progress in enhancing excellence in teaching and research.
we will continue to invest in faculty hiring, research infrastructure, and support for student access and success programs.
while today’s budget challenges will make this harder, we cannot and will not stall our pursuit of excellence at the uo.
by working together, we will be able to weather challenges that are ahead of us.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
april N, N as my two-year anniversary as president of the university of oregon approaches, enough time has elapsed for me to do some assessment and make some course corrections.
over the past N months we have achieved quite a number of things.
we have hired great new deans for five of our eight schools and colleges; we have worked with all members of our community to increase diversity and inclusion on campus; we have begun the hard process of putting the university and each of our schools and colleges on a firm financial foundation; we have received the largest gift in the history of flagship public universities to launch the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact; and we laid the cornerstones for increasing student success and timely graduation.
with each dean and faculty member we have hired, each gift we have received, each change to our administrative practices, and each student we have enrolled, we have emphasized our single-minded aspiration to become a great research-intensive university.
i am proud of what we, collectively, have achieved.
but today’s open mike will focus on a failure, rather than a success.
i am concerned that in my rush to change the trajectory of our school, to replace the chaos of five years of revolving presidencies, and to build our academic core, i have not appropriately acknowledged and articulated the valuable contributions of all members of our community.
in this open mike i would like to write specifically about our non-tenure-track faculty (nttfs) and discuss some of the issues we are grappling with that involve this important part of our community.
instructors, lecturers, and professors of practice have always played a role in american universities.
in recent years, however, their proportionate numbers have grown tremendously.
many provide valuable instruction to our students throughout the university, especially in the arts and sciences.
some do sponsored research, particularly in the natural sciences and college of education.
and, a significant number bring unique skills and perspectives to the classroom.
increasingly, as universities offer students experiential opportunities, nttfs, particularly in professional schools, can tie what students learn in class to the work world beyond college.
the impetus for most of the growth of nttfs at the uo and elsewhere, however, has been financial.
cash-strapped universities, particularly in the public sector, have increasingly substituted nttfs for tenure-related faculty to save money and increase flexibility.
full-time nttf salaries at public universities, on average, are N percent lower than assistant professors; N percent lower than full professors according to data from the american association of university professors.
part-time and pro tem nttfs are often paid much lower salaries and many find it necessary to put together jobs from more than one university to make ends meet.
at the uo, our reliance on nttfs followed a two-decade wave of public disinvestment in higher education in oregon.
the number of nttfs continued to grow, peaking in N-N, even as undergraduate enrollment shrunk.
the value of our nttfs and the high esteem in which they are held here are reflected by the fact that the university of oregon is a leader in professionalizing the role of nontenured faculty.
for example, the first collective bargaining agreement negotiated between united academics and the university reclassified hundreds of part-time “adjunct” faculty jobs as career positions, removing the old “up and out” system.
salary floors were created, career paths were set forth, multi-year contracts were offered, and significant promotional salary increases were agreed to.
these were important advances for nttfs, many of whom have dedicated their entire careers to the uo.
an important role in shared governance was also fortified; indeed, last year the president of the university senate was an nttf.
these changes enhanced the stature of nttfs on campus, but they also greatly increased their cost.
for a variety of reasons the university of oregon’s reliance on nttfs is greater and began earlier than our peer public research universities.
the effects of our disproportionate dependence on nttf faculty are many.
with respect to the quality of teaching, the picture is ambiguous.
some early studies indicate that students who are taught in environments with more nttfs (compared to tenure-related faculty) are less likely to graduate on time.
[N] on the other hand, a recent article coauthored by our former colleague david figlio shows that at northwestern university, teaching quality (as measured by course evaluations) was actually higher for nttfs than tenure-line faculty.
[N] there can be no doubt that for many classes, especially those offered in the professional schools, nttfs play a unique and vital role in imparting wisdom that only years of professional experience can provide.
and in all schools and colleges, nttfs offer years of valuable experience in teaching and advising our students, and they increase students’ access to classes.
perhaps i am biased by my own identity and history, but i believe that research-active (usually tenure-related) faculty can offer something unique and special to our students.
in my experience, there is a certain magic that takes place in the classroom when faculty members share with the students the results of their own research.
in addition, having an active researcher as one’s professor creates opportunities for students to engage in original research, which, in turn, enriches their experience and positively impacts student retention and successful graduation.
teaching and research can and should go hand in hand.
i have made hiring additional tenure-related faculty one of my top priorities.
one consequence of our disproportionate reliance on nttfs has been our underperformance in research.
the hard truth is that with some notable exceptions the university of oregon has not distinguished itself among its peers in research productivity.
whether the measure is dollars of research support obtained, citations earned, or the qualitative judgments of our peers, we are not performing at the level to which we all aspire, nor are we making the impact we would like.
there are many things we can do about this, but focusing more of our resources on hiring research-active (tenure-related) faculty is one of the principal strategies we are pursuing.
increasing our tenure-related faculty to promote our role as a great research university is not inconsistent with maintaining a strong corps of dedicated and talented nttfs.
for those nttfs whose primary role is teaching, however, continued employment is highly sensitive to student demand.
given the gross underfunding by the state of our university over the past two decades and the more recent steep tuition increases for in-state students, we simply must use every dollar we have efficiently and effectively.
we cannot be in a situation such as exists in some departments at the uo where nttfs do the bulk of our undergraduate teaching, leaving our ttfs to staff upper level courses with few students.
that is not fair to state taxpayers, to our students, and, quite frankly, to faculty members in other departments who teach large numbers of students.
while some may argue that it is beneficial to our research productivity to shift teaching responsibility to nttfs, this jeopardizes our students’ access to faculty engaged in research and is beyond the financial capacity of our university.
our deans are currently grappling with how to balance their budgets, engender student success, and promote research excellence.
in areas of declining enrollment we have and will continue to experience a reduction in nttfs.
in areas of growth, we will likely see increases.
these fluctuations have nothing to do with meeting a “metric;” they have everything to do with making sure that our scarce faculty resources are appropriately deployed, and that our twin missions of teaching and research flourish.
as the schools and colleges make these necessary adjustments, we must understand that we are affecting valued members of our community.
the same respect that caused the uo to greatly improve the working conditions and compensation of our nttfs needs to be accorded to those who will lose their positions in the coming months and years.
indeed, i do not feel that i have been sufficiently attentive to this principle, and for that i apologize.
there will always be an important role for nttfs at our university.
their teaching, their research activities in areas such as the sciences and the college of education, their mentorship of students and connection to our professions will always be something we value even as we move forward in emphasizing the importance of our research mission.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law [N] see, for example, ronald g.
ehrenberg and liang zhang, “do tenure and tenure-track faculty matter?” journal of human resources, summer N.
[N] see david n.
figlio, morton o.
schapiro, and kevin b.
soter, “are tenure track professors better teachers?” review of economics and statistics, october N.
the authors attribute this disparity in part to the fact that some tenure-track faculty are poor teachers whereas nttfs who teach badly are not renewed.

.february N, N dear university of oregon colleagues and students, it is my great pleasure to announce that distinguished physicist jayanth r.
banavar will join the university of oregon as our next provost and senior vice president.
the hiring of jayanth as the uo’s next chief academic officer is the culmination of a nationwide recruitment that started in august.
jayanth comes to the uo from the university of maryland, where he has served as dean of the college of computer, mathematical, and natural sciences since N.
he was far and away our first choice out of a talented pool of nationally prominent academic leaders.
the search committee, vice presidents, faculty members, and others who met with jayanth were impressed with his stellar academic credentials, interdisciplinary track record, strategic mindset, creativity, and ability to make tough decisions with a touch of humor and personal warmth.
jayanth will begin his duties here in eugene in july, and i cannot wait to welcome him to campus.
this is a critical appointment for the uo.
the provost is responsible for working with me, the deans, and the faculty to set the academic priorities for campus and for managing the human and capital resources to support those priorities.
in the coming years, the provost will lead efforts to continue our recruitment of new faculty members, retain the talented faculty already here, realize our aggressive student success goals, and oversee the implementation of a new academic budget system.
the provost is the guardian of our academic excellence, working with faculty and staff members, students, and other stakeholders across campus to ensure that we maintain the highest-possible quality of scholarly activity and educational programs.
i am confident that jayanth has the experience, vision, wisdom, and leadership skills to work collaboratively with constituencies across this campus to deliver on those ambitious expectations.
there are numerous people i would like to thank.
the first is our current provost, scott coltrane, who last june announced his plans to retire this summer.
scott has served as a valuable counselor and trusted resource throughout this process.
we are grateful that he will work closely with jayanth over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition in the office of the provost and academic affairs.
i also want to thank geri richmond, who carved out time from her busy research responsibilities to lead the N-member provost search committee.
the committee, under geri’s leadership and with the assistance of the search firm russell reynolds, did an amazing job of helping me identify, evaluate, and vet an outstanding pool of highly qualified candidates, working on an accelerated timeline with representatives from various stakeholders across campus.
i thank each of them for their service and commitment to the uo.
i am also grateful to the university senate leadership and the faculty advisory council for understanding our need to balance a competitive search process with our desire to receive input from appropriate campus constituencies.
the culture of trust and partnership we continue to build played a significant role in delivering a successful outcome.
finally, i want to thank all the members of the uo community for your support through this process and the last N months.
in that time we have hired three new vice presidents, four deans, and a variety of other campus leaders.
in naming jayanth to the role of provost, we have successfully put in place a foundation of leadership that will guide this campus in our pursuit of excellence and will change the trajectory of our school for decades to come.
a transition e-mail account has been created for jayanth at provosttransition@uoregon.
edu.
please join me in welcoming jayanth and his wife, suchitra, to the university of oregon.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
february N, N to university of oregon community members, pursuant to university policy, the provost and i have received the recommendations of the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab), a body containing students, administrators, and members of the faculty and staff.
among the recommendations is an increase in tuition of $N per credit hour—or $N per year—for in-state undergraduate students.
the tfab recommends the same increase for out-of-state undergraduates students of $N per credit hour, or $N annually.
for the N–N academic year, this equates to a N.
N percent increase in undergraduate tuition for in-state students and a N percent increase for out-of-state students.
the tfab also recommended various tuition increases for graduate tuition and a new technology fee of $N per term.
i regret that i have little choice but to accept the tfab recommendations on tuition and fees for next year.
pursuant to university policy, i am posting the tfab recommendations together with this memorandum for public comment.
after receiving public input, i will forward my final tuition recommendation to the uo board of trustees for consideration at its next regular meeting on march N–N.
i wish it were not necessary for us to increase tuition by these significant amounts.
although the vast majority of our lowest-income students will be spared from this increase by the pathwayoregon scholarship program, for some students a $N increase will make attending the uo difficult or impossible.
yet the state’s fiscal problems leave us no choice.
oregon’s disinvestment in higher education over more than two decades has shifted the burden of paying for college from the state to our students and families.
in N, the state made some positive moves toward addressing this trend with an increase in funding, which was greatly appreciated.
the governor’s recommended budget, however, keeping funding flat over the next biennium in the face of rapidly rising costs, returns us to the previous status quo of disinvestment.
only four other states in the nation provide less funding per student for higher education than oregon.
that is simply unacceptable.
public universities in oregon have calculated that it would take at least an additional $N million in state support for public higher education to preserve core student services and financial aid.
if we received this amount we would voluntarily limit tuition increases to about N percent.
flat funding may not sound like a reduction, but the university is forecasting very large cost increases over the next couple of years—largely created by salary increases from collective bargaining agreements and unfunded retirement costs.
these increased costs amount to roughly $N million.
even with the substantial tuition increases recommended by the tfab, the university will still need to close an $N.
N million recurring gap in our budget for next year.
we have already begun a process, aided by faculty members, administrators, and students, to identify how we can create new revenue streams and/or cut expenses.
roughly N percent of our educational budget pays the salaries of our faculty, staff, and administrators.
therefore, any efforts to cut the budget will inevitably lead to a loss of jobs and pain to our community.
as we move forward, we will strive to protect the academic and research programs of the university.
our goal will be to continue and accelerate the progress we have seen over the past couple of years in enhancing excellence in teaching and research, including investments in faculty hiring, research infrastructure, and support for student access and success programs.
budget challenges will make this harder and may require difficult choices, but we cannot and will not take our eyes off the pursuit of excellence in all that we do at the uo.
as i have already noted, we will do everything we can to shield our most vulnerable students from the impact of this proposed tuition increase.
the pathwayoregon program continues to provide full tuition and fees to about N,N pell grant–eligible resident students on our campus, including more than a third of our first-year resident students.
we have also made significant progress toward achieving the goals set when we announced the oregon commitment in N, which provides advising, planning, and academic resources to help every student at the university graduate in a timely fashion.
to every extent possible, we intend to maintain the integrity of those important efforts.
it is my hope that we can still avoid raising tuition by more than N percent and reducing our budget through layoffs and attrition.
i call on all of our constituents—students, faculty and staff members, alumni, and friends—to join me in requesting that the legislature and governor prioritize higher education and stop shifting the cost of educating our future workforce to our students and their families.
over the next several months i will be in salem urging our lawmakers to remember that the future of our state is being shaped in places like eugene, corvallis, and portland.
please join me in that effort.
if, collectively, we are successful, we can reduce the tuition increase.
the tfab recommendation estimates that each $N million increment in increased state funding for public higher education would allow the uo to reduce the proposed resident undergraduate tuition increase by roughly N percentage point.
the full $N million in state support for higher education would result in a N.
N percent recommended tuition increase at the uo.
increases of state support would also reduce the operating cuts that would be needed in the coming year.
this would significantly help our students, their families, and our employees.
ultimately, we likely will not know how state funding for higher education will shake out until june or july of this year, which is when state lawmakers historically approve the budget for the next biennium.
i will continue to keep the uo campus community abreast of changes to our budget situation and the potential impact on the uo campus as information becomes available.
i invite you to comment on the tuition proposal prior to my making a final recommendation to the uo board of trustees.
please provide input using this form by N:N p.
m.
on friday, february N, N.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
january N, N dear university of oregon community, the united states has historically attracted and welcomed people from around the globe who helped build our nation, made scientific discoveries, contributed to the arts, fueled our economy, and created our diverse civic culture.
our nation’s first president, george washington, observed that the “bosom of america is open to receive not only the opulent and respected stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges.

.
.” part of the university of oregon’s mission, as a public institution, is to continue to support this tradition by bringing the best and the brightest here to be part of a rich and vibrant community of scholars.
academic excellence and global engagement go hand in hand at the uo.
by continuing our long history of welcoming eager, talented scholars from many countries, we draw global perspectives into our community and enrich the educational experience.
by sending N percent of every graduating class to study abroad or participate in overseas internships, we widen our worldview, develop cross-cultural skills, and prepare students for a global economy.
we are troubled by the decision of the new us administration to begin a process of closing our borders by indefinitely banning refugees from syria, placing a N-day ban on refugees from all over the world, blocking new visas from seven predominantly muslim countries (iran, iraq, libya, somalia, sudan, syria, and yemen) for N days, and signaling a religious test for admittance of new refugees.
the uo is proudly committed to welcoming talented individuals from all countries to study, teach, and carry out research and scholarship on our campus.
we stand with the association of american universities in supporting a visa system that “prevents entry by those who wish to harm us, while maintaining the inflow of talent that has contributed so much to our nation.
” many in our community are worried that recent executive orders send the wrong message about our country.
many are concerned for our fellow students, faculty members, and staff members from the targeted countries.
if you feel vulnerable and unwanted because of the us president’s actions, please know that you are welcome and appreciated at the uo.
you are part of our community, and we stand with you in defense of our shared values of inclusion, equity, curiosity about the world, and global engagement as core to academic excellence.
like other public research universities across the nation, the uo welcomes and supports students without regard for immigration status.
we clearly stated this as our leadership signed onto a statement by our university senate on november N, N.
the university is now in the process of creating an administrative position within the division of student life that will be a point of contact and a resource for undocumented students and those covered under the deferred action for childhood arrivals program.
more recently, we have been working to make sure the most directly affected members of our community receive our full support: last week we communicated directly with students, faculty and staff members from the seven countries targeted for a N-day visa ban, recommending these students avoid travel outside the us, given the ban and ensuing uncertainty.
we identified all of our students currently on uo study-abroad or overseas internships.
while none are from the seven targeted countries, five are non-us citizens, and we are working to ensure their smooth return to campus at the end of their international academic programs.
a few uo academic units are about to admit graduate students from the seven targeted countries.
we also have undergraduate applicants and potential american english institute applicants from these countries.
we will work to maintain the academic integrity of the admissions process (seek and welcome the best candidates, with an eye toward equity and inclusion), while also acknowledging that the uo cannot control the issuance of us entry visas at embassies and consulates abroad.
we will signal willingness to work with these newly admitted students and applicants, on a case-by-case basis, to explore every option available, as we gain more clarity on visa policies to follow the N-day ban.
we will hold a town hall on changing immigration rules at N:N p.
m.
on monday, january N, in the emu ballroom.
experts on international immigration will review the current state of affairs, answer questions, and reinforce the core message that this university cares deeply about international and undocumented students.
the event is open to all.
we know many people may have questions and concerns.
we will soon provide a list of frequently asked questions on uo policies and programs related to international students, faculty and staff members.
in addition, the following individuals are available to answer questions: general questions about international policies and programs at the uo can be directed to vice provost dennis galvan in the office of international affairs, dgalvan@uoregon.
edu or N-N-N international students and visiting scholars can contact abe schafermeyer, director of international student and scholar services, abe@uoregon.
edu or N-N-N international employees may contact international employment specialist jennifer doreen, jdoreen@uoregon.
edu or N-N-N, or bill brady, assistant vice president for employee and labor relations, wbrady@uoregon.
edu or N-N-N as we have stated so often recently, the uo remains committed to fostering an academic environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all, and it bears repeating that this commitment includes our international students, faculty, and staff.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law scott coltraneprovost and senior vice president translations:en españolmandarin 亲爱的俄勒冈大学全体成员arabic - جامعة أوريغان تقدر الانفتاح الدولي كما تقدر باحثيها من جميع أنحاء العالم.
january N, N dear university of oregon community, like many universities throughout the nation, the university of oregon is actively engaging in issues of diversity and inclusion on campus and using them as an opportunity for debate, learning, and community-building.
some well-publicized incidents this academic year have underlined the importance of our efforts to ensure that each and every student, faculty, and staff member feels included and comfortable learning and contributing here.
in this message, i want to focus on two decisions—i will not recommend to the board of trustees that it dename deady hall, and we will move forward with efforts to build a new black cultural center at the uo.
i am announcing these decisions now because our campus needs clarity about the status of deady hall and a clear path forward to focus on tangible actions we can take to improve the climate at the uo for students of color, specifically those who identify as black or african american.
in the fall of N, the black student task force presented uo leadership with a set of N demands.
one demand requested the following: “change the names of all of the kkk-related buildings on campus.
deady hall will be the first building to be renamed.
” in february N, i empaneled a committee, chaired by associate professor charise cheney, to provide me with advice on a set of criteria that could be utilized in decisions for denaming buildings on campus.
after receiving the committee recommendations, i appointed three historians to research the historical record of dunn hall and deady hall’s namesakes and answer a set of questions based upon these criteria.
on august N, N, we released the historians’ N-page report.
more than N,N people—faculty and staff members, students, alumni, and community members—provided input on the report and numerous editorials, letters to the editor, and commentaries have appeared in the media.
on september N, N, in a letter to the community, i established a set of principles that would guide my decision about whether to recommend the denaming of a building on campus to the board of trustees.
they are as follows: bigotry and racism have no place in our society or our university.
each of us must value each other based on individual merit and not the color of our skin, the social status of our parents, our gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or physical or mental ability.
it is vital that all students at the university of oregon feel valued and included as part of this institution.
this is true for every member of our community, but particular attention needs to be paid to members of groups who often feel isolated and alienated as a result of their chronic underrepresentation on campus and the legacy of racism in this state and nation.
we must be careful not to obscure our history regardless of whether we like what we find when we study it.
the only way we can understand our present and prevent injustice from repeating itself is to study our history and learn from our past.
the process of naming or denaming a building has symbolic value.
but symbols are less important than actions that affect the material circumstances of members of our community.
naming a building and denaming a building are not identical actions and should be governed by separate decision-making processes and considerations.
naming a building honors an individual either for exceptional contributions to the university and our society or for exceptional generosity.
while extremely meaningful, naming a building occurs regularly and is usually done contemporaneously with, or shortly after, the life of the person for whom a building is named.
the very purpose of naming is to establish a durable honor that stands the test of time.
denaming a building, on the other hand, is an extraordinary event and should only occur in very limited circumstances.
many decades may have passed since the person whose name is on a building was alive, and information will typically be less complete than in a naming decision.
contemporary decision-makers will often be limited in their ability to evaluate the behavior of people who lived in circumstances and with cultural mores very different from our own.
denaming is also an act associated with ignominy and the destruction of reputation.
we should normally be careful when we do this, particularly because the person involved will seldom be available to defend himself or herself.
finally, denaming threatens to obscure history and hide the ugliness of our past, which is contrary to our institution’s values of promoting lifelong learning and sharing knowledge.
therefore, the presumption should be against denaming a building except in extraordinarily egregious circumstances.
in that letter, i announced my decision to recommend to the board of trustees that they dename dunn hall, a building that commemorated a former professor of classics at the university of oregon who also served as the grand cyclops of the lane county ku klux klan.
the board of trustees unanimously adopted this recommendation on september N, N.
dunn hall was temporarily renamed cedar hall.
because the issue of potentially denaming deady hall was more contested, i decided to delay a decision until uo students returned from their summer vacations so we could continue the conversation.
throughout the fall term i have continued to solicit the opinions of community members on the question of denaming deady hall.
in applying the principles for denaming to dunn hall, i found that the presumption against denaming was outweighed by the facts set forth in the historian’s report—namely that frederick dunn was the head of a hate group that supported racism and violence against african americans, catholics, and jews, and was not a man for whom a building should be named on the university of oregon campus.
matthew deady, however, presents a more complicated case, the detailed facts of which are recounted my september N, N, letter to campus and in the historians’ report.
in my view, the facts set forth in the historian’s report do not support overturning the presumption against denaming deady hall.
many of deady’s historical accomplishments were exceptional.
he was an active and respected legislator and political figure in the state.
he was appointed by president buchanan to be the first federal judge for the state of oregon.
he, more than any single person in the university of oregon’s history, played a formative role in its creation and early years as a regent.
it was his work in persuading northern pacific railroad president henry villard to donate to the university that kept its doors open in the Ns.
of course, deady was also a deeply flawed man.
he held racist views which i find abhorrent and contrary to the principles of our university.
his support of slavery prior to the civil war cannot be excused, even if it was based upon his understanding of the “letter of the law” of property.
nor can his support for the N exclusion act be ignored.
the fact that deady’s views and actions were shared by many oregonians at the time he lived does not excuse them, although it does explain them.
although deady’s racist views did not abate after the civil war, he fully embraced the new constitutional order.
the historians characterize his change as a “metamorphosis.
” deady supported the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, which guarantee to all equal protection under the us constitution.
while he never had the opportunity to issue an opinion involving african american civil rights, he was a protector of chinese immigrants.
deady does not represent an example of an egregious case justifying overturning the presumption against denaming.
unlike dunn, he was not the head of an organization which espoused violence against vulnerable populations.
also unlike dunn, his positive acts and importance to the nation, state, and university were noteworthy and of historical distinction.
for all of these reasons, i will not recommend that the board of trustees dename deady hall.
the fact that deady hall will remain a symbol of racial intolerance for many of our students is troubling.
many students associate this past and our continuing to honor a man who was racially intolerant as evidence that the university does not take their concerns about diversity and inclusion seriously.
nothing could be further from the truth.
as i have stated previously, bigotry and racism have no place in our society or in our university.
it is vital that all students at the university of oregon feel valued and included as part of this institution.
while the process of naming or denaming a building has symbolic value, symbols are less important than actions that affect the material circumstances of members of our community.
it is these actions that we now must focus on.
we have already implemented half of the demands of the black student task force, including the creation of the umoja academic residential center, the creation of an african american opportunities program and accelerated efforts to recruit african american students to the university, and the hiring of african american faculty members including the launching of a new african american studies cluster in the college of art and sciences.
once these faculty join the university we will work with them and our existing faculty to explore the feasibility of creating a black studies minor and/or program.
in addition, i will continue to advocate that the faculty consider and develop innovative changes to incorporate issues of race more broadly into our curriculum.
we will also continue to finalize our fundraising strategies for diversity scholarships by the end of this academic year.
today, i would like to announce my commitment to build a new black cultural center at the uo.
i have been convinced that, particularly in light of their small numbers, african american students need a place that will provide them with an opportunity to gather, reinforce their academic pursuits, enhance connective bonds that support recruitment and retention, and discuss their shared experiences and needs.
we will work with our students to plan a structure that will provide them with a place of respite with programming that will promote their success.
fundraising for this project has already begun with a generous $N,N gift from our alumnus and campaign chair dave petrone and his wife nancy.
the planning phase for design and construction will begin immediately.
we will also commence this spring with the renaming of cedar hall.
we will solicit from our community nominations of names of individuals who have distinguished themselves in the fight for racial justice and equity.
our students will be involved from start to finish as we identify criteria and select someone who will embody the values of achievement, tolerance, and equity.
it is my hope and expectation to bring this renaming decision to the board of trustees in june.
we will also move forward with plans to work with our students and faculty to ensure that the lessons we have learned about ourselves and our history are not lost.
we will plan installations in both deady and cedar halls that remind all visitors of their histories and of the continuing project of inclusion and diversity.
the work of making the university of oregon a more diverse and inclusive university is important work and will not happen overnight.
it will not be complete when we cut the ribbon on the black cultural center.
nor will it be complete when we recruit more african american students and faculty members to eugene.
while i am grateful to the black student task force for placing racial equity squarely on our agenda, it will take all of our efforts—faculty and staff members, students, administrators, alumni, and community members—to make this university the inclusive place we want it to be.
i am eager to get on with this work.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
january N, N good morning.
my name is michael schill.
i am the president of the university of oregon.
thank you, eric richardson, for inviting me to speak today.
what a great and inspiring day this is! i cannot think of a better way to celebrate the teachings and strive for the aspirations of dr.
martin luther king junior — than by walking hand in hand with my neighbors, community partners, colleagues, students and friends.
we stand united in our belief that we must do much more to make dr.
king’s dream of equity, justice, inclusion and diversity a reality.
the university of oregon is committed to this work, not just because it is right and just, but because adhering to these values make us a better institution and are essential to our mission of teaching, research and service.
listening to the words of the many speakers here and seeing the faces of the many young people who marched through town this morning, i am moved and inspired.
i hear in their voices and see in their eyes determination and hope, resilience and passion, but also trepidation.
this is also what i hear and see from many of our students at the university of oregon.
i have learned a lot from our black students and other students of color at the uo over the last year and a half as president.
i’ve learned from our black faculty, staff and community members as well.
in fact, i think and hope the entire university of oregon community and people our nation have had their eyes opened wide about the continuing legacy of racism and bigotry in america thanks to the black lives matter movement.
these lessons are ongoing, but we know that education and understanding is an important step in making change.
i’d like to share with you some of the lessons i and the uo community have learned in the last year.
i have learned a lot of about the unique experiences of our black students, faculty and staff.
i’ve spent a good part of my life as an attorney, professor, and academic leader working to ensure access, equity, and justice in housing and education for underrepresented populations.
i’ve lived and taught in philadelphia, new york, chicago and la.
, but living in eugene and leading our university has offered a whole new perspective.
what many of our students have told me is that when they look around and see very few people who look like they do, or find very few people who have similar backgrounds, it is extremely alienating and isolating.
they feel that they are repeatedly called upon to represent their race, a burden that their white counterparts do not share.
and those white students, they themselves are harmed by our lack of diversity.
the genius of american higher education is that we learn from each other.
without sufficient diversity, all students are shortchanged.
i have also learned that actions speaker louder than words.
as many of you many remember in the fall of N, a group of students under the banner of the black students task force, rallied on our campus and presented me with a list of demands.
i meet with and correspond with our black student leaders many regularly, and today i walked with them, and they have made it very clear that they want to see progress.
last spring year we announced that we were moving forward with many of the demands and we implemented a series of change on our campus including: we removed the name of a ku klux klan leader from one of the resident halls on campus.
we expanded efforts to attract and recruit african american and black students through a new african american opportunities program.
we have invited six black greek letter organizations to the uo.
we have created an african american residential student community.
the umoja pan-african scholars academic residential community is now home to N scholars in the living-learning center.
we are creating new african american advisory boards for retention and advising, as part of our student leadership teams.
we launched an african american lecture series on campus.
our fourth speaker, acclaimed author ta-nehisi coates, will be on campus next month.
we expanded information about the demographics of the populations of our campus and posted it online.
and the college of arts and sciences has established a new african american cluster faculty hiring program focused on black literature, history and women and gender studies.
for all of these initiatives, we are working hard to ensure that these changes are meaningful, lasting and not merely symbolic.
i have also learned that change takes more than just desire and commitment, it needs planning, resources and action.
to that end, the university of oregon has developed a strategic framework called ideal for implementing our institutional goals of hiring more diverse faculty and staff, attracting more diverse students, helping these students succeed, and making our teaching and research more inclusive, equitable and diverse.
we have challenged and required all of the leaders of our units and schools at the uo—our deans, vice presidents and the president too—to tell us how they are going to achieve these goals and how we can hold them accountable if they do not.
these diversity action plans are due in spring and meaningful change must start right away.
another lesson of the last year, these issues are hard and nuanced.
being well intentioned is not enough.
we must seek input, perspective and consider the impact of our actions.
as many of you know, when a law professor chose to dress in blackface at a halloween party in a misguided attempt to draw attention to the lack of black doctors, she deeply hurt and offended many people in our community.
she forced our campus to take a hard look at how we balance the essential need of freedom of expression and academic freedom with the rights of our students to be free from racial harassment.
i may have the right to express my opinion, even controversial opinions because that is at the core of our ability to learn and question, but i do not have the right through my speech to deny you your right be free from racial harassment.
a final lesson i have learned in the last year is how smart, courageous and strategic our black students and their allies are.
they have challenged the status quo in a way that balanced their desire for change with an understanding of how institutions work.
in doing this, they have made more progress than i guess they ever could have expected.
more needs to be done at the university of oregon.
and lord knows, more needs to be done to make martin luther king’s dream a reality.
i look forward to working with our students, our faculty and our community on this mission.
thank you.

.january N, N dear members of the university of oregon community, as many of you may know, the provost search committee has been hard at work for the past five months.
the N-member committee, which includes representatives from virtually all of the uo’s constituencies, has created a position description, built a pool of candidates, and conducted interviews with a wide variety of potential candidates.
we are now at the stage of the process where we plan to bring some of them back to eugene for more intensive interviews and recruitment.
the provost search committee, in conversation with members of the search firm russell reynolds associates and some of our candidates, has concluded that the successful completion of the search requires that we follow what is increasingly becoming the national practice: avoiding the sort of open search that we have previously employed for decanal candidates.
if we were to follow past practice, a number of candidates would drop out of the process rather than compromise their leadership positions at their current universities.
we have consulted with university senate leadership and the faculty advisory council on how to move forward with the next step in the process in a way that carefully balances our need to conduct a competitive search with our desire to receive input from appropriate campus stakeholders.
we have agreed that over the next few months, finalists will come to eugene to be interviewed again by the search committee and by deans, vice presidents, the provost and his chief of staff, the senate president, and the president of united academics.
following this process, the search committee will present their final recommendations to the president, who will ultimately make the hiring decision.
we are excited by the pool of candidates; they are an accomplished set of academic leaders capable of leading our university.
we are also very grateful for the generous amount of work and dedication of members of the provost search committee who are committed to finding our university the best person to be our next provost.
while our process for selecting the next provost will be different than it has been in the past, in light of the inclusive nature of our search committee and our desire to hire the very best provost we can, we are comfortable with the process set forth above.
we look forward to providing you with more information in late february or early march.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law geraldine richmond, provost search committee chairpresidential chair and professor of chemistry.
january N, N dear colleagues, over the past couple of months, the university of oregon’s handling of events associated with professor nancy shurtz’s decision to wear a controversial halloween costume has garnered significant media attention, both locally and nationally.
a number of editorials, letters to the editor, and blog posts have engaged in discussions on the topic.
some of the coverage has been, in my opinion, thoughtful but some has, perhaps not surprisingly, sensationalized and caricatured what is a very serious incident that deeply affected our students and, by extension, our entire university community.
a number of colleagues have asked me for my own views on the matter.
i hesitate to burden you with this personal reflection, but because this incident has polarized our community i have decided that it would be useful for me to share some of my own thoughts about the matter.
at the outset, i should state that, under university policies, the provost, not the president, is the figure whose job it is to respond to complaints against faculty members.
therefore, i have not played a formal role in responding to the incident.
i write this to clarify my institutional role and not to decline responsibility.
to the contrary, as president, i am ultimately responsible for everything on our campus.
when professor shurtz invited her two classes to her home for a halloween party on october N and dressed up wearing blackface, she created a conundrum that is the stuff of a very difficult law school examination question.
two very important principles were potentially in conflict—the right of students to be free from racial harassment and the right of faculty members to exercise free speech.
a law firm that the university hired to do an impartial investigation of the matter interviewed students and faculty members who were at the party and made a factual finding that at least some of the students felt compelled to attend their professor’s party and that they would potentially suffer negative consequences if they left early, despite being deeply offended and affronted by professor shurtz’s costume and its strong connotations of racism.
the investigators made a factual finding that the behavior by professor shurtz constituted racial harassment under university policy v.
N.
N.
of course, this is only part of the story.
professor shurtz told the investigators that she didn’t intend to act in a racist manner.
instead, she said she was dressed “as a book” she had recently read that highlighted the shortage of black doctors in the medical profession.
she also told the investigators that she was making a statement about the paucity of african american doctors.
the law firm weighed the harms from the harassment against the value of her conduct and determined that, according to the balancing test prescribed by pickering v.
board of education, the former outweighed the latter, rendering her conduct unprotected.
the provost accepted the findings of the investigation and, pursuant to university policy, took appropriate actions to make sure that professor shurtz understood the gravity of the incident and would not behave in a similar fashion in the future.
i am not able to divulge the nature of these actions because university policy mandates confidentiality.
as i consider the case of professor shurtz, i have to admit i am torn.
i believe that freedom of speech is the core value of any university.
when faculty members pursue their avocation—teaching students and conducting research—they must be able to say or write what they think without fear of retribution, even if their views are controversial, and even if their research and their views risk causing offense to others.
otherwise, advances in learning will be stunted.
this freedom of speech includes the freedom to share political views, academic theories, good ideas, and even bad ones, too.
it includes speech that offends others.
without academic freedom we could scarcely call the uo a university.
for me, stating that principle in the abstract is easy and uncomplicated.
but here is the problem—figuring out when and whether there are legitimate limits on freedom of expression actually is complicated.
in general, it is not acceptable for someone to use her rights to deprive another of her rights.
i should not be able to use my speech to deny others of their right to be free from racial or sexual harassment.
i can hold—and share—controversial views.
but that does not give me the right to harass specific individuals or to speak in any way i wish to, in any place, or any point in time.
but, when exactly does offending someone turn into proscribed harassment? only a small number of legal commentators would say that faculty members should be immune from all harassment charges on academic freedom grounds.
instead, most of us recognize that speech rights are extremely important, but they also fall on a continuum.
for whatever it is worth, i personally am fairly close to the end of the spectrum that believes speech should be maximally protected.
but even i believe that there are cases when speech or conduct is of relatively minimal value compared to the great harm that it may do to our students—particularly to students who already struggle with isolation and lack of representation.
for example, imagine a required class in which a professor repeatedly uses the “n” word for no apparent reason except to elicit a reaction.
could african american students forced to sit through this class have a claim of harassment? i think so.
similarly, imagine a class in which a professor makes repeated, sexually explicit remarks to a student or students for no educational purpose.
free speech principles should not, in my view, prevent the university from taking appropriate actions to make sure these actions stop and do not recur in the future.
to be sure, the case of professor shurtz is not quite as clear-cut.
the events took place in her home, not in the classroom.
her stated intention ex post was not to offend, but to draw attention to systemic racism.
still, some of her students felt that they were in a similar situation to students in a classroom being subjected to harassing speech, as they felt pressure to attend and to remain at the event.
they felt that they could not leave without jeopardizing their standing in the class, and they also felt that the offensive nature of the blackface was the equivalent of hearing the “n” word.
in these circumstances, should the university have ignored the event or should it have taken action proportionate to the offense? what lesson would we be teaching our students if we let the incident end without even an official letter of reprimand? these were the very difficult questions that provost coltrane had to grapple with, and i am supportive of the process he used and the fairness he displayed in making his decision.
some commentators have taken to the barricades, and suggested that any finding or action taken with respect to professor shurtz will ultimately open the door to firing professors for expressing their political views.
really? in law, we call this the “slippery slope” argument or “the parade of horribles.
” while i have tossed and turned for nights over the fact that the university found that a professor’s expressive conduct constituted harassment, i think the reaction of those commentators is overly dramatic and not supported by anything that took place in this case.
go online and you will find that professor shurtz remains a member of the law school faculty.
name a single faculty member who has been punished by the provost for his or her political views.
this has not happened and you have my vow it won’t happen as long as i occupy my office in johnson hall.
the blackface incident has been a painful one for everyone in our uo community.
it came at a time of heightened emotions with respect to the treatment of african americans on our campus and on campuses throughout the nation.
it also came at a time of turmoil and recrimination in our national politics.
in my opinion, each of us should be uncomfortable with the harassment that our students experienced at the home of a senior faculty member.
each of us should also be uncomfortable with the fact that the provost felt it necessary to take remedial actions with respect to a faculty member in connection with her expressive conduct.
maybe i am just being a pollyanna, but ultimately i hope that this discomfort will serve a good purpose.
i hope that we come out of this experience with a greater understanding both of the value of free speech and the ways in which our speech can harm each other.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
pesident schill and provost coltrane sent the following message to campus: december N, N dear university of oregon community, last thursday, oregon governor kate brown released her budget for the fy N–N biennium and proposed flat funding for all seven public universities.
this is good news only in the sense that it could have been a lot worse due to the state’s estimated $N.
N billion budget deficit for the next biennium.
the bad news is that flat funding from the state creates significant financial challenges for the uo.
you may recall that the uo joined with all of the other oregon public universities in signing a letter this fall stating that we needed a combined $N million in additional state funding to keep next year’s tuition increase below N percent.
this proposed budget obviously falls well short of that goal.
oregon has still not returned to the levels of state support delivered to the uo before the economic downturn—about $N million in N.
the uo currently receives about $N million in state operating support.
also bear in mind that over the last N years, both in oregon and nationally, cuts to public support for higher education have shifted the burden of paying for a college degree to students and families.
we will work tirelessly to seek additional funding from the state—and we call on students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders to join with us in this effort.
we project that the uo’s educational and general operating expenses will increase approximately $N million next year largely due to salary increases contained in our faculty and staff labor contracts, rising health-care costs, and the extraordinary increase in our required contribution to the state’s unfunded pension (pers) liability.
the way the state distributes funds over the two years will result in another $N.
N million reduction.
when you add everything up, it means next year, if our funding from the state remains constant as proposed, the uo will face at least a $N.
N million shortfall.
we must find, in some combination, additional revenues (e.
g.
, tuition and fees) or expense reductions as a result.
furthermore, it is important to recognize that the current governor’s budget proposal of “constant funding” is premised on the assumption that the state will generate nearly $N million in new revenue from a variety of sources.
if lawmakers are not able to agree on a revenue plan, the overall state budget will need to be cut further to bring it into balance.
also, the university’s revenue shortfall for next year should not be confused with efforts by several of our schools and colleges to bring their budget into balance.
this work is ongoing and will proceed along a parallel track.
as we plan for these uncertainties, our top priority is to protect our access and academic programs.
indeed, with the incredible opportunities presented by the gift of phil and penny knight, our initiative to increase the number of tenure-related faculty by N to N members over five years, investments in student success, and planned initiatives around diversity and inclusion, the school is poised to make historic strides in building the sort of academic excellence that only a few years ago seemed out of our reach.
despite the very real financial challenges we may face, we will protect these efforts and keep our march toward excellence on track.
while we will not know the final state budget for many months, perhaps as late as july, we need to move ahead now in our planning.
the tuition and fees advisory board began meeting last month to consider the budget situation and potential tuition and fee increases.
the current budget realities mean it will be nearly impossible to keep the tuition increase below N percent, and in fact the percentage could rise much higher.
we will join with our students in helping state lawmakers understand how this proposed budget affects higher-education affordability at the uo and across the state of oregon.
in addition, we will need to look creatively at other options.
within the next few weeks, the president will appoint an ad hoc budget advisory task force to provide advice and ideas for raising additional revenues and reducing expenses.
the task force will include members of the senate budget committee as well as administrators, faculty and staff members, and students.
it will begin meeting in early january.
the traditional budget advisory group, which works to make recommendations on strategic investments, will not be convened this year.
we also ask that all departments proceed carefully with any new hiring of administrative staff and non-tenure-track faculty over the remainder of this fiscal year.
existing searches and requests for hiring approval should be reevaluated with an eye toward whether the personnel are absolutely essential and whether the hiring could be delayed until july N, when we will have a better understanding of the overall budget.
ultimately, it is very likely that many of our units will see reductions to their budgets next year.
in many instances, it will be better to handle these expense reductions through attrition rather than through layoffs or contract nonrenewals.
the governor’s budget is a starting place and nothing is set in stone.
over the next several months, we will work with counterparts at the other state universities to make the case to increase state funds for higher education.
we invite all members of our community, including our alumni, the asuo, and labor unions, to join us in this effort.
sincerely, michael h.
schill president and professor of law scott coltraneprovost and senior vice president.
december N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following president's report to the university of oregon board of trustees during the december meeting.
these are remarks as drafted and may not be verbatim.
we will be discussing in great depth tomorrow two matters that occupy a great deal of my time and energy—the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact and the governor’s recommended budget that was released today and its impact on our own operating budget.
thus, i will keep my remarks on those very short.
i would like to mention briefly that i am very pleased with the progress we have made on laying the groundwork for the knight campus since we announced it on october N.
this is a historic time for the uo, and i do not want to miss any opportunity to point to this great achievement, thank the knights, and celebrate the potential of how we will transform scientific research at the university and the economy of our state.
before i talk about a couple of other issues, i would like to introduce you to kevin marbury, whom you have met, but in a different capacity.
as you know, kevin—our director of physical education and recreation—has agreed to serve as the interim vice president for student life until a permanent vice president is on board.
thank you, kevin, for your leadership and service.
we have moved certain services under vice president roger thompson’s portfolio, which is now called “student services and enrollment management,” including the university health center, counseling and testing center, the office of university housing, and academic extension.
i would also like to thank bruce blonigen, associate dean in the college of arts and sciences, for stepping up not only to chair the search for a new dean for the lundquist college of business, but also to serve as interim dean of that college during the search.
campus climate as all of you are aware, campus climate issues have grown in importance at universities throughout the nation both as a result of the black lives matter movement that began last year and this year’s national election.
our university has been working with our students and faculty for many months, particularly on the matters presented by the black students task force.
about a month ago, we experienced a particular challenge related to a halloween party held at the home of a faculty member at which the host dressed up in blackface, leading to complaints from a number of faculty members and students.
a number of racist incidents have occurred on campus fanned by the election.
in addition, a number of students—including our undocumented and international students—have experienced distress as a result of president-elect trump’s statements about deporting undocumented immigrants and limited immigration of muslim individuals.
i have been very clear in my words and my actions about the expectation i have for the university.
we value equity and inclusion, our mission of teaching and research benefits from diversity, and we condemn acts of racism.
these values are unshakeable, but it is clear we still have hard work ahead to live up to these expectations.
our office of affirmative action and equal opportunity with the assistance of outside counsel are reviewing whether the law faculty member who wore blackface violated our policies or title vi, and we are waiting for that process to wrap up, hopefully before the end of the quarter.
this incident has already revealed a tension between behavior that is offensive to our university and free speech and academic freedom.
we continue our work to implement a series of programs and initiatives to recruit more black students and faculty members, review our curriculum, and create opportunities in and out of the classroom for underrepresented students.
the college of arts and sciences is launching an african american faculty cluster.
we are also continuing to assess the feasibility and potential fundraising possibilities for a black cultural center on moss street.
as part of our efforts to enhance campus diversity, provost coltrane and i have asked each dean and vice president to accelerate the process of creating their action plans to implement the ideal framework.
we have given each dean and vice president N days to lay out the steps they are taking to promote diversity, combat racism, and enhance inclusion.
we intend on holding our units accountable for progress in this area.
to address some of the campus climate issues for underrepresented students, and in response to uncertainty many students and faculty members are feeling following the rhetoric from the highly charged presidential election, the university has created a website at respect.
uoregon.
edu.
this site provides information and resources about the uo’s value of inclusion, our policies against discrimination, how to report prohibited discrimination, and how to receive support.
we announced two weeks ago that we would not cooperate with federal immigration investigations of our students either by sharing information or allowing our police force to work with ins agents in the absence of court orders or exigent circumstances.
the university senate joined us in supporting this effort.
we have asked the deans and senior administrators to make themselves available to our students, faculty, and staff at special office hours.
personally, i will be holding three sessions this month, and i have begun daily walks through the emu and other campus gathering places to talk with students and “take their temperature.
” i am also going out to join faculty meetings to talk about their experiences.
federal issues on the subject of the national election, there is much we do not know about how president-elect trump will approach higher-education issues.
let us first be clear about what we do know.
the federal partnership with higher education is long-standing and there is historically a lot of common ground between democrats and republicans on higher education.
both student aid and federal research are historically bipartisan priorities.
both sides have been interested in more accountability for higher-education institutions in terms of how we are investing in the success of our students.
and regardless of who became president and which party controlled the senate, we knew we would face a tough federal spending environment.
while much is still to be determined, the statements during the campaign have raised some issues of immediate concern for our faculty, staff, and students.
first, the trump administration has indicated it will take action to reverse president obama’s immigration policy.
our students, faculty, and staff are concerned about how this will affect them.
this is an especially large concern for our undocumented students, particularly those who are here under daca, the deferred action for childhood arrival program, and for those participating in the state tuition equity program that allows undocumented students to attend oregon universities at the in-state rate.
about N students participate in this program at the uo.
as i said earlier, i made clear in a statement to campus that we support all uo students and that the uo will take no action to facilitate adverse action by immigration officials barring a court order.
second, changes to the us department of education: the trump administration has nominated betsy devos to the position of us secretary of education.
like others before her, her focus has been on k–N, not higher education.
we do know that she is an advocate for k–N vouchers, which may bode well for federal pell grants.
there has been much speculation about whether the administration will act on campaign rhetoric to dismantle the us department of education or greatly scale back the office of civil rights.
proposals to eliminate the department of education are particularly problematic for the uo.
our college of education is among our most successful units in receiving federal research funding.
if the department of education were eliminated, this funding might well be at risk.
coe dean randy kamphaus, along with other aau deans, is actively engaged in advocacy and outreach for these programs.
we have already seen strong indications that the trump administration will seek to overturn the department of labor’s new fair labor standards act regulations on overtime.
we are working now to determine how to move forward on flsa in light of the recent court order that has put a hold on the requirement to have these in place by december N.
finally, research funding: there was little discussion during the campaign about science and innovation.
the campaign was clear about president-elect trump’s views on climate change and we can expect that efforts to defund climate change research became easier with the change in administration.
we do know that congress will take action this week to boost funding for nih.
once the administration appoints its top-ranking science officials, we will have a better idea of what to expect.
in the meantime, we are sharpening our advocacy case in coalition with other research universities, the aau, and the association of public and land-grant universities.
provost search finally, i want to give a brief update on our search for a new provost.
as you know, scott coltrane will retire at the end of this academic year.
we had a strong pool of candidates that we are narrowing down.
we will conduct airport interviews later this month.
this is a critically important position for the university, and i am pleased with the progress so far.
i am hopeful we will have much more to report at our next board meeting.
i am happy to answer any questions about these issues or any other matters you might be concerned about.

.to: campus communityfrom: university of oregon leadershipdate: november N, Nre: support for resolution reaffirming shared values of respect, diversity, equity, and inclusion we, the president, provost, vice provosts, vice presidents, deans and other leadership of the university of oregon, are committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable learning environment for every member of our academic community.
we value and celebrate the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members.
the university and our academic mission of teaching, research, and service is greatly enriched by our diversity of thought, experience, perspective, culture, and background.
we condemn all forms of discrimination and vow to work actively to protect and support all members of our campus community.
to that end, we support university senate resolution usN/N-N, “reaffirming our shared values of respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
” the full text of the senate resolution is as follows: we are an academic community enriched by the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, and community members.
each individual and group has the potential to contribute in our learning environment.
each has dignity.
to diminish the dignity of one is to diminish the dignity of us all.
we oppose discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or national origin and fight for an equitable and welcoming educational environment in which all can freely and safely learn, discuss, differ, debate, and grow.
we endorse the following statement by the board of directors of the aau: “a diverse student body adds significantly to the rigor and depth of students’ educational experience.
diversity encourages students to question their own assumptions, to test received truths, and to appreciate the complexity of the modern world.
” we specifically welcome and foster in our midst a multicultural and international community of students and scholars.
we encourage all university leaders and community members to do the following: N.
N.
continue to protect members of our community who have been rendered particularly vulnerable by the bigotry and climate of the recent political campaign N.
N.
speak out loudly and clearly against expressions of racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, and other bias, and react promptly and firmly to acts of discriminatory harassment N.
N.
create forums and workshops to raise awareness and promote dialogue on issues of race, sex, and sexual orientation N.
N.
intensify efforts to recruit members of racial minorities on student, faculty, and administrative levels N.
N.
strengthen our curricula to reflect the diversity of peoples and cultures that have contributed to human knowledge and society, in the united states and throughout the world respectfully, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law scott coltraneprovost and senior vice president yvette m.
alex-assensohvice president for equity and inclusion susan andersonsenior vice provost for academic affairs michael andreasenvice president for advancement doug blandysenior vice provost for academic affairs bruce blonigeninterim dean, charles h.
lundquist college of business matthew carmichaeluniversity of oregon police chief david conovervice president for research and innovation brad foleydean, school of music dance karen fordsenior associate dean of humanities lisa freinkelvice provost and dean for undergraduate studies dennis galvanvice provost for international affairs jane gordonvice provost for portland programs kyle henleyvice president for university communications darci heroyassociate vice president and title ix coordinator terry huntdean, robert donald clark honors college randy kamphausdean, college of education chris krabielinterim vice provost for information services and chief information officer adriene limdean of libraries and philip h.
knight chair christoph lindnerdean, school of architecture and allied arts r.
kevin marburyinterim vice president for student life w.
andrew marcustykeson dean of arts and sciences, college of arts and sciences jamie moffittvice president for finance and administration juan-carlos molledaedwin l.
artzt dean, school of journalism and communication michael moffittdean, school of law melanie muenzerassociate vice president for academic administration and chief of staff rob mullensdirector, department of intercollegiate athletics scott prattdean, graduate school kevin reedvice president and general counsel nancy resnickchief human resources officer brad sheltonsenior vice provost for budget and strategic planning hal sadofskyassociate dean of natural sciences carol stabileacting associate dean for social sciences greg strippsenior advisor and chief of staff, office of the president roger thompsonvice president for student services and enrollment management chuck triplettassistant vice president for university initiatives and collaborations paul weinholdpresident, university of oregon foundation angela wilhelmsuniversity secretary.
november N, N president michael schill and provost scott coltrane issued the following statement: we have heard from numerous students, faculty, and staff that they are concerned about potential changes to immigration laws, especially as it relates to undocumented students and those covered under the deferred action for childhood arrivals.
we want to be very clear that we support all uo students, regardless of their immigration status.
while it is too soon to speculate on what may happen in the future, the university of oregon remains committed to daca and providing an inclusive campus that values global citizenship and engagement.
as is currently our practice, we will treat all students equally in keeping with our values of inclusion, diversity and equity.
this also means: the university of oregon will not facilitate immigration enforcement on our campus without a warrant or a clear demonstration of exigent circumstances such as the imminent risk to the health or safety of others; the university of oregon police department will not act on behalf of federal officials in enforcing immigration laws; the university of oregon will not share with the federal government any information on the immigration status of students unless required by court order.

.november N, N dear campus community, the recent election has stirred up emotions and exposed divisions in our nation.
throughout the country instances of vile speech and threats have proliferated.
we at the uo have also experienced some of this behavior over the past two weeks.
indeed, the current political climate and its aftermath have left many members of our community concerned and upset.
as i walk through the emu, i encounter students worried about their safety, their ability to continue their studies in america, and their families.
it may be obvious to many of you, but i want to make crystal clear our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
every person in this university is important and valued.
the university’s leadership team stands united in our resolve to do whatever we can to enable every member of our community to flourish and contribute.
i also want to make absolutely clear that we condemn any threat or effort to intimidate anyone at the university.
we are a community of scholars.
efforts to divide us based upon the color of our skin, our nationality, our immigration status, our abilities, our diversity of thought, our gender, or our sexual orientation must be called out and stopped.
if you feel overwhelmed or troubled, please speak with those around you: our faculty, deans, advisors, staff at the university counseling center, dean of students office, ombudsperson or many other resources.
if you see me walking through the emu or elsewhere, stop me and let me know how you are feeling and what ideas you have to ensure we have a welcoming community for all.
i hope you will see that you have a lot of people in your corner—starting with me.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
president michael schill, interim vice president for student life kevin marbury, and several other uo students participated in a video message to all university of oregon students.
president schill stressed, "each one of you belongs at this university, and we care about you.
what we need to do is come together and embrace everyone here and make sure that everybody feels a part of this university, knowing that we can succeed and we are all rooting for them.

.november N, N dear members of the university of oregon community, last week was an incredibly difficult time for our university.
the decision of law professor nancy shurtz to wear blackface at her halloween party wounded our community, divided us, and exposed fissures that long existed under the surface.
it is now my job as the leader of our school to not only help us heal but, more important, to move us to a demonstrably better place.
the challenge for all of us is to recognize that the problem is deep and cannot be fixed with a band-aid.
instead, real healing, progress, and transformation will take time, persistence, and generosity of spirit.
it is not my role to attempt to discern the motives of professor shurtz when she chose her costume last week.
regardless of her intentions, what she did, by her own admission, was wrong.
indeed, one of the things that troubles me most about this incident is that a member of our law faculty in N would not understand that the use of blackface is deeply offensive and an act of racism.
as one of our students eloquently wrote to me: “white america’s conceptions of black entertainers were shaped by the mocking caricatures that played up the stereotypes of black people being racially and socially inferior.
no matter the intention, blackface is racially insensitive.
at this point, there is no reason for anybody to be ignorant of the history of blackface.
no one should have to explain why blackface is offensive or derogatory.
this is well-documented history.
” university presidents are not supposed to get angry.
but right now i feel both mad and more than a little sad.
over the past year, we have worked with our african american students and faculty members to make the uo a place where educational opportunity and excellence are accessible to all.
we have taken the name of a former leader of the ku klux klan off one of our buildings; we modestly increased the proportion of african american students in our freshman class; we created new pipeline and outreach programs; we launched a new african american studies cluster-hiring initiative; we created a new african american residential community; and we are planning new scholarship programs and testing the feasibility of a new african american cultural center.
we also finalized our ideal framework, a plan to put in place a culture, processes, and system to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the entire university.
i am excited about our progress, and i am not willing to let last week’s events slow our momentum and growth.
to the contrary, last week’s events suggest that we need to redouble our efforts to combat racism and ignorance on campus.
we need to expand our work beyond students and reach our faculty, staff, and administrators.
we must help our community comprehend how racist behavior can be baked into our society so deeply that some of us don’t even recognize it.
and we must take actions to transform ourselves and make this school a better place.
my first instinct when faced with a problem is to dive in and fix it.
but i have to admit, like my counterparts at most american universities, i know of no silver bullet.
i do know that i, along with our entire academic leadership, will need to consult with our students and faculty members of color to understand their experiences and hear their ideas.
provost coltrane and i will ask each dean and vice president to immediately begin conversations within their schools and departments with our faculty members, students, and staff members of color.
the ideal plan calls on each school to develop plans on an annual basis.
i will ask that each school and administrative unit accelerate the process and report back to me in N days with a set of steps they plan to take to promote diversity, combat racism in their units, and promote inclusion.
i will work with the provost and our division of equity and inclusion to ensure that these steps are taken and their impacts are measured.
with respect to the immediate issue of professor shurtz, as i announced last monday, i have referred the matter to our office of affirmative action and equal opportunity.
that unit, which will be assisted by an outside law firm, will make a determination as to whether professor shurtz or anyone else violated any law or university policy.
during the pendency of that process, the dean of the school of law has placed professor shurtz on administrative leave to permit the law school’s educational mission to move forward.
we will provide professor shurtz with all of the procedural rights she is entitled to under the law and university policy.
we cannot and should not prejudge that process and speculate about the outcome.
and even as we condemn the use of blackface, we must consider that these actions may be protected by the first amendment and our university’s tradition of academic freedom.
while many of us feel that what professor shurtz has done is wrong, i also would ask that you leave space in your hearts, words, and actions for forgiveness and compassion.
although we all must be held accountable for our actions, i would also hope that we would ultimately be judged for what we do on our best days as well as our worst.
finally, i am aware that some members of our community have received communications that are hateful, racist, and make them feel unsafe.
i have read some of them and they sicken me.
i have consulted with uo police chief matt carmichael, and we have not been able to find any credible evidence that they emanate from members of our university community.
nevertheless, i have asked the chief to deploy additional personnel both to the investigatory process and to ensuring that every member of our community is physically safe.
as we deal with this horrible episode, i ask everyone to take a deep breath and think about how their actions affect other members of the community.
this is a time for us to come together to fight ignorance and racism, to promote inclusion.
it is not a time to hurt each other, settle scores, or compromise our cherished values of free expression.
this is a time for us to come together to make progress and not a time for us to be divided.
we must support each other and treat each other with respect.
we must give people the room to express their opinions and feelings, even if we disagree with them.
we must not shy away from hard conversations or ugly truths, but we will not tolerate hate speech or threats—period.
as president, i pledge that uo leaders will do everything we can to provide a safe and supportive campus environment for that to happen.
so let us agree today that we, as a community, are going to use this challenging time as an opportunity to unite behind shared values and a common goal of fighting bigotry and ending prejudice on our campus and in our nation.
let us agree that one person’s actions do not define the university of oregon or the progress we are making toward becoming a more welcoming, diverse, and inclusive institution.
by uniting as a community, we can move past this moment and become stronger and more resilient.
thank you.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
november N, N students, faculty, and staff, the university of oregon has been made aware that a faculty member of the school of law wore a costume that included blackface at a private, off-campus halloween party that was attended by uo faculty members and students.
we condemn this action unequivocally as anathema to the university of oregon’s cherished values of racial diversity and inclusion.
the use of blackface, even in jest at a halloween party, is patently offensive and reinforces historically racist stereotypes.
it was a stupid act and is in no way defensible.
the faculty member involved has apologized for the decision and has expressed concern about its potential impact on members of the community.
although the party occurred outside of the faculty member's official duties, the professor acknowledges that the costume choice was unacceptable under any circumstances.
we take seriously any complaints from members of our community, and we have referred this complaint to the office of affirmative action and equal opportunity, which will determine whether this action could constitute a violation of university policy.
at a minimum, it illustrates the need for more training and dialogue on these critical issues.
in support of this dialogue, the division of equity and inclusion created a uo african american workshop and lecture series to help increase understanding.
implicit bias training is now required for all faculty searches and this winter new trainings on micro-aggressions will be offered.
we will continue to assess other trainings or opportunities we can employ to further educate our community.
bigotry and racism have no place in our society or at the uo.
providing a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive environment for all is one of the university’s top priorities.
we have been working for more than a year with our students to further these objectives.
this incident makes us even more determined to ensure that no member of the uo community feels isolated or alienated on this campus as a result of intentional or unintentional racist behavior.
sincerely, michael h.
schill president and professor of law scott coltrane provost and senior vice president yvette alex assensoh vice president for equity and inclusion michael moffitt dean, school of law.
october N, N free expression on campus: rights and some responsibilities over the past year, controversies involving free expression have cropped up on campuses throughout the united states.
speakers have been disinvited at several universities as a result of objections to their views.
at other universities, speakers arrived on campus only to be shouted down by their audiences.
a student was disciplined at one college for making a joke about feminism; at another a similar fate met students who criticized the university’s affirmative action program.
and at many universities, students demanded administrative sanctions against other students for their expressions of political views.
the university of oregon has a proud history as a leader in the protection of free expression.
in N, the university created a free speech platform outside the emu.
a few years later, during the height of vietnam war protests, the university created new procedures that recognized the rights of students to protest and drafted policies that took a lenient approach to non-violent demonstrations.
in N, the free speech zone was expanded to the plaza outside our student union.
wayne morse – our former law professor, dean and u.
s.
senator – was throughout his career an outspoken advocate for unpopular political positions.
today members of our community still use demonstrations to drive attention to their causes, including in just the past year marches organized by the black student task force, the divestuo movement and our own classified workers.
like other uo presidents, i have sometimes been mentioned less than lovingly during these protests.
but like the majority of my predecessors, i am also deeply committed to the principle of free expression, both as embodied in the first amendment and in the institution’s tradition of academic freedom.
let me ground this conversation in the unequivocal statement that the uo embraces free expression as one of its core principles.
it is outlined in the policy on freedom of inquiry and free speech passed by the university senate in N and signed by president richard lariviere.
the policy states: “free inquiry and free speech are the cornerstones of an academic institution to the creation and transfer of knowledge.
expression of diverse points of view is of the highest importance, not solely for those who present and defend some view but for those who would hear, disagree, and pass judgment on those views.
the belief that an opinion is pernicious, false, and in any other way despicable, detestable, offensive or ‘just wrong’ cannot be grounds for its suppression.
” my own views on free expression are entirely consistent with this strong statement of principle.
as the inscription at the emu free speech plaza states, “[e]very new opinion, at its starting, is precisely a minority of one.
” today’s unpopular sentiment or theory may become tomorrow’s orthodoxy.
perhaps even more important, unpopular views, even those that never catch on, cause us to question our commonly held presuppositions and engage in critical thinking, which is at the core of what we teach at a great university.
of course, free speech is not and never has been an absolute right.
justice oliver wendell holmes said it best when stating that the law does not sanction someone “falsely shouting ‘fire’ in a theater.
” courts have determined that it is appropriate and necessary for government to define the time, place and manner in which speech may coexist with the functions of government.
in a university setting, we create restrictions that protect the safety of our community, the rights of our students to obtain an education, and the ability of our faculty, staff and administrators to do their jobs effectively.
last year, a group of students representing divest uo occupied the waiting room of johnson hall and attempted to plant a sign in front of the main door for several months.
they were respectful, interesting and fun to engage.
to be honest, i sort of liked having them there, even though they refused my offers of food.
on the other hand, they disrupted business at johnson hall.
when we looked for policies pertaining to the sit-in, we found that we had little more than vague rules prohibiting disruption and allowing for scheduling the use of facilities.
the absence of appropriate and well-understood rules for the use of campus spaces for the free exchange of ideas makes us all vulnerable.
we don’t have a set of consistent policies and rules that are clear to students, faculty, staff or other entities who may wish to appropriately protest.
more importantly, the absence of clearly articulated policies means that there is an unacceptable risk of arbitrariness and ad hoc rulemaking that in itself is a threat to the uo’s foundational free speech principles.
while i liked the students sitting in the foyer, what if they had been hateful people advocating for policies we find reprehensible? restrictions on speech—even those allowed by law—must be content neutral.
to deal with this problem, i have asked our office of general counsel to draw up a proposal that sets forth a clear set of guidelines to govern the time, place and manner of expressive activity on campus.
they are in the process of getting feedback from stakeholders across campus and plan to take that proposal to the policy advisory committee in the next few weeks.
it is my hope that this process of circulating a proposal will allow us to craft the best policy possible, one that reflects the values of the community and serves the legitimate needs of the university.
i view it as the beginning of a campus dialog that will involve all constituents of our university including our students, classified workers, administrators, faculty and university senate.
because of the vulnerability i described in the previous paragraph, if for some reason we are unable to come to a consensus in four months, then i will enact a temporary policy until that consensus is achieved.
the final topic that i would like to cover is how we treat each other.
at our september convocation i spoke to more than N,N incoming members of the class of N.
i told them that sometimes professors or classmates might say things that angered or even offended them.
but the antidote to speech that one doesn’t like is not to shut down that speech.
that is what totalitarian governments do.
instead—to paraphrase supreme court justices louis d.
brandeis — the antidote to speech we don’t like is more speech.
i am delighted that we have not experienced the type of intolerant behavior that has taken place at many other universities in the N months since i assumed the presidency of the university of oregon.
the fact that we have the right to say what it is on our mind, of course, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t think about the effects of our words on others.
racist or sexist speech, hate speech, is not welcome on this campus.
students, faculty and staff must all remember that we are a family—a family of ducks.
that means something.
we should not harm members of our community by making them feel bad or unwelcome.
as a community of scholars, we can debate ideas and theories without insulting each other or resorting to name-calling.
think about how your speech affects the people who hear it.
and, if you say something, even inadvertently, that does create offense, consider apologizing or engaging that person in a discussion.
that’s what people in a family do.
that’s also how we learn from each other – through discussion.
this message— that there is nothing inconsistent between the notions of protecting free speech and being careful that our speech doesn’t harm members of our community—is one that we should all put into practice.
not because the university’s administration will step in to squelch the speech with disciplinary proceedings.
we won’t do that unless it rises to the level of pervasive harassment that deprives members of our community of their rights to teach or learn.
we should consider the effect of our speech on others because we are a community of scholars.
so let’s argue with each other robustly over ideas and policies.
let’s protest against oppression; let’s argue about politics; let’s even debate about questionable decisions emanating from johnson hall.
but let’s do so respectfully, assuming that each of us just wants to do the right thing.
and, let’s also keep open the possibility that all of this speech might convince us to change our minds.
that is the essence of rational discourse; it is why our university was created and why we chose to be here.
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.october N, N dear colleagues and friends, while our announcement this week of the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact focused on the quantum leap in scientific research that it will make possible, the impact of this extraordinary gift will ripple far beyond the sciences and well beyond eugene.
this singular act of philanthropy provides a ray of hope to public universities throughout the nation that, like the uo, have experienced precipitous disinvestments from their states.
the knights’ gift is a perfect example of how a public university—even in a state that ranks near the bottom in terms of public funding of higher education—can still hope to achieve eminence in the Nst century.
upon my arrival in eugene N months ago, my many discussions with students, alumni, and members of the faculty and staff highlighted the clear need for the uo to focus on enhancing our research profile.
according to data from the national science foundation, in N the uo ranked near the bottom in federal research expenditures among members of the association of american universities.
part of this is explainable by the fact that we are only one of two schools in the aau without a medical or engineering school.
but it was also attributable to years and years of state disinvestment—our state funds per student had been cut by more than N percent since N.
these cuts had taken their toll, particularly in capital-intensive areas of research such as the sciences.
my conversations with faculty members repeatedly came back to the absence of applied or translational science at the university.
while our school has always had faculty members who did excellent basic or fundamental science research, the absence of both engineering and medical schools severely limited their ability to take the discoveries they made in the laboratory outside the realm of scholarly journals.
fundamentally, many of our scientists wanted to see their work make an impact on society.
the absence of an applied research infrastructure frustrated efforts to obtain federal research funding, affected our ability to attract new faculty members, and denied many of our scientists the opportunity to engage in translational work with university partners.
i, thereupon, asked a group of scientists to put together ideas for a translational science research program that i could take to a donor.
we did this in december, and phil and penny enthusiastically agreed to a gift that will fund the first phase of what will soon come to be known as the knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
i then met with a broader group of faculty members drawn from each of the sciences to discuss governance of the campus.
now that the gift is public, i look forward to further consultations with our faculty advisory council, the academic council of the university senate, and other constituent elements of our shared governance system.
what is the knight campus for accelerating scientific impact? at one level, when fully implemented over a decade, it will comprise three laboratory buildings outfitted with shared core facilities.
at least N new tenure-related faculty members, N graduate students, N postdocs, and N undergraduate research assistants will work within these buildings.
existing faculty members who wish to affiliate with the knight campus will be able to use its facilities and apply for seed research funding.
entrepreneurs will be embedded to work with our faculty members to ensure that their discoveries and innovations reach the market or otherwise have an impact on society.
we anticipate that the knight campus will require an investment of at least $N billion over a N-year period.
we expect that the remaining funds will come from donors who have already expressed an interest in the sciences, federal funding agencies, and the state of oregon.
indeed, next year we will ask the state of oregon to contribute $N million for one of the laboratory buildings.
the knights’ lead gift includes funding for the facilities, technology and tools, and also endows faculty positions.
we fully intend that this structure will ensure that the knight campus remains financially sustainable without drawing from other campus resources or student tuition.
institutionally, the knight campus will likely be somewhere between a department and an institute.
a N-member faculty committee i convened this summer under the leadership of professor patrick phillips has recommended that the provost have the ability to grant tenure in the knight campus as well as promote joint appointments.
a search for a permanent director will begin immediately; we hope to recruit someone with a sterling academic reputation.
external and internal advisory committees composed of members of the faculty and experts from the uo and elsewhere will advise the director in planning the new buildings and facilities, and in identifying promising areas of research.
it is likely that we will begin with faculty and facilities dedicated to the life sciences and data analytics.
it is my strong commitment that the subject areas that we select for the knight campus will ultimately engage not just newly hired applied or translational scientists, but faculty members from around the university.
the sky bridge in the conceptual renderings linking the main uo campus with the new campus on the north side of franklin boulevard will be both utilitarian and symbolic—drawing the two together.
in our future, i see joint research projects undertaken by basic and translational scientists on new therapeutic techniques to fight disease and behavioral strategies to improve human life.
i see collaborations among our humanists, social scientists, and the knight campus faculty on the social implications of technological change.
i see partnerships among the business school, law school, planning and public policy department, and the knight campus around entrepreneurship and product development.
one of the reasons i have high confidence in this vision is our collaborative culture, a culture that we have built at this university over the last N years.
it is one of the uo’s clear competitive advantages when we recruit new faculty members, and it will be the foundation upon which we will build the new knight campus.
it is my hope that our success in securing the gift for the knight campus will provide us with both the inspiration and the opportunity to think big about other areas of intellectual inquiry.
as we turned to our science faculty for the impetus for this initiative, we will look to other faculty members in other fields to help us define, focus, and support research and teaching excellence in the humanities, social sciences, and professional schools.
i also see the knight campus as a major driver of economic development in the state.
oregon needs to continue to aggressively enhance and expand its innovation economy.
with silicon valley to the south and seattle to the north, the time is ripe for this type of economic development.
i believe that the tailwinds are with us and that the knight campus will soon be a major player in transforming our economy into one with higher-paying information-based jobs.
that is one of the reasons we are seeking to partner with the governor and legislature on one of our new laboratory buildings.
of course, the university of oregon is not just a university that creates knowledge; it is also one that transmits knowledge to the next generation.
we do this through our scholarship, but also through excellent teaching.
i anticipate that the knight campus for accelerating scientific impact will quickly create new instructional programs for graduate students in applied science.
i also hope that we begin thinking about adding new and innovative undergraduate majors in subjects that we have never been able to offer in the past.
this will improve our competitiveness for students from around the state and nation.
it will also benefit our state and our region as we train the workforce of the future.
penny and phil knight have donated to this university a series of amazing gifts.
they have supported our programs in academics and athletics with enormous generosity.
the knight library, the matthew knight arena, the knight law center, the marcus mariota performance center, the knight chairs and knight professorships, the hatfield-dowlin complex, the jaqua center, the knight campus for accelerating scientific impact—the list goes on and on.
perhaps more than anything, penny and phil have allowed us to dream.
our faculty have come up with a very, very big idea.
i am delighted that because of these two wonderful members of our university family, we now have the opportunity to make that big idea a reality.
sincerely, mike to opt-in or opt-out of receiving future open mike messages click here.

.october N, N welcome, everyone.
welcome, governor brown.
welcome, faculty, staff, and students.
welcome, friends and alumni.
welcome to our many community, state, and federal partners.
i am thrilled that you are all here to share this incredible moment of celebration with us.
i’m joined here on this stage by members of our board of trustees, our provost, vice presidents, and deans; by members of our science faculty, asuo leadership, and university senate leadership; and also by elected officials from eugene and oregon, including governor kate brown.
we are here today to make history.
and to transform our future—thanks to an unprecedented $N million gift from penny and phil knight, the largest single gift ever made to a public flagship university.
this monumental act of philanthropy, this incredible demonstration of love for the university of oregon, will launch a $N billion initiative called the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact.
the knight campus will fast-track scientific discoveries into innovations that improve the quality of life for people in oregon, the nation, and the world.
the knight campus will reshape the state’s public higher-education landscape by training new generations of scientists, forging tighter ties with industry and entrepreneurs, and creating new educational and career opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
the knight campus will catapult our state’s knowledge-based economy forward as it generates between $N and $N million of economic activity statewide each year and supports from N to N,N jobs.
but first, i want to tell you a bit about the genesis of this wonderful vision.
the vision for this campus was born like all great academic ideas—from our faculty members—out of their passion to make a difference in the world, to see their discoveries in the lab translate more quickly and efficiently into innovations and impacts in the world.
last fall we brought together university of oregon faculty members from across campus who brainstormed this idea of breaking down the traditional research barriers so that their discoveries could move from the laboratory to the market; from scholarly journals to improvements in the lives and material circumstances of human beings through new products, medicines, technologies, and policies.
these scientists and scholars shared their big idea with me, and i shared it with phil and penny knight—and they loved it.
what is so amazing about this dream of our researchers is that unlike so many initiatives in higher education, this one has the resources to back it up, thanks to phil and penny knight.
so what is the knight campus for accelerating scientific impact in real, concrete terms? when the knight campus is fully realized over the next N years, it will comprise three N,N=square=foot buildings on franklin boulevard, connected to our existing lokey science complex research facilities by a sky bridge.
in those buildings, working together, will be our current researchers and N new faculty members, N postdocs, N graduate students, and N undergraduate students.
many of the new faculty members recruited to the knight campus will not look like the traditional scientist the campus is used to seeing.
they could be engineers, data scientists, robotics experts, entrepreneurs, and scientists interested in clinical translation of new discoveries.
they will be armed with the latest tools, state-of-the-art laboratories, and technology.
the knight campus will provide the resources, infrastructure, and support networks to ensure that our best ideas and discoveries are quickly tested, refined, and developed into innovations that improve the human condition.
the first steps toward bringing the knight campus to life are already underway.
we will swiftly launch a national search for a world-class scientist to lead the campus for accelerated scientific impact.
for the present, patrick phillips, professor of biology, has agreed to serve as our interim executive director.
[note: these press releases keep using the term “acting” incorrectly.
the dictionary definition of “acting” means “temporarily assuming the duties or authority of another.
” this position is new.
there has been no “another.
” we will seek state support for a new science building that will be part of the knight campus.
concurrently, we will raise funds to complete the $N billion long-term vision for the campus from donors who have already expressed an interest in the sciences.
we will also assemble both internal and external advisory committees who will advise and help set the direction for the campus.
patrick and i are also looking forward to consulting with the university senate academic council, our faculty advisory committee, and other campus leaders as we bring the knight campus to life.
the benefits of the knight campus’s innovative approach to accelerating scientific impact are immense.
the entire campus will benefit.
the knight campus will build on our N-year tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration in the sciences and will allow us to accelerate the research “impact cycle.
” it will substantially increase federal research funding to the university of oregon, allow us to attract and retain outstanding students and faculty members, and raise our profile throughout the world.
that sky bridge that i mentioned over franklin boulevard tying the lokey complex with the knight campus is designed to be more than a safe and dry way to cross the street.
it also symbolizes my hope and expectation that the knight campus will have an impact that will be felt throughout our university.
of course, our scientists on the south side of franklin will be able to use new core facilities, access research innovation funds, and partner with new colleagues who will help them extend their work in new directions.
but i also see collaborations among our humanists, social scientists, and knight campus faculty members on the social implications of technological change.
i see partnerships among the business school, law school, planning and public policy department, and the knight campus around entrepreneurship and product development.
and so much more.
i see collaborations with our sister research universities—ohsu, osu, and psu, which is one of the reasons i am so grateful to have joe robertson here today.
i see tremendous opportunities for our students.
we will begin with graduate education and then move on to undergraduate majors and degrees, working hand-in-hand with our faculty and university senate.
and i see the knight campus as a major driver of economic development in the state.
oregon needs to continue to aggressively enhance and expand its innovation economy.
with silicon valley to the south and seattle to the north, the time is ripe for this type of economic development.
i believe that the tailwinds are with us and that the knight campus will soon be a major player in transforming our economy into one with higher- paying, information-based jobs.
that is one of the reasons we are seeking to partner with the governor and legislature with respect to one of our new laboratory buildings.
there are so many people who helped make this happen.
our legislators and alumni, who cleared the way for our new governance system that made this gift possible.
our faculty, who dreamt big and shared a clear vision for this campus.
our board of trustees, led by the extraordinary chuck lillis, who provided us all with the clear mandate to reach for the sky.
our leadership teams, who worked through the myriad details and logistics.
the many donors and friends who laid the groundwork through gifts for our existing facilities and endowed faculty chairs.
and, of course, penny and phil knight.
thank you! this gift is simply extraordinary.
they gave it out of a deep love for our university and the state of oregon, and an abiding belief that, with the right resources, the right strategy, and the right leadership, the university of oregon could achieve a level of excellence and national prominence that has previously been out of reach.
this is a defining moment for the uo, a bold step forward that will shape the trajectory of the university for the next century and beyond.
i am excited to share it with you.

.october N, N to our university of oregon family, i have the immense pleasure of announcing that our dear friends phil and penny knight have made an extraordinarily generous $N million gift—the largest ever to a public flagship university—that will launch an initiative to rethink and reshape research at the university of oregon.
the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact will fast-track scientific discoveries into innovations, products, and cures that solve problems and improve our quality of life.
this is a defining moment for the university of oregon that builds upon our rich history of interdisciplinary scientific research and the deep talents of our faculty members.
i encourage you to learn about the new knight campus by visiting around.
uoregon.
edu/accelerate.
i will share more details about this exciting new initiative tomorrow morning on the university of oregon campus at N:N a.
m.
i invite you to watch the event live on the uo facebook page.
the knight campus will work to transform the state’s public higher-education landscape by training the next generation of scientists, forging tighter ties with industry and entrepreneurs, and creating new educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
consisting of three new buildings at the northwest corner of franklin boulevard, across from the lokey science complex, the campus will also generate tremendous economic benefit for our community, state, and region—driving nearly $N million in annual economic activity statewide and supporting more than N family-wage jobs when the campus is fully operational.
this gift will allow us to strive for a level of excellence and national prominence that had previously been out of reach.
the greatest beneficiaries of this monumental change will be the people of oregon and our future students.
please join me in thanking penny and phil knight for this incredible investment in our future.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
october N, N dear campus community, the fall academic term is off to a fantastic start.
i am proud to have welcomed to the university of oregon our most diverse class of students ever, dozens of exceptional new faculty and staff members, and many additional graduate students—in addition to welcoming back our existing family of outstanding students, faculty, and staff members.
last year at this time, i announced the oregon commitment to expand student access and increase on-time graduation.
i am very excited that this initiative is off to an excellent start.
already we have seen an increase in the percentage of our students taking N credits or more.
this is just one of our university’s accomplishments and just the beginning of how we will realize our aspiration for the university of oregon.
it is time again to look to the future.
i am eager to tell you about our latest hopes for our university related specifically to how we will enhance our research enterprise and accelerate our impact on society.
i invite you to join me at N:N a.
m.
on tuesday, october N, in the giustina ballroom of the ford alumni center for what i hope will be an exciting discussion.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law this event will also be streamed live on the uo channel available by clicking this link.

.september N, N welcome to the university of oregon class of N.
welcome new students, new faculty members.
welcome all! we have been anticipating your arrival and we are thrilled you are finally here.
i came to this university a little over year ago—so i know what it is like to be new—and one of the first things i had to learn was how to throw my o.
does everyone know how to do that? it’s not a triangle, it is a nice oval, like this! look at that, you are already experts! this symbol may have been started by our band leaders and adopted by athletic fans, but it has come to symbolize so much more.
throwing your o, is the way you make your impact on the world as a duck.
and you, members of the class of N, are about to embark on a journey here at the university that will open you up to a world of information, ideas, creativity and problem solving; a world in which you “throw your o” far and wide, in ways you cannot yet imagine.
the first step of that journey begins this week as you attend your first classes.
you have been selected to study at this university.
you have earned the right to be here—we don't admit anyone who doesn't deserve a spot in our classrooms.
that means that each of you is capable of succeeding at the university of oregon.
it is how you apply your abilities and qualifications that will determine what you actually accomplish as students on this campus.
and you will have to apply yourself, in ways that are different than high school.
this is not Nth grade.
you will have to step out of your comfort zone.
while many of you are very well prepared for the rigors in the classroom, you are all also learning how to be college students.
many of you are learning how to live away from your families.
with this new independence comes wonderful and challenging lessons—from figuring out how to use your meal points and where to do laundry, to learning how to get across campus from global scholars hall to plc and how to stay awake through an early morning lecture after a midnight run to voodoo donuts.
figuring out this stuff will likely become some of the best memories of your time here at the university of oregon.
i vividly remember my first days in college and my own convocation.
like many of you, neither of my parents had gone to college.
but they had very high aspirations for me.
i went to a private college and almost all of my tuition and fees were either covered by scholarships, loans, summer jobs, and a job in the library of our public policy school.
to say i felt out of place was an understatement.
who were these people who dressed differently from me and who seemed to already have so many friends? i wondered would i ever fit in? who would i eat dinner with? and could i ever compete and do well at college? ultimately, i found my own niche in college; my own friends; and my own academic passion—urban policy.
i never lacked for a dinner companion and i survived the four years, indeed i thrived.
much of what i am today is formed by my education.
connecting with your fellow classmates, your residence advisors, your professors and your roommates will help you find your place as well.
however, as you begin your classes, some of you may find the pace challenging or the material confusing at first.
if you do find yourself falling behind, or in need of some support, don’t wait to get help.
we are on a quarter system, so the timetable for classwork, mid-terms and final exams may seem compressed as you make the transition from high school semesters to ten week quarters.
before you know it, you could get buried.
so if you find yourself in trouble, go get some help.
every professor here wants you to succeed; every counselor and student support person wants you to flourish.
we all want to see you not only do well in your classes, to learn the material and work towards your degrees, but also to graduate from the uo in four years.
you are the class of N, not the class of N or N.
i want you to graduate in N not because i don’t love you and want to have you around.
i want you to graduate in four years so that you can save time and money, reduce your debt and increase your chance of success in the long run.
to do that you need to take at least N credits per term.
you also need to be very proactive with how you schedule your classes.
please, meet with your advisor to ensure you remain on track with credits, pre-requisites, and requirements.
as a university, we’ve made a commitment to help you be successful by invested in more advising, counseling, and predictive software to help us help you stay on track.
so if you do fall behind reach out and get help.
this is very important to me and all of us to see you succeed.
and while you are here to study, you are also here to expand your minds, learn about people and places different that you are.
that means, at times, stepping outside your comfort zone and exploring classes and subjects you might not otherwise.
for those of you who think you are interested in science and math, be sure to study literature and the arts.
for those of you whose parents are telling you not to waste your time learning a language, reading history, studying poetry, or learning how to appreciate art, explain to them that being an educated human being, a critical thinker, requires studying the humanities.
for those who want to be musicians, poets, journalists, or sociologists, be sure to take a science class and brush up on your math.
for the budding business people among you, go take a dance class or a romance language.
to be prepared for a changing world and the economy when you graduate, you will need to be broad in your knowledge and able to constantly learn.
that is what college is for.
also, don’t just hang out with people who look like you or have your background.
become friends with someone unlike any of your other friends.
go out to dinner with folks who vote for political candidates who you can’t stand.
attend one of the lectures or workshops of our african american guest speakers and learn about implicit bias.
when you get out of school you will need to interact with and understand people who are not like you.
get a head start here.
while you are our most diverse freshman student body classes ever, we can do better and it’s our goal to recruit many more underrepresented students and faculty members to campus.
that’s not to check boxes.
it is because it makes the education we provide better.
when we enhance the diversity, equity and inclusion of our campus, we improve the quality of the teaching, research and student experience by providing more perspectives and insights.
another way to learn from each other by listening to each other.
that happens in an environment that supports free expression and this flow of ideas is essential on our campus.
the genius of american higher education—at least the type of education that takes place on campuses like the university of oregon—is that we learn from each other.
unlike some forms of education which are taught predominantly by lecture—we value robust discussion and debate.
you will never learn if everyone around you is afraid to say or write what they think.
you will never hone your own intellectual capacities if you only interact with people who agree with you.
of course, sometimes what your professors or classmates say may anger you.
sometimes it may even offend you.
but the antidote to speech that one doesn’t like is not to shut down that speech.
that is what totalitarian governments do.
that is not what an open democracy does.
instead—to paraphrase one of our most monumental supreme court justices, louis d.
brandeis—the antidote to speech we don’t like is more speech.
that doesn’t mean, of course, that we shouldn’t think about the effect of our speech on others.
racist or sexist speech, hate speech, is not welcome on campus.
speech intended to impede other people’s speech—like booing speakers so that they cannot be heard—is not acceptable.
these are the easy cases.
some are more subtle.
but remember, we are a family—a family of ducks.
that means something.
we should not needlessly harm members of our community by making them feel bad or unwelcome.
this is particularly the case with respect to folks who are from under-represented racial or ethnic groups.
sometimes you might say something that you never meant to create offense, but that does nevertheless.
my advice to you is always to think about what you say and the perspective of the person listening to you before you say it.
in other words, think about how your speech affects the people who hear it.
and, if you say something that does create offense, consider apologizing or engaging that person in a discussion.
that’s what people in a family do.
that’s also how we learn from each other – through discussion.
a family also looks out for all its members.
we treat each other with respect.
that includes the people who you will become romantically involved with or the people with whom you would like to become romantically involved.
there is absolutely no room on this campus for sexual violence or harassment.
ask for consent, sober consent, and respect the answer you get.
stand up for each other.
if you see something that might lead to sexual assault – say something or do something.
ducks take care of each other.
and, if after hearing what i just said you are chuckling to yourself or your neighbor, the door is right there.
you don’t belong here! and treat yourself with respect.
do not abuse alcohol or drugs.
i said this last year, and i’ll say it again: yes, animal house was filmed here.
but you not animals; you are the future leaders of our state, nation and world.
finally, take full advantage of this learning opportunity.
you are joining a community of scholars at an outstanding research university.
this means that you will be taking courses from knowledge producers, not just teachers.
the professors here are the ones who are asking profound questions, defining important issues, making scientific discoveries, and creating beautiful new art and designs.
they are literally writing the award winning books, publishing the transformative journal articles, and figuring out new ways to build something or creatively express a new art form.
we are teachers at the university of oregon, but we are also knowledge creators.
this is the hallmark of a research university and we are proud of that mission.
so be sure to get to know at least one or two professors well.
in fact, even better, ask a professor if you can participate in their research.
you will find the experience amazing! trust me.
i did.
i know i have thrown a lot of advice your way: go to class, don’t fall behind, seek out the expertise of your professors, take N credits a term, get to know your counselors, ask for help if you need it, share your views respectfully, stand up for each other, and be kind to yourself and others.
my final piece of advice probably does not even need to be said: have fun! this is an amazing campus and community filled with cool things to do, outstanding activities and one of the best places in the world to attend college.
enjoy it, (after you’ve studied of course.
) there is a very real opportunity for you at the university of oregon, and the reason i am standing here today is to urge you to seize it.
this is where you receive your education – your leg up on all those who haven't been fortunate enough or determined enough to be selected for this chance to learn and prepare for life.
you are entering our community of scholars, you are joining the academy.
and we are honored you have come.
welcome to the university of oregon.
i look forward to meeting you all here again four years from now.
i’ll be dressed in similar attire, and you too will be wearing robes.
you will be ready to dish out your own advice to freshman and will have perfected your o and much more.
you will be ready to enter the world – ready to make your impact.
ready to “throw your o” far and wide.
have a wonderful first day of college.
and go ducks!.
september N, N dear colleagues, as i look at my calendar, i am excited about the start of the new academic year and eager to welcome our students back to campus.
while every fall brings a fresh opportunity for us to build upon our high aspirations for the university, this year is especially thrilling.
we have a year of strong momentum at our backs—fueled by the arrival of new academic leadership and brisk faculty hiring; the launch of the oregon commitment for student success and on-time graduation; strong research collaborations reported almost daily in around the o; the creation of new diversity and inclusion initiatives; the opening of the renovated emu; the achievements of our athletes on campus and in rio; and our passage of the halfway mark in our $N billion campaign.
the enthusiasm on campus is palpable.
in my “sophomore year” as president, i will not slow the pace of progress.
in fact, we must accelerate our work to ensure that the new initiatives we have begun are successful and fully realized.
as many of you may remember, in my investiture speech last june i talked about how important it was for our university to constantly strive for excellence in everything we do—particularly in our work to create new knowledge and to pass this knowledge on to our students.
but what do i mean by excellence? some members of our community hear the word “excellence” and yawn—treating the word as a noun with no content.
however, i strongly believe that while it may be difficult to define in a few sentences, excellence does indeed mean something and must guide us as we move our university forward.
i was once told by a very wise mentor to be careful of people who believe that there is only one type of excellence and that they know what that is.
excellence in an educational institution can take many forms and be found in virtually all of our disciplines.
indeed, at the uo i see excellence around me every day.
with respect to research, i see faculty members in the humanities and social sciences filling my bookshelves with extraordinary books that examine the history of religion and gender, the determinants of social movements and language, or the economics of trade and the politics in the united states.
from our professional schools, i read books that probe environmental legal issues, analyze global markets, illuminate media trends, display wonderful art and design, and i listen to cds of beautiful music—all created by members of the uo faculty.
i read (or try to read) articles authored by our faculty on genetics and molecular biology, green chemistry and high energy physics, algebraic geometry, and exercise physiology.
i host dinners with faculty members who have earned early career research grants, been inducted into the national academies, and earned recognition and honors for their books and publications.
their accomplishments take my breath away.
i also get to celebrate excellence in teaching.
i sometimes have the opportunity to sit in on a lecture where i can hear firsthand a faculty member’s mastery of a subject.
i have also had the privilege of surprising faculty members in their classrooms with distinguished teaching awards to the applause of students.
and perhaps most significantly, i have talked one-on-one with so many students about faculty members who have changed their lives by opening them up to new worlds and insights.
does the fact that there are different types of excellence mean that all scholarship is equally important or that excellence can only be found in the eye of the beholder? of course not.
our profession guards excellence with peer review.
while we at the university of oregon certainly get to weigh in on what is excellent, we also look externally to our disciplines and our peers to ensure that we have sufficiently high aspirations that are undistorted by personalities, politics, or self-interest.
the surest way to mediocrity is to tell ourselves that the metrics widely adopted in peer review don’t apply to us.
while objective indicators such as those provided by the aau, academic analytics, or the national research council may not always put us in a flattering light, the appropriate response isn’t to ignore or disparage them.
instead, where the indicators are appropriate we should redouble our efforts to get better.
and where the indicators are inapt, we should strive to understand where they fall short and supplement them with other indicia.
as for me, as many of you have come to understand, i hold traditional academic values.
academic excellence is built on research faculty members who are ambitious and productive scholars like so many i have met over the past year.
excellence is reflected by peers who read what we write and find it valuable.
excellence is reflected in productivity, in the striving to create knowledge, and in the desire to transmit knowledge to the next generation.
excellence is reflected by success in getting peer-awarded research grants, recognition, exhibits, and lectures.
as we build our faculty, it is this excellence that i will seek to encourage and promote.
one way that we will build academic excellence is to retain our outstanding scholars and recruit more extraordinary professors, researchers, and graduate students to the university.
in the sciences we need to provide the facilities that will make possible discovery and invention.
in the nonscientific fields, we need to find ways to expand seed support for research, summer support, and, where possible, teaching relief.
we need to make sure that merit-based compensation truly rewards merit.
and we must break down any barriers that exist to doing what we have always done best—interdisciplinary research.
in short, we need to incentivize excellence throughout our university.
last year we made a number of decisions that reflect this commitment.
the graduate school allocated new graduate fellowships to departments that had strong records in on-time degrees, placement, and student satisfaction.
new faculty hiring was focused in departments with high productivity and clusters with strong academic leadership.
in the coming year, the new financial model will reward departments that both attract students and reflect excellence in research productivity.
our state deserves a world-class flagship university devoted to the principles of academic excellence.
i will do everything in my power to make that happen.
i invite all of you to join me in that endeavor.
if you have further ideas about what we can do to support this mission, please send an e-mail to pres@uoregon.
edu.
i look forward to the coming academic year and wish you a wonderful start to the fall term.
sincerely, mike.
september N, N dear campus community, our students attend the university of oregon for the excellence of our faculty and the strength of our research opportunities.
academics are at the heart of everything we do, but our students also choose to be ducks because of the exceptional student experience outside of the classroom.
they create memories, learn life lessons, and prepare for careers while making the uo their home—in student housing and dining halls, at the student union and rec center, in clubs and cultural events—receiving care and support along the way.
this exceptional student experience, one of the finest in the country, has been shaped and polished by our vice president for student life, robin holmes.
robin recently informed me that she is leaving the uo on october N to become the vice president for student life with the university of california system, in the office of the president based in oakland.
i offer her my deepest congratulations on this well-earned career opportunity.
robin leaves a legacy of student-focused service at the uo.
she is an inspiring and visionary leader who will be greatly missed.
robin joined the uo nearly N years ago as a clinical psychologist and has served for the last nine years as vice president for student life.
during her tenure at oregon, robin has been a tireless champion for students—providing high-quality experiences outside the classroom, while instilling values that helped shape them as respectful, responsible, and engaged citizens of a global community.
thanks to her leadership, the division of student life delivered a vision that truly demonstrates our commitment to student-centered, innovative learning, delivered by an inclusive community of multiculturally-competent professionals.
robin has also played a key role in changing the landscape of campus through the construction of approximately $N million in projects, including the student recreation center (leadership in energy and environmental design platinum-certified), the magnificent erb memorial union, and an eight-year housing plan in support of our residential university mission, with residence halls that support and foster robust academic residential communities.
in the coming weeks, i will work with robin to determine the best model for interim leadership.
i will communicate those plans with campus shortly.
in the meantime, please join me in congratulating robin, thanking her, and wishing her the very best.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
september N, N president michael h.
schill delivered the following president's report to the university of oregon board of trustees during the september meeting.
these are remarks as drafted and may not be verbatim.
my president’s report today will brief you on our progress on four topics: building leadership at the university, progress on our fundraising campaign, our work on the demands of the black student task force, and our current state budget situation.
leadership as all of you know, this has been an enormously busy year for the university.
we have hired the following outstanding leadership.
vice president and general counsel—kevin reed vice president of communications and marketing—kyle henley vice president for research and innovation—david conover dean of the school of journalism—juan-carlos molleda dean of the school of allied arts and architecture—christoph linder dean of the college of arts and sciences—andrew marcus president’s office chief of staff greg stripp and provost office chief of staff melanie muenzer vice provost lisa frienkel also become dean of undergraduate studies this university has undergone a huge amount of change in a very short period of time.
our whole structure is new and most of our leadership is new and more is coming.
certainly it feels very good from where i’m sitting.
this year we will also have a busy year of recruiting.
we will do searches for dean of the school of law—michael moffitt has announced as the end of this school year he is stepping down to rejoin the faculty, dean of the lundquist school of business—we are right in the process of that hiring now, and provost and senior vice president—scott, as you know, has announced he is taking his well-earned retirement.
i would like to thank michael moffitt and scott coltrane for each doing such a wonderful job for the university.
they have both been in difficult situations.
it’s not been an easy time for either of them.
we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.
the business school search is moving ahead most quickly.
we did a first round of searching.
we will be interviewing imminently.
the committee is screening additional names and interviewing candidates.
thus far, the pool looks very strong.
the goal would be to have a new dean here by january if possible.
i thank bruce blonigen, who stepped in as the acting dean of the business school and is serving as chair of the search committee.
the law school dean and provost search committees have been selected (chaired by dan tichenor (law) and geri richmond (provost)), search firms are being contracted, and job descriptions are being written.
one of the committees will be charged on monday so we’ll be off to the races on that.
we anticipate naming the new dean and provost in the late winter or early spring.
also we are hiring a new chief information officer, the search committee is assembled, and we hope to have the candidate identified by our december board meeting.
black student task force enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion on the uo campus is a critical priority to achieving our mission of academic excellence.
as all of you remember, last fall a group calling itself the black student task force presented me with a list of N demand.
we quickly established N separate task forces involving students, faculty, and administrators to get to work analyzing each demand and proposing actions where appropriate.
in april, i announced we are moving forward on six demands of the bstf.
here is an update on those and the remaining demands: today, you voted to dename dunn hall.
with respect to deady hall, i expect that i will make a decision whether to recommend a name change sometime in late october or november.
we have expanded efforts to attract and recruit african american and black students.
enrollment management is hiring staff and expanding efforts to attract and recruit african american students through a new african american opportunities program.
we have invited six black greek letter organizations to the uo.
we have created an african american residential student community.
the umoja pan-african scholars academic residential community is launching this fall.
it will accommodate N students and will be housed in the living-learning center.
we are creating new african american advisory boards for retention and advising, which have been added to the existing multicultural students’ leadership team.
we are launching an african american lecture series.
the university of oregon african american workshop and lecture series will begin this fall with an implicit bias workshop on september N and continue throughout the year.
we have expanded the amount of diversity data we have published.
new information has been available on the division of equity and inclusion website since spring.
that leaves five addition demands, which have resulted in six initiatives that the university continues to work on.
those include: we are committed to supporting the bstf work to create an alumni and faculty/staff leadership group for their organization.
the uo will host a group of black alumni later this month to engage with the bstf and the broader community.
our division of equity and inclusion is creating and will support a black strategy group for employees (in addition to latino and asian strategy groups, and the already established native strategy group).
this fall we’ll discuss with the bstf how to coordinate these entities into one functioning group.
a committee has researched the opportunity to create a black cultural center at the uo.
they visited osu’s black cultural center and the committee recommends that the uo fundraise for and construct a brand new building on the corner of east Nth avenue and villard for a black cultural center.
we have reserved the land for this purpose and are examining the feasibility of raising up to $N million to build the building and then additional money to staff and program it.
assuming that we can raise the money, i am hoping that i will be in the position of approving the project this quarter.
i strongly support efforts to provide more scholarships and grants that can be used to increase diversity at the uo.
currently we are researching the various options for this effort and how we might administer a scholarship program specifically for black student.
that includes getting a legal opinion on how the supreme court decision on affirmative action program at university of texas may impact our opportunities here related to race based scholarships and fundraising.
related to african american faculty hiring: we are moving forward with implementing several of the committee’s recommendations to increase minority recruiting and mentoring programs and are continuing to explore other ways to address these challenges.
i am pleased to announce today that we are establishing a new cluster for faculty hiring with expertise in the areas of black/african american literature, history, and women’s and gender studies.
it will be primarily houses in cas.
we will be asking the schools and colleges to develop plans for recruiting and retaining african american faculty and the deans will be evaluated on these efforts.
we will establish a pre-doc program, likely through partnerships with historically black colleges and universities (hbcu) and other predominantly black institutions to help increase our pipeline of faculty.
we are asking all faculty search committee members to take part in implicit bias training.
efforts are currently underway to determine how we can address the students’ concerns that our curriculum doesn’t reflect the history of and challenges faced by african americans.
changing our curriculum is a campus-wide conversation that requires deep involvement of the faculty.
we are working with the university senate to undertake a review and revision of our current multicultural requirements.
however, revamping our multicultural requirement may not be enough to really address the issue as the students are very interested in creating a black studies program.
as i mentioned, we are moving forward with a cluster hire in areas that could potentially be a part of this type of program.
we need to recruit these faculty and work with others on our campus to determine how we might be able to build such a program.
i anticipate that this work will be ongoing over the next one to two years.
finally, related to hiring a retention specialist for african american and black students, we are continuously working on determining how fte can be made available to hire advisors and retentions specialist with a deep knowledge of and commitment to ensuring the success of black students.
undergraduate studies is current recruiting a professional advisor in the teaching and learning center that will have expertise in addressing the challenges experienced by black students in stem fields.
that hiring cycle will happen in winter-spring (according to national market trends; if we search earlier, the pool will be too small).
we also are exploring if a recent vacancy in lcb could be filled with someone with a depth of expertise in advising black students.
as we work through these hires and faculty recruitment, we are tackling the recommendation to create a better infrastructure and strategies for hiring more diverse faculty and staff.
i hope to meet with members of the bstf later this month to discuss our progress on these issues, and after that communicate with the entire university community.
fundraising campaign i have an update on our fundraising campaign which continues to have very strong momentum.
i am very pleased to report that our campaign to date is $N.
N billion.
our historic six year totals are $N, $N, $N, $N, $N, and $N million respectively.
three of our last four years have been over the $N million mark, and we fully expect to hit that milestone again this year.
we had a record number of major gift solicitations and major gift closes in fyN.
we are not resting.
mike andreasen and his team continue to push to raise the bar even higher.
i am working with our deans and directors to drive the development efforts in their units.
as of august N, we have raised more than $N million in qN of fyN.
we typically raise about $N million in the first quarter, so we are on track to meet or surpass our track record.
at the end of fyN, approximately N percent of our year to date giving is earmarked for academic use.
for historical context, the previous year was N percent and the overall campaign percentage was N percent to academic purposes.
almost N percent of the gift total in the campaign is earmarked for the endowment and just over N percent of the gift total in the campaign are planned or deferred gifts.
more than N,N donors have given more than N,N gifts to this campaign.
current budget situation this year, there is greater uncertainty around our state budget allocation than usual.
the state is currently forecasting a budget deficit of at least $N.
N billion.
at the same time measure N is on the ballot this year which could generate over $N billion in revenue.
added to this, the pers underfunding problem will drive up our pension costs by $N million each year for the next biennium.
obviously, all of this complicates budget planning.
we could see very deep budget cuts from the state that could translate into my requesting in march that you approve double digit increases in resident tuition.
or we could end up with tuition increases less than N percent and new monies available for faculty growth and scholarships.
your guess is as good as mine about what will happen.
we are actively working with the presidents of our sister schools and will work with our students, faculty, and staff to impress upon the legislature the importance of higher education in either a cuts or increase scenario.

.september N, N dear university of oregon community, this letter concerns my recommendation to the university of oregon board of trustees in connection with a demand by some of our students to remove the names from two buildings at the university of oregon—deady hall and dunn hall.
prior to announcing my decision, i would like to discuss some of the events that led up to where we are now.
introduction increasing diversity and inclusion at the university of oregon are among our most important objectives for achieving excellence in academics, access, and student experience.
it is central to our mission and embedded in our strategic framework.
as i have repeatedly said and written, we must improve our efforts to recruit and retain faculty members and students from underrepresented groups, especially with respect to african americans, who have been historically underrepresented on our campus.
only N percent of our students are black or african american; among the members of our tenure-track faculty, the proportion is only N.
N percent.
neither statistic is acceptable.
we cannot and should not hide behind the defense that the state of oregon has a comparatively small population of african american residents.
instead, this fact should cause us to work harder to recruit african american students and faculty members to the university and then, once here, make them feel included and part of our community.
in november of last year, after the racial unrest at the university of missouri sparked protests throughout the nation, a group called the black student task force (bstf) conducted a march on the uo campus and submitted a list of N demands that focused on how the university could increase diversity and inclusiveness for african american students.
many of the demands are quite reasonable—consistent with our institutional priorities and the ideal diversity framework—and, if implemented, would make our university a better place.
members of our faculty and administration promptly met with members of the bstf and established N separate task forces composed of administrators, faculty members, and students to work on the demands.
in an april N letter to the campus community, i stated our commitment to immediately implement six of the demands including (N) expanding efforts to attract and recruit black students through an african american opportunities program, (N) inviting six black greek letter organizations to the uo, (N) creating an african american residential student community, (N) creating new african american advisory boards for retention and advising, (N) creating an african american lecture series, and (N) publishing diversity data.
we continue to work on remaining demands including committee recommendations to fundraise for a black cultural center and student scholarships, hire a retention specialist, attract more black faculty members, and expand or require curriculum offerings that explore the experience of racial and ethnic minorities in the united states.
i expect to make an announcement detailing our progress with respect to these requests in the early fall.
the backdrop to this recommendation this letter concerns the demand by the bstf to “change the names of all of the kkk related buildings on campus.
deady hall will be the first building to be renamed.
” on december N, N, i convened a committee chaired by charise cheney, associate professor of ethnic studies, to seek input from a variety of stakeholders and provide advice concerning the criteria the university might use in deciding whether deady and dunn halls should be denamed.
i received the committee report on march N.
i then used the advice of the committee to write a set of criteria for denaming deady and dunn halls.
on may N, i empaneled a group of three distinguished historians—david alan johnson, professor at portland state university; quintard taylor, professor emeritus and scott and dorothy bullitt professor of american history at the university of washington; and marsha weisiger, the uo’s julie and rocky dixon chair in us western history—to examine the historical record of matthew deady and frederic dunn and address each of the criteria.
the historians report was delivered august N and posted on the president’s website.
in an all-campus message, i requested that interested students, faculty members, staff, alumni, and members of our broader community submit their comments and suggestions by august N so i could take them into account in making a recommendation to our uo board of trustees.
outreach efforts included multiple e-mails to all of our students, faculty members, staff, and alumni; articles on the around the o news website; and contact with members of the news media that resulted in multiple stories about the request for input.
in addition, i also sent direct requests for input to members of the bstf, the black student union, black male alliance, and black women of achievement.
since august N, N individuals submitted electronic forms voicing their opinions on the denaming issue.
of these submissions, N were from students, N were from alumni, N were from faculty members, N were from officers of administration and members of classified staff, and N were from other individuals.
the participation rate in the comment period by our campus community was much higher than on any other input opportunity at the university in recent history (e.
g.
, tuition, strategic framework, ideal).
i also received several letters.
in addition to these submissions and letters, at least N editorials, op-eds, and letters-to-the-editor have appeared in oregon media on the question of the denaming.
i have read each of these submissions and commentaries as well as engaged in conversations with scores of members of the university community.
first principles the question of whether to recommend that the board of trustees dename deady and dunn halls is one of the most difficult matters i have encountered in my first N months as president of the university of oregon.
this is because many of the factors and principles i weighed when applied to the facts were in tension with one another, including (in no particular order): bigotry and racism have no place in our society or our university.
each of us must value each other based upon individual merit and not the color of our skin, the social status of our parents, our gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or physical or mental ability.
it is vital that all students at the university of oregon feel valued and included as part of this institution.
this is true for every member of our community, but particular attention needs to be paid to members of groups who often feel isolated and alienated as a result of their chronic underrepresentation on campus and the legacy of racism in this state and nation.
we must be careful not to obscure our history regardless of whether we like what we find when we study it.
the only way we can understand our present and prevent injustice from repeating itself is to study our history and learn from our past.
the process of naming or denaming a building has symbolic value.
but symbols are less important than actions that affect the material circumstances of members of our community.
naming a building and denaming a building are not identical actions and should be governed by separate decision-making processes and considerations.
naming a building honors an individual either for exceptional contributions to the university and our society or for exceptional generosity.
while extremely meaningful, naming a building occurs regularly and is usually done contemporaneously with, or shortly after, the life of the person for whom a building is named.
the very purpose of naming is to establish a durable honor that stands the test of time.
denaming a building, on the other hand, is an extraordinary event and should only occur in very limited circumstances.
many decades may have passed since the person whose name is on a building was alive, and information will typically be less complete than in a naming decision.
contemporary decision-makers will often be limited in their ability to evaluate the behavior of people who lived in circumstances and with cultural mores very different from our own.
denaming is also an act associated with ignominy and the destruction of reputation.
we should normally be careful when we do this, particularly because the person involved will seldom be available to defend himself or herself.
finally, denaming threatens to obscure history and hide the ugliness of our past, which is contrary to our institution’s values of promoting lifelong learning and sharing knowledge.
therefore, the presumption should be against denaming a building except in extraordinarily egregious circumstances.
dunn hall frederic s.
dunn was born in eugene in N.
he received his ab from the university of oregon in N, a second ab from harvard university in N, and an am degree from the university of oregon.
he served as professor of latin until he retired in N.
for many of those years he was head of the department of classics.
according to the historians report (pp.
N–N), he was one of the best-known university professors of classics on the pacific coast and an active member of the community.
while little is known of dunn’s personal views, it is clear that he was a member of the ku klux klan and served as the “exalted cyclops (leader) of eugene klan no.
N in the Ns.
at its peak (N), the eugene klan had an estimated N members” (p.
N).
while the national ku klux klan had a notorious record of terrorizing african americans, in oregon the primary target of the klan was the catholic population.
during dunn’s period of leadership, the klan attempted to remove all catholic officeholders and teachers from their positions.
they also campaigned against giving catholic-run mercy hospital a tax exemption as a charitable institution and tried to restrict the activities of the newman center, a catholic student organization located near the university of oregon campus.
according to the historians report, dunn “made no secret of his dual role as college professor and klansman.
as the leader of the klan in lane county, he would have presided over initiation ceremonies for new klansmen and participated in numerous klan parades and rallies in the area” (p.
N).
during its existence in the state, the ku klux klan was publicly known for at least five physical attacks on oregon citizens, including threatened lynchings and a probable murder of an african american, though it is not known whether dunn participated in these attacks (p.
N).
the historians conclude that “[w]hile we will never know how dunn felt about the violence associated with the invisible empire, it is certain that he was aware of it and yet continued to lead eugene klan no.
N” (p.
N).
no evidence was found that dunn ever repudiated his role in the klan.
the historians conclude, “thus, we are forced to surmise from the known activities of the organization he led during its heyday in eugene that dunn knowingly embraced an organization that, by today’s standards (but also in the view of most of his colleagues and students at the time), violated the core values of the university of oregon” (p.
N).
in my reading of the almost N,N responses to the historians report by members of our community, a strong consensus supported denaming dunn hall.
given the findings of the historians report, i agree with the conclusion of the majority of the comments made by members of our community: dunn, as the head of an organization that supported racism and violence against african americans, catholics, and jews, is not a man for whom a building should be named on the university of oregon campus.
while dunn no doubt was a dedicated teacher and scholar, neither of these activities outweigh the harm he did by lending his name to one of the most despicable organizations in american history.
even though i begin with a presumption against denaming university buildings, dunn’s case is an egregious one.
therefore, i am recommending that the board of trustees remove dunn’s name from the building currently called dunn hall as soon as possible.
if the trustees accept my recommendation, i will take two further actions.
first, a plaque will be erected in a conspicuous place in the building that indicates that it used to be dunn hall and explains why it was denamed.
second, i will recommend to the board of trustees that we start a renaming process with the goal of naming the resident hall for a man or woman whose life exemplifies the characteristics of racial diversity and inclusion that dunn despised.
this renaming process will include the views of students, alumni, and the faculty and staff.
deady hall matthew paul deady was born in talbot county, maryland, in N.
he studied law in ohio and was admitted to the ohio bar in N.
in N he moved to lafayette, oregon, and taught school.
in N, deady ran for and won a seat in the territorial legislature and quickly became the presiding officer of its upper house.
he became active in the democratic party and was appointed by president franklin pierce to the territorial supreme court for oregon’s southern counties.
in N, president buchanan appointed deady to the us district court for oregon, making him oregon’s first federal judge.
during the course of his life, deady was deeply engaged with the university of oregon.
he is, in fact, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the university’s history.
in N, he was appointed regent by the governor, elected as president, and served in that role until N.
he participated in selecting the university’s first president, served as commencement speaker at its first graduation, designed its first seal, and founded the university’s law school, where he served as a part-time faculty member.
in the Ns, he famously persuaded northern pacific railroad president henry villard to donate $N,N in railroad bonds to ensure that the university did not close for financial reasons.
in recognition of his career and association with the university of oregon, his name was affixed to deady hall in N.
the historians report concludes that deady had a “very complicated intellect” that defies easy summary (p.
N).
deady ran for office as a proslavery delegate to the oregon constitutional convention.
the historians report provides a quotation from a letter he wrote to marion county legislator benjamin simpson one month prior to the convention that provides an insight into his motivation: “there are some millions of africans owned as property in the united states, and whatever shallow-brains or smatter-much may say about ‘property in man,’ they are just as much property as horses, cattle, or land, because the law which creates all property makes them such.
” the historians suggest that at least part of deady’s support for slavery was tied to his view that the law compelled that result based upon the constitution’s protection of private property rights.
indeed, this view of slaves as property is behind what many believe is the most calamitous supreme court decision of all time—dred scott v.
sanford.
[N] according to the historians, deady “did not press the slavery issue in salem.

.
.
.” (p.
N).
ultimately, the proposal failed with N percent of the voters voting against it.
it is questionable that deady’s support for slavery was solely compelled by his interpretation of precedent and the constitution.
instead, deady was a man who had views that were racist and proslavery.
deady supported a constitutional provision that excluded african americans from the state of oregon, a provision that won the approval of N percent of oregon voters.
further, in a speech reported in the sacramento daily union, deady was paraphrased as approving the dred scott decision and perhaps went further: “deady said in jacksonville that ‘he should vote for slavery in oregon’ and argued that any constitutional effort to prevent free blacks from immigrating and settling in oregon would prove to be ‘a dead letter,’ adding ‘if we are compelled to have the colored race amongst us, they should be slaves’” (p.
N).
after secession, however, deady denounced the confederacy, left the democratic party, joined the union, became a republican, and ultimately served as an honorary pallbearer at president lincoln’s funeral.
the historians characterized the change in deady as a “metamorphosis” rooted in his “allegiance to the rule of law” (p.
N).
deady also embraced the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, initially designed to uplift and empower black people, which went on to become the cornerstones of american antidiscrimination law.
in his role as a judge, deady never ruled on an issue involving discrimination against african americans.
he did decide several cases involving chinese immigrants and native americans.
in his rulings, deady demonstrated an acceptance of the principles embodied in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments.
he opposed the legal or extralegal harassment of chinese immigrants and interpreted immigration laws in such a way as to protect them (p.
N).
he never promoted a policy of internment.
with respect to native americans, he ruled against citizenship, but also believed that at least one tribe had been unfairly dispossessed of their land (p.
N).
these facts do not atone for his views on african americans, but do establish his contribution to interpreting the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments in ways that led to future antidiscrimination laws, and which show a measure of change in attitude and behavior.
thus in matthew deady we have a complicated man.
like many white men of his generation he had racist views.
the exclusion provision he championed was ultimately supported by N percent of oregon voters at a time when only white men were allowed to vote.
yet deady also supported slavery, which was opposed by N percent of white male oregonians.
was deady’s willingness to support slavery despite a lack of support among the voting public attributable to racism, or to his legal views about property rights? we will never know for sure, but my reading of the historians report and some of the primary documents cited therein suggest both motivations were at play.
returning to my first principles, does the evidence amassed in the historians report overcome a presumption against denaming a building? deady was a man of great achievement, not the least of which was his pivotal role in the founding and sustaining of the university of oregon.
he was also a deeply flawed man.
as stated before, like many men of his generation he held racist views.
regardless of whether his support for slavery and exclusion was attributable to racism or a legalistic interpretation of property rights, in the end he was on the wrong side of history.
on the other side of the ledger, following the civil war, deady embraced the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and their principles of equal protection under the law.
the input i received clearly shows our community remains divided on the question of whether deady hall should be renamed.
many feel that matthew deady’s name on our landmark building is a daily affront and sends the wrong message to prospective and current students.
a large number feel that deady should continue to be honored as one of the university’s founders and not judged by the standards of today.
despite this division, i believe that our community has greatly benefited by confronting some very ugly historical truths about our state and some of the figures who played an important role in the creation of the university of oregon that we know today.
while i have no desire to needlessly prolong the uncertainty over the future of deady hall, i also believe that we would miss an important educational opportunity by deciding the matter prior to the return to campus of our students and faculty later this month.
therefore, i have decided that i will refrain from making a decision on deady hall until the campus can engage further in a discussion of matthew deady and the future of deady hall.
to facilitate that discussion, i will reopen the comment period until friday, october N.
in addition, i plan to work with our division of equity and inclusion; and our students, faculty, and staff to plan a campus conversation on the subject in october.
following the comment period and campus conversation, i will make my decision regarding whether to dename deady hall.
regardless of what is ultimately decided concerning the naming of deady hall, we will not let this educational opportunity be lost in the debate over what we call a specific edifice.
we will immediately begin planning a historical exhibition in the building that will educate all who enter on the mixed legacy of its namesake.
this exhibit will be created in consultation with students, the faculty and staff, and the presidential diversity advisory community council.
we will also explore partnerships with the oregon historical society and other entities to create an exhibit in portland that will examine racism in oregon.
it is my hope that future generations of school children will view this exhibit and link the university of oregon with fearless exploration of racism and truth, even though that exploration might be painful.
conclusion my decision will not be unanimously approved of by all members of our community, and i concede that there is still an important decision to be made.
nevertheless, there must be no doubt that we are unified in our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and we will continue to make progress toward those important ends.
in particular, we are grateful to the members of the bstf for bringing this issue to the fore.
regardless of what names we use to refer to these two buildings, the bstf’s transformative leadership has already changed our university forever.
this debate, along with the initiatives that will arise from their demands, will make our university stronger, better, and more enlightened.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law [N] N u.
s.
N (N).
the historians report finds that deady never accepted the view that slavery was wrong.
the report quotes a couple passages from deady’s diary dating from N and N, respectively: “fifty years will have to roll by before the popular mind recovers its equilibrium on this [slavery] question.
the war and the results of it have made a man who owned negroes or obeyed and respected the injunctions and limitation of the constitution on this subject, look like a criminal by this generation” (p.
N).
“he takes my ground that the slave trade and negro slavery were the means providential or otherwise by which the negro was educated and prepared for his present career of self-dependence” (p.
N).

.august N, N dear colleagues, choosing a provost is among the most important decisions a president will make for a university.
the provost is the chief academic officer of the institution and, as such, the guardian of our most important functions—education and scholarship.
we are fortunate that scott coltrane will have served in that role for more than three years, in addition to serving as interim president and dean of the college of arts and sciences since arriving at the uo in N.
now that he has announced he will retire in june N, it is vital that i select a worthy successor who will be my partner in advancing the university of oregon.
i am pleased to announce that N people have been selected to serve on the provost search committee, led by professor geri richmond, to assist me in recruiting our next provost.
i reached out to a broad representation of campus constituencies to develop the committee membership, which includes members of faculty, staff, students, and administration.
i am grateful that everyone i asked to serve agreed to devote their time and expertise to this effort.
the names of the committee members are listed here on my website.
further updates will be posted on this site as we progress through the search process.
i thank professor richmond for taking on the task of leading this very important committee, and thank each member of the committee for their service to our university.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
august N, N president schill sent the following message to students, advisors, and staff involved in greek life: dear uo fraternity and sorority life community members, the university of oregon recognizes the value of fraternity and sorority life as you seek enriching experiences outside the classroom that will help you develop as leaders and citizens of the world.
at its best, the greek system promotes service, scholarship, and community—all traits we hold dear at the uo and want to continue to encourage and foster in a healthy and thriving fsl community.
we also know that many greek letter organizations, both nationally and here at the uo, have experienced challenges with respect to drinking, safety, and climate that must be addressed.
earlier this year, under the leadership of vice president robin holmes, the division of student life received an external review that highlighted concerns with the greek system at the uo, including the size of fraternity and sorority chapters, staffing levels, and ongoing issues related to sexual assault, high-risk behaviors, alcohol use, and hazing.
following that report, the university took the step of approving a new $N fee for fraternity and sorority members to strengthen the infrastructure in the fraternity and sorority life office, including the addition of three staff members who will provide leadership, support, and mentorship.
those positions are in the process of being hired.
in addition, vice president holmes convened four working groups—governance; staffing, support and budget; social policy and risk management; and chapter growth, size and recruitment policies—that brought together concerned students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members to make recommendations on how to best address issues identified by the external review.
those groups have completed their work, and vice president holmes and i are pleased to accept their reports.
many of the recommendations are very good ideas that can be implemented fairly quickly.
others will require further evaluation to determine if they are advisable both logistically and financially.
the four reports, including each committees’ charge, membership, and final recommendations, are available on the dean of students website, and here: governance staffing, support, and budget social policy and risk management chapter growth, size, and recruitment policies the university will immediately move forward with one recommendation, due to the demonstrated need to address management and safety issues related to the size of existing chapters: sigma kappa sorority will begin formal recruitment in fall N.
to assist with the evaluation of the remaining recommendations, this fall we will create an fsl advisory board with representation from the faculty and staff, fsl students, advisors, and alumni.
i look forward to their input as we continue to evaluate what is best for fraternity and sorority life on the uo campus.
i want to thank all of the members of the work groups.
vice president holmes and i truly appreciate the thoughtful analysis and recommendations.
looking ahead, i am confident we can work together in a positive manner to make the uo’s fsl community one of the best in the nation.
thanks, and go ducks! michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
august N, N dear campus community, the university of oregon is undergoing a self-examination of its policies and practices with respect to race and inclusion, similar to many other universities throughout the nation.
last year, a group of students under the banner of the black student task force (bstf) presented me with a set of N demands that ranged from creating new programs and increasing african american enrollment to construction of a black cultural center on or near campus.
we continue to make progress on these issues as outlined in a letter to campus in spring.
today, i am providing new information and asking for input regarding the bstf’s call to change the names of deady and dunn halls because of the racist views and actions of the men for whom the buildings were named.
earlier this year, i charged a committee—chaired by associate professor charise cheney and composed of faculty members, administrators, and students—to provide me with a set of criteria that would guide a decision to dename campus buildings.
i considered the committee’s recommendations and, in a letter to the campus dated may N, announced a set of criteria and processes.
i asked three prominent historians to carefully review and investigate the historical records of both deady and dunn in relation to these criteria.
these three historians provided me with their report on august N, which is available here on my website.
as i requested, the report does not make recommendations about denaming either building.
instead, it carefully considers each criterion through a painstaking analysis of historical records and archives as well as relevant court cases.
the historians’ report is a sobering account of a tumultuous and difficult period in oregon’s history.
i encourage you to read the report and invite you to provide me with your views on whether one or both of the buildings should be denamed.
i would greatly appreciate it if you would provide me with your comments using this form by N:N p.
m.
on wednesday, august N.
following this comment period, i will carefully consider the report and all the comments before announcing next steps, including the possibility of taking a denaming proposal for one or both buildings to the uo board of trustees at some point in the future.
i would like to thank the three historians for their expertise, time, and attention to this important issue.
i also would like to acknowledge that the ultimate decision about whether to dename a building is exceedingly difficult and that the historical record in this case is a complicated one.
reasonable people, ethical people, well-meaning people will disagree about the right course of action.
one of the things i have been most proud of during my first year as your president is that our community—led by our students—has approached some of the most painful issues facing our society with a tremendous level of commitment, care, and good sense.
i am confident that as we move toward a decision on deady and dunn halls, that level of wisdom and sense of community will continue to be in evidence.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
july N, N dear colleagues and friends, as the university of oregon hosted the us olympic team trials in track and field earlier this month, i passed the one year mark of my presidency.
what a thrill to welcome some of the world’s greatest athletes to campus, to shake the hand of recent uo graduate jenna prandini as she left the track, and place a medal around uo student devon allen’s neck.
i was thoroughly impressed with the caliber of the competition, the enthusiasm of the fans (including many of our alumni, faculty, and staff) and the way in which members of our campus hosted our guests.
participating in the trials was an exceptionally enjoyable way to reflect on my first year at the uo.
experiences like this have surprised me.
before arriving on campus, i certainly expected the uo to put on world-class athletics events like the olympic trials, based on its stellar athletics reputation.
but i did not expect i would come to enjoy and greatly appreciate these events as much as i have.
i am now a true ducks fan.
as many of you know, i have had little experience with sports in my life, personally or as a law school dean and law professor.
so this last year, i set about learning as much as i could about uo athletics so i could follow the action on the field, appreciate the role of our student athletes, and understand how athletics fits into the uo’s culture.
what i discovered in my year of lessons about hayward field, x’s and o’s, pick and rolls, and auxiliary budgets is that athletics brings incredible value to our institution.
athletic competition is part of being a division i university and is woven into our identity, heritage, and history.
participating in athletics offers a wonderful opportunity for our students to build leadership skills and learn life lessons about how to deal with adversity.
it is a source of pride and connection for our alumni, and an opportunity for us to come together as a community on a regular basis.
the uo department of intercollegiate athletics is one of the few in the nation that is self-supporting.
it receives roughly $N million in support for tutoring and student services, but generates enough revenue to fund all N sports and provides more than $N million a year for our academic program by paying for the full cost of tuition for all student athletes, N percent of whom are nonresidents (something not all our peers do).
athletics is successful by most objective measures in creating excellent student athlete experiences for the vast majority of participants, in achieving wins, in creating olympic champions, and in managing their finances.
the coaches, staff, and students athletes have created a culture of excellence that is respected throughout the nation.
yet despite this success, athletics occasionally sparks controversy among some members of our faculty.
this tension exists on every division i campus in this nation and relates to concerns that athletics may compromise academic integrity either because of differential admissions criteria or because some athletes are unable to fully engage in our academic programs.
but at the university of oregon, another source of tension exists which is more pernicious.
over the past N years, as our academic resources were repeatedly cut by the state and the status of some of our programs declined, our athletics program attracted greater support from donors and achieved ever-increasing success.
some faculty members grew increasingly uncomfortable with this imbalance.
the interesting thing is that many of our alumni feel the same way, including those who give generously to athletics.
our world-class faculty deserves the same quality of attention and investment as our athletics program, and the answer to the imbalance is to cultivate our research and academic enterprise with the same focus and in the same strategic way as we have for athletics.
it is not to level down our athletics program.
this is why i am spending so much of my time working to build our outstanding faculty ranks, expand our research profile, and improve our student success.
we need to celebrate and feed the academic excellence that already exists on this campus in so many places, build the programs with potential, and when necessary, make hard decisions about programs that are unlikely to improve.
we are making progress toward that goal.
in the last year, we have bolstered our research productivity, increased our tenure-track faculty ranks, and increased the number of phd students on campus.
we are realigning resources, advocating for public investments, and increasing philanthropy to advance the uo’s academic and research enterprise.
i am particularly gratified that this year we raised more than $N million in our capital campaign and that N percent of those dollars went to fund our academic program, including gifts to endow our zebrafish research, renovate laboratory space in pacific hall, fund faculty clusters, and endow the college of education’s hedco clinic.
let me be clear—i do not want our alumni to stop giving to athletics.
instead, i want them to dig deeper to support our academic program, too.
and they are listening! in short, i want to encourage everyone to come together around a shared vision of excellence for both academics and athletics.
it is time to move the conversation away from bringing athletics down and instead set our sights on lifting the uo’s academic reputation up.
we can have both world-renowned academics and dominant athletics teams and student athletes.
i saw this play out at historic hayward field, as N current or former uo ducks secured places at the olympics in rio.
at the same time during the trials, many of our top researchers led running tours through and around campus as they talked about their research in green chemistry, evolutionary biology, poetry, special education, human physiology, and more.
it was the perfect marriage of a vigorous mind-and-body workout.
i have heard that many people who participated in the runs left enlightened, impressed, and excited about uo research.
i am committed to helping the uo achieve world-class status at every level, with focus, strategic investments, and commitment.
i need your help and support to achieve this vision.
sincerely, mike to opt-out of receiving future open mike messages click here.

.june N, N congratulations, graduates! i am thrilled to stand here before the university of oregon class of N.
what an incredible accomplishment.
all of you hold a special place in my heart, because you are—and will always—be the first class to graduate during my presidency at the uo.
we have shared a journey, learned a tremendous amount, overcome challenges, achieved great successes, made new friends, and now we have a bright future before us.
i hope you are as excited and optimistic as i am about what is ahead.
because this is my first commencement at the uo, the pressure is on for me to say something meaningful and memorable, to inspire you with words of wisdom as you venture off into the great, wide world clutching your newly minted diplomas.
i can tell you right now, it won’t be the commencement speeches you remember a year from now, or perhaps even tomorrow.
just as it won’t be specific equations, lines of text, color theories, or research footnotes that you will need to remember to be successful in your careers and lives in the future.
graduating from the university of oregon and earning a bachelor’s degree is not an accumulation of facts, figures, and quotes.
it is the sum of all of the experiences inside the classroom and out that has readied you for your life after college.
this is why the first piece of advice i will give you as you venture beyond these walls is not dissimilar to the advice i gave our incoming freshman class nine months ago.
i told those new students that in order to be prepared for a changing world and economy, you will need to be broad in your knowledge and able to constantly learn.
each of you, on this journey to earning your degree, has experienced the benefits of a liberal arts education; exploring the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
i hope you’ve been surprised, inspired, maybe even awed by the world of human knowledge that opened up to you.
you’ve likely had to read and study, and consume more starbucks and dutch brothers than you ever imagined, not to mention voodoo doughnuts.
you’ve been pushed out of your comfort zone and made deadlines you thought were impossible.
i hope you’ve made lifelong friends, and learned about what you love, and maybe who you love.
by reaching this point in your educational career, you have learned how to operate in a complicated higher-education ecosystem.
that alone is an accomplishment! and so i hope you will keep asking questions and expanding your world view.
do not let your quest for knowledge and understanding end today.
never stop learning.
the second piece of advice is about expectations—those of your family, your friends, society, and yourself.
we are all very proud and excited that you have reached this milestone, and we have very high hopes for you.
in fact the world has been watching you since the beginning— the collective you, that is.
your generation has been labeled many things; millennials, generation y, the social media generation, and the global generation.
you have been more documented in photos, tweets, chats, posts, and blogs than any generation before you.
you have information about the world at your fingertips, literally.
i have to admit, the world is a tad bit obsessed with you.
however, these labels can be limiting; setting up expectations for how you will act, what you will achieve or not achieve, whether you will solve the problems of the generation before you, if you be better off than your parents, and how you will interact in the world.
these labels do not define you or your generation.
each of you will take your own path, and write your own definition of success.
and so my advice is to defy expectations, break the mold, do not be confined by what the world says you can or cannot do.
impress and surprise yourself.
shake off any label and write your own story.
my final piece of advice may seem counterintuitive coming from a university president.
because my advice is that you should fail.
now before your parents start calling my office, let me explain.
over the last year, i’ve been all across campus, the state, and nation—talking about the university of oregon’s need to achieve excellence.
the pursuit of academic and research excellence is our very highest ambition and the way in which we will continue to educate and inspire students like all of you.
along the way, i’ve been asked to define excellence.
in the simplest terms, excellence is pursuit, working to achieve your very best, and the striving for better.
but in order to reach high, you must be willing to fall.
you cannot have excellence without some risk of stumbling.
for every discovery, there are a thousand failed theories.
for every celebrated prose, there are hundreds of torn-up rough drafts.
for every masterpiece, there are many canvases cast aside.
j.
k.
rowling said, “it is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.
” so too is it impossible to be successful without making mistakes, taking risks, and allowing yourself to fail.
do not live by default.
strive so hard that you might fail and you will eventually succeed.
indeed, my favorite quote by a university of oregon student is the famous one by our former track superstar steve prefontaine.
pre said, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
” as you graduate, i hope you will give your best.
our nation, our state, our world needs that of you.
when you think back on this day—the day you graduated from the university of oregon, many years from now, or maybe just tomorrow, and you’ve forgotten the speeches and the music and who spoke, i do hope you remember that you are part of a wonderful community of scholars, that you are loved by your families and friends, and that we are all very proud of you.
and i will counter one small piece of my previous advice about casting off labels, because there is one name that will stay with you today and after graduation.
you will always be a duck.
and now we are so proud to also call you alumni.
congratulations again.
and go, ducks!.
june N, N dear colleagues and students, over the last few years, as the university of oregon weathered some tumultuous times, scott coltrane has stepped up time and time again to provide clear vision, strategic leadership, and a welcome sense of calm.
he has worn nearly every academic leadership hat there is at the uo—dean of the college of arts and sciences, interim provost, provost, and interim president.
the university community owes scott a tremendous debt of gratitude for all that he has achieved since arriving on campus in N.
scott recently told me that he plans to retire as provost on july N, N.
as a friend, i am sincerely excited for scott and his family as he enters a new phase of life.
as president of the uo, i will very much miss scott’s wise counsel, his deep appreciation for and understanding of our faculty and all elements of our university, and his grace under pressure.
he is the epitome of what a great provost and academic leader should be in today’s higher education landscape.
scott helped lay a strong academic foundation here at the uo, which will benefit this university for many years to come.
most recently, he led the effort to hire three world-class deans and our new vice president for research and innovation.
over the next year, scott will play a vital role in helping these new leaders find their footing here and ensure their smooth transition.
in addition, scott has been pivotal in helping us attract and retain a talented corps of academic and research faculty members, including those connected to the funded clusters of excellence.
it is impossible to overstate the positive impact of these hires on the future of the uo.
in addition, scott oversaw the completion of our strategic framework, championed diversity and inclusion on campus, launched the public phase of our current campaign, served as a tireless and successful fundraiser, helped the university enhance its title ix policies, and improved the uo’s focus on issues related to student success.
as dean of cas, he successfully guided the college through a time of tremendous growth, established several new majors, created new quality metrics, and reorganized the dean’s office.
he accomplished all of this while maintaining his academic and research standing as a sociologist.
perhaps the most important thing scott has done for our university is the thing he was not hired to do.
not long after scott was permanently hired as provost—a job his entire career prepared him for—president gottfredsen’s term in office came to a premature end.
scott stepped in without a moment’s hesitation.
his leadership, intelligence, and decency calmed our university and made it possible for me to get a good start this past july.
all of us can be truly grateful to scott for his service and his love of this institution.
please join me in wishing scott the very best in retirement.
as is tradition in academia, scott will not be heading off into the sunset immediately.
we will have plenty of time during the coming year to properly celebrate his accomplishments and contributions to the uo.
in the meantime, we will launch a national search for a new provost and start the necessary planning to ensure a smooth transition.
i am delighted that geri richmond, presidential chair in science and professor of chemistry, has agreed to serve as chair of the search committee.
we will share additional information about our plans in the weeks and months to come.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
june N, N i am incredibly honored and humbled to stand here before members of my family, my mentors, friends, advisors, colleagues, and students—to formally accept the responsibility of leading this great institution—the university of oregon.
i would not be here without the confidence and clear vision of the board of trustees and its chair, chuck lillis.
i thank all of you; welcome you, and i am honored you selected me to lead the university of oregon at this pivotal time in the institution’s history.
i am sure the irony of this setting—center court in a basketball arena—is not lost on the many people who tried to educate me this last year, with varying degrees of success, on all matters of sports.
i think i’ve finally figured out the pick and roll, although the overtime rules in football still make no sense to me.
i welcome with pleasure our many faculty members, staff, and students; our community leaders, lawmakers, and legislators who we have with us today, including here on the platform with me, attorney general ellen rosenblum and congressman peter defazio, both university of oregon graduates with advanced degrees.
i am humbled by my friends and colleagues who have travelled to be here from such far-flung locations as chicago, new york, houston, minneapolis, and seattle.
as scott mentioned, my dear friend, former boss and oregon alumnus gene block had to leave this morning to return to ucla.
my heart goes out to my all my former colleagues and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at ucla.
thank you to all the many bruins for coming today, including ralph and shirley shapiro, who are like second parents to me.
as for my family, i am thrilled to have my sister, margo, and my cousins martha and miya here.
family means the world to me.
without margo’s support and love i would not be here today.
i also want to say hello to my parents who could not travel to be here but are watching the streaming video at the university of chicago along with some of my friends.
mom and dad—it was you who taught me the importance of education; a gift that will last all of my life.
i love you.
as i look out across this sea of faces, i am keenly aware that this may feel a bit like déjà vu for some of you.
this university community has been here before, welcoming a new president, more than once over the past few years.
indeed, one of the reasons i waited almost a year to be formally invested in the office was to demonstrate to all of you that the third time is the charm.
in the last year, i’ve grown to love oregon.
i’ve been inspired by the university’s past, grappled with the current challenges, and come to the clear conclusion that the future is very bright for the university of oregon.
i am energized and excited by the road ahead.
i don’t plan on going anywhere.
this year, the university of oregon marks its Nth year as an institution of higher learning.
we rose from humble beginnings, financed by the people of eugene with proceeds from strawberry festivals and grain sales.
we started on N acres of muddy land—a former wheat field where cattle continued to graze while our first students attended class.
from that beginning, we overcame adversity.
we relied on donors to pay our land debts and construct our first buildings.
we resisted attempts to combine with oregon state university in the early Nth century.
one-hundred-forty years, hundreds of thousands of graduates, tens of thousands of books, articles, and discoveries later—the university of oregon has grown from a scrappy, fledgling institution into the renowned flagship research university it is today.
we are, however, once again at a crossroads, a pivotal point where we will choose to chart our legacy for the next N years and beyond.
after many tumultuous years, we now possess all the ingredients for success and have before us a world of opportunities.
our excellent and committed faculty and staff are hungry for us to get better.
our amazing students from every part of the world are eager to learn and grow.
our new independent board of trustees and governance system is the envy of our public university peers.
we will welcome three world-class deans and a new vice president for research and innovation to campus this summer, who will join our extraordinary permanent leadership team.
we also have a remarkably accomplished alumni community.
they bleed green and yellow, and virtually quack with enthusiasm at the mention of our name.
we will build upon these strengths as we march toward excellence, but we must also be clear-eyed about the hurdles before us.
the university of oregon, like all public research universities and some private institutions, faces substantial challenges to our ability to meet our mission of education, research, and service to our state, nation, and world.
today, perhaps more than at any time in recent years, higher education is in the crosshairs as our nation sorts out its priorities.
a N-plus year decline in public support for higher education has run parallel to a climb in the demand for college-educated workers.
the public financial pie has been sliced and diced into crumbs, creating an environment where better-resourced universities get richer and the most financially constrained become poorer.
the widening gulf between the wealth of private and public universities mimics the increasing economic polarization of our society outside the walls of the academy.
the pressures created by the great recession, state disinvestment in higher education, and general cynicism born out of divisive politics have given rise to a set of myths that threaten to undermine the goals and aspirations held by a vast majority of us in this room.
these myths about higher education, six that i will address today, aren’t just false—they can be downright dangerous because of their power to influence public opinion.
these myths prevent our students from opening the doors to a lifetime of opportunity.
these myths distract policymakers and divert resources.
these myths curb creative exploration and choke discovery.
these myths discourage our faculty and frustrate our alumni.
if we buy into these myths, we shortchange our students, our state, and our nation, and, if left unchecked, one day we will wake up and these myths will have become reality.
this is not acceptable.
we must challenge these misconceptions—head on—for the sake of our institution and for the future of higher education.
the university of oregon cannot be truly great unless it unshackles itself from these burdens.
the first myth i want to debunk is the notion that a college education is not a good investment.
each graduation season, we hear skeptics question the value of earning a bachelor’s degree.
yet research consistently shows that graduating from a four-year university remains the single best path in the pursuit of a lifetime of success and happiness.
college graduates on average earn far more than their non-college-going peers—N percent more, or a million dollars over the course of their lifetimes.
research also consistently demonstrates that college graduates are in general happier, healthier, have greater job satisfaction and are more engaged in their communities than those who did not graduate from college.
these individual benefits also extend to our society as a whole, creating lower unemployment, greater volunteerism and civic involvement, as well as jobs and innovation from research, discovery, and knowledge creation.
the next myth that must be challenged is that higher education is unaffordable.
while the benefits of a four-year degree have never been more apparent, the refrain that a college education is no longer affordable is growing louder.
it is true, tuition rates have outpaced inflation since the Ns, driven up—in part—by increased demand, our reliance on labor, competition for the best students, and rapidly growing state and federal regulatory mandates.
of course, for public universities, higher tuition costs are also directly attributable to the withdrawal of state funding.
since the year N, state support for public higher education fell about N percent.
in oregon, the per-student contribution declined N percent.
but is higher education really unaffordable? of course, this is a question laden with subjectivity.
the average in-state sticker price for a public university is about $N,N, nearly a quarter of the cost of a private university.
after federal pell grants, scholarships, and other aid, the actual cost of tuition and books for public universities drops to less than half, or about $N,N annually.
at the university of oregon, high-achieving pell-eligible oregonians like stefani, who just spoke, pay no tuition or fees under the pathwayoregon program.
that constitutes N percent of our resident students.
the existence of financial aid—even generous financial aid—does not eliminate the fact that for some of our students the cost of attending college is more than they currently have available.
yet in increasing numbers, students have become allergic to student loans, perhaps learning too well the lessons of the real estate borrowing bust in N.
i say “learned too well,” because while excessive debt is a problem, prudent borrowing makes enormous sense.
one of the reasons why loans exist is to bridge two time periods—when one is investing in the future and when one is reaping the investments rewards.
about N percent of our students graduate with debt.
of those, the average amount is less than $N,N—about the cost of a new honda accord, which has one of the best resale values in the automotive industry.
but unlike even a honda accord, the value of a college degree does not decrease.
for most americans, a college education is the best investment they will make in their lifetime.
while scholarships and loans help increase access, we can and must do more.
most important, we can reduce the time it takes for our students to graduate.
only half of our students graduate in four years.
while this is the best rate in the state and above the national average, it is simply not good enough.
our in-state students who take two additional years to graduate spend, on average, $N thousand more in tuition, fees and books.
extending college increases costs, limits income generation, and—research shows—decreases a student’s chance of graduating at all.
that is why we have set a goal to increase our graduation rates by N percentage points by N.
through a series of investments including increased financial aid for both incoming students and upperclassmen who need a bit of help to cross the finish line, improved advising coordination, and careful student tracking, we are removing barriers to graduation.
we call this set of initiatives the oregon commitment.
this is my commitment to our students and state.
the third myth i’d like to discuss is this idea that increasing reliance on private philanthropy means public universities are abandoning their public mission.
as the states have slashed funding for public higher education, the role of private philanthropy has grown.
public universities have gradually come to the realization that what used to be the icing on the cake today is a significant layer of the cake itself.
for example—in N, philanthropy equaled just a dime for every state dollar the uo received.
today, total dollars from gifts and endowment income is greater than our total state funding.
many have bemoaned the increasing reliance on private support as inevitably leading to a loss of our public mission.
but what does this mean? i am confident that every dean or president in a public university has pondered what intrinsically makes a “public” university public.
after serving as a dean of both public and private law schools for a total of N years, i have never stopped wondering about that question.
transparency and collaboration are clearly values that are more ubiquitous in public universities.
i often joke that if i sneeze, it will find its way into a newspaper or on the internet.
when i moved here, i was shocked to be stopped on the street—not by students, employees, or alumni, but by passionate community members eager to discuss what was happening on campus.
that level of informed engagement and public scrutiny can be challenging and rewarding.
it also gives rise to participation from a much wider group of stakeholders than occurs in a private university.
a second aspect of being public is our identification with our state.
although the university of oregon is proud to play on a national stage as the state’s flagship university, every decision we make takes into account our impact on oregon.
whether we are discussing student enrollment, hiring, graduation rates, or research, we are always focused on generating public good.
this doesn’t typically occur to the same extent in private universities.
one might say the reason is that the state is paying our bills, but with a contribution of N percent to our budget that is hardly the case anymore.
the university is also focused on its role as a generator of economic development.
professor tim duy regularly computes the uo’s impact on the state from our employment, tourism, business creation, and spending.
for N, tim estimates this economic footprint to be $N.
N billion.
and, as i will talk about in a moment, i expect it this benefit to increase as we ramp up our research enterprise.
a third and perhaps the most important way that public universities embody their public mission distinctively is through their role in providing access to students of diverse and modest backgrounds.
for all of the reasons i discussed earlier, there is no more important objective for our nation than making sure that we extend the opportunities of higher education to all americans—poor and rich; black, white, native american, latino, and asian.
public universities educate three times more students than their private peers.
we also educate a much larger portion of low-income students, first-generation collegegoers, and students of color.
in recent years, some private universities have expanded their financial aid programs.
these programs are wonderful—i benefited from them when i went to college.
my sister and i are first-generation college students.
while our parents’ resources were limited, they never left any doubt in our minds that we would go to college.
i was fortunate that princeton provided the sort of financial assistance that made the school’s tuition competitive with the state university of new york.
but private school scholarships and financial aid will only reach the tip of the iceberg, because their admissions standards are within the reach of only a very small number of students in need.
our commitment to access, affordability, and diversity will remain distinctive.
it is what makes us public, despite how our balance sheets read.
the uo and its public mission are as inseparable as oregon’s pioneer mother and father.
the fourth myth that must be addressed is that college students should only focus on studying “marketable” skills.
since the great recession, the drumbeat has grown louder that college students should focus on obtaining “job skills” like those taught in engineering or business.
this message has been adopted by some politicians and even finds itself embodied in the funding formulae of the state of oregon.
students are not immune to this media message—and have increasingly fled the liberal arts for other fields.
the argument that the social sciences and humanities are irrelevant and no longer valuable is not just a myth; it is blasphemy.
even on its own terms it is wrong.
entrepreneurs like our own phil knight stress that courses that focus on creativity, expression, and analytical thinking are the key to innovation.
steve jobs famously said, “technology alone is not enough.
it is technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities that yields the results that make our hearts sing.
” material on tests quickly grows stale, but what our humanists and social scientists teach—how to learn and how to question—will never go out of date.
as the pace of change continues to accelerate, it becomes more important than ever for our graduates to become lifelong learners.
the university of oregon is and will remain deeply committed to the liberal arts.
that becomes apparent even from a cursory look at my bookshelves, now filled with manuscripts authored by members of our faculty.
we will keep a commitment to the humanities even as we invest in a more prominent footprint in the sciences.
the fifth myth that needs to be refuted is the idea that research should be less important than teaching for a public university.
many americans systematically undervalue or simply misunderstand the benefits of research.
one can see evidence of this in declining or stagnant federal research budgets and in the state funding models of many of public universities.
one hears, not infrequently, the concern that a commitment to research isn’t compatible with great teaching; that professors who are deeply engaged in research will care less about teaching undergraduates.
my own view, based upon N years in higher education, is that with rare exceptions, a faculty member who is invested in research can bring something special to the classroom—a curiosity and knowledge at the cutting-edge of the field as well as the insights and passion of someone deeply enmeshed in the search for answers.
they offer their students unparalleled opportunities to work on projects that will stimulate their desire to learn.
the university of oregon has not kept up with its peers in research.
as federal research funding remained flat or declined and the state reduced funding, the university increased enrollments and relied more and more on nonresearch faculty.
we are deeply grateful to these professionals for their wonderful teaching and contributions, but we need to right the faculty balance if we are to achieve our ambition of taking our place as the great research university that oregon requires.
at another time, i hope to talk about the intrinsic importance of research; how the creation of knowledge is itself the highest priority of any civilization.
but, i will focus on something a bit more modest today—the importance of research to the state’s economy.
the majority of america’s basic research—the kind that led to the creation of smart phones, atm machines, whooping cough vaccines, and lung cancer treatments—happens in universities.
studies show that proximity to a research university is related to greater levels of innovation and economic development.
think of silicon valley and stanford, the innovation crescent and georgia tech, the research triangle and unc and duke.
at the university of oregon, our top priority is to build our impact by cultivating our research profile.
not only will we continue to support our faculty working in the humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, and professional schools, but we will also expand our capacity in the applied sciences.
the university of oregon has neither a medical school nor an engineering school, typical drivers of university research.
yet our faculty members wish to transform their insights and discoveries into new treatments and technologies that help solve society’s most pressing problems.
unburdened by an existing infrastructure designed for a different era, we will create our own; one uniquely suited to the interests of our faculty and the needs of our state.
i would like to conclude with something i hope is a myth.
just over a year ago, when i was considering whether i wanted to come here to lead this university, i was warned that it was unclear whether the people of the state of oregon wanted a nationally prominent flagship university.
i was told, “oregonians want a university better than idaho, but not much better” or “watch out about sticking your head up too high; there will be people anxious to knock it off.
” certainly a lack of commitment to quality is reflected in our public finance decisions.
oregon ranks Nth out of N among states in dollars spent per student for higher education.
i ignored these warnings and arrived here in july.
i am pleased to report that—at least among our faculty and staff, our alumni and friends, our students and community leaders, and many legislators—the vast majority want and expect the university of oregon to compete at the highest level.
they want us to attract and retain the very best faculty members and students.
they want us to develop world-class programs, rich student experiences, and high-impact research opportunities.
the myth that we don’t want excellence should raise the ire of all who love this beautiful university and this exceptional state.
oregon deserves a world-class university like the university of oregon.
our families, businesses, and communities need a university that produces artists and poets, inventors and entrepreneurs, philosophers and teachers, scientists and journalists.
we require critical thinkers and leaders who are committed to making our state and world a better place.
pursuing excellence is how the university of oregon will crush these myths that hamper student access, stunt teaching and creativity, and limit our capacity for discovery and economic impact.
if chemistry professor geri richmond hadn’t wondered why the smoke she collected in jars turned to ash, or had given up when she was rejected for a research position because she was a woman, she might not have received the medal of science from president obama last month or changed how the world thinks about science.
if bill bowerman had been satisfied with the running shoes of the late Ns, the world might not have nike and an obsession with jogging, the uo might not have a world-class track program, and eugene might not be known throughout the world as track town, usa.
if oregon junior kyla martichuski had given up on her biology research or not believed she could earn a fulbright, she might not be on her way to conducting cancer research at the university of auckland nor aiming to study at the ohsu knight cancer institute.
this insatiable curiosity and need for more and better—for excellence—is what drives us, propels us, and what will define our next N years and beyond.
my favorite oregon quote comes from an alumnus who personifies the pursuit of excellence—steve prefontaine.
he said, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
” the university of oregon needs all of us to give nothing less than our best.
this is how we will fulfill the ambitions of those who have come before us.
dave frohnmayer spoke at his own investiture two decades ago about the worth of the great modern research university in great teaching, invaluable research, and outstanding public service.
he said, “we do not need a different university.
but we must constantly dedicate ourselves to the development of a better one.
" because each of us has a role to play in building our university and in enhancing its national impact.
we must invest in faculty and research.
we must fulfill our public mission of accessibility, diversity, and economic mobility.
we must fuel the economy of the state, and contribute to our world through our discoveries and the students we enlighten.
we must reject the myths of public higher education’s demise and make our bright future a reality.
oregon deserves a great university.
i am committed to working with each of you to make the university of oregon a great university, a better university, and the very best university it can be.
thank you.
i am proud to be your president.
printer-friendly pdf.
may N, N dear colleagues, over the past few weeks we have announced the appointments of a new vice president for research and three deans—an unprecedented series of leadership hires that are critical for the university of oregon’s future and ability to achieve excellence.
i want to extend my deepest thanks to brook muller, julianne newton, and brad shelton, all of whom stepped up to serve their units and schools with enormous distinction.
our whole university owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude.
i greatly look forward to welcoming our new leaders to campus in the coming months—david conover, vice president for research and innovation, juan-carlos molleda, edwin l.
artzt dean of the school of journalism and communication, and christoph lindner, dean of the school of architecture and allied arts.
of course, i also offer w.
andrew marcus hearty congratulations on being named the permanent tykeson dean of arts and sciences for cas after serving admirably in the interim role.
in each of these appointments, we landed our first choices out of incredibly talented and strong candidate pools.
while we have made tremendous progress, our work is not complete.
efforts are ongoing to secure a world-class dean for the charles h.
lundquist college of business, and the search is just beginning for a new law school dean.
we also have open searches for chief information officer and the newly created position of associate vice provost for student success.
while scott and i are thrilled with the new leaders we have appointed, we both recognize that we need to work much more effectively in the future to hire women and underrepresented minorities for these important leadership posts.
as we, together, focus on developing and enhancing the academic and research capabilities and reputation of the uo, it is hard to overstate how important and indeed striking it is for our institution to have these new leaders.
few universities experience the sort of change we have experienced in such a concentrated period.
in just over a year, we hired a new president, three new vice presidents, and three new deans.
over the past six years, we have experienced enormous churn in leadership, with five different individuals occupying my office and with interim deans in four of our most important schools.
while each of these individuals did their best under difficult circumstances, their temporary nature made it impossible for us to do long-range planning and reach our full potential.
in the world of higher education, if one doesn’t move forward, one falls back.
and we did.
like any vacuum, our leadership void was ultimately filled.
in some instances, the senate took over a role that went beyond its constitutionally designated jurisdiction of “academic matters as commonly understood.
” the faculty voted to create a union to help regularize employment relationships that had been frayed and to bolster compensation that lagged our peers.
individuals in departments, institutes, and administrative units picked up the slack and did the best they could in the face of significant cuts in state funding for higher education.
we should all be grateful to everyone who stepped in, grabbed an oar, and kept our boat afloat.
with our new leadership team almost in place, we will usher in a period of long-term stability and reestablish more stable governance of the university.
our relatively new board of trustees will work with me and the provost to provide general oversight of the uo’s strategic direction.
the president, provost, and administrative leadership team—in consultation with various stakeholders—will implement that strategy, manage day-to-day university operations, work with external constituencies, and make the decisions necessary to achieve our objectives of establishing the uo as one of the preeminent research institutions in the nation.
the senate will serve its pivotal role as the guardian of our academic mission.
the approval of new degrees, selection and tenure of faculty, creation and revision of curriculum, and establishment of requirements for graduation—these are all things that fit squarely within its purview.
most important, though, it is the deans who will run the uo’s academic units.
while scott and i will remain active in jump-starting new academic and programmatic initiatives, the deans and department heads and center or program directors have much better knowledge (local and substantive) than those of us who sit in johnson hall.
my job and scott’s is to set the budget for the academic units, maintain a level of oversight over their operations to ensure that they comply with the law, stay within their means, and follow the strategic direction of the university, but also to let each unit follow its own path to excellence.
it is the dean, in consultation with faculty members, who will decide which departments and programs will grow and which will shrink; which priorities will move forward and which will not; which faculty and staff members will be hired and which will not be renewed.
that is the sign of a healthy academic institution.
it is a vision to which i am committed.
i cannot wait to have the new deans on board.
it will be a new beginning for the university of oregon.
our future is limitless.
sincerely, michael schillpresident and professor of law you may opt-out of receiving future open mike messages by clicking here.

.may N, N dear colleagues, we are pleased to share with you the attached draft of the ideal framework: a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
this document represents more than two years of work by the university, and encompasses efforts of the university-wide diversity committee and the division of equity, inclusion.
this framework is designed to help guide the university of oregon as it works to make diversity, equity and inclusion a reality for all students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.
in order for this important work to be successful, the ideal framework must be integrated into both the strategic framework and the presidential priorities of excellence, access and experience.
the ideal framework directly complements our other strategic efforts in that it builds upon previous diversity plans.
the current goals and objectives incorporated into the ideal framework are aspirational and vital to enhance the diversity excellence of the university.
we have posted this draft for your review and comment.
please send any comments to feedback@uoregon.
edu through thursday, may N.
we will consider all feedback provided and then share with you a finalized version that will help carry us until the N-N academic year and beyond.
additionally, we wish to say a heartfelt “thank you!” to all of the members of our campus and community who contributed to the ideal framework process, especially those who served on the university-wide diversity committee.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law yvette alex-assensohvice president for equity and inclusion.
may N, N debates concerning university building and statuary naming and denaming decisions have placed several important issues front and center across the nation.
one particular issue is the challenge many prestigious universities face as they grapple with how to recognize historic figures whose opinions and views have proved to be abhorrent by today’s moral standards.
it’s a challenge, too, for the university of oregon as well as a leadership opportunity.
as an institution that embraces diversity and understands the critical importance of inclusion in preserving the university’s status as a flagship public research institution, the uo stands on the shoulders of prior generations of oregonians.
these architects and builders of its excellence and its legacy included people who, like many of their generation, fostered—and sometimes championed—supremacist ideologies and exclusionary practices that are anathema to the values of the university today.
thus, the university struggles, like many of its peers, with the challenge of how to honor the legacy of those who created the strong institution we value today, while acknowledging and grappling with their often deeply flawed personal views and hateful actions.
our goal must be vigilance in celebrating the diversity of races, ethnicities, religious perspectives, genders, sexualities, and ideologies that empower our intellectually vibrant community, while acknowledging the flaws and the strengths of those who contributed to the university’s legacy, some of whose flaws have been too long ignored.
just as this nation wrestles with the need to acknowledge the deep personal flaws of many of its founding fathers, while still appreciating the sacrifice and foresight they brought to the creation of our republic, the university of oregon must examine the entire legacy of those whose efforts created our institution.
we must acknowledge that an uncritical celebration of those whose thoughts and actions contributed to historic oppression adds to an environment that is perceived as hostile and unwelcoming to many people whose contributions are today so critical to the success of the university and society at large.
it is within this context that the university of oregon, as a leading research institution that encourages lifelong learning as well as academic excellence, will take on the question of whether the names of dunn and deady halls should be changed, using the process and the criteria set forth below.
in february, i charged a working group of faculty and staff members, students, and community members to suggest to me a set of criteria for denaming buildings on campus.
i received that report and a separate report written by one member of the working group.
over the ensuing weeks i have consulted with a variety of faculty members and representatives of various campus constituencies, including some deans, members of the black student task force, and senior administrators.
i would very much like to thank the working group for its careful analysis of the problem.
similarly, i would like to thank the black student task force for bringing the matter to my attention and for providing me with valuable insight and advice.
after these consultations and a good deal of reflection, i have decided to implement the following criteria and process to address the question of whether the names of dunn hall and deady hall should be changed.
the criteria, while informed by the efforts of the working group on denaming buildings, are my work product and not theirs.
building on their recommendations, and after deliberation and consultation, i have determined to follow this process for an examination of whether to dename dunn hall, deady hall, or both.
criteria for denaming dunn and/or deady halls a building shall be considered for denaming if the person for whom a building is named acted in one of the following ways: actively sponsored legislation or lobbied on behalf of laws and policies that perpetuated historic and contemporary acts of genocide and indigenous dispossession, slavery or internment, and/or promoted exclusionary migration or immigration laws, restrictive naturalization and voting laws, antimiscegenation laws, alien land laws, and laws or practices promoting racial segregation in housing and public accommodations.
promoted violence against an individual or group based on race, gender, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, or political affiliation.
was a member of a nongovernmental organization or society that promoted or engaged in acts of violence or intimidation targeting individuals or groups based on race, gender, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, or political affiliation.
engaged in practices, behaviors, or other actions that contravene the values articulated in the university’s mission statement and bring infamy or dishonor to the university.
demonstrated discriminatory, racist, homophobic, or misogynist views that actively promoted systemic oppression, taking into consideration the mores of the era in which he or she lived.
failed to take redemptive action, particularly in the context of the specific actions and behaviors set forth above.
procedures i will appoint a panel of three historians with demonstrated knowledge of the history of the state of oregon and charge that panel with the task of examining the commemoration of dunn and deady halls in light of the criteria set forth above.
specifically, the panel will be asked to evaluate whether matthew deady or frederic dunn engaged in the actions or behaviors set forth in the first five enumerated criteria above and, if so, whether their lives showed evidence of redemption (criterion number N).
the panel will be asked to seek input from a broad array of sources, focused on information from the historical record.
to the extent relevant information is available from persons outside the group, they should feel free to contact those individuals.
once the panel of history experts reports back to me, a moderated webpage will be established by the university on which the report will be published and where individuals will be able to register their own views on whether the halls should be renamed.
to the extent practical, information on the historical records of dunn and deady will also be published on the website.
i will take under consideration the reports of the panel of history experts, the material posted on the website, and any other relevant information, and decide whether to recommend the denaming of deady and/or dunn halls to the board of trustees of the university of oregon.
if i decide to recommend a denaming of one or both buildings, i will forward that recommendation to the board for final decision.
if i decide not to recommend such a denaming, the matter will be deemed closed.
regardless of whether i recommend denaming the halls to the board, i will entertain appropriate steps by which the university may acknowledge the full and accurate record of dunn and deady’s impact on the history of the university and the state of oregon—and commit to the following: the creation of interpretive displays to be erected in a prominent place in dunn and deady halls explaining each building’s history, the history of those with whom the buildings were affiliated, and how those histories might be viewed in their own times and in contemporary oregon.
a program for the installation of interpretive apparatuses, as appropriate, in selected campus buildings, statuary, and other permanent commemorative installations that outline their respective histories, the histories of those after whom they’ve been named, inclusive of all historical information.
genuine efforts to erect other representative icons on campus that speak to the contributions of underrepresented peoples at the university, in the region, across the state, and throughout the united states at large.

.april N N dear campus community, one of the hallmarks of a great university is that it does not shy away from tough questions or difficult topics, be they cultural, theoretical, or scientific.
rather, a great university embraces challenges and applies intellectual, academic, and research rigor to delivering solutions that move the community, the nation, and the world forward to make it better.
in this case, the challenging issue for the university of oregon is one of enhancing our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
ensuring that all uo students have a world-class campus experience is one of this administration’s top priorities.
we are dedicated to doing all we can to foster a campus climate that embraces diversity, encourages equity, and values inclusion.
in particular, we recognize that we can and must do more as an institution to meet the needs of black students.
we cannot and will not shy away from this conversation, and today we are pleased to share some of the progress we’ve made to address this important issue.
in december, following a rally on campus, the black student task force released a list of demands, highlighting specific action steps the university can take to enhance diversity and inclusion on campus.
this list prompted more discussion, and N working groups were created to address concerns raised by members of the bstf.
those groups—led by university senior leaders and composed of faculty, staff, and students—have been meeting through the winter and spring to review promising practices in each of these areas, analyze the opportunities as well as the challenges, and develop meaningful action steps for moving forward.
in collaboration with uo faculty, staff, and administration, members of the bstf have been an integral part of developing these recommendations, and we want to recognize and thank our students for their input and partnership.
we will continue to work with bstf and other stakeholders within the uo community as we endeavor to strengthen services and resources that support equity and inclusion.
recommendations that are moving ahead include the following: african american opportunities program—beginning in fall N, the university’s enrollment management team will significantly expand its efforts to attract and recruit african american students, including programs and activities that enhance the uo’s outreach to and partnership with african american students, their families, and community partners.
this will also include additional staff members who are experienced in working with the african american community.
fraternity and sorority life—beginning in fall N, the university will invite six historically black greek letter organizations to the uo to become part of fraternity and sorority life, including: alpha phi alpha fraternityalpha kappa alpha sororitydelta sigma theta sororityomega psi phi fraternityphi beta sigma fraternityzeta phi beta sorority exploratory information sessions will begin this spring term.
the uo will work with civic organizations from eugene as well as black faculty and staff who are members of these greek organizations to promote and encourage the success of this initiative.
academic residential community—the umoja pan-african scholars academic residential community will be launched in fall N.
it will accommodate N students and will be housed in the living-learning center.
student advisory boards—beginning in fall N, an african american advisory group will be added to the existing multicultural student leadership team in the division of equity and inclusion to assist with the development of strategies related to african american student retention and advising.
this group will comprise members of the faculty, staff, and student body.
speaker series, seminars, and workshops—the african american presidential lecture series will bring a range of african american scholars and practitioners to campus—authors, scientists, and innovators, world leaders, game-changing policymakers, authors, and artists—to share concepts, information, and perspectives for the intellectual enrichment and development of the uo community.
speakers next year will include ta-nehisi coates, author of between the world and me, and kelly mack, vice president for undergraduate stem education at the american association of college and universities.
these events are being scheduled and more details will be provided as soon as they become available.
we also will seek input from across campus as we create a list of additional prospective lecturers.
diversity data—beginning immediately, the university will publish campus diversity data at https://inclusion.
uoregon.
edu/content/facts-and-figures.
this includes a link to published safety data from the annual campus security and fire safety report in compliance with the jeanne clery disclosure of campus security policy and campus crime statistics act.
the university will annually review the data that is provided on this site and add or change data as new information becomes available.
these six initial investments reflect a commitment to enhancing the recruitment and retention of black students on our campus, but they are only the beginning.
we are analyzing recommendations recently received on the remaining issues, including building de-naming, advising and retention, faculty hiring, scholarships, and more.
we will make decisions on these outstanding recommendations or refer them to the appropriate university body in a timely manner, and our sincere expectation and hope is that we will be able to make progress on each proposal.
we are committed to completely analyzing the issues, examining their feasibility, assessing available resources, studying alternatives, sharing progress, and moving forward in a thoughtful and reasoned way.
we want to again thank members of the black student task force for raising these important issues about race, diversity, and inclusion on the uo campus.
we have much work to do, and will continue to engage members of the campus community in this important discussion.
michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law yvette m.
alex-assensohvice president for equity and inclusion.
april N, N hello everyone, i would like to thank all of the many faculty, staff, and students who came to my campus conversation forum last week.
for those of you who could not attend, a video of the session and the written remarks are now available on the office of the president website.
i very much appreciate the interest you have demonstrated in learning about my vision and priorities for the university, our strategies for achieving this vision, as well as the key cultural, financial, and structural issues that will secure our future.
i also am delighted that you want to engage both in discussions around these issues and the hard work of making our university the preeminent research university we know it is capable of being.
as i said at the forum, when i accepted this position a year ago, it was with determination, enthusiasm and great hope.
i came to the uo because i am committed to public higher education; because i was inspired by the work our faculty do in the classrooms and out; and because i felt i could make a difference.
at times, that might mean shaking things up a bit and making hard decisions.
i am so grateful that i have your support and engagement.
the last few months of setting priorities and realigning our resources to support these goals, while necessary, has not always been easy.
as we reviewed our scarce resources and the deans worked with faculty, ultimately, some dedicated, talented colleagues received contract non-renewals, which not only impacts them directly, but also impacts the entire campus.
i thank those colleagues for their service, and i thank all who are working to help them and the university make this transition as smooth as possible.
again, for many years and for a variety of reasons, we did not watch our budget expenditures as closely as we should have in light of our shrinking state resources.
for example, we kept hiring teaching faculty in areas with declining enrollments.
we have been digging a hole for many years, and if we had not acted now the hole would have grown much larger next year and the cuts would be more painful.
we need to be purposeful so that every dollar possible gets invested in building our research eminence and enhancing student success.
the only way to do that is to use the budget as a strategic device.
i regret the hardship that some are encountering, but i do not regret the decisions we have made.
last week’s campus conversation allowed our university community to ask tough questions about our financial situation, about the value of our employees, about enhancing diversity, and about college access.
many of these questions mirror some of the toughest issues facing higher education today.
as a result of the campus conversation, i have decided to continue the conversation in another medium.
in the next week or two, i will post regularly on my website short comments and thoughts about our university and also about important issues in higher education.
someone on my staff has dubbed these postings “open mike,” which i think is pretty descriptive.
i may also email these musings to those of you who wish to receive them (but i don’t want to clutter your inboxes, so opt in or out as you like.
) again, thank you for your passion and your strong opinions.
you make the university of oregon the great university it is today, and i need you to help me make this institution even better in the years to come.
sincerely, mike to receive future open mike messages from the president, please email the office of the president and ask to subscribe to the open mike email list.

.the following is president michael schill’s presentation from the campus conversation at ford alumni center on april N, N.
a video of the event is also available here.
welcome everyone.
thank you for being here and sharing your lunch hour with me.
i want to make the most of your valuable time, so i will first provide an update on the university’s priorities, planning, and strategies; and then i will open this up for your questions.
we are live-streaming on the web today, so i want to say hello to our colleagues in portland and elsewhere around the state who are joining us.
a year ago when i accepted this position, it was with determination, enthusiasm, and great hope.
i came to the uo for the love of public higher education, with appreciation for your work, and the intent to make a difference.
i know that has at times meant shaking things up a bit and making hard decisions, which is part of the reason why i am here today—to share my vision, and be open and clear about our direction.
i also came with the knowledge that there was a job to be done here.
there had been changes in leadership, divisions among the faculty, and persistent disinvestment by the state, and all of these things had led to stresses and strains, and perceptions from some people of diminished quality.
i have now been here nearly N months and my excitement hasn’t waned, nor has my optimism about the job.
but i am under no illusion that the last few months of setting priorities and realigning our resources has been easy.
it hasn’t been easy, and it shouldn’t be easy.
nothing worth doing is ever easy.
and we are making progress on many fronts.
we are getting close to making hires in searches for four deans and for the vice president for research.
last year when i came, and we said, “can we handle it as an intuition—four dean searches all at once,” and i have to tell you we handled it really well.
those of you on search committees, thank you.
the candidates have been wonderful, even the day i had four candidates in my office in one day—of course not all from the same school.
it was really quite amazing.
we have N faculty searches going on right now.
we are increasing our graduate student population.
we are halfway, nearly halfway, in our fundraising campaign; that is $N billion out of $N billion.
and we’ve established cordial relations with the senate, something that not always happened on this campus.
i expect you will have questions about our budget realignment.
and i will answer your questions.
at the outset let me say, i understand this has been painful for many people.
i know dedicated, talented colleagues received contract nonrenewals, which not only impacts them directly, but also impacts the entire campus.
and it impacts the people who don’t know the people, because they say, “ok, what’s next for me?” i certainly didn’t come here looking to cut positions.
i came here with a mission to make us even better as a research university.
that is an expensive proposition.
but we need to focus every dollar we have—every dollar—and make good, hard, strategic decisions to ensure the future health and growth of this great university.
the fact is, we have not carefully watched our central budget over the years as we should have as our resources shrunk.
we have been digging a hole for many years, and if we didn’t act now the hole would be bigger next year, the decisions we have to make would be more painful.
we need to be strategic in where we are making investments to make this a great research university.
the only way to do that is to use the budget as a strategic device.
so we will think of our aspirations as a pyramid, with vision on top and then priorities, strategies, and foundation.
vision our vision is for the university of oregon to be among the preeminent public research universities in the nation.
i think we can all agree, even here at the university of oregon where we can argue about what color the sky is, that this is a good objective to be striving for.
priorities so what are our priorities, what is going to get us there? to achieve this vision of being outstanding, we have established some fundamental priorities.
i’ve been talking about these priorities since shortly after arriving on campus.
the first is teaching and research.
second is access and success; we want to be sure we remain affordable for students, and that those students can come here and, most important, that they will succeed.
our third is we want our student experience to be unparalleled.
we want to create a diverse environment, a rich environment here, so students can learn outside the classroom as well as outside.
strategies over the last year we have been able to create some strategies for enhancing our teaching and research enterprise.
teaching and research excellence hire N to N tenure-track, research-active faculty members—we still have more than N active searches underway.
over the years as our university grew, we hired non-tenure-track faculty and we now have too few tenure-track faculty when you compare us with our peers.
we also have to recognize, although it’s tempting to talk about the shiny new thing such as the new faculty members, we have to show appreciation for and help to retain our stars who are here.
we have a great faculty here.
they have been doing great research for years.
we need to make sure they are fulfilled and that they are appreciated.
also, a great research university has phd students, they are the next generation.
we train people to go out and teach others to teach people about our field, they bring ideas to us.
we need to build research and faculty spaces.
as we increase the faculty, we are going to need more faculty offices.
in addition, we need more laboratory space.
we need to be able to attract great scientists and provide them with state-of-the-art equipment and places where they can make discoveries.
similarly, many of our departments rely on high-performance computing, and we must invest in high-performing computers.
the students of the clark honors college—they are amazing, these students could go anywhere, and we want to continue that excellence.
we want to nurture these opportunities.
we want to grow entrepreneurial culture.
at universities everywhere, this entrepreneurial spirit is flourishing.
i think one of the reasons why the state legislature doesn’t fund us at the levels that other universities are funded is that they don’t see that we are a driver of the economy—but we don’t facilitate out discoveries getting out on the market.
we need to build our portland presence.
we have made a significant investment in portland.
portland holds the best promise for many of the departments and schools here for additional revenue streams.
people are in portland, the economy is in portland, our alumni are in portland.
we have a beachhead for four of our schools.
we need to enhance them and grow our resources there.
access and success next is our priority of enhancing access and success.
one thing that is incredibly important is that we need to be affordable.
as all of you know by now, i’m a first-generation college student and i believe in access.
i believe the only reason i am standing here is because i got scholarships to go to college.
i didn’t go to a public university, but most of our students in our nation aren’t going to get those scholarships, there just isn’t enough money available.
their chance to move up in the world is through public universities.
so we need to make sure they can get here.
that means.

.
.keep tuition affordable—notice i didn’t say no increases, because our costs do go up, but we need to keep those increases moderate.
expand need-based scholarships.
the things that will save our students money isn’t low tuition increases, it’s to get out of here in four years—it’s to graduate in a timely fashion.
everyone in the country has figured this out.
the longer you take to graduate, the less likely you are to graduate.
we want to increase the graduation rate by N percentage points.
to do that we are going to track student success and hire student success advisors, provide graduation assistance grants, and hire someone who can coordinate these efforts.
the more you are connected to a university, the more likely you are to graduate.
that’s one of the reasons we are implementing a policy to have freshmen live on campus in their first year, to keep them connected.
people are less likely to graduate if they are not connected in some way.
student experience enhancing the student experience is essential to helping our future graduates be successful citizens and leaders who can contribute to society and live happy, prosperous lives.
we want our students to learn as much outside the classroom as they do inside the classroom.
we have an obligation to be as diverse a university as possible.
what we need to do is get better at diversity and expand diversity and support inclusion.
we need to recruit more students of color and we need to support them.
no student should come to me and say, “i don’t feel comfortable as a university of oregon student.
” as many of you know, we have a black student task force, and we are working on their demands.
we will have more on that this week or next.
of course, our first priority to parents and our students is to keep them safe.
and one of the ways this school has become infamous is in regard to sexual violence.
it turns out our rate of sexual violence isn’t out of the ordinary compared to other american universities, we’ve gotten more publicity.
we haven’t maybe handled it as well as we should.
but now what we’ve done is we’ve implemented a set of policies.
we’ve hired a title ix coordinator.
and we are committed to having a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual violence, and every student out there who feels they have been violated or harassed, feels confident in the process that will go into investigating their complain.
and one of the worst things i saw of the climate surveys both here and around the country was people saying they didn’t trust their universities to handle their claims.
it is my goal now and in the future that that number will shrink tremendously, as well as the incidents of sexual violence.
we want to support our cocurricular and athletics activities.
we want to increase undergraduate research opportunities.
this is one of the areas of connection, right? why do we have the research faculty teaching? one of the reasons it’s so important to have the research faculty teaching is the insight and the excitement that they bring to the classroom, and we want to bring in the students to be part of that.
research isn’t only for graduate students, research is for undergraduates.
i met recently an alumna who’s been very generous to the school, and we were talking about all sorts of things.
“what could you make your gift to? what could you make your gift to?” and everything we came up with was, “yeah, okay,” but you could tell that nothing excited her.
then we said something about research.
and she said, “i used to work two jobs in the labs.
every day i was doing that.
i love that idea, so why don’t i give double the amount that i was going to give and fund something like that.
” but that’s what you want to see! we want to see our students feel that way.
we’d also like to see them give double the amount when they graduate.
we want to renovate residence halls.
the residence halls, some of them are leaking, some of them are not in great condition.
some of them will remain not palaces, right? bean is not going to get any bigger, but hopefully you know it will as least be dry, and the toilets will work, and all the stuff like that.
but the idea is that we do need to renovate, and we’re obviously in the process of improving our learning spaces, so that’s very important.
foundation we build this on a foundation.
the foundation is each of these categories: culture and leadership, budget and finance, and infrastructure.
this is going to be the last thing i talk about before i open it up for questions.
leadership and culture we have what i think is the best board structure of any public university in the country.
we don’t have this faraway board filled with political hacks like with most states—and i know you read about it all the time, the experiences.
we have a board—and the members, all they care about is the university of oregon.
most of them are graduates of the university of oregon.
most of them, almost all of them, are giving money to the university of oregon, so they care deeply about this place.
they are working very hard.
they are excited about being new and about working with us.
so we have gone within two years from what some would say is one of the worst board structures to, now, one of the best structures.
i would have to say, obviously i’m biased.

.
.they picked me, but the point is i think they are doing a terrific job so far (maybe with that exception) but so far it has been going great.
we have this opportunity, i mentioned it a moment ago.
what university in one year gets to—really we’re turning over almost our entire senior leadership, and we are going to be doing that.
we are going to get great deans into their positions, and a vice president for research.
we’ve already changed a lot of my office, and we’re going to be, instead of the gang that can’t shoot straight, the gang that really can transform a university.
we want to foster healthy shared governance.
obviously, there’s a history of somewhat difficult relations.
every university has some tensions between the faculty senate and the university administration, here perhaps more than others, and we’re already starting to make some progress on this.
but this is very important, both that we understand our respective roles and understand that we need to be collegial and helpful with each other for the university to move ahead.
we want to improve our employee relations.
this last year we had a good year at the bargaining table in terms of our ability to move forward in a constructive way.
we have additional bargaining that’s going to start in the not-too-distant future with our graduate students—actually has already started.
we don’t want to repeat what happened before, and so we’re hoping that both sides will be very cooperative with regard to that.
instead of demonizing athletics and saying, “you know, athletics is getting all of the resources,” what we want to do instead of being envious of athletics is actually model ourselves on athletics.
a wonderful investment of resources and careful, strong execution can lead to excellence.
and that’s something that i’ve said over and over again.
my job here is not to level down athletics to our relative academic ranking and sort of say, “okay that makes us feel better.
” no, that’s not the way to do it.
what you do is, you already have athletics up here, let’s bring academics up there, too, and both be excelling and operating in the best possible way.
we want to communicate effectively.
hopefully, you’re seeing a high level of transparency.
i’ll answer any of your questions today if i’m able to answer your questions.
i don’t think i obfuscate, i try to be clear.
you’re going to see even more communication.
some of you may see too much of me—i’m thinking of doing a biweekly column—but i promise i won’t send it to you if you don’t want it.
just don’t put me on your spam filter.
the last thing is, every part of this university needs to promote excellence.
we need to be excellent in everything we do, not just good enough.
those days, i don’t know if they were ever here, but they aren’t good enough for me.
everybody has got be going at their highest level of achievement.
budget and finance second foundation element is our budget and finance.
we need a new budget model.
the current budget model, which is driven almost entirely by students, has led to these waves, right? of students moving, and we have tenure-track faculty and their long terms.
students are short-term moving around, it’s not a good thing.
our budget model that we are going to work on over the next year—always have something in there for student activity.
it has to, because you have to be able to teach the courses.
but it’s also going to be strategic.
it’s going to reward parts of the university that are doing the things that we want the university to be doing.
research, publishing, performance for schools that research take the form of peer-reviewed excellence.
where the graduate students are graduating on time, where they are getting jobs, right? it’s not going to be formulaic only.
it’s going to have built-in strategy for the university.
we’re going to work with the state as hard as we can to promote reinvestment.
the state was good to us last year, and we’re grateful for that.
we see some clouds in the future, and we’re hoping that those clouds don’t break out into a shower.
but we’re hoping to continue that element of reinvestment.
it’s not going to do what we need it to do, it’s not going to make the transformational changes that we all want, but we should at least not lose anything, and make moderate increases.
we need, though, to realign our resources.
we don’t control what the state gives us, and we actually don’t control what donors give to us.
we don’t fully control tuition, right? because we can’t raise it that much.
what we control is how we spend our money, and that’s what we need to do is spend our money where it is most productively spent.
and over N percent of our budget is people, so it’s hard to shift that.
but it’s necessary to put our money where our priorities are.
it’s also necessary for us to be able to convince donors who are going to give to us that they should give to us because we are going to spend their money wisely and we aren’t going to waste it, and not allow us to not follow a strategic plan.
we’re going to complete our $N billion campaign.
we’re going to increase our efficiency and operations over the next three years.
we set a target of N percent reduction of costs, just by getting smarter in how we do business.
and we’re going to explore long-range financial plans.
we need a model that will take us into the future and not just year-to-year, how we handle these things.
so the last element is infrastructure.
we’re going to explore campus growth strategies.
are we the right size? do we have the right number of students? do we have the right size faculty? what are we going to do in regard to that? we’re going to engage in physical planning.
we need to address the entire campus.
we need to be able to understand where we can build, where we can’t build.
what open spaces we want to preserve, all of that sort of thing.
and this is, our it.
our it needs investment.
we have not invested in our it in a long time, and it’s a big deal.
it is big, big, big numbers, it’s like astronomical numbers, but we can’t go dark.
we need to make those investments over time.
so we’ve already made tremendous strides forward in planning, we just have to find the resources to do implementation.
and this will not be next year, it won’t be the following year, it’s going to be always.
we always need to be making these investments.
similarly, we need to be stopping leaks from occurring.
we need to be bringing our infrastructure up to where it should be, so deferred maintenance is an additional part of the foundation.
we rest on this foundation of buildings and equipment and we can’t let it deteriorate.
so that’s the plan, the vision, the priorities, the strategies, and the foundation.
and now i’m open to any questions that anyone has.
question and answer session is available to be viewed on the uo channel.

.march N, N dear campus community,welcome to spring term, a season of renewal, hope, and anticipation of the graduation of our seniors and the granting of degrees to our doctoral candidates.
in my first year as president of the university of oregon, each new term presents an opportunity to get to know the university better and to work with our faculty, staff, administrators, and students to propel us forward to ever greater achievement and excellence.
i enjoyed some sun over the weekend which made me even more optimistic, although i am told not to expect that to be an everyday occurrence for a while.
i would like to offer my congratulations to the many achievements of our colleagues and students.
to name just a few: next month professor geri richmond will receive the national medal of science—the highest scientific honor bestowed by the united states, senior amelia fitch earned a prestigious gates-cambridge scholarship to study in great britain, and uo faculty participated in the discovery of a gravitational wave that helped prove einstein’s theory on gravity and space-time.
additional success stories from last term are listed below.
also, congratulations to the men’s and women’s track teams for taking first in the indoor ncaa championships and to the men’s basketball team for earning its way to the elite eight.
i confess, i did not know a pick-and-roll from a jump shot before this year; however, i am now a believer.
i am counting the months until next year’s season.
the achievements of our faculty, students, and athletics teams have one thing in common—a focused commitment to excellence.
none of this success happened by accident.
it required vision, investment, hard work, and the pursuit of greatness.
this is what i aspire for the university of oregon; to reach its full potential and secure its place among the preeminent public research universities.
we’ve established a path forward to excellence in the strategic framework crafted by scores of campus representatives.
we’ve also made tough decisions to begin realigning our scarce resources to ensure we achieve our vision.
i am deeply thankful to our deans, department heads, and faculty and staff who have ushered the university through this critical process.
i would like to share more about our vision for the university as well as the priorities, strategies, and foundational needs to achieve excellence.
i invite you to join me for a campus conversation on april N at noon in the giustina ballroom at the ford alumni center.
(note updated time and location) i will provide an update on our strategic direction and answer your questions.
if you are unable to attend, we will also provide a video recording of the event on the office of the president website.
again, i am immensely proud of our success thus far and enthusiastic about how much more we can achieve in the future.
it is you—our faculty members, staff, administrators, and students—that make the university of oregon great, and i am honored to be your president.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law honors and awardsgeri richmond receives nation’s highest science honorlynn feekin earns lifetime achievement awardcristopher niell receives young investigator awardmarian smith awarded prestigious fellowshiptwo professors awarded sloan research fellowshipsuo biology student wins gates-cambridge scholarshipresearch and innovationuo team helps catch gravitational waveuo big idea for bio-inspired implant wins granta way toward unlocking the teenage braindiscovery could boost biomedical use of zebrafishalumni and giving uo receives $N million for life science researchjan sanders stadium – a softball dream realizedjsma hails gift of landmark photos by brian lanker.
to: university of oregon communityfrom: michael h.
schill, presidentre: recommendations of the tuition and fee advisory boarddate: february N, N pursuant to university policy, i have received the recommendations of the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab).
among the recommendations is an increase of $N per credit hour—or $N per year—for in-state undergraduate students.
out-of-state students would see an increase of $N per credit hour—or $N,N per year.
this equates to a N.
N percent increase for in-state students and a N.
N percent increase for out-of-state students.
it is my current intention to ask the board of trustees to adopt tfab’s proposal at its next regularly scheduled meeting on march N–N.
pursuant to university policy, i am posting the tfab recommendations together with this memorandum for public comment.
as i have said several times over the past seven months, the number one priority for our university is to achieve excellence in teaching and research, and i believe that this tuition plan, as part of our overall strategic budget, is necessary to enable us to achieve those goals.
to achieve excellence, we must invest in faculty hiring, research infrastructure, and student access.
we also must address significant cost drivers including increased labor and medical costs, and it infrastructure improvements.
due to public divestment in higher education, tuition is the university’s primary funding source.
the uo receives just seven percent of its budget from the state of oregon.
note that i say this tuition plan is necessary, but it is not sufficient.
as i have stated in several forums, we will need to utilize all of the resources we can muster to achieve excellence, including those obtained through increased advocacy for state funding, philanthropy, and resource realignment.
when paired with our internal effort to realign budgets with strategic priorities and cuts to administration, tuition dollars will help fuel the uo’s pursuit of excellence in the classroom, the research lab, and in the experience our students have every day on this campus.
i do not contemplate making this recommendation lightly, but we owe it to the students of this university and the state of oregon to do what is necessary to maintain and grow the academic and research stature of this school.
affordability and accessibility are also objectives of our university and vital to achieving our public mission.
our tuition rate for resident undergraduates remains below that of peer research institutions that receive much higher state funding per capita.
it is also below the ten-year average increase that we have experienced.
i believe that the uo remains a remarkable value for students and families.
i am committed to doing everything in my power to cushion the impact of this increase on our most economically vulnerable students.
we are expanding the pathwayoregon program, which provides full tuition and fees to nearly N,N pell-eligible resident students.
we will also expand our financial assistance by $N.
N million.
we will continue the graduation assistance award program that we began this year.
perhaps most importantly, through the oregon commitment, we will work to make sure that every student at the university graduates in a timely fashion.
that alone will save uo students tens of thousands of dollars that they currently incur in extra tuition and fees.
if you would like to comment on the proposal prior to my making a final recommendation to the board of trustees, please provide input using this form by N:N p.
m.
on friday, february N, N.
thank you.

.january N, N over six months ago, when i first met you, i made a promise that i would not spend my first year sitting on my hands.
instead, i would move forward with a plan to focus on academic excellence.
i have met hundreds and hundreds of faculty, students, staff, and alumni over the past N days.
every time i talk about our need to reinvest in our academic and research program i see nods of recognition.
i get smiles and comments that this is what we need to do.
indeed, this mandate comes through loud and clear in the work of scores of our colleagues over the past year, reflected in the strategic plan and the work chaired by rob kyr and frances bronet.
that plan many of you read today, and provost coltrane will talk about this framework following my comments.
one of the things i was really pleased with in the document was the commitment to academic excellence and to growing the research enterprise.
i am, today, more optimistic than i have ever been that we will achieve our vision of achieving eminence.
we currently have N different faculty searches ongoing as we seek to grow our tenure-related faculty by N to N scholars over the next four years.
we are developing plans to invest in our academic and research facilities.
we are making funds available as of this week to grow the future of our profession: our doctoral students.
we will grow our phds this year with more growth to come.
we have invested $N million in our effort to promote student access, success, and graduation.
this is what a great university is.
this is the bedrock.
this is why you work here and why you wanted to become academics.
to some extent the articulation of these objectives is the easy part of the job.
i sometimes call it the “kissing the babies” part.
no one is going to say we should not be serving our students better or increasing our research capacity here.
i would imagine everyone in this room would give their eye teeth to make our school academically more eminent.
that is why we went into higher education rather than a more lucrative field.
we are passionate about producing knowledge, about moving our civilization forward, about passing this knowledge on to the next generation.
now is the time for us, as a faculty and community, to join together, cast aside historical suspicions and animosities, roll up our sleeves, and make this important mission a reality.
but, our dreams, these dream of academic excellence, are not cheap.
as i mentioned in my e-mail to the community last week, we will need every dollar we can lay our hands on—to build our academic program—including state resources, philanthropy, and tuition.
but as we ask our students to pay more; as we ask the state to invest more; and as we ask our alumni to give more, we have an obligation to make sure that we are spending every dollar we have wisely.
first we must start with a plan.
please review our strategic plan that we posted this week and offer us your wisdom and your reactions.
as i mentioned at the outset, the plan is largely the work of an effort that involved many faculty and that was co-chaired by rob and frances.
in the short-run (fyN), we will work with our deans to make sure that their budgets are balanced and that their expenditures are aligned with academic excellence.
for example, some units such as cas, are in deficit as student credit hours have dropped and expenses have increased.
substantial permanent funds—more than $N million—have been provided by the provost to cas to help them manage this deficit.
the remainder—approximately $N million— will be achieved by revenue generation and by strategic cost-cutting.
for the long-run, we will need a new financial model—one that provides our schools and departments with a stable source of revenue and that incentivizes excellence.
i have asked scott to chair a working group that will include senate representation to come up with this model.
importantly, we in central administration must lead rather than follow.
today i sent each of our vice presidents a memo instructing them to permanently cut two percent out of their general funds budget.
we expect this to net approximately $N million in recurring funds for us to reinvest in our academic program and infrastructure.
over the next three years, we will cut an additional three percent as we get smarter in how we conduct business.
we will change our business practices and plans.
we will reduce decentralization which leads to duplication, waste of resources, and a lack of accountability.
the first place we will look for this is in central communications, where we’ve already started an effort to integrate community, and also in it.
in it we have N or N centers, and you can imagine there is a level of redundancy, waste and security problems with the many different areas, and we’re going to address that next.
these are just two of the areas we will look at as we try to conserve and spend our money more effectively.
as we move forward, i promise that i will act transparently.
if i don’t know the answer to one of your questions— which is likely since this is currently a work-in-progress, i will tell you.
we made a strategic decision to tell people what we are doing, rather than try to figure out all the details and then tell you about it, because we are committed to an open process.
we are going to work on these things over the next six months to a year.
we will engage our faculty, students, and staff because this school is your school.
our future is your future.
our eminence as a university belongs to all of you.
let me be clear – for those reading through the lines and hearing “budget cuts and contract non-renewals” as the only message imbedded in what i’m saying: that’s wrong.
we are operating from a position of strength.
we are growing.
we are going to get better.
the university of oregon is still hiring.
we have N active academic searches underway, and four dean searches, and a vice president for research search.
those show a school that is optimistically wanting to grow and wanting to get better.
we are investing in graduate students.
we are investing in our undergraduate programs and undergraduate success.
in other words we are growing, we’re getting better, and not retrenching.
we are reallocating our resources to ensure our future eminence.
our university was created N years ago.
what we do over the next few years will determine its future for the next N years.
i am looking forward to working with each of you to make sure that future is a great one, one that you will be proud of, one that our state will be proud of, and one that our nation will look to as a public university that has gotten better and better despite our challenges of the past.
thank you.

.january N, N dear campus community, since i assumed the presidency of the university last july, i have met with countless members of our community.
whether those meetings were with faculty, students, staff, or alumni, there was virtual unanimity with respect to one proposition: our top priority needs to be academic and research excellence.
with this message, i invite you to join me in what i hope will be a transformational process of aligning our resources and our efforts to achieve our aspirations as a preeminent public research institution.
the university of oregon, as the flagship research university in the state, is committed to furthering knowledge through teaching and research.
we are the school with international reputations in molecular biology, neuroscience, green chemistry, special education and other programs.
we are the school whose faculty achieves path-breaking research in such varied fields as prevention science, comparative literature, geography, environmentalism and ecology, and evolution.
today, our university’s research profile is not as strong as it should be.
while there are many programs and pockets of excellence throughout the university, the overall landscape is very uneven.
as the last national research council ranking shows, we have relatively few departments that are listed among the best.
the productivity of some of our faculties lag their peers and our program of graduate education is impoverished in its numbers of students.
we must do better, and we will do better.
the root causes of our current situation are many.
certainly, part of the problem lies with resource constraints.
from N to N, the percentage of the uo’s budget funded by the state of oregon dropped by more than N percent.
as the institution became more tuition dependent, we increased our undergraduate enrollment and increasingly relied upon non-research faculty to do more of the teaching.
today, our faculty is out of balance; only N percent are on the tenure track, N percentage points less than our aau and public research institution peers.
additionally a lack of tight budget controls and monitoring systems created a situation where course loads for tenure-track faculty in some departments fell significantly below the stated institutional standards.
we need to rebalance our faculty.
we are experiencing a number of other significant cost drivers, many of which are critical to improving our university.
labor costs, which account for more than N percent of our expenditures, have increased significantly in recent years in our effort to bring salaries in line with our peers and through collective bargaining.
the serious problem of campus sexual violence has required significant investments in our title ix staff and programing.
to improve student success and completion we are hiring additional advisors.
federal mandates have required us to hire more compliance administrators.
and the state’s lack of appropriately mandated pension contributions in the past will require us to substantially increase the proportion of our budget that goes to pers beginning in fyN.
in the face of these budget constraints and pressures, our current academic budget model—which depends primarily upon student credit hours—does not provide departments with stable sources of revenue to plan year to year, much less for the long run.
some schools and colleges have gone from surplus to deficit in a matter of a few years as students’ curricular preferences have shifted and workforce demands have changed.
furthermore, our culture of decentralization has further weakened our ability to achieve administrative coordination and economies of scale.
the financial stresses on the university have undermined our mission.
it is now time to change the status quo.
i have already announced my intention to invest in our academic future by increasing our number of research-active, tenure-track faculty by N to N over the next five years.
we will also need to build the research infrastructure necessary to allow us to produce more knowledge, make more of an impact, and rise in national preeminence.
this, in turn, will allow us to attract and retain world-class faculty throughout the university.
this cycle of excellence is key to our success.
how will we pay for the investments necessary to reach these goals? while we will continue to work hard to persuade our legislators to increase our state support, i do not expect that the taxpayers of oregon will ever be able or willing to provide us with enough resources to allow us to accomplish our mission.
we will work hard with our alumni and supporters, as part of our $N billion campaign, to raise funds for our faculty and our research infrastructure.
already many have heard the message and we expect to cross the halfway mark by mid-N.
but we owe it to our donors, our students, and the taxpayers to steward our resources responsibly.
we must also change how we internally do business.
i have asked provost coltrane to lead an effort over the next N months to re-engineer our academic budget model with an eye to achieving stable and predictable sources of revenue for our academic units.
he will work with our academic leadership (e.
g.
our deans, university senate, vice presidents) in this endeavor.
in addition to examining revenues, i have also asked him to look at the expense side of the equation.
resources are too scarce and our mission too important for us to waste money in redundant administration, poorly performing programs, and lax accountability.
this work will be in tandem with our strategic planning process.
as you may know, before i arrived, the campus engaged in a year-long process of drafting a strategic framework for the university.
the goal of this process was to identify how to operationalize our goals for competitive excellence.
the provost has been working with deans, department heads, and faculty to refine the work of campus.
i have also asked him to ensure the strategic framework is aligned with our academic goals and focused on how to achieve the greatest impact.
next week provost coltrane will share a draft of the strategic framework document with campus to receive input.
the document, which will eventually go to the board of trustees for review and approval, will help guide us as we seek to achieve our goals and stay strategic in our focus and investments.
we will also be looking very carefully at expenditures in central administration.
as part of this year’s budget review for fyN, i will ask each of our central units to suggest ways in which they can streamline services and achieve significant cost savings.
for the longer run, i will appoint a task force of administrators and academic leaders to examine the efficiency of our central administration as well as to propose cost-saving steps.
i expect that this group will provide me with some interim recommendations by the end of the current academic year.
university communications will be the first unit to begin integrations to better tell our story, look for operational efficiencies, and create more collaborations.
in the spirit of transparency, i will not sugar coat this message.
this is not business as usual.
not all departments or schools will be net winners.
some members of our campus community may encounter hardship as we become better stewards of our resources.
as we move forward, we will do everything within our power to make the transition as humane and smooth as possible.
but we must move forward.
to do anything less would consign our great university to mediocrity.
that is unacceptable to me.
i am sure it is equally unacceptable to you.
we have a historic opportunity to elevate this university in ways that serve students, the state, our nation, and that will further the production of knowledge.
we must change, adapt, and align our operations and resources with our goals if we are to achieve our lofty aspiration and continue to meet our mission as a preeminent public research university.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
december N, N dear campus community,as the fall term and finals wrap up, i want to wish you all very happy holidays and a safe winter break.
my first full academic term as your president leaves me inspired, invigorated, and impressed by the commitment and talent of our community of scholars.
i am so proud of our students.
you are the brightest, most well-rounded cohort in our history and it shows in your passion, both in the classroom and out.
i have enjoyed my many interactions with students on issues related to diversity, tuition, leadership, and graduation rates.
you have stood up for what you believed in and respectfully engaged with the university in ways that will improve our community.
we have much work to do in the new year and i am excited about the prospect of working with you.
my admiration for our faculty grows every day.
the awards you win, the innovations you generate, the knowledge you create, and the way you challenge our students is breathtaking.
plus, hardly a day goes by when i don’t receive a new and interesting book from one of you! i am proud to be one of you, and am excited about working with you in january to propel our school forward.
and i am grateful for our administrators and staff who make this university tick.
i am so fortunate to be surrounded by an excellent team that has helped me quickly learn what it means to be a duck and begin achieving our objectives for the university of oregon.
again, those objectives are to build our academic programs and research, support access and affordability, and enhance the student experience.
although many of our thoughts turn now to spending some free time with our family and friends, i am already thinking about N and what we can accomplish together.
our mission is of the utmost importance—teaching our students, creating knowledge, making discoveries, serving our community, and working to secure the university of oregon’s place as a preeminent public research university.
see you in january.
warm regards,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
november N, N dear campus community,we have an opportunity to move forward as a campus that embraces diversity, encourages equity, celebrates our differences, and stands up to racism.
it is critically important for us, as a great university, to not turn away from hard conversations but to confront challenging issues thoughtfully and honestly.
the recent events at the university of missouri illustrate our nation’s deep soul-searching over issues of racial equity.
last week black students and their allies rallied on our campus in support of students at the university of missouri and expressed their feelings of isolation and frustration.
i and members of our leadership team met with some of these students last week, and i will continue to meet with them and additional student groups in the near future.
we must continue to listen to our students and to other members of our campus community about racial equity issues, and then take appropriate action.
to encourage this dialogue, vice president yvette alex-assensoh and i invite you to attend an event hosted by the division of equity and inclusion this week.
lessons from mizzou: a campus conversation will be at N:N a.
m.
on friday, november N, in the global scholars hall great room.
i encourage you to join us for tabletop discussions among students, faculty, staff, alumni, and administrators.
to learn more and rsvp for the event, please visit the dei website.
i also urge our campus, as we have these sometimes emotional and hard conversations, to do so with respect, kindness, and an open mind.
we’ve seen how statements online or in social media can be very hurtful.
we must stand up for each other and encourage respectful dialogue.
i look forward to the discussion on friday.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
november N, N professor ogletree’s visit to the university of oregon could not be more timely.
our nation today is engaging in serious soul-searching over issues of racial equity.
it is about time.
for too long, we have allowed ourselves to live as two nations—a world of class divisions, of racial divisions, reflected in where we live, what we earn, and how we are educated.
one only had to watch the scenes of pain in missouri this year to have one’s heartbroken.
as a great university we must confront these issues in a thoughtful and honest way.
our university—both our students and our faculty-- is not as diverse as we should be.
this absence of diversity is exacerbated by a sense of isolation and despair among many of our students of color.
we must work hard to enhance our diversity and we must work equally hard to create a supportive, inclusive environment.
i am delighted that professor ogletree is here today.
i first met charles N years ago as a visiting professor of law at harvard.
then as now, he was been a leading voice in my profession for racial equity and understanding.
he has also been a mentor to a generation of lawyers.
and now for the formal introduction: charles ogletree is the jesse climenko professor of law at harvard law school, where he also directs the charles hamilton houston institute for race and justice.
he has written extensively on race and justice, his most recent book being punishment in popular culture which he co-edited with austin sarat.
among his many honors and awards, ogletree has been named by ebony magazine as one of the N+ most influential black americans every year since N.
i am honored to introduce charles ogltree.

.november N, N vice president of equity and inclusion yvette alex-assensoh sent the following message to campus about an upcoming opportunity for conversation about honoring and valuing diversity at the university of oregon.
dear campus community, the university of oregon is a campus that values the diversity of our community.
therefore, in the wake of recent racial tensions that have led to protests, threats, arrests, and resignations at the university of missouri, it is only fitting that we take time here at the uo to reflect, engage, and act in ways that encourage understanding among our students, faculty, and staff.
first and foremost, i want our all of our students, including our black and other students of color, to know that we care about them.
retention specialists at the center for multicultural academic excellence (cmae), along with staff in our division of student life and advisors across campus are engaging daily with students to understand their needs, but we realize the need to learn more and do more.
too many of our black and other students of color say they feel marginalized and unsafe on our campus.
this is our unique opportunity for continuing progress.
over the remainder of fall term, president michael schill will be meeting with student leaders of color to talk about their experiences on campus, and the issues they face.
to further the dialogue and lay the foundation for meaningful change, the division of equity and inclusion will host a campus conversation on november N, N in the global scholars hall from N:N a.
m.
to N:N p.
m.
this is an opportunity for discussion, overall sharing, and planning.
food will be served.
space is limited, but this will be just one of many opportunities for engagement and forward movement.
as plans take shape, please visit the dei website for more information.
here are additional initiatives that are ongoing: with my unit’s guidance, we have increased faculty diversity and we are devoting additional resources to hire more excellent, diverse faculty.
deans in the schools and colleges are also continuing their efforts to ensure that effective systems are in place to engage and respond to any student concerns.
over the last two years, the university wide diversity committee (uwdc), which includes more than N faculty and staff members from units across our entire campus, has engaged in conversation and planning of the ideal framework, which focuses on climate, cultural agility, and faculty recruitment as well as retention.
also, our center on diversity and community (codac) hosted a november N campus-wide conversation about issues of climate.
uo employee resource groups, including los patos, api strategies, and black strategies, are engaging these issues at their own meetings with our faculty, students, and staff.
the events at mizzou, while troubling, do provide our campus with an opportunity for learning, conversation, and improvement.
as president schill said this week, student success requires a supportive and safe community.
the work ahead includes ensuring that this reality exists for all of our students.
sincerely,yvette m.
alex-assensoh, ph.
d.
, j.
d.
,professor of political science andvice president for equity and inclusion.
november N, N welcome everyone.
the students we just heard from in this video—they are the reason we are all gathered here today.
they represent the university of oregon’s commitment to access and success.
these students are part of the university of oregon’s innovative pathwayoregon program.
thanks to pathway, this year more than N incoming freshman from oregon who are eligible to receive federal pell grants—any amount of pell grant—have every penny of their uo tuition and fees covered.
and as they earn their degrees, dedicated academic advisors and tutors are at their side, providing support and guidance, cheering them on to graduation.
pathway has benefited more than N,N students since its inception in N.
this groundbreaking program has been heralded by national education leaders and has helped boost the four-year graduation rate for pell grant-eligible students at the uo by N percentage points.
that is real access.
that is real success.
today we are here to celebrate the accomplishments of pathwayoregon.
we are here to celebrate—but also to say that is not enough.
too many students are still left on the education sidelines.
we must do much more to open our doors to more students from every walk of life, keep those doors open, and create paths to on-time graduation and successful careers.
but let me back up here for a moment.
i want to tell you why fulfilling the promise of access and success is critically important to me, our students, the university, and to society.
for the past few months, i’ve been all across this campus, state, and nation—meeting with our faculty, students, alumni, and friends—talking about my three objectives for this university.
they are fundamental to our mission as oregon’s preeminent research university and our aspirations to become one of the nation’s greatest public research universities.
we must ensure student access and affordability.
we must build our academic programs through aggressive faculty hiring and investments in research.
we must deliver a rich and diverse experience for students both inside and outside the classroom.
as i’ve spoken to hundreds of people with an interest in the uo about these goals—from new freshmen to long-time advocates—one consistent theme has emerged: transformation.
people have told me, everywhere i go, that earning a degree here transformed their lives.
you just heard those students talk about that magic moment when they opened their pathwayoregon letter and recognized that their lives were changing for the better.
attending college, for so many people, is the turning point that creates opportunity, prosperity, and lifelong fulfillment.
the value of earning a degree we know this to be true, not just from what people tell me.
research bears it out.
for all our nation’s handwringing about the return on investment from college, the undisputable facts are that graduating from college is the single best path in the pursuit of a lifetime of success and happiness.
people who earn bachelor’s degrees earn far more than their non-college-going peers.
in fact, they earn N.
N times more in their lifetimes—that’s $N million more on average—than someone with only a high school diploma.
and with more education, the earnings rise and double to $N million or more.
study after study shows college graduates are in general happier, healthier, and more engaged in their communities.
those individual benefits also extend to our society as a whole, creating lower unemployment rates, greater volunteerism and civic involvement, as well as jobs and innovation from research, discovery, and knowledge creation.
at the peak of america’s unemployment following the most recent recession, when N percent of american adults over the age of N were jobless, only five percent of college-educated adults were out of work.
as a public institution of higher education, it is the heart of our mission to provide access to the citizens of the state.
the opportunity to work with students is what inspires many of us to teach and do research at great institutions like the uo.
keeping our doors wide open to all the best and brightest in our state, and best and brightest from around the world, benefits each of us, our university, our community, and our nation.
i can say with certainty that i personally was transformed by higher education.
when i was a little boy growing up in schenectady, new york, my father would put me on his knee and tell me i would attend a great university.
that was a bold vision for a man whose own father died when he was five years old and who had to go to work to support his widowed mother and younger sister.
with my folks’ support, a little luck, some loans, and a lot of scholarship assistance, i became a first-generation college student.
but i have to admit, i felt like a duck out of water at princeton university.
it was initially quite difficult and felt foreign to me as i struggled to fit in.
but in time i found my place, and attending college lifted a curtain for me, and helped me see the world in a whole new way.
college gave me the framework, the knowledge and curiosity, to pursue my yale law degree, become an attorney, professor and dean, and ultimately your president.
the personal and societal benefits of college are well documented, but many oregonians who wish to attend college do not.
less than one third of oregon’s adults have earned a college degree.
the proportion is even smaller among low-income, first-generation, and minority oregonians.
when first-generation students do attend college, less than one quarter nationally earn their way to a bachelor’s degree, compared to N percent of their non-first-generation college peers.
that must change.
what is stopping oregonians from punching their tickets to success and attending college and graduating? all of the research shows there are four primary barriers: institutional, financial, academic, and social.
if we are to keep our promise of access and success, we must address all four.
before a student can come to the university of oregon, she must obtain a good primary education.
yet, oregon’s public schools are not making the grade.
in N, the state ranked Nth out of the N states in k-N graduation rates.
and studies show that the low-income and minority students who do succeed and graduate from high school systematically underestimate their chances of getting into schools like the university of oregon, and hence do not apply.
another barrier to higher education for many students is its cost.
this is a perceived hurdle that may trump all others, because many students may not even think of overcoming the academic and social challenges if they cannot afford to knock on the door.
last week the oregonian reported on a study that demonstrated that oregon slashed per-student spending on higher education more than any but one other state in the union between N and N.
in absolute terms, the state of oregon ranks Nth out of the N states in per capita funding of higher education.
today, the uo gets only seven percent of its operating fund from the state.
this reduction has dramatically changed who pays for the cost of higher education.
as the state, under measure five and other pressures, slashed higher-ed funding, students and their parents started picking up more of the tab.
this graph of revenue sources over the last N years illustrates that shift.
you can see as per-resident-student revenue from the state fell, the university relied more on tuition revenue, almost dollar for dollar.
as the state paid less, students and their families paid more.
you may notice that this year there was a small but noticeable upturn.
through a lot of hard work, we are very pleased that our friends in salem fought for us this year, and reinvested some money.
we are dedicating a significant portion of that money to the initiatives i am going to discuss today.
but let me be clear.
we cannot rely on the state to reverse what has happened over the past N years.
unless we change the fiscal structure of our state, when the next recession occurs—as it surely will—the situation could be substantially worsened.
as an institution, we must work hard to control our costs.
but the fact remains, like other institutions of higher education, the largest portion of the university’s expenses comprises people—more than N percent.
our faculty and staff—you—are the lifeblood of the institution, and we need and value you.
personnel costs are unlikely to markedly decline, although we will need to take steps to become more efficient and achieve savings wherever we can.
if we are to provide the quality education that transforms lives and helps our society, we must expect that tuition will increase each year, just like the cost of milk, or shoes, or cars.
but like this year, we will do what we can to keep these increases manageable.
but there is something we, as an institution, can do to help reverse the course of higher costs borne by our students.
we can save many of our students thousands of dollars in unneeded expense by reducing the time it takes for them to graduate.
at the university of oregon, only half our students graduate in four years.
only N percent earn a degree by their sixth year in college.
now to be clear, the uo has the best retention and graduate rates of all of oregon’s public universities, but one doesn’t have to be a star performer at hayward field to observe that winning a slow race is not good enough.
the best strategy to reduce the cost of college is to ensure that more of our students graduate on time.
every quarter a student takes to graduate adds hundreds, even thousands of dollars to their college bill.
those extra two years to graduate can amount to more than $N,N in extra tuition, fees, and books for an in-state student, more for out-of-state students.
when we add in the lost job earnings that total jumps much higher.
let me say that again.
somewhere between one half and one third of our students are incurring tens of thousands of dollars in increased costs because they cannot graduate in a timely fashion.
not to mention valuable time and energy lost.
for the students who never graduate, who never earn a degree and have taken on debt, that is heartbreaking.
we know that not every student will graduate in four years.
students today face big challenges, and there are good reasons it takes longer for some.
indeed, a few of our professional programs, by design, take five years to complete.
but when half our students don’t graduate in four years, we absolutely must, as an institution, examine why, and then we must tear those barriers down.
pathwayoregon is one of the programs that is helping remove barriers for lower-income and first-generation uo students.
thanks to pathway we are closing the graduation gap—the gap between pell-eligible students and their more affluent peers.
students in the pathway program have four- and six-year graduation rates within two percentage points of non-pell students.
in just a few short years, this program increased the overall pell student graduation rate by N percent.
i recently had lunch with some students to better understand what the pathwayoregon program meant to them.
most were first-generation college students, just like the majority of pathway students.
these students and i talked about the culture shock of going off to a big university, feeling a little out of place and a little homesick.
they told me how the scholarship money changed their lives, how their advisors became friends and champions who helped them through the rough spots, and not just in the classroom.
one young woman, sam—a senior now—still keeps in touch with her advisor even though her advisor retired last year.
these students are so impassioned about the program, they now mentor younger students.
another young woman, lupe, made a spanish-language video to help spread the word.
pathway gave these students confidence and prepared them for success.
i want every student to feel that kind of confidence.
and i am committed to doing more than just studying the issue or talking about why access is important.
we must take action.
here is where the rubber meets the road.
i am setting a goal to increase our graduation rate by at least N percentage points by N.
this is the oregon commitment.
today, i am announcing a series of new initiatives and investments totaling $N million over five years to support this ambitious goal: first—we will continue to support pipeline programs and efforts to improve the quality of k-N education in the state.
for example, programs like the summer academy to inspire learning (also known as sail), started by two uo faculty members, introduces low- and moderate-income students to the possibility of college.
and the oregon young scholars program provides middle- and high school students of color time on our campus to see themselves as college bound.
we need to support sail, oys, and other programs like them.
in addition, our college of education is among the leading agents of change for successful interventions and pipeline programs in pre-k-N schools.
our school’s innovations in learning are used by school systems in every state in the nation and internationally.
for example, two recent research grants will allow our faculty to explore improving academic outcomes and post-secondary success for middle-school latino students and high school girls in oregon.
second—we will expand scholarships and financial aid as part of our $N billion fundraising campaign.
indeed, this year we received a spectacular $N million gift from our board of trustees member connie ballmer and her husband steve that allowed us to expand the pathwayoregon program by N percent.
two-thousand students—more than N percent of all our undergrads—are on our campus today, tuition covered and receiving advising, on the path to graduation, thanks to pathway.
today, i am also announcing an additional $N,N-per-year investment of state resources for more advisors for the program.
and we will seek more philanthropy to grow additional need- and merit-based scholarships for the best, brightest, most diverse students from around the state and around the world.
we will work with our congressional delegation, who have fought hard for student aid on our behalf, to continue to advocate for pell grant funding that is so critical to pathwayoregon.
third—we will immediately invest over $N,N each year to reinvent our advising and tutoring programs with the singular objective of increasing student retention and timely graduation.
we already invest significant resources in various places throughout the university on advising—in each of the schools and colleges, the office of equity and inclusion, the undergraduate studies office, and the jaqua center, to name a few.
but these efforts are not enough, and they are not coordinated.
so, i have authorized the hiring of a “retention czar” and several additional undergraduate advisors.
the associate vice provost for student success will be tasked with achieving a N-percentage-point increase in our graduation rate in five years, and will jointly report to the provost and the vice provost for undergraduate studies.
his or her job will be to coordinate our efforts throughout the university and to ensure that all students receive the academic counseling that they need and deserve.
we are also investing in a new data-analytics system that will help us to identify which students are at risk academically and financially, so that our new and existing advisors can step in, and connect them to tutors or other resources and support.
as part of our effort to promote timely graduation, i am enlisting the support of the university senate and each of the deans.
we must all join together to assess, on a department-by-department basis, what impediments exist to graduation—whether they be class schedules, curriculum, degree requirements—and reduce those barriers.
fourth—again, thanks to the state’s new investments in higher education this year, we will provide graduation completion grants to more than N juniors or seniors who are at the highest risk of dropping out for financial reasons.
starting this year we will provide financial aid totaling more than $N million annually to at-risk students who need a bridge to graduation.
fifth—we will hire more faculty; talented teachers and researchers who will help spark our students’ curiosity, challenge them to reach beyond their grasp, and inspire problem solving that will shape oregon’s future.
these faculty members will understand that four-year graduation is an institutional priority.
in addition, we will use this opportunity to promote racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender diversity that will make our community even richer than it is today and that will provide our students with the supportive environment that is so important to their success.
sixth—we will continue to explore how we can incentivize on-time graduation through structural changes in our university.
for example, the guaranteed tuition proposal that the board of trustees will consider shortly has elements designed to encourage students to graduate in a timely manner.
i would also like us to consider in the coming years a way to establish tuition plateaus that will enable students to take additional courses at no cost or at a reduced cost.
seventh—we are committed to expanding our successful student engagement programs, like academic residential communities, first-year interest groups, support for undergraduate research, study-abroad programs, and other co-curricular activities that provide the connections that help all students engage, thrive, and be more successful in college and after graduation.
social science literature is loud and clear on this subject—the more connected a student is outside of the classroom to the university, the more likely he or she is to graduate.
they must be connected and feel respected, welcomed and included in a campus free from discrimination and harassment that celebrates a diversity of people, thought, and experience.
these are my commitments, seven in all, to keep our promise of student access and success.
i am deeply thankful to oregon legislators who advocated for additional money for many of these programs, to our congressional leaders who championed for federal student aid, and to our donors who endowed scholarships and faculty positions that will strengthen our efforts.
i would like to thank lisa freinkel, our vice provost for undergraduate studies, and scott coltrane, our provost, for their work in crafting our new retention and graduation efforts.
and, of course, to all of the administrators, staff, and faculty who inspire our students and who will work with us in partnership to ensure that the promise of higher education is more than just a promise to our students.
this promise of access and success for all of our students—the oregon commitment—is one we must keep.
the economic and civic vitality of our state and our nation depends on it.
students all across our campus must succeed.
as a preeminent public university, our commitment to them and to all of the other students of merit in this state is, in essence, an affirmation and a commitment we make to the future.
thank you.
it is an honor to serve as president of the university of oregon.
to see a video of the oregon commitment to student access and success event click here.

.october N, N as i enter my fifth month as president of this great university, i feel a sense of excitement and urgency; excitement for your enthusiasm to move this university forward and urgency to act and realize our aspirations.
i am eager to share my vision and plans for one of my primary goals for achieving excellence at the university of oregon—enhancing student access and success.
i would like to invite you to join me for my first all-campus presidential address.
i will outline specific plans for improving access, retention, and graduation for our students.
i also hope to enlist your help in achieving our goals.
here are the event details: the uo’s commitment to access and opportunity tuesday, november N at N:N a.
m.
emu ballroom, university of oregoni look forward to sharing more about our progress and our exciting plans related to student access and support.
if you need further enticement to attend, we will be serving my favorite cookies.
i am extremely proud to be your president, and i feel a deep sense of responsibility to live up to all of our aspirations for our university and for the students we serve.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law note: the address will also be streamed live on the uo channel.

.october N, N dear campus community, today’s heinous act of violence at umpqua community college in roseburg is a terrible tragedy that affects all of us.
our hearts go out to the students, faculty, and staff of our sister institution, and to their loved ones.
the university of oregon is focused on providing support services to our community in the wake of today’s shooting, including emergency services and counseling support.
we have also reached out to our colleagues at ucc to offer staffing support.
i urge students who are affected by the news of this tragedy that need support to contact the university counseling center.
counselors are available and ready to talk at N east Nth avenue (across from oregon hall) or by calling N-N-N.
faculty and staff can reach counselors through the employee assistance program by calling N-N-N-N.
i also want to remind you that uo has a robust planning, response, and notification system in the case of a campus emergency.
more information about our training and resources is availability at uo emergency management.
to opt-in to our text alert system sign into duckweb.
the uo is a community that takes care of one another.
please reach out or speak up if you or someone you know needs help.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
october N, N dear students,welcome to the N–N academic year! whether you are just starting classes at the uo or are well on your way to earning your degree, i am pleased to welcome you to the university of oregon for what i believe will be a transformative year.
as you may know, i joined the uo as president in july.
i am very excited and honored to be entrusted to lead this university.
i spent the summer months preparing for your arrival, meeting some of you at introducktion, and getting to know the faculty and staff who will teach and guide you here at the uo.
sunday, i spoke to those of you who are new students during my convocation welcome.
we are off to a great start!your pride, passion, and enthusiasm for the uo is impressive and contagious.
i’m so proud to be a duck and you should be too!as we begin this journey together, i want to reiterate my commitment to you and your success.
i will work every waking moment to make the uo even greater.
i am focused on expanding our academic excellence through faculty hiring, providing you with an accessible and affordable education, and ensuring you have a world-class education experience.
when you chose the uo, you chose to be part of an amazing community, a family of ducks.
we are a community of scholars with high aspirations, and we pride ourselves on being welcoming to all and taking care of one another.
i hope you will take advantage of all this great institution has to offer both in the classroom and out.
you are here to learn and question, to expand your mind and your worldview.
i challenge you take a variety of classes, to meet new people, take part in the activities on campus, and get involved with some of the uo’s three hundred different student groups.
we are also a community that expects and demands respect.
that means listening to each other’s views, not abusing drugs or alcohol, seeking consent, and doing something if we see someone at risk of harm.
we have a vast system of support focused on helping you be successful.
if you need assistance―in the classroom or beyond―we urge you to ask for help.
start with the office of the dean of students―they will help answer your questions and get you assistance.
we are all here to help ensure that your time at the uo is exceptional.
have a great fall!sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
click here to watch president schill's convocation address september N, N welcome.
you and i are in similar places today.
you are new to the university of oregon, and i am new to my position as president of the university.
considering the fact that i moved to oregon less than three months ago and many of you are from oregon, it may even be possible that some of you know more about the university than i do.
nevertheless, we both have much to learn and experience about our new family, the university of oregon family.
you have been selected to study at this university.
you have earned the right to be here – we don't admit anyone who doesn't deserve a spot in our classrooms.
so the takeaway message is that each of you is capable of succeeding at the university of oregon.
it is how you apply your abilities and qualifications that will determine what you actually accomplish as students on this campus.
i vividly remember my first days in college and my own convocation.
like many of you, neither of my parents had gone to college.
but they had very high aspirations for me.
i went to a private college and almost all of my tuition and fees were either covered by scholarships, loans, summer jobs, and a job in the library of our public policy school.
to say i felt out of place was an understatement.
who were these people who dressed differently from me and who seemed to each have a multitude of friends from their previous lives? would i ever fit in? who would i eat dinner with? and could i ever compete and do well at college? ultimately, i found my own niche in college; my own friends; and my own academic passion—urban policy.
i never lacked for a dinner companion and i survived the four years, indeed i thrived.
much of what i am today is formed by my education.
what can you all look forward to in college? for many of you, the answer will be football, fun, and friends.
that is great; but please don’t let that be all.
you are going to a great university, one with amazing faculty members and staff who have chosen to devote their lives to educating you and pursuing knowledge.
within the buildings of this university are all of the wonders of human knowledge.
devote yourself; commit yourself to becoming educated.
for those of you who think you are interested in science and math, be sure to study literature and the arts.
for those who want to be musicians, poets, journalists, or sociologists, be sure to take a science class and brush up on your math.
for the budding business people among you, go take a dance class or a romance language.
to be prepared for a changing world and the economy when you graduate, you will need to be broad in your knowledge and able to constantly learn.
that is what college is for.
college is also about learning from each other.
many of you have led lives in homogenous communities where everyone was like you.
here we bring together the wonderful diversity of humankind.
don’t just hang out with people who look like you or have your background.
become friends with someone unlike any of your other friends.
go out to dinner with folks who vote for political candidates who you can’t stand.
when you get out of school you will need to interact with and understand people who are not like you.
get a head start here.
and have a good deal of fun.
go to football games, watch a track meet, listen to on the rocks acapella group, climb the rec center rock wall and hang out with your roommates.
join a debate club, a theater group, a choir, or even student government your friends here will be your friends for life.
and as you get educated, as you develop relationships, as you have fun, do so responsibly.
treat each other with respect.
that includes the people who you will become romantically involved with or the people with whom you would like to become romantically involved.
there is absolutely no room on this campus for sexual violence or harassment.
ask for consent, sober consent, and respect the answer you get.
if you can’t understand that, you don’t belong here.
stand up for each other.
if you see something that might lead to sexual assault – say something or do something.
we are a family and ducks take care of each other.
and treat yourself with respect.
do not abuse alcohol or drugs.
yes, animal house was filmed here.
but you not animals; you are the future leaders of our state, nation and world.
as you begin your classes tomorrow, some of you will find it hard to catch on to the material.
some of you will start falling behind in your coursework.
but remember what i said at the outset.
we are a family.
you are not alone.
go get some help.
we are on a quarter system, so the timetable for classwork, midterms and final exams will seem compressed as you make the transition from high school semesters to ten week quarters.
before you know it, you could get buried.
so if you find yourself in trouble, go get some help.
every professor here wants you to succeed; every counselor and student support person wants you to flourish.
just reach out.
we are here for you.
there is a very real opportunity for you at the university of oregon, and the reason i am standing here today is to urge you to seize it.
this is where you receive your education – your leg up on all those who haven't been fortunate enough or determined enough to be selected for this chance to learn and prepare for life.
your university education – your journey - starts tomorrow, so get ready.
you are joining a community of scholars, and you have joined a research university.
this means that you will be taking courses from knowledge producers, not just teachers.
not only do the professors here consume, refine and teach from the vast knowledge that exists going back hundreds of years and from incredibly complex fields of study, but they create new knowledge.
the professors here are the ones who are asking profound questions, defining important issues, making scientific discoveries, and creating beautiful new art forms.
they are literally writing the award winning books, publishing the transformative journal articles, and figuring out new ways to build something or creatively express a new art form.
we are teachers at the university of oregon, but we are also knowledge creators.
this is the hallmark of a research university and we are proud of that mission.
now you are part of that mission as well.
while you are here, we want you to ask us the hardest questions you can think of and push us to help you better understand the world we live in.
we also need you to help us envision the world that does not yet exist.
we are on this journey together, and our goal is to encourage you to exercise your minds as never before.
welcome to the university of oregon.
you are entering our community of scholars, you are joining the academy.
and we are honored you have come.
your class can become the best, the brightest, the most accomplished, the most innovative, the most entrepreneurial, the most devoted.
it can be all those things, because remember – you all belong here.
you have earned the right to be here because of the potential you have already demonstrated.
you now get the opportunity to make the most of your considerable talents.
your class will always be special to me as we both go from being freshmen to advanced students.
your journey is just beginning.
grab the proverbial steering wheel, find your path, take a few detours, remember to wear your seatbelt, and above all, enjoy the ride!.
september N, N president schill sent welcome emails to faculty and staff during the week of welcome: i am very excited about beginning my first academic year as your president.
over the past two months i have been overwhelmed by the warmth that many of you have shown me.
thank you! i have also been extraordinarily impressed by the desire among virtually everyone i have met for quick and decisive actions to propel our university forward.
i believe the time is right to do this.
we have a new governance structure, an extraordinary board of trustees, and are making good progress with our wildly ambitious $N billion fundraising campaign.
in this note, i would like to share with you my preliminary thoughts about how i can join with you to build our university.
the university of oregon is an excellent educational and research institution, full of deeply passionate and dedicated faculty, students, and staff.
yet, in my view, it can become so much better.
i would like to focus my efforts (and your’s) on building our fundamentals.
more specifically, i would like to begin immediately working on the following three objectives: building our tenure-related faculty and promoting academic research.
ensuring affordability and access for our students.
delivering a rich, excellent educational experience for our students.
our university has significant strengths in each and every school; in the humanities and the sciences, in journalism, and business, in law and education, to name just a few.
nevertheless, with a few exceptions, we lack sufficient eminence and intensity.
too few of our programs are recognized as national leaders.
certainly part of this is that we have too few tenured, tenure-track, and research faculty.
our non-tenure track faculty colleagues are, and will continue to be, important and valued members of our community, but we are simply out of balance.
therefore, i am committed to growing the tenure-related faculty by between N and N scholars over the next five years.
with the support of faculty across campus, provost coltrane and i have already begun to make progress in this effort.
we have authorized the hiring of new faculty through our cluster hiring initiative and are working with deans and departments throughout the university to identify opportunities for appointments outside the clusters that will enhance our teaching and research excellence as well as our diversity.
finally, we are consulting with faculty members in the sciences to identify a set of philanthropic investments that will ensure that we recapture our place among the great universities of this nation in discovery and invention.
affordability and access are important parts of our mission as oregon’s flagship public university.
as a first generation college graduate myself, i feel in my bones the importance of our role as an engine of economic opportunity for the citizens of our state.
as we make investments in the quality of our university we will strive to keep tuition increases moderate and to continue growing philanthropic donations for scholarships.
but equally importantly, we need to take steps to reduce the cost of education by increasing the proportion of our students who graduate in four years.
a four year graduation rate of N percent and a six year rate of N percent are utterly unacceptable.
simply put, a small increase in tuition pales in comparison to the added cost of taking an additional year or more to graduate.
i am looking forward to working with the provost and all of the vice presidents and deans to increase our four year graduation rate through enhanced academic advising and curricular reform.
my third objective is to enhance the experience of our students while they are with us.
increasing the richness and intensity of our academic program is part of the story.
actions like expanding the size of the clark honors college, getting students to write and participate in research, and ensuring that students who are not thriving do not fall between the cracks are part of this set of initiatives.
but part of the education a great residential university provides to its students takes place outside of the classroom.
whether on the athletic fields, in the dining halls, or in co-curricular activities, our students learn important lessons about leadership and what it means to be citizens in an increasingly diverse global environment.
we must work hard to make sure both our academic and our non-academic programs are excellent and work in tandem to produce the next generation of leaders for the state, nation, and world.
as i promised at the outset, i want to keep things clear and to the point.
if we can get these fundamentals right we will succeed in growing and enhancing uo’s reputation as world-class university.
but we can only achieve these objectives if we work together in an atmosphere of civility and partnership.
i invite you to join me in this endeavor.
i cannot succeed without the support of you, my fellow faculty members.
and even more importantly, our university cannot succeed without you.
warm regards, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
september N, N dear colleagues, sexual harassment and violence are serious problems that the university of oregon, as well as all universities in our nation, confronts.
on august N, i announced a series of new policies and investments that i am hopeful will allow our university to become a national leader in combatting this plague.
among those actions is a search for a new associate vice president/title ix coordinator, as well as the infusion of resources into sexual violence prevention, the investigation of reports of sexual violence, and the resolution of these claims.
an important part of our effort to address sexual harassment and violence on campus is the new sexual assault advisory council, which convened for the first time on september N.
this group of faculty, students, staff, alumni, community leaders, and experts will help guide and evaluate our work to end sexual violence and foster a campus culture of safety, respect, and responsibility.
the uo is a large, multifaceted institution, which is why advisory groups like this one will play an important role in my work as president.
in appointing members to this council, then provost scott coltrane reached out to a variety of community and campus sources, including the university senate, and encouraged nominations from our faculty, staff, alumni, students, and the eugene community.
i am grateful that so many passionate and qualified individuals throughout our community have offered their service to address this important issue.
after careful consideration, we have appointed the following individuals: caitlin corona, uo undergraduate student, co-director of the organization against sexual assaultcol.
lance englet, professor of military sciences, uo rotcsheryl eyster, associate dean of studentskaren ford, associate dean of department of humanities, professor of englishibrahim gassama, professor of law, university senate committee to address sexual and gender based violence memberkatie green, lane co district attorney's office, uo school of law alumnaandrea herrera, graduate teaching fellow, ph.
d.
candidate for sociologyjocelyn hollander, head of the department of sociology, university senate committee to address sexual and gender based violence membersusie 'dee dee' kintz, classified staff member in the department of human physiologysandra martinez-modesto, uo undergraduate student, fraternity and sorority life sexual violence prevention leadership board memberrobert mccullum, assistant director of basketball operationsvictoria ryan, uo school of law student, clerk in uo office of general counseljane ward, community member, forensic psychologist specializing in treatment of sex offendersjuwaan williams, uo undergraduate student-athlete, co-director of the student athlete advisory committee i have said it before; the university of oregon will not tolerate sexual assault or sexual violence.
all students, faculty, and staff should feel safe from sexual violence, and this university is committed to creating a safe environment to live and learn.
together, with the support of the saac, the new associate vice president/title ix coordinator, and all the dedicated staff and professionals who work for the university, we will work to end sexual assault, sexual violence, and sexual harassment at the university of oregon.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
august N, N new oregon quarterly hits the streets with interview with president schill flour made from crickets is good for you, there’s way too much garbage floating in the ocean and the ukulele is a legitimate instrument.
that’s just a sampling of the territory covered in the latest issue of oregon quarterly, the magazine of the university of oregon.
the autumn issue just went out the door and is on its way to alumni, campus news racks and the uo community.
it’s also available online.
among the stories is a feature on the uo’s new president, michael schill.
the university’s Nth president talks about his adjustment to eugene, his love of books and his commitment to moving the uo forward.
“i will work every waking moment of every day that i’m their president to make this place better,” schill says in a video interview accompanying the article, “make it so it is as good and authentic and true to its history and its traditions as the university of oregon can be.
” to read the full story and see the video, see “meet and greet” in the new issue of oregon quarterly.

.august N, N it is a distinct pleasure to share with you today that kevin reed has accepted the role of vice president and general counsel.
he will play a critical role as chief legal counsel and a senior advisor on institutional issues—a role expanded to better serve the university.
kevin will come to us from the university of california los angeles, where he has served with distinction as vice chancellor for legal affairs and associate general counsel.
previously, he was general counsel for the los angeles unified school district and a partner with strumwasser and woocher llp in santa monica.
a harvard law graduate, kevin has made a career out of dealing with the complex legal issues that are commonplace at highly regulated and scrutinized institutions.
the university of oregon will benefit from his incredible experience and knowledge when he arrives on oct.
N.
while at ucla, kevin is credited with playing a pivotal role in establishing westwood technology transfer, the entity created to oversee ucla’s stewardship of intellectual property, and for supporting critical efforts in campus diversity, fostering creative ideas about outreach and financial support in admissions and hiring.
he expanded the accessibility of his office and the units under his purview – the office of legal affairs, the office of ombuds services, and the title ix office.
he increased the willingness of faculty, students and staff to seek support and services.
i would like to personally thank doug park, who has demonstrated great legal acumen while serving as interim general counsel.
doug’s legal insights, professionalism and wisdom proved invaluable during his interim tenure.
the entire staff of the general counsel’s office has done incredible work during this period and i am grateful.
doug will remain interim general counsel through oct.
N.
i also offer sincere thanks to the search committee, chaired by michael moffitt, dean of the school of law.
this group worked tirelessly to provide us with an outstanding slate of candidates and i am extremely grateful for their excellent work on this key hire.
please join me in welcoming kevin reed to the university of oregon.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
august N, N as many of you have heard me repeatedly say over my first month as president, my top priority is to build the academic program and reputation of the university of oregon.
it is vital that we not only grow the faculty by adding great scholars, but that we promote the work that all faculty members do here to the outside world.
the university of oregon has a wonderful reputation as a world-class institution.
strengthening our capabilities to promote the university―specifically related to academics and research―will further enhance our standing within the higher education community, help attract even more extraordinary students, support our fundraising goals, and bolster efforts in the area of faculty hiring.
i am therefore pleased to announce that i have changed the institution’s organizational structure to create an independent university communications office, and i am appointing kyle henley as the new vice president for communications.
kyle is joining the university of oregon in early september.
he comes to us from colorado state university, where he served as assistant vice president for strategic communications and led successful efforts to enhance communications related to academics and research.
he’s an innovator with a track record of delivering results and effective advocacy among key external audiences.
kyle will provide counsel, vision, and leadership in our communication efforts to help foster relationships and transparency among students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, as well as media, community leaders, and other constituents.
i would very much like to thank vice president for advancement michael andreasen for his willingness to oversee communications over the past two years.
the office has thrived under his leadership.
however, as we move into the crucial stages of our ambitious $N billion fundraising campaign, this frees mike up to focus on development, alumni affairs, and government relations.
in conversations with kyle and mike, we have agreed that, in the interest of achieving efficiencies, the new university communications office will continue to receive operational support―such as it and hr functions―through university advancement.
i am thrilled to have kyle join the university of oregon and lead our talented team of communications and marketing professionals.
please join me in welcoming him to the uo community.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
august N, N for more than N months, our university has been involved in litigation that has fueled mistrust and divided our community.
today i would like to share with you that the university of oregon has entered into a settlement agreement with the plaintiff in the “jane doe” matter.
in approving this settlement, it is my hope that we focus our attention and considerable expertise on making our campus one on which all students will feel secure in the knowledge that they will be free from sexual violence.
the underlying incident that gave rise to the litigation is an affront to each and every one of us.
as president i will not tolerate the victimization of any member of our community.
period.
as an attorney and former law school dean, i want to be very clear about what this settlement means and what it does not mean.
i do not believe any of our coaches, administrators, or other university personnel acted wrongfully, nor do i believe that any one of them failed to live up to the high moral standards that we value and that they embody in their work every day.
i do believe that we can no longer afford to debate the incident and must instead move forward and implement a comprehensive set of policies to ensure that all of our students will feel secure in the knowledge that they will be free from sexual violence and feel confident should allegations of misconduct be brought forth they will be dealt with fairly, effectively, and expeditiously.
earlier this month, we took the first action in this new effort to promote campus safety by launching a new search for a associate vice president and title ix coordinator who will have direct responsibility for ensuring that we have robust and effective programs to prevent, investigate, and address allegations of sexual harassment and violence.
the title ix coordinator will also help coordinate support services and accommodations for survivors to ensure that effects of the sexual violence are remedied.
this position will report to me and to the vice president for student life.
we cannot wait for the new title ix coordinator to join us before implementing new programs on sexual violence and harassment.
so, we are announcing a set of new investments to hire additional staff (professional and student peers) who will work with our students and existing staff to prevent sexual violence and harassment.
we will also add an additional professional who will focus on the investigation of allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
each of these responses is consistent with the recommendations of the university senate task force to address sexual violence and survivor support, and the president’s review panel.
i would like to express my gratitude to the faculty members, staff, outside experts, administrators, and students who served on these two important bodies.
their careful work enabled me to act swiftly upon taking office just last month.
in closing and at the risk of redundancy, i want to be clear.
the university of oregon will not tolerate sexual assault or sexual violence.
we will teach our students to respect each other.
we will teach them to look out for each other.
we will show our students that we have zero tolerance for sexual violence by expeditiously investigating and taking action without sacrificing due process.
we will not rest until we succeed.
sincerely, michael h.
schillpresident and professor of law.
july N, N the university remains focused on the safety of our students and is committed to ending sexual violence on campus.
the search for an individual to lead the university’s efforts in this critical area has been an important topic on campus for some time and we have benefited both from the suggestions and robust discussion that ensued.
today we are relaunching the search with a fortified job description designed to increase autonomy and strengthen the chosen candidate’s ability to coordinate efforts.
the position has been elevated and will be titled associate vice president and title ix coordinator, with an important increase in desired qualifications and compensation.
this individual will be responsible for coordinating effective campus-wide efforts in compliance with title ix and overseeing a comprehensive campus-wide strategic plan to reduce sexual violence in all forms.
the updated position description is available here.
we fully believe that the enhancements that have been made will attract a pool of candidates that will help us achieve our common goals in dealing with this critical issue.
the ideal candidate will need strong experience in working across portfolios to bring together the campus community to focus on shifting the culture, while being a model for responsiveness to the needs of survivors.
to assist us in finding the best possible individual for this role, we will engage a search firm with expertise in recruiting in this highly competitive field.
with joint accountability to the president and the vice president of student life, the new position marks the beginning of a new approach to an issue that has challenged college campuses across the country.
it is a critical hire as we develop a comprehensive approach based in best practices and thorough assessment of our programs and services.
there is nothing more important than the safety of the students we serve.
we have excellent programs that are making a significant difference right now, but we must do more.
that starts with leadership and providing the additional resources to end sexual violence on our campus.
together, we can make significant progress on this issue.
we owe it to our students and their families.
sincerely,michael h.
schillpresidentrobin h.
holmesvice president for student life.
july N, N president michael schill's whirlwind first week on the job took him all across campus and around the state to meet with faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members.
president schill shared his thoughts in a video message to campus.
click here to view it.

.july N, N uo president michael schill began a day-long tour of campus early monday, meeting with employees and faculty in the lead-up to a welcome event in the afternoon.
to read more and see pictures from president schill's first days on the job visit aroundtheo.
monday will not only include administrative meetings but also a chance for schill to meet with many members of the uo community while touring campus and attending the afternoon gathering.
the entire campus community is invited to the welcome event at N p.
m.
monday in allen hall.
“while many of you may not be on campus during july, if you are in town, i hope you will consider joining me,” schill writes.
schill arrived in eugene last week in the midst of a heat wave.
after spending a day unpacking at mcmorran house, the new president put in full days in his office in advance of today's introductory tour.

.june N, N i am excited to report that i am getting on a plane to join you in eugene.
i can’t begin to tell you how thrilled i am about becoming part of the duck community and assuming the presidency on wednesday.
i am grateful to the dozens of people who have taken the time to help me learn about the university, the community, and the culture in eugene over the last couple of months.
to those of you i have not yet had the pleasure to meet, i’m sincerely looking forward to getting to know you and the entire uo family.
i am excited to get to work and absorb life in the pacific northwest.
while many of you may not be on campus during july, if you are in town, i hope you will consider joining me for my first official day on campus on monday, july N.
i will be spending my day touring campus and meeting with fellow ducks.
the day will conclude with an event for students, faculty, and staff at N:N p.
m.
in allen hall where we can get to know each other and enjoy some summer refreshments as i begin to get acclimated to life on campus.
as i said when i spoke briefly to the university senate during my first visit in may, we must work together in common cause to make this university as great as it can be.
i am committed to doing my part and hope to work alongside you in service to our students, community, and state.
i also want to acknowledge the leadership of scott coltrane and frances bronet during this transition.
without their dedication and wise counsel, i would not be as well prepared for this role, and the university would not be positioned for the greatness that is ahead.
i fully anticipate that the coming weeks of transition will bring about a great new era for our terrific university.
i am humbled to have been offered this role at this amazing institution and i truly believe that—together—we can make this university as great as it can be.
i cannot wait to get started.
if you are looking to connect prior to my arrival, feel free to reach out via prestransition@uoregon.
edu.
while a move like this is certainly hectic, i will do my best to respond.
warm regards,michael h.
schillincoming president.
june N, N good afternoon.
i’d like to first say thank you again to randy sullivan for his service to the university as president of the senate, and to helena schlegel for serving as president of the asuo.
i plan to keep these remarks relatively short, because i feel i’ve taken my fair share of time at the microphone following yesterday’s investiture ceremony.
chuck, it was an honor to receive the mace and medallion from you on behalf of the board.
i didn’t break the mace, which was good.
i’ve found the last N month of my tenure to be wonderful and i have cherished this time getting to know you.
i look forward to working with all of you and all our faculty, staff, and students, going forward in the years ahead.
yesterday was about our larger aspiration and really the future of public higher education.
i talked about the very real challenges we face—related to finances; improving access, success, and diversity; enhancing our research enterprise; re-balancing our faculty, and creating impact for our state.
i also talked earlier in committee in more detail about the steps we are taking to improve our diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.
overcoming these challenges are a joint effort between all of us; me, the board, administrators, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
everything we do is a culminating of the work of a lot of people.
and so this afternoon, i’m pleased to provide an update on some of our more tangible successes and plans.
we have had a good year in hiring faculty and expanded our diversity in the process.
the numbers aren’t in but when the dust clears i am hopeful we will have added a net new N tenure-related faculty members.
as scott and brad will share with you we have additional plans to continue focused and targeting faculty hiring.
this year we hired three vice presidents and three terrific deans, ushering in a new era of stability.
it is difficult to make plans and fundraise when you don’t have someone permanently in place and we are excited to welcome these new leaders to campus.
we admitted and funded an additional N graduate students this year.
i am proud to say that this year’s graduate student class is more diverse than usual.
we successfully identified ways to save over $N million in recurring costs which we could invest in faculty hiring, it, and other needed investments.
the process wasn’t always easy, it entailed some human cost, but it was necessary.
we are hiring an avp for student success and made a $N million investment in scholarships, advising, graduation assistance, and predictive analytics.
our goal is to increase our graduation rate by N percentage points over five years.
we created a much better title ix investigatory and accountability system which will help us ensure that our students are as safe as they can be.
we have worked with the faculty and our administrators and established a system that i would put up against any other institution.
does that mean we won’t have more reporting? no, in fact we may have more reports because people feel safe coming forward.
that is important and it is progress.
we successfully completed contracts with seiu and united academics with minimal friction.
again, we finalized a strategic framework for the university and have also now finalized the ideal framework for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
we have improved the tone and reduced the tension in interactions between johnson hall and the senate, and all of the groups on campus.
i and the university community owe a debt of gratitude to brook muller, julianne newton, and brad shelton for stepping up and serving with distinction.
i’m excited we will soon welcome to campus david conover, our vice president for research and innovation; juan-carlos molleda, the new sojc dean; and christoph lindner, the new aaa dean.
i also offer congratulations to andrew marcus who will continue his work leading cas as the permanent dean.
as is the case in higher education, our work to recruit incredible talent is never done.
our search for a dean for our lundquist college of business continues and we are beginning our search for a new law school dean.
as you all may know, i’ve recently started sharing my thoughts on issues of the day with those who are interested.
we call this open mike.
in one of my most recent open mike letters, i talked about how remarkably important these leadership hires are to our trajectory and success.
in just over a year, we hired a new president, three new vice presidents, and three new deans—an unprecedented amount of change in a very short period of time.
in the previous years of leadership churn, while many individuals tried to do their best in the circumstances, we had a very hard time moving forward during the temporary nature of our situation.
in this vacuum, we had informal forms of leadership, and we needed that.
but i’m looking forward to moving into a more stable form of leadership that looks more like best practice.
here is my expectation for the management and involvement in the direction of the university by our other stakeholders: you the board, with me and scott, provide oversight of our strategic direction.
the president, provost, and administrative leadership team—in consultation—manage day-to-day university operations, work with external constituencies, and make the decisions necessary to achieve our objectives of establishing the uo as one of the preeminent research institutions in the nation.
the senate will serve its pivotal role as the guardian of our academic mission.
the approval of new degrees, selection and tenure of faculty, creation and revision of curriculum, and establishment of requirements for graduation.
while the provost and i set the budgets and direction, but it is the deans who run the academic units.
it is the deans—in consultation with faculty members—who will set priorities, decide department programs, and faculty direction.
that is the sign of a healthy academic institution.
we want to have empowered deans coming up with great programs and leading our faculty.
most good things in academic institutions bubble up from the faculty to the deans and then to the university.
the less we do in johnson hall in terms of academic prescription, the better off we are going to be as an institution.
finally, i have an update on our fundraising campaign which continues to have very strong momentum.
to date, the fy N totals are $N million with N days left in the year.
(our historic five year totals are $N, $N, $N, $N, $N respectively.
) usually during times of leadership turnover, universities usually take a hit on fundraising, and so these numbers are really wonderful.
as of april N, approximately N% of our year to date giving is earmarked for academic use.
(last year’s percentage was N% and overall campaign percentage of N%.
) N% of gift total (not all cash) in the campaign is earmarked for the endowment and N% of all gift total in the campaign are planned or deferred gifts N,N + donors have given to the campaign.
(N.
N % of the donors have contributed N% of the total.
) and i am very pleased to report that our campaign is now at $N million, approaching the historic $N billion level.
we are looking forward to hitting several important milestones before the end of academic and calendar year.
i also want to say thank you to all of the trustees.
this last year i have felt supported and challenged in the best way by you, the students, the faculty, and so many others.
i feel your confidence and i am inspired by your aspiration for this university.
we have learned much together and there is a lot of work to do.
our best days are ahead.
i have great enthusiasm.
again thank you!.
january N, N good morning.
my name is michael schill.
i am the president of the university of oregon.
thank you, eric richardson, for inviting me to speak today.
what a great and inspiring day this is! i cannot think of a better way to celebrate the teachings and strive for the aspirations of dr.
martin luther king junior — than by walking hand in hand with my neighbors, community partners, colleagues, students and friends.
we stand united in our belief that we must do much more to make dr.
king’s dream of equity, justice, inclusion and diversity a reality.
the university of oregon is committed to this work, not just because it is right and just, but because adhering to these values make us a better institution and are essential to our mission of teaching, research and service.
listening to the words of the many speakers here and seeing the faces of the many young people who marched through town this morning, i am moved and inspired.
i hear in their voices and see in their eyes determination and hope, resilience and passion, but also trepidation.
this is also what i hear and see from many of our students at the university of oregon.
i have learned a lot from our black students and other students of color at the uo over the last year and a half as president.
i’ve learned from our black faculty, staff and community members as well.
in fact, i think and hope the entire university of oregon community and people our nation have had their eyes opened wide about the continuing legacy of racism and bigotry in america thanks to the black lives matter movement.
these lessons are ongoing, but we know that education and understanding is an important step in making change.
i’d like to share with you some of the lessons i and the uo community have learned in the last year.
i have learned a lot of about the unique experiences of our black students, faculty and staff.
i’ve spent a good part of my life as an attorney, professor, and academic leader working to ensure access, equity, and justice in housing and education for underrepresented populations.
i’ve lived and taught in philadelphia, new york, chicago and la.
, but living in eugene and leading our university has offered a whole new perspective.
what many of our students have told me is that when they look around and see very few people who look like they do, or find very few people who have similar backgrounds, it is extremely alienating and isolating.
they feel that they are repeatedly called upon to represent their race, a burden that their white counterparts do not share.
and those white students, they themselves are harmed by our lack of diversity.
the genius of american higher education is that we learn from each other.
without sufficient diversity, all students are shortchanged.
i have also learned that actions speaker louder than words.
as many of you many remember in the fall of N, a group of students under the banner of the black students task force, rallied on our campus and presented me with a list of demands.
i meet with and correspond with our black student leaders many regularly, and today i walked with them, and they have made it very clear that they want to see progress.
last spring year we announced that we were moving forward with many of the demands and we implemented a series of change on our campus including: we removed the name of a ku klux klan leader from one of the resident halls on campus.
we expanded efforts to attract and recruit african american and black students through a new african american opportunities program.
we have invited six black greek letter organizations to the uo.
we have created an african american residential student community.
the umoja pan-african scholars academic residential community is now home to N scholars in the living-learning center.
we are creating new african american advisory boards for retention and advising, as part of our student leadership teams.
we launched an african american lecture series on campus.
our fourth speaker, acclaimed author ta-nehisi coates, will be on campus next month.
we expanded information about the demographics of the populations of our campus and posted it online.
and the college of arts and sciences has established a new african american cluster faculty hiring program focused on black literature, history and women and gender studies.
for all of these initiatives, we are working hard to ensure that these changes are meaningful, lasting and not merely symbolic.
i have also learned that change takes more than just desire and commitment, it needs planning, resources and action.
to that end, the university of oregon has developed a strategic framework called ideal for implementing our institutional goals of hiring more diverse faculty and staff, attracting more diverse students, helping these students succeed, and making our teaching and research more inclusive, equitable and diverse.
we have challenged and required all of the leaders of our units and schools at the uo—our deans, vice presidents and the president too—to tell us how they are going to achieve these goals and how we can hold them accountable if they do not.
these diversity action plans are due in spring and meaningful change must start right away.
another lesson of the last year, these issues are hard and nuanced.
being well intentioned is not enough.
we must seek input, perspective and consider the impact of our actions.
as many of you know, when a law professor chose to dress in blackface at a halloween party in a misguided attempt to draw attention to the lack of black doctors, she deeply hurt and offended many people in our community.
she forced our campus to take a hard look at how we balance the essential need of freedom of expression and academic freedom with the rights of our students to be free from racial harassment.
i may have the right to express my opinion, even controversial opinions because that is at the core of our ability to learn and question, but i do not have the right through my speech to deny you your right be free from racial harassment.
a final lesson i have learned in the last year is how smart, courageous and strategic our black students and their allies are.
they have challenged the status quo in a way that balanced their desire for change with an understanding of how institutions work.
in doing this, they have made more progress than i guess they ever could have expected.
more needs to be done at the university of oregon.
and lord knows, more needs to be done to make martin luther king’s dream a reality.
i look forward to working with our students, our faculty and our community on this mission.
thank you.

.june N, N congratulations, graduates! i am thrilled to stand here before the university of oregon class of N.
what an incredible accomplishment.
all of you hold a special place in my heart, because you are—and will always—be the first class to graduate during my presidency at the uo.
we have shared a journey, learned a tremendous amount, overcome challenges, achieved great successes, made new friends, and now we have a bright future before us.
i hope you are as excited and optimistic as i am about what is ahead.
because this is my first commencement at the uo, the pressure is on for me to say something meaningful and memorable, to inspire you with words of wisdom as you venture off into the great, wide world clutching your newly minted diplomas.
i can tell you right now, it won’t be the commencement speeches you remember a year from now, or perhaps even tomorrow.
just as it won’t be specific equations, lines of text, color theories, or research footnotes that you will need to remember to be successful in your careers and lives in the future.
graduating from the university of oregon and earning a bachelor’s degree is not an accumulation of facts, figures, and quotes.
it is the sum of all of the experiences inside the classroom and out that has readied you for your life after college.
this is why the first piece of advice i will give you as you venture beyond these walls is not dissimilar to the advice i gave our incoming freshman class nine months ago.
i told those new students that in order to be prepared for a changing world and economy, you will need to be broad in your knowledge and able to constantly learn.
each of you, on this journey to earning your degree, has experienced the benefits of a liberal arts education; exploring the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
i hope you’ve been surprised, inspired, maybe even awed by the world of human knowledge that opened up to you.
you’ve likely had to read and study, and consume more starbucks and dutch brothers than you ever imagined, not to mention voodoo doughnuts.
you’ve been pushed out of your comfort zone and made deadlines you thought were impossible.
i hope you’ve made lifelong friends, and learned about what you love, and maybe who you love.
by reaching this point in your educational career, you have learned how to operate in a complicated higher-education ecosystem.
that alone is an accomplishment! and so i hope you will keep asking questions and expanding your world view.
do not let your quest for knowledge and understanding end today.
never stop learning.
the second piece of advice is about expectations—those of your family, your friends, society, and yourself.
we are all very proud and excited that you have reached this milestone, and we have very high hopes for you.
in fact the world has been watching you since the beginning— the collective you, that is.
your generation has been labeled many things; millennials, generation y, the social media generation, and the global generation.
you have been more documented in photos, tweets, chats, posts, and blogs than any generation before you.
you have information about the world at your fingertips, literally.
i have to admit, the world is a tad bit obsessed with you.
however, these labels can be limiting; setting up expectations for how you will act, what you will achieve or not achieve, whether you will solve the problems of the generation before you, if you be better off than your parents, and how you will interact in the world.
these labels do not define you or your generation.
each of you will take your own path, and write your own definition of success.
and so my advice is to defy expectations, break the mold, do not be confined by what the world says you can or cannot do.
impress and surprise yourself.
shake off any label and write your own story.
my final piece of advice may seem counterintuitive coming from a university president.
because my advice is that you should fail.
now before your parents start calling my office, let me explain.
over the last year, i’ve been all across campus, the state, and nation—talking about the university of oregon’s need to achieve excellence.
the pursuit of academic and research excellence is our very highest ambition and the way in which we will continue to educate and inspire students like all of you.
along the way, i’ve been asked to define excellence.
in the simplest terms, excellence is pursuit, working to achieve your very best, and the striving for better.
but in order to reach high, you must be willing to fall.
you cannot have excellence without some risk of stumbling.
for every discovery, there are a thousand failed theories.
for every celebrated prose, there are hundreds of torn-up rough drafts.
for every masterpiece, there are many canvases cast aside.
j.
k.
rowling said, “it is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.
” so too is it impossible to be successful without making mistakes, taking risks, and allowing yourself to fail.
do not live by default.
strive so hard that you might fail and you will eventually succeed.
indeed, my favorite quote by a university of oregon student is the famous one by our former track superstar steve prefontaine.
pre said, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
” as you graduate, i hope you will give your best.
our nation, our state, our world needs that of you.
when you think back on this day—the day you graduated from the university of oregon, many years from now, or maybe just tomorrow, and you’ve forgotten the speeches and the music and who spoke, i do hope you remember that you are part of a wonderful community of scholars, that you are loved by your families and friends, and that we are all very proud of you.
and i will counter one small piece of my previous advice about casting off labels, because there is one name that will stay with you today and after graduation.
you will always be a duck.
and now we are so proud to also call you alumni.
congratulations again.
and go, ducks!.
president schill provided the following remarks following an update by vice president for equity and inclusion, yvette alex-assensoh's update on the ideal framework: i am pleased that our campus has finalized our diversity framework through completion of the ideal framework document.
thank you to vice president yvette alex-assensoh, the division of equity and inclusion, the university-wide diversity task force, and everyone on campus and in our community who contributed to the ideal plan.
i look forward to working with yvette to ensure this framework informs everything we do on campus and helps us achieve our goals of diversity excellence.
black student task force recommendations as i have shared with you throughout this process, we have made significant progress on addressing the demands of the black student task force.
you will remember the black student task force (bstf) released a list of demands, highlighting specific action steps recommended for the university to enhance diversity and inclusion on campus.
i and other members of our leadership team met with this group and other black student groups on campus throughout the year.
out of these discussions, we created N working groups to address concerns raised by members of the bstf.
those groups—led by university senior leaders and composed of faculty, staff, and students—have been meeting through the winter and spring analyzing the opportunities as well as the challenges, and developing meaningful action steps for moving forward.
in collaboration with uo faculty, staff, and administration, members of the bstf have been an integral part of developing these recommendations.
among the recommendations that are moving ahead include the following: african american opportunities program—beginning in fall N, the university’s enrollment management team will significantly expand its efforts to attract and recruit african american students, including programs and activities that enhance the uo’s outreach to and partnership with african american students, their families, and community partners.
this will also include additional staff members who are experienced in working with the african american community.
fraternity and sorority life—beginning in fall N, the university will invite six historically black greek letter organizations to the uo to become part of fraternity and sorority life.
exploratory information sessions will begin this spring term.
the uo will work with civic organizations from eugene as well as black faculty and staff who are members of these greek organizations to promote and encourage the success of this initiative.
academic residential community—the umoja pan-african scholars academic residential community will be launched in fall N.
it will accommodate N students and will be housed in the living-learning center.
student advisory boards—beginning in fall N, an african american advisory group will be added to the existing multicultural student leadership team in the division of equity and inclusion to assist with the development of strategies related to african american student retention and advising.
this group will comprise members of the faculty, staff, and student body.
speaker series, seminars, and workshops—the african american presidential lecture series will bring a range of african american scholars and practitioners to campus—authors, scientists, and innovators, world leaders, game-changing policymakers, authors, and artists—to share concepts, information, and perspectives for the intellectual enrichment and development of the uo community.
diversity data—the university is now publishing campus diversity data on our inclusion website.
it will also include published annual safety and crime statistics.
the university will annually review the data that is provided on this site and add or change data as new information becomes available.
these initial investments reflect a commitment to enhancing the recruitment and retention of black students on our campus, but they are only the beginning.
i’ll speak to renaming momentarily, but i also wanted to give a brief update on where we are with the remaining requests from the black student task force.
some of these are much more complex and will take further analysis due to issues surrounding funding, building and capital construction, and course and curriculum changes that involve faculty.
as i’ve stated previously, we will make decisions on these outstanding recommendations or refer them to the appropriate university body in a timely manner, and our sincere expectation and hope is that we will be able to make progress on each proposal.
african american cultural center: the black cultural center task force expects to complete their work and provide recommendations to the president in the next few weeks.
the committee has spent the spring term working with colleagues at osu to learn about the black cultural center that they recently constructed and working with the uo campus planning department to assess potential sites on campus for either a renovated or newly constructed facility.
they are also gathering input from current students about their vision for such a center.
the committee is also been working to better understand the investment needed to construct and run a center and has been discussing associated fundraising plans.
faculty hiring and retention: the provost and academic affairs office is considering a number of options, including training for search committees, a fellowship program to enhance recruitment, and equity advisors in each of the schools and colleges to ensure that the most promising and equitable practices are being used by search committees.
academic advising: we will work with the deans in the schools and colleges to increase the representation of black advisors within the units.
deans will identify key people in their units to oversee supporting, retaining, and ensuring degree completion for african american students.
initial training will be rolled out during the N-N academic year, with full-scale training to be available for all faculty and staff within two years.
funding resources and scholarship initiatives: the university administration is considering opportunities to assist african-american students, examining data to understand how current policies are impacting access to financial aid opportunities for african american students.
create a black student leadership task force: the uo black student task force has applied to the asuo for membership and funding as a way of creating a recognized student group on campus.
ethnic studies N requirement: an energetic committee of key students, faculty, and administrators has been meeting since january and has explored a number of crucial topics, including expansion of curricular offerings in black studies and much-needed reform of the campus’ multicultural requirement.
recommendations are in the process of being drafted.
building denaming process finally, i have an update on the de-naming of buildings.
as i have shared with the trustees and our campus, we face a challenges with how to recognize historic figures of our past, who contributed to our intuition but whose opinions and views have proved to be abhorrent by today’s moral standards.
as an institution that celebrates diversity and needs to understand its past, we must move thoughtfully and deliberately as we consider building names on our own campus.
as you’ll remember, we convened a workgroup in winter to consider whether dunn and deady should be renamed.
we went through a series of consultations and committee meetings over many months, and then i receive the committee’s input.
in may, i announced the criteria and the process on how we will consider dunn and deady hall.
these criteria, focus on the whether these people acted or supported action, promoted and engaged in activities that encouraged violence, racism and other exclusionary actions, and whether taken in the context of the time, those actions disparage the university, as well as whether they took redemptive action related to their actions.
these are spelled out in much more detail on my website.
going forward, this summer we will appoint three historians to evaluate deady and dunn, based on the criteria, and make a recommendation.
we will seek campus input on the recommendation and i will take all of this information into account before making a decision, and potentially forwarding that to you, the board.
regardless of the decision, the university must also consider appropriate steps by which the university may acknowledge the full and accurate record of dunn and deady’s impact on the history of the university and the state of oregon.
i look forward to the vigorous process and the engaged debate that will follow.
this is a healthy process for our campus and one that is appropriately taking place across the united states.
i again want to thank the black student task force and the many people on our campus who have dedicated their time and energy to making our campus better.
remarks are as scripted and may not reflect the full conversation of the committee.

.june N, N i am incredibly honored and humbled to stand here before members of my family, my mentors, friends, advisors, colleagues, and students—to formally accept the responsibility of leading this great institution—the university of oregon.
i would not be here without the confidence and clear vision of the board of trustees and its chair, chuck lillis.
i thank all of you; welcome you, and i am honored you selected me to lead the university of oregon at this pivotal time in the institution’s history.
i am sure the irony of this setting—center court in a basketball arena—is not lost on the many people who tried to educate me this last year, with varying degrees of success, on all matters of sports.
i think i’ve finally figured out the pick and roll, although the overtime rules in football still make no sense to me.
i welcome with pleasure our many faculty members, staff, and students; our community leaders, lawmakers, and legislators who we have with us today, including here on the platform with me, attorney general ellen rosenblum and congressman peter defazio, both university of oregon graduates with advanced degrees.
i am humbled by my friends and colleagues who have travelled to be here from such far-flung locations as chicago, new york, houston, minneapolis, and seattle.
as scott mentioned, my dear friend, former boss and oregon alumnus gene block had to leave this morning to return to ucla.
my heart goes out to my all my former colleagues and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone at ucla.
thank you to all the many bruins for coming today, including ralph and shirley shapiro, who are like second parents to me.
as for my family, i am thrilled to have my sister, margo, and my cousins martha and miya here.
family means the world to me.
without margo’s support and love i would not be here today.
i also want to say hello to my parents who could not travel to be here but are watching the streaming video at the university of chicago along with some of my friends.
mom and dad—it was you who taught me the importance of education; a gift that will last all of my life.
i love you.
as i look out across this sea of faces, i am keenly aware that this may feel a bit like déjà vu for some of you.
this university community has been here before, welcoming a new president, more than once over the past few years.
indeed, one of the reasons i waited almost a year to be formally invested in the office was to demonstrate to all of you that the third time is the charm.
in the last year, i’ve grown to love oregon.
i’ve been inspired by the university’s past, grappled with the current challenges, and come to the clear conclusion that the future is very bright for the university of oregon.
i am energized and excited by the road ahead.
i don’t plan on going anywhere.
this year, the university of oregon marks its Nth year as an institution of higher learning.
we rose from humble beginnings, financed by the people of eugene with proceeds from strawberry festivals and grain sales.
we started on N acres of muddy land—a former wheat field where cattle continued to graze while our first students attended class.
from that beginning, we overcame adversity.
we relied on donors to pay our land debts and construct our first buildings.
we resisted attempts to combine with oregon state university in the early Nth century.
one-hundred-forty years, hundreds of thousands of graduates, tens of thousands of books, articles, and discoveries later—the university of oregon has grown from a scrappy, fledgling institution into the renowned flagship research university it is today.
we are, however, once again at a crossroads, a pivotal point where we will choose to chart our legacy for the next N years and beyond.
after many tumultuous years, we now possess all the ingredients for success and have before us a world of opportunities.
our excellent and committed faculty and staff are hungry for us to get better.
our amazing students from every part of the world are eager to learn and grow.
our new independent board of trustees and governance system is the envy of our public university peers.
we will welcome three world-class deans and a new vice president for research and innovation to campus this summer, who will join our extraordinary permanent leadership team.
we also have a remarkably accomplished alumni community.
they bleed green and yellow, and virtually quack with enthusiasm at the mention of our name.
we will build upon these strengths as we march toward excellence, but we must also be clear-eyed about the hurdles before us.
the university of oregon, like all public research universities and some private institutions, faces substantial challenges to our ability to meet our mission of education, research, and service to our state, nation, and world.
today, perhaps more than at any time in recent years, higher education is in the crosshairs as our nation sorts out its priorities.
a N-plus year decline in public support for higher education has run parallel to a climb in the demand for college-educated workers.
the public financial pie has been sliced and diced into crumbs, creating an environment where better-resourced universities get richer and the most financially constrained become poorer.
the widening gulf between the wealth of private and public universities mimics the increasing economic polarization of our society outside the walls of the academy.
the pressures created by the great recession, state disinvestment in higher education, and general cynicism born out of divisive politics have given rise to a set of myths that threaten to undermine the goals and aspirations held by a vast majority of us in this room.
these myths about higher education, six that i will address today, aren’t just false—they can be downright dangerous because of their power to influence public opinion.
these myths prevent our students from opening the doors to a lifetime of opportunity.
these myths distract policymakers and divert resources.
these myths curb creative exploration and choke discovery.
these myths discourage our faculty and frustrate our alumni.
if we buy into these myths, we shortchange our students, our state, and our nation, and, if left unchecked, one day we will wake up and these myths will have become reality.
this is not acceptable.
we must challenge these misconceptions—head on—for the sake of our institution and for the future of higher education.
the university of oregon cannot be truly great unless it unshackles itself from these burdens.
the first myth i want to debunk is the notion that a college education is not a good investment.
each graduation season, we hear skeptics question the value of earning a bachelor’s degree.
yet research consistently shows that graduating from a four-year university remains the single best path in the pursuit of a lifetime of success and happiness.
college graduates on average earn far more than their non-college-going peers—N percent more, or a million dollars over the course of their lifetimes.
research also consistently demonstrates that college graduates are in general happier, healthier, have greater job satisfaction and are more engaged in their communities than those who did not graduate from college.
these individual benefits also extend to our society as a whole, creating lower unemployment, greater volunteerism and civic involvement, as well as jobs and innovation from research, discovery, and knowledge creation.
the next myth that must be challenged is that higher education is unaffordable.
while the benefits of a four-year degree have never been more apparent, the refrain that a college education is no longer affordable is growing louder.
it is true, tuition rates have outpaced inflation since the Ns, driven up—in part—by increased demand, our reliance on labor, competition for the best students, and rapidly growing state and federal regulatory mandates.
of course, for public universities, higher tuition costs are also directly attributable to the withdrawal of state funding.
since the year N, state support for public higher education fell about N percent.
in oregon, the per-student contribution declined N percent.
but is higher education really unaffordable? of course, this is a question laden with subjectivity.
the average in-state sticker price for a public university is about $N,N, nearly a quarter of the cost of a private university.
after federal pell grants, scholarships, and other aid, the actual cost of tuition and books for public universities drops to less than half, or about $N,N annually.
at the university of oregon, high-achieving pell-eligible oregonians like stefani, who just spoke, pay no tuition or fees under the pathwayoregon program.
that constitutes N percent of our resident students.
the existence of financial aid—even generous financial aid—does not eliminate the fact that for some of our students the cost of attending college is more than they currently have available.
yet in increasing numbers, students have become allergic to student loans, perhaps learning too well the lessons of the real estate borrowing bust in N.
i say “learned too well,” because while excessive debt is a problem, prudent borrowing makes enormous sense.
one of the reasons why loans exist is to bridge two time periods—when one is investing in the future and when one is reaping the investments rewards.
about N percent of our students graduate with debt.
of those, the average amount is less than $N,N—about the cost of a new honda accord, which has one of the best resale values in the automotive industry.
but unlike even a honda accord, the value of a college degree does not decrease.
for most americans, a college education is the best investment they will make in their lifetime.
while scholarships and loans help increase access, we can and must do more.
most important, we can reduce the time it takes for our students to graduate.
only half of our students graduate in four years.
while this is the best rate in the state and above the national average, it is simply not good enough.
our in-state students who take two additional years to graduate spend, on average, $N thousand more in tuition, fees and books.
extending college increases costs, limits income generation, and—research shows—decreases a student’s chance of graduating at all.
that is why we have set a goal to increase our graduation rates by N percentage points by N.
through a series of investments including increased financial aid for both incoming students and upperclassmen who need a bit of help to cross the finish line, improved advising coordination, and careful student tracking, we are removing barriers to graduation.
we call this set of initiatives the oregon commitment.
this is my commitment to our students and state.
the third myth i’d like to discuss is this idea that increasing reliance on private philanthropy means public universities are abandoning their public mission.
as the states have slashed funding for public higher education, the role of private philanthropy has grown.
public universities have gradually come to the realization that what used to be the icing on the cake today is a significant layer of the cake itself.
for example—in N, philanthropy equaled just a dime for every state dollar the uo received.
today, total dollars from gifts and endowment income is greater than our total state funding.
many have bemoaned the increasing reliance on private support as inevitably leading to a loss of our public mission.
but what does this mean? i am confident that every dean or president in a public university has pondered what intrinsically makes a “public” university public.
after serving as a dean of both public and private law schools for a total of N years, i have never stopped wondering about that question.
transparency and collaboration are clearly values that are more ubiquitous in public universities.
i often joke that if i sneeze, it will find its way into a newspaper or on the internet.
when i moved here, i was shocked to be stopped on the street—not by students, employees, or alumni, but by passionate community members eager to discuss what was happening on campus.
that level of informed engagement and public scrutiny can be challenging and rewarding.
it also gives rise to participation from a much wider group of stakeholders than occurs in a private university.
a second aspect of being public is our identification with our state.
although the university of oregon is proud to play on a national stage as the state’s flagship university, every decision we make takes into account our impact on oregon.
whether we are discussing student enrollment, hiring, graduation rates, or research, we are always focused on generating public good.
this doesn’t typically occur to the same extent in private universities.
one might say the reason is that the state is paying our bills, but with a contribution of N percent to our budget that is hardly the case anymore.
the university is also focused on its role as a generator of economic development.
professor tim duy regularly computes the uo’s impact on the state from our employment, tourism, business creation, and spending.
for N, tim estimates this economic footprint to be $N.
N billion.
and, as i will talk about in a moment, i expect it this benefit to increase as we ramp up our research enterprise.
a third and perhaps the most important way that public universities embody their public mission distinctively is through their role in providing access to students of diverse and modest backgrounds.
for all of the reasons i discussed earlier, there is no more important objective for our nation than making sure that we extend the opportunities of higher education to all americans—poor and rich; black, white, native american, latino, and asian.
public universities educate three times more students than their private peers.
we also educate a much larger portion of low-income students, first-generation collegegoers, and students of color.
in recent years, some private universities have expanded their financial aid programs.
these programs are wonderful—i benefited from them when i went to college.
my sister and i are first-generation college students.
while our parents’ resources were limited, they never left any doubt in our minds that we would go to college.
i was fortunate that princeton provided the sort of financial assistance that made the school’s tuition competitive with the state university of new york.
but private school scholarships and financial aid will only reach the tip of the iceberg, because their admissions standards are within the reach of only a very small number of students in need.
our commitment to access, affordability, and diversity will remain distinctive.
it is what makes us public, despite how our balance sheets read.
the uo and its public mission are as inseparable as oregon’s pioneer mother and father.
the fourth myth that must be addressed is that college students should only focus on studying “marketable” skills.
since the great recession, the drumbeat has grown louder that college students should focus on obtaining “job skills” like those taught in engineering or business.
this message has been adopted by some politicians and even finds itself embodied in the funding formulae of the state of oregon.
students are not immune to this media message—and have increasingly fled the liberal arts for other fields.
the argument that the social sciences and humanities are irrelevant and no longer valuable is not just a myth; it is blasphemy.
even on its own terms it is wrong.
entrepreneurs like our own phil knight stress that courses that focus on creativity, expression, and analytical thinking are the key to innovation.
steve jobs famously said, “technology alone is not enough.
it is technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities that yields the results that make our hearts sing.
” material on tests quickly grows stale, but what our humanists and social scientists teach—how to learn and how to question—will never go out of date.
as the pace of change continues to accelerate, it becomes more important than ever for our graduates to become lifelong learners.
the university of oregon is and will remain deeply committed to the liberal arts.
that becomes apparent even from a cursory look at my bookshelves, now filled with manuscripts authored by members of our faculty.
we will keep a commitment to the humanities even as we invest in a more prominent footprint in the sciences.
the fifth myth that needs to be refuted is the idea that research should be less important than teaching for a public university.
many americans systematically undervalue or simply misunderstand the benefits of research.
one can see evidence of this in declining or stagnant federal research budgets and in the state funding models of many of public universities.
one hears, not infrequently, the concern that a commitment to research isn’t compatible with great teaching; that professors who are deeply engaged in research will care less about teaching undergraduates.
my own view, based upon N years in higher education, is that with rare exceptions, a faculty member who is invested in research can bring something special to the classroom—a curiosity and knowledge at the cutting-edge of the field as well as the insights and passion of someone deeply enmeshed in the search for answers.
they offer their students unparalleled opportunities to work on projects that will stimulate their desire to learn.
the university of oregon has not kept up with its peers in research.
as federal research funding remained flat or declined and the state reduced funding, the university increased enrollments and relied more and more on nonresearch faculty.
we are deeply grateful to these professionals for their wonderful teaching and contributions, but we need to right the faculty balance if we are to achieve our ambition of taking our place as the great research university that oregon requires.
at another time, i hope to talk about the intrinsic importance of research; how the creation of knowledge is itself the highest priority of any civilization.
but, i will focus on something a bit more modest today—the importance of research to the state’s economy.
the majority of america’s basic research—the kind that led to the creation of smart phones, atm machines, whooping cough vaccines, and lung cancer treatments—happens in universities.
studies show that proximity to a research university is related to greater levels of innovation and economic development.
think of silicon valley and stanford, the innovation crescent and georgia tech, the research triangle and unc and duke.
at the university of oregon, our top priority is to build our impact by cultivating our research profile.
not only will we continue to support our faculty working in the humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, and professional schools, but we will also expand our capacity in the applied sciences.
the university of oregon has neither a medical school nor an engineering school, typical drivers of university research.
yet our faculty members wish to transform their insights and discoveries into new treatments and technologies that help solve society’s most pressing problems.
unburdened by an existing infrastructure designed for a different era, we will create our own; one uniquely suited to the interests of our faculty and the needs of our state.
i would like to conclude with something i hope is a myth.
just over a year ago, when i was considering whether i wanted to come here to lead this university, i was warned that it was unclear whether the people of the state of oregon wanted a nationally prominent flagship university.
i was told, “oregonians want a university better than idaho, but not much better” or “watch out about sticking your head up too high; there will be people anxious to knock it off.
” certainly a lack of commitment to quality is reflected in our public finance decisions.
oregon ranks Nth out of N among states in dollars spent per student for higher education.
i ignored these warnings and arrived here in july.
i am pleased to report that—at least among our faculty and staff, our alumni and friends, our students and community leaders, and many legislators—the vast majority want and expect the university of oregon to compete at the highest level.
they want us to attract and retain the very best faculty members and students.
they want us to develop world-class programs, rich student experiences, and high-impact research opportunities.
the myth that we don’t want excellence should raise the ire of all who love this beautiful university and this exceptional state.
oregon deserves a world-class university like the university of oregon.
our families, businesses, and communities need a university that produces artists and poets, inventors and entrepreneurs, philosophers and teachers, scientists and journalists.
we require critical thinkers and leaders who are committed to making our state and world a better place.
pursuing excellence is how the university of oregon will crush these myths that hamper student access, stunt teaching and creativity, and limit our capacity for discovery and economic impact.
if chemistry professor geri richmond hadn’t wondered why the smoke she collected in jars turned to ash, or had given up when she was rejected for a research position because she was a woman, she might not have received the medal of science from president obama last month or changed how the world thinks about science.
if bill bowerman had been satisfied with the running shoes of the late Ns, the world might not have nike and an obsession with jogging, the uo might not have a world-class track program, and eugene might not be known throughout the world as track town, usa.
if oregon junior kyla martichuski had given up on her biology research or not believed she could earn a fulbright, she might not be on her way to conducting cancer research at the university of auckland nor aiming to study at the ohsu knight cancer institute.
this insatiable curiosity and need for more and better—for excellence—is what drives us, propels us, and what will define our next N years and beyond.
my favorite oregon quote comes from an alumnus who personifies the pursuit of excellence—steve prefontaine.
he said, “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
” the university of oregon needs all of us to give nothing less than our best.
this is how we will fulfill the ambitions of those who have come before us.
dave frohnmayer spoke at his own investiture two decades ago about the worth of the great modern research university in great teaching, invaluable research, and outstanding public service.
he said, “we do not need a different university.
but we must constantly dedicate ourselves to the development of a better one.
" because each of us has a role to play in building our university and in enhancing its national impact.
we must invest in faculty and research.
we must fulfill our public mission of accessibility, diversity, and economic mobility.
we must fuel the economy of the state, and contribute to our world through our discoveries and the students we enlighten.
we must reject the myths of public higher education’s demise and make our bright future a reality.
oregon deserves a great university.
i am committed to working with each of you to make the university of oregon a great university, a better university, and the very best university it can be.
thank you.
i am proud to be your president.

.january N, N over six months ago, when i first met you, i made a promise that i would not spend my first year sitting on my hands.
instead, i would move forward with a plan to focus on academic excellence.
i have met hundreds and hundreds of faculty, students, staff, and alumni over the past N days.
every time i talk about our need to reinvest in our academic and research program i see nods of recognition.
i get smiles and comments that this is what we need to do.
indeed, this mandate comes through loud and clear in the work of scores of our colleagues over the past year, reflected in the strategic plan and the work chaired by rob kyr and frances bronet.
that plan many of you read today, and provost coltrane will talk about this framework following my comments.
one of the things i was really pleased with in the document was the commitment to academic excellence and to growing the research enterprise.
i am, today, more optimistic than i have ever been that we will achieve our vision of achieving eminence.
we currently have N different faculty searches ongoing as we seek to grow our tenure-related faculty by N to N scholars over the next four years.
we are developing plans to invest in our academic and research facilities.
we are making funds available as of this week to grow the future of our profession: our doctoral students.
we will grow our phds this year with more growth to come.
we have invested $N million in our effort to promote student access, success, and graduation.
this is what a great university is.
this is the bedrock.
this is why you work here and why you wanted to become academics.
to some extent the articulation of these objectives is the easy part of the job.
i sometimes call it the “kissing the babies” part.
no one is going to say we should not be serving our students better or increasing our research capacity here.
i would imagine everyone in this room would give their eye teeth to make our school academically more eminent.
that is why we went into higher education rather than a more lucrative field.
we are passionate about producing knowledge, about moving our civilization forward, about passing this knowledge on to the next generation.
now is the time for us, as a faculty and community, to join together, cast aside historical suspicions and animosities, roll up our sleeves, and make this important mission a reality.
but, our dreams, these dream of academic excellence, are not cheap.
as i mentioned in my e-mail to the community last week, we will need every dollar we can lay our hands on—to build our academic program—including state resources, philanthropy, and tuition.
but as we ask our students to pay more; as we ask the state to invest more; and as we ask our alumni to give more, we have an obligation to make sure that we are spending every dollar we have wisely.
first we must start with a plan.
please review our strategic plan that we posted this week and offer us your wisdom and your reactions.
as i mentioned at the outset, the plan is largely the work of an effort that involved many faculty and that was co-chaired by rob and frances.
in the short-run (fyN), we will work with our deans to make sure that their budgets are balanced and that their expenditures are aligned with academic excellence.
for example, some units such as cas, are in deficit as student credit hours have dropped and expenses have increased.
substantial permanent funds—more than $N million—have been provided by the provost to cas to help them manage this deficit.
the remainder—approximately $N million— will be achieved by revenue generation and by strategic cost-cutting.
for the long-run, we will need a new financial model—one that provides our schools and departments with a stable source of revenue and that incentivizes excellence.
i have asked scott to chair a working group that will include senate representation to come up with this model.
importantly, we in central administration must lead rather than follow.
today i sent each of our vice presidents a memo instructing them to permanently cut two percent out of their general funds budget.
we expect this to net approximately $N million in recurring funds for us to reinvest in our academic program and infrastructure.
over the next three years, we will cut an additional three percent as we get smarter in how we conduct business.
we will change our business practices and plans.
we will reduce decentralization which leads to duplication, waste of resources, and a lack of accountability.
the first place we will look for this is in central communications, where we’ve already started an effort to integrate community, and also in it.
in it we have N or N centers, and you can imagine there is a level of redundancy, waste and security problems with the many different areas, and we’re going to address that next.
these are just two of the areas we will look at as we try to conserve and spend our money more effectively.
as we move forward, i promise that i will act transparently.
if i don’t know the answer to one of your questions— which is likely since this is currently a work-in-progress, i will tell you.
we made a strategic decision to tell people what we are doing, rather than try to figure out all the details and then tell you about it, because we are committed to an open process.
we are going to work on these things over the next six months to a year.
we will engage our faculty, students, and staff because this school is your school.
our future is your future.
our eminence as a university belongs to all of you.
let me be clear – for those reading through the lines and hearing “budget cuts and contract non-renewals” as the only message imbedded in what i’m saying: that’s wrong.
we are operating from a position of strength.
we are growing.
we are going to get better.
the university of oregon is still hiring.
we have N active academic searches underway, and four dean searches, and a vice president for research search.
those show a school that is optimistically wanting to grow and wanting to get better.
we are investing in graduate students.
we are investing in our undergraduate programs and undergraduate success.
in other words we are growing, we’re getting better, and not retrenching.
we are reallocating our resources to ensure our future eminence.
our university was created N years ago.
what we do over the next few years will determine its future for the next N years.
i am looking forward to working with each of you to make sure that future is a great one, one that you will be proud of, one that our state will be proud of, and one that our nation will look to as a public university that has gotten better and better despite our challenges of the past.
thank you.

.unity vigil november N, Npresident schill’s remarks welcome to this unity vigil.
welcome students, faculty, staff and friends of the u of o.
welcome people of all faiths, cultures, ethnicities, orientations, genders and perspectives.
welcome all.
we are here tonight, united in our sorrow and heartbreak over the pain and violence our fellow humans are experiencing around the world.
we are here to show our support to the victims and survivors of the terror in paris, beirut, baghdad, mali and elsewhere.
we are also here to call for peace, understanding and reflection in the aftermath of these cowardly and unthinkable acts.
in times of chaos and mourning, it is all the more important to show compassion, to check our assumptions, and not retreat into fear, bias and xenophobia.
this is a multi-cultural campus with students and faculty from all over the world.
they need to feel safe and supported on our campus and to not fear that they will be judged or profiled for the way they look, their country of origin or by their faith.
we must stand up to ignorance and remain united in creating a welcoming campus.
it is times like these when a great university like ours has an opportunity to create understanding, healthy discourse, and exchange of ideas.
this is a place where research, teaching and service allow us to help the world make sense of the senseless.
knowledge can be the antidote to fear and hate.
this is where many of us find our peace, in hoping that we, as educators, can create understanding.
i thank the division of equity and inclusion, student life, undergraduate studies, the graduate school, international studies and others who helped to put on this event.
thank you to everyone who is here.
and welcome all!.
lessons from mizzou: a campus conversation november N, Npresident schill’s remarks welcome, everyone.
i am pleased to see so many people joining us today, and i am very thankful to have the opportunity for our campus to have this conversation.
we are a campus that embraces diversity, encourages equity, celebrates our differences, and stands up to racism.
the problem is that we have failed to do enough to achieve these values.
we need to do better.
we need to bring our level of action up to our level of rhetoric.
we must, as a great university confront these challenging issues thoughtfully and honestly.
while events at the university of missouri, and before that in ferguson and elsewhere, may have brought these critical racial-justice issues to the national collective consciousness – we all know these issues are not new.
long before black students and their allies rallied at the uo last week, people of color across the nation and here on our campus have felt disenfranchised, angry, isolated and oppressed.
i know these students have not felt heard, and may feel like they’ve been beating this drum for a very long time without action.
i understand that.
but i am here today to say we are listening.
i am listening, and i am committed to doing my best to address these concerns.
i also understand that this isn’t an easy conversation, for our campus or our nation.
talking about racism and inequities makes people uncomfortable.
it requires self-reflection.
it requires those in power to acknowledge their privilege.
it requires change and problem solving.
it stirs strong emotions of hurt, defensiveness and distrust.
but this discomfort is an essential part of progress, because if this was easy, we wouldn’t be here today.
so again, i am here to listen and to understand what our black students are experiencing, but also to listen to our faculty and staff of color, and to listen to everyone in our community.
it will take every one of us to move forward to creating a truly inclusive campus.
this is what i’ve heard so far from the people at the rally and from the black student leaders i met with last week following the march: people feel angry, isolated and disrespected.
they are tired of talk and want action.
they feel the university needs to do a better job addressing their frustrations.
they want to see more students, faculty and staff of color on our campus.
they want more support for their specific needs.
they are affronted by the historical remnants and reminders of racism that still exist on our campus.
those are just a few of the things i heard, and i know there is more.
it will take time to hear and to understand all of the issues.
some of these requests will be easier to achieve than others, but i believe we can make good progress in the coming weeks and months on most if not all of those requests.
for example, i will be commencing a process to review the names of buildings that have racist historical roots.
the university is already considering a proposal to change the name of dunn hall and many have mentioned deady hall too.
i plan on discussing with my faculty advisory council on monday how we should move forward with an inclusive, deliberative, yet expeditious process.
the most important things i want our black students, as well as all of the underrepresented groups on our campus to know is that: i want more diversity on our campus.
i want more diverse faculty teaching in our classrooms.
i want our students—all of our students-- to feel supported and be able to focus on your schoolwork without worrying about safety or feeling isolated.
i am committed to taking actions—deliberate actions—but actions to make progress toward these goals.
i am committed to this, and i am committed to you.
thank you.

.testimony of president michael h.
schillhouse committee on higher education, innovation and workforce developmentseptember N, N chair read and members of the committee, for the record, my name is michael schill and i was recently selected as the Nth president of the university of oregon.
thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
i’d like to share a little about myself, update you on my goals for the university, and give you some information about how our new governance model is working to benefit students, faculty and staff members.
first, though, i must take a moment to thank you for the increased funding you provided to oregon public universities during the N legislative session.
my first meeting in this building was with governor brown the morning you received the may revenue forecast.
as a dean, i would never have asked for a gift the first time i met with a donor—but as an incoming president, i would not have been doing my job if i did not make an ask.
i did, and you delivered.
the $N million budget approved for universities was the first significant reinvestment by the state in decades, and it is allowing us to expand opportunity and access to higher education for oregon students.
at the uo we have expanded our pathwayoregon program.
this nationally recognized program provides full tuition for academically qualified oregonians who are pell grant–eligible.
these are the students with great need who might not otherwise go to college.
not only do we cover their tuition, but we wrap services around them―advising, support and tutoring―so that they have the very best chance at staying in college and graduating, and graduating on time.
also, with the additional state money we are establishing a graduation assistance program.
these are grants for our upperclassman students who have exhausted financial aid opportunities and are in danger of dropping out.
because of you, oregon students who might not have gone to college are starting classes this morning.
because of your investment, the sometimes overwhelming process of choosing a major and registering for classes is less daunting.
because of your leadership, students who were at risk of dropping out are on track to earn their degrees.
i want to tell you a little bit about myself, which will explain why i am so passionate about this issue of access and accessibility.
perhaps like some of you and like many uo students, i am a first-generation college graduate.
my parents instilled in me the importance of getting a great education, but could not afford to pay for it themselves.
i would not have been able to go to college without generous scholarships.
at the university of oregon, those scholarships are made possible through philanthropy, federal funding, and state investments.
college opened up my vistas—introduced me to the world outside schenectady, new york, and prepared me for a career as a lawyer, a professor, a law school dean, and now a university president.
that is why i am passionate about public higher education and about the university of oregon.
it is through our great public universities that the vast majority of young people will, like i did almost N years ago, get the opportunity to be educated and transformed.
the university of oregon is poised to be able to expand our benefit and service to our students, our state, and our nation like never before.
this is an incredibly exciting moment for the university of oregon.
the legislature provided the state’s public universities with a new governance system, which is working extremely well and has given us more flexibility and agility to advance our goals and priorities.
the governor has appointed an extraordinary board of dedicated alumni and professionals.
our faculty, alumni, administrators, students, and staff are hungry to move forward.
the university has committed leadership in place that is also ready to move forward.
the university of oregon cannot squander this moment.
so, we will move forward thoughtfully but carefully to build our academic programs and our benefit to the state of oregon.
priority one is to build the faculty roster and enhance our research.
we will do that by hiring N to N tenure-related faculty members over the next four to five years.
we want to attract world-class scholars who will teach our students and create the research that is central to our mission as a public university.
priority two is to keep our university affordable to students so they have the same opportunities i and many of you enjoyed.
that means not merely looking to keep tuition increases as low as possible but working to improve our retention and graduation rate.
because while a $N tuition increase can be challenging for many families, that amount is miniscule compared to the cost of taking an additional term, or a year or two, to graduate.
a four-year graduation rate of N percent and a six-year rate of N percent are unacceptable.
we will increase the four-year graduation rate by offering more support and advising, and ensuring the courses are available for our students to stay on track.
the state investment is the first step toward the university of oregon improving these rates.
priority three is to give all of our students a world-class education and make sure that they graduate and go on to great careers.
that means ensuring we have rich cocurricular activities and experiences— to help them become whole people, leaders in our state, nation, and world.
i’d like to talk specifically about how these priorities benefit our state, and why i hope you will join me in supporting me in reaching these objectives.
our success as a state is intrinsically tied to the success of our public universities.
the university of oregon creates a $N.
N billion economic footprint each year.
that is the money generated by all our activities, rippling out through job and business creation, tourism, construction, grants, and direct spending.
but, while important, that is really only part of the story.
we know that our greatest benefit comes from creating an educated workforce, fostering discoveries, and enhancing prosperity.
you’ve no doubt heard the facts before: college graduates will earn greater than a million dollars more in their lifetime than students who do not attend college, and those earning grow far more for people with master’s and phd degrees.
college graduates also pay more taxes, are more involved in their communities, are healthier, and are happier overall.
i know that i am preaching to the choir when i talk about the value of higher education, because i know, as members of the committee, you understand all of those societal benefits to attaining a degree and you are focused on providing this path to prosperity to more oregonians.
and our state has set concrete goals to increase the percentage of oregonians who graduate from college.
but unfortunately, even with the recent increases, oregon’s funding for higher education does not come even close to reflecting these values and aspirations.
in the most recent comparison available, oregon was Nth out of N states in state funding per student.
this last weekend, the university of utah played the ducks.
i had a chance to meet a few of the students who came to the game.
they have similar hopes and dreams as oregon students, and yet those utah students receive N percent more in support from their state than the students of oregon.
investing in higher education is money well spent.
as we’ve seen in other states, outstanding public universities work as magnet.
top-ranked, nationally recognized universities work as a beacon of prosperity.
they keep the state’s best and brightest students, attract the nations’ top scholars, researchers, and professors.
they bring in industry, create business opportunity, enhance arts and culture, solve problems, and prepare an enlightened, well-rounded citizenry that is at the center of any great thriving, prosperous state.
finally, before i close i want to take a moment to give you an update on how the new structure for higher education in oregon is working to benefit students.
in N, you took a risk, creating boards of trustees for the university of oregon, portland state university, and osu.
many feared that this new structure would cause costs to increase and the interests of our universities to splinter.
nothing could be further from the truth.
instead, we have created an effective shared-services enterprise that is customer-focused and managed collectively by the universities.
the other university presidents and i worked together to successfully reach agreement on the first statewide university seiu contract outside of the oregon university system—and did so in a way that avoided a strike authorization vote.
and as you urged us to do, we have worked collectively for the future of our state—advocating together for significant reinvestment in higher education and our students.
at the university of oregon, this governance change has had a tremendous impact on our students.
private philanthropic gifts are providing funding for more scholarships so first-generation students like me can attend the uo, and state support has allowed us to enhance advising for these students.
at this very moment on campus, construction crews are renovating some of our largest learning spaces—financed through bonds issued directly by the university of oregon.
this is one more example of how the shift in governance is benefiting our students and the state.
we appreciate the authority you granted and the resulting flexibility to act in the interest of students, faculty and staff members, and the community.
we also recognize and accept the increased responsibility you and the citizens of oregon expect and demand.
i am grateful for and respect your resolve to let the new structure work.
i am here in large part because of the challenge and opportunity to fashion a new way, a better way, for the university of oregon to achieve its potential, using the tools provided by legislative action.
and i look forward to a return visit so i can continue to keep you updated on the progress we’re making in eugene.
and so i again want to thank you for all that you’ve done already to support these priorities, from giving us the governance structure to seek these priorities to providing the funding to seed many of these great initiatives.
but we are not done.
not by a long shot.
oregon still lags the country in funding for higher education.
the result has closed the door of opportunity for too many young people, and weighed down our economic growth for too long.
we must do better, and we will.
i look forward to working with you in february to build on our recent progress.
thank you.

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dear colleagues, universities today face headwinds from a multitude of sources. in the political sphere, one party castigates us for being ideologically unbalanced and intolerant of free speech and the other for being unaffordable and elitist. trust in universities is battered by a deluge of criticism and well-publicized scandals involving sexual violence, administrative misfeasance, and admissions improprieties. political support has diminished with public trust. many public universities, including the university of oregon, never recovered from the N recession in terms of state funding. underfunded pension plans, skyrocketing health-care costs, and skepticism about our mission and operation have created tremendous pressure on our twin missions of education and research. despite these challenges, i am incredibly optimistic about the future of higher education, generally, and at the university of oregon, in particular. i know some of you will read this, roll your eyes, and think to yourself, “he gets paid to be an optimist” or “he would say this even if the sky was falling. ” but any of you who know me know i am a straight shooter. i do not pull back from saying what is on my mind. american higher education, despite its challenges, remains the envy of the world. each day, particularly in our liberal arts curricula, we teach our students to think critically, grow individually, and prepare for lives as informed global citizens. for first-generation students, like i was more than N years ago, we open the doors of opportunity and expose young people to cultural and educational riches that used to be only the province of the wealthy. are we perfect? of course not. can we do better? you bet. are people left behind? yes, too many lower-income students and racial and ethnic minorities never get the chance to take advantage of what we offer or leave without ever feeling they got what they needed. but in my bones, i believe that we are getting better both in knowledge production, knowledge transmission, and opportunity promotion. at the university of oregon, i spend too much of my time banging my head against the wall about why state legislators don’t appreciate our value and reading occasional letters and blog posts that try to twist the facts into elaborate conspiracy theories that demean our dedicated faculty and administrators. but then, i go out of my office and meet with our faculty, staff, students, and alumni and see how positive what is happening here is. whether it is walking across campus, hosting a dinner at my house, or in a random aisle at costco, i often bump into faculty members who will tell me how thrilled they are to be here, excited they are by their research, and engaged they are in the work of their colleagues and students. as i walk down Nth avenue, wait for a flight at the eugene airport, or attend a women’s basketball game, i meet students who tell me how much they love being at the uo and how being here has transformed them. or when i attend meetings of presidents of peer schools like those in the association of american universities, i hear repeated comments that the trajectory of the uo over the past five years has been “unprecedented” and “remarkable” (their words, not mine). i am an empiricist by nature, both in my scholarship and my approach to management. therefore, i am suspicious of extrapolating from anecdotes, wonderful though they might be. so let’s look at some hard data. over the past five years we have increased the faculty by N new tenure-related scholars. many of our searches yield candidates with multiple offers from schools that often sit above us in the academic pecking order. we have launched or greatly expanded cutting edge academic and research programs in areas as diverse as the knight campus, environmental humanities, science media, black studies, and data science. federal research awards have increased substantially; this year alone the dollars awarded in the first three quarters exceed those for all of last year, and our research expenditures are approaching an all-time record. our fundraising campaign has surpassed an almost unthinkable $N billion mark, including a gift that is the biggest ever to a public flagship research institution. our renewed focus on student success and diversity is having an impact. graduation rates have increased by almost N percentage points and student carrying loads have also increased. the number of young people receiving full tuition scholarships and advising through pathwayoregon has hit an all-time high—N,N this year—roughly one in four of our resident students. looking more broadly, only half of our students graduate with debt and of those who take out loans, the average indebtedness is about $N,N, which is less than both the national and state averages. and our student diversity reached an all-time high, with N percent of this year’s entering class coming from diverse backgrounds. i could go on and on with our progress, but i want to close by returning to our challenges. first, as all of you know, we are experiencing a difficult funding environment caused by a drop in international enrollment and state funding that lags behind rising operating costs. a couple of weeks ago i saw no choice but to require a reduction in expenditures of $N. N million. while i don’t want to minimize the impact of these reductions or the pain they will cause some members of our community, i have directed the provost and our vice presidents to allocate the cuts in such a way as to preserve our core missions of teaching and research. indeed, some academic units, such as the college of arts and sciences, will experience cuts that are less than N percent of their budgets. when you step back, the financial challenges are tough but not insurmountable. we are also experiencing, for the first time since i became president, some leadership turnover. dean andrew marcus stepped down a year ago after five years of distinguished service as dean of cas. provost jayanth banavar announced last week that he will step down at the end of the school year. dean christoph lindner of the college of design will move to the uk to become a dean at the prestigious university college london. and, i suspect, we will see more turnover in this year or next. this type of change is normal and reflects a healthy institution. we should be proud to have leaders and deans that other schools try to hire. we also want leaders to step down once they feel they have done what they can do to move the institution forward. the uo is a vibrant university that cannot afford to stagnate; we will always require fresh leadership and new ideas. in closing, as i near the end of my fourth year of service as president, i am as proud and excited to be here as i was the day i set foot in eugene in N. we have accomplished only a small portion of what i believe we can achieve together. like oregonians throughout history, we will always face difficult challenges. we will be tested. but we will always overcome and succeed. we will do so because we are the university of oregon, and we are all committed to advancing knowledge, teaching, and caring for our students. michael h. schill president and professor of law. april N, N dear university of oregon community: i am writing to let you know that jayanth banavar will complete his service as provost and senior vice president as of july N. in stepping back from his academic leadership position, jayanth, a renowned physicist, will assume his appointment as a professor in the uo’s department of physics in the college of arts and sciences. i am delighted that he will continue to be part of the uo community. i want to thank jayanth for his distinguished service as provost over the last two years. he has served in one of the most challenging executive roles at any university with great warmth, caring, and an unwavering focus on strengthening and building academic excellence at the uo. during his tenure, he has implemented major changes within the office of the provost to improve academic affairs, made impressive strides that bolster the uo’s academic foundation, and been a champion of diversity and inclusion. among his numerous accomplishments, jayanth solidified the use of a more transparent budget model for our schools and colleges and an innovative academic hiring plan that is strategically increasing our faculty ranks. he also advanced our coordinated effort to revolutionize student advising on campus, helped launch an ambitious interdisciplinary data science program, assisted in the revamping of our clark honors college, and recruited several deans and outstanding scholars, including nobel prize-winner david wineland. there is no doubt jayanth has made an indelible and lasting positive impact on the uo during his tenure as provost. i personally appreciate his sense of humor, his ability to approach an issue both analytically and with empathy, and his constant dedication to doing what is best for the institution. i respect his decision to step down and am very grateful for his service to the uo. going forward, we will strive for a smooth transition that maintains all of the momentum and progress that jayanth has delivered in the office of the provost. over the next few weeks, i will consult with campus stakeholders and faculty leaders about selecting an interim provost and the process for filling the role permanently. the provost is the chief academic officer of the institution, and ensuring that we have effective leadership in the position is vital to achieving our shared academic goals and objectives. please join me again in thanking jayanth for all he has done to serve the university of oregon. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. march N, N dear colleagues, on march N, i wrote to let you know that the university of oregon’s budget situation is becoming more challenging and it is imperative we move forward with efforts to reduce the uo’s annual operating costs. since then, i have met with a variety of campus stakeholders to receive advice and guidance. those meetings have been extremely useful in shaping our next steps, including helping identify priorities and principles to guide us. we all have a shared goal of ensuring the institution maintains a strong, upward trajectory even as we grapple with state funding challenges and decreases in international enrollment. based on analysis by vice president for finance and administration jamie moffitt and her team, we must reduce about $N million in annual recurring expenditures from the education and general budget. i have provided the provost and vice presidents with cost-reduction goals for their units and asked them to develop plans for achieving those savings. we will prioritize our core academic and research activities; therefore, i have set higher savings targets for administrative units than i have for schools and colleges. administrative functions will be subject to a N percent budget reduction, and decreases for schools and colleges will be in aggregate no more than N. N percent. the provost’s office will do everything possible to ensure that the changes in our schools and colleges have as little negative impact as possible on academic activities and programs, including career faculty and staff members. each vice president will have discretion for how best to deliver savings within their units, but i have asked them to consider some guiding principles and priorities, including: affordability—we must not step back from our commitment to making the uo accessible to first-generation, underrepresented, and lower-income students. we will shield pathwayoregon and diversity excellence scholarships from cuts. student success—to the fullest extent possible, units across campus should prioritize funding for efforts that support student success programs. ensuring that we provide students with tutoring, mentoring, and advising are at the core of a great educational institution. ultimately, this will help us to maintain affordability by enabling students to persist and graduate on time. we will also protect our student success investments in tykeson hall and the new advisors that are being hired to bring our student-to-advisor ratio closer to the national average. campus safety—we will protect our law enforcement and title ix (prevention and enforcement) initiatives from budget cuts because we must provide a safe campus environment for students, the faculty and staff, and the broader community. related programs and positions should be prioritized by individual units as they contemplate budget-reduction plans. revenue generation—initiatives and programs that generate revenue should be priorities that vice presidents weigh in their budget-reduction considerations. for this reason, frontline fundraisers and student recruiters will be protected. in addition, programs and efforts that support enrollment growth goals should be similarly prioritized. given that nearly N percent of our education and general budget pays salaries, it is impossible to achieve savings without affecting jobs. the uo already runs a very lean operation after decades of state disinvestment, and our staffing levels are below most of our peer institutions nationally. that means that many of our units will have to consider difficult decisions that may affect the level of service provided to the campus community. in some cases, we may need to stop doing things that are not aligned with the priorities i have identified or the uo’s teaching, research, and service mission. i will meet with and review the provost and vice presidents’ planned budget reductions. while i am not going to mandate a hiring freeze, to the extent reasonable, i have asked vice presidents to consider whether savings can be achieved by leaving open positions vacant or through attrition. in cases where it is necessary to move forward with workforce reductions, plans must be reviewed and approved by human resources and the office of the general counsel. in close coordination with human resources professionals across campus, we will diligently work to ensure that colleagues who are affected by budget reductions are offered a full range of support services and treated with the utmost dignity and respect. we are entering a challenging period, but the hurdles we face are not insurmountable. we will continue to forcefully make the case in salem that the state’s public higher-education system needs a consistent and stable funding model that does not continually look to oregon’s students and families to fill gaps in public support. the uo will continue to pursue a growth strategy that seeks to stabilize revenue swings by carefully and modestly increasing nonresident undergraduate enrollment over the next few years. and we will continue to leverage donor support to invest in academic initiatives—such as the knight campus, the presidential science initiative and the humanities fellowship program—that expand and strengthen our world-class academic and research programs. by working together, the uo can and will come out of these budget challenges stronger and with a clear focus on our very bright shared future. i thank each and every one of you for all you do to make the university of oregon a special place. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. dear university of oregon campus community: over the last few months, we have communicated with a wide variety of campus stakeholders to let them know that the university of oregon is going into a difficult budget cycle. vice president for finance and administration jamie moffitt has given many presentations articulating the increasing expenses that are putting pressure on our fy N–N budget. we have been clear that without additional state support—a requested $N million for all of oregon’s public universities—we will be unable to hold resident undergraduate tuition increases at or below N percent and would likely be forced to look at budget cuts. while i hope that the legislature will provide public universities in the state with the funds we requested, it is now evident that, even if the state does fulfill the request, we will need to reduce expenditures over the next two years. in addition to rising costs attributable to personnel, pers, and health care, we are experiencing the full impact of a substantial reduction in international student enrollment. the uo enrolled large classes of students from abroad as recently as the N–N academic year. since that time, however, like many other american universities, the numbers have begun to fall off. over the last three years, international enrollment has dropped by almost N,N students, representing more than $N million in recurring tuition revenue. this decline should stabilize over the next few years as revenues slowly increase from our domestic enrollment growth initiatives. as a result, unfortunately, we will need to reduce annual operating costs by between $N and $N million. while some of these reductions can be implemented immediately, some will take more than one year. vice president moffitt, provost jayanth banavar, and i will spend the coming weeks seeking additional advice and input from campus stakeholders about how to manage this situation without eroding the tremendous progress we have made in many areas across campus over the past few years. we also want, as much as is possible, to protect programs and services that are vital to our core academic and research mission. it is my intention to come back to all of you in less than a month with a more detailed plan about how we will move forward. given that almost N percent of the uo’s general-education budget comprises salaries, the reality is that any cost-reduction efforts will affect jobs and people. i recognize that this news will cause anxiety among many in our campus community, but i believe it is important to be transparent about what lies ahead. i can assure you that we will look at every available option to mitigate the human impact of budget cuts on our campus community. finally, i want to address what can sometimes feel like an incongruent narrative that exists as we contemplate budget cuts at the same time that we have construction cranes busy all over campus helping to build tykeson hall, the knight campus, hayward field, and an addition to our student health center. the vast majority of construction projects and programmatic investments we are making across campus are the result of targeted donor gifts, specific state capital allocations, or auxiliary funding sources. the reality is that these projects and investments—which generally involve little to no general fund dollars—are the very thing that will keep the uo on a path toward excellence even as we wrestle with the volatility of state funding and international enrollment. thank you for your hard work and dedication to the uo. by working together, we will be able to weather the challenges that are ahead of us. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. march N, N president michael h. schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in eugene: good morning. yesterday jamie gave us a sobering review of the university’s budget situation. while it presents challenges for all of us, it is something that we will manage our way through without harming all of the progress we have achieved over the past four years. that to me is very important. i will not re-cover all of the ground that jamie covered, but bottom line, with a drop in enrollment, especially among international students, and an increase in costs such as pers, salaries, benefits, and health insurance, we are facing, next year, a substantial gap in resources. even if we were receive the additional $N million we are seeking from the state legislature for all of oregon’s public universities, we estimate that we will still experience a shortfall of $N to N million dollars next year if we were to do nothing. that is unacceptable and it is now evident that we must act to reduce expenditures over the next two years. today, i am sending a memo to campus explaining the current situation and notifying them that vice president moffitt, provost jayanth banavar, and i will spend the coming weeks seeking additional advice and input from campus constituencies about how to manage this situation. as we reduce our expenditures we will make decisions based upon our values. rather than simply cut evenly across the board, we will seek to protect, as much as possible, the programs and services that are vital to our core academic and research mission, and not erode our recent progress. in particular, i will propose that certain areas, particularly those having to do with affordability, access, student success, and safety, be spared. we also need to approach these reductions in a humane fashion, recognizing that N% of our expenditures are labor-related. as you know, we will set non-resident tuition in this meeting, and will set in-state tuition later this spring in the hope that we have a clearer picture of our finances. enrollment is a very important part of these conversations. late last week, roger thompson provided me with an update on our enrollment outlook for next year. as of march N, interest in the uo is at a record high, with just under N,N applicants, a N percent increase over last year. he reports increases in applications from students in oregon and double-digit percentage increases in applications from non-resident students from across the country. these increases have been particularly large in the areas we have invested additional recruiting resources such as colorado, arizona, washington, texas, and the upper midwest. our applicant pool is also stronger academically and more diverse than last year. applications are important but, of course, many of these students will have lots of choices. we need to convince these students to choose the uo by showing them all of the advantages we have to offer. we plan on hosting N separate events in eugene and all over the nation and world. indeed, roger and i will be taking a road trip through southern california in a couple weeks where we hope to meet lots of prospective students and their parents and loved ones. in salem, our team is working tirelessly to increase our state operating funds this session. the legislature will consider a revenue package that could generate as much as $N billion to fund public education. as maria indicated, we are working with our students and labor unions to make the point that funding k-N and undergraduate education is essential for the future of our students and for the state. the co-chairs of the joint ways and means committee are expected to release their proposed budget this week, and we will know more about whether our voices have been heard. the uo’s priority bills are moving along well and gaining support. the bill to create a matching fund for the sustainable city year program has already received a public hearing, and we expect hearings in the next few weeks on measures that would provide state support for uo programs including prison education, the oregon research schools network, and the oregon institute of marine biology. the legislature has been focused on other broad safety issues that will have an impact on the university of oregon, including bills related to preventing and responding to workplace harassment and sexual assault. last week, we were made aware that a bill would be introduced to disarm police departments on the uo’s and psu’s campuses. we are working with legislators, uopd, students, and others to address this measure and ensure we continue to have every tool in our toolbox to keep our campus and community safe. the Nth congress is also underway. with the new majority in the u. s. house of representatives, congresswoman suzanne bonamici has taken on an important role as the chair of the subcommittee on civil rights and human services. that committee has jurisdiction over issues related to civil rights, including title ix. we look forward to working with her both to showcase our efforts to combat sexual harassment and to be part of the national effort to deal with this problem. related to title ix, the uo joined with other oregon institutions in late january in submitting comments on proposed changes to responding to campus sexual assault, and we will be launching our second sexual assault climate survey in april. president trump is expected to release his budget on march N. uo is working with aau and aplu to advance student aid and federal research priorities. unless congress comes to an agreement to lift budget caps, discretionary spending will be subject to sequestration or an across-the-board cut of up to N percent. also, i am pleased that bob guldberg has agreed to headline the annual uoaa capitol hill reception on may N. he’ll deliver a talk and have a chance to engage with the oregon congressional delegation. a few other important notes before i complete my remarks. i would like to thank karen ford for her work in conceptualizing a new fellowship program to support faculty in the arts and humanities in their research and creative projects. in funding this program, which will provide a dozen fellowships a year from the president’s success fund, i am hoping to bolster our wonderful humanities and arts faculty and their research. in an era where student enrollments are declining in these fields, we need to send the message that the uo will always be a comprehensive university that values the humanities, humanistic social sciences, and the arts. yesterday, you heard about our exciting plans for partnering with ohsu in a joint center for biomedical data sciences. this center will join both institutions in research to fight cancer. i just want to say how excited i am about this partnership. along with our research seed grant program that has already funded N collaborative and discussions to establish new degree programs, we are progressing well with leveraging the strength of both our state’s premier academic institutions in service of the state, our students, and our community. finally, as you walk through campus you no doubt have seen the remnants of last week’s two snowstorms. i would like to take a moment to express my deep gratitude to the scores of people who worked during the storm that dumped a foot of snow on campus. these men and women worked through extreme conditions, some for N plus hours straight, to ensure our students who live here were safe, warm, and fed; to clear trees and snow from walkways and roads; and to prepare our campus for reopening. it was a heroic effort. they could have called in sick or said they couldn’t get in. but they didn’t. they did it because they take pride in doing their jobs well and they care about our students and the entire community. we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. i am proud to be their president.  .president michael h. schill sent the following tuition recommendation message to campus: february N, N dear campus community, last week, i received the N–N tuition and fee recommendation from the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab), a body comprising students, administrators, and members of the faculty and staff. among the recommendations is a tuition increase for nonresident undergraduates of N. N percent, a $N-per-credit-hour change that equates to a $N increase in tuition for full-time, out-of-state students. the board also recommends a $N-per-term increase in the health center fee to accommodate significant growth in the number of students seeking help for mental and physical health concerns, a $N increase in the recreation center fee, and a $N increase in the emu fee. in addition, the tfab also recommends accepting the proposals from schools and colleges for tuition rates for the university of oregon’s many graduate programs. after meeting with students earlier this week to seek their input, i am writing to share with the broader student and university community that i intend to accept the board’s recommendation on tuition and fees for the next academic year. pursuant to university policy, however, i will solicit additional public input on the plan before i forward my final recommendation to the uo board of trustees for consideration at its next regular meeting on march N–N. this is a different tuition-setting process than in years past, and, to be clear, this recommendation does notaddress resident undergraduate tuition rates at the uo. our in-state tuition rate closely correlates to state funding from the oregon legislature, which started meeting last month, and the university has joined all public universities in the state to make the case that higher education needs at least $N million in new state support to keep resident tuition increases at or below N percent. the uo will delay setting resident tuition until may, when we hope to have a better sense of enrollment projections and how public higher education will be funded in the state budget. we will conduct a public input process to set resident tuition that mirrors development of the nonresident tuition recommendation. ensuring access and affordability to the uo for all oregon students is among my top priorities. as noted in a recent op-ed in the oregonian that i penned with campus leaders representing students and the faculty and staff, the current state budget proposal contains no new funding for higher education. given the complex set of increasing costs faced by the uo—many of which remain beyond our control—flat funding would create substantial financial challenges on our campus and for other institutions across the state. the only way to address those would be through a combination of hefty tuition increases and difficult budget cuts. i hope that it does not come to that, and we will work tirelessly over the coming months with stakeholders on campus and across the state to demonstrate the value of higher education and make the case in salem for additional state funding. the state of oregon has made progress with regard to public funding for higher education over the last few legislative sessions. unfortunately, the reality is that state support for colleges and universities remains below prerecession levels, is still among the lowest in the nation, and clearly is not keeping pace with increases in our operating costs. as i wrote in the editorial, oregon cannot afford to fall further behind. in closing, despite the challenges, i remain extraordinarily optimistic about the future of the university of oregon and am steadfast in my commitment to protect the progress we’ve made to enhance excellence in teaching, research, and support for student access and success programs. together, we’ve come too far over the last few years to retreat, and we must remain vigilant in our pursuit of excellence in all that we do at the uo. i welcome your input before i submit my recommendation to the uo board of trustees on friday, february N. please provide any feedback on my proposals outlined here via this online form. the online comments will remain open until N:N p. m. , wednesday, february N. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. president michael h. schill gave the following remarks at the city club of eugene meeting on january N, N: good afternoon. thank you to the city club for inviting me to talk about the university of oregon and our important relationship with eugene, the region, and state. like the city club, the university of oregon is committed to open inquiry that advances society, and i look forward to a great discussion today. i am pleased to be back to speak at the city club again to share the exciting progress we have made on the goals and priorities i first detailed three years ago, and to talk about our future plans. before i talk about some of the great things that are happening at the institution, let me take a moment to comment on the important, mutually-beneficial relationship that the university of oregon and the city of eugene have enjoyed for almost N years. it is obviously not without friction from time to time—that is to be expected in any town-gown arrangement —but i genuinely believe that eugene, lane county, and the southern willamette valley are vital components to the secret sauce that makes the uo the world-class university that it is today … a university that is on a trajectory to new levels of excellence and strength that will benefit not just the region but the entire state of oregon. this place and this community matters. when we talk to students about why they want to attend the uo or when we recruit faculty and administrators, living in eugene is frequently mentioned as a big plus. people are attracted by the bucolic nature of community, by our culture of progressive engagement, and by the opportunity to live in a community that is both attractive, affordable, and safe. we understand that the uo plays an integral role in supporting the region’s economy. that role is only going to grow and strengthen in the years to come as the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact begins to take root and flourish and as we welcome the world to eugene in N for the track and field world championships. we are all fortunate and we all prosper because of the strong symbiotic connection between the university of oregon and eugene. since arriving at the uo, i have been delighted to find our mayor and city manager, as well as our council, to be great partners. none of us should take this relationship for granted. instead, we should work diligently to protect and nurture it. now i’d like to transition to talking about some of the exciting things that are happening at the university of oregon, and i want to start with the priorities that we set when i arrived on campus three and a half years ago. during my tenure at the university, i have been laser focused on improving the university of oregon and its ability to teach future generations and create impactful research. while we have made tremendous progress toward achieving these objectives, they remain our fundamental priorities. we want the university of oregon to be the very best public research university that we can be to benefit students, the state, and world. to do that we continue to strive to: build our academic and research excellence; improve student access and success; and enhance the student experience and campus diversity. for each of these priorities we have taken major leaps forward but for each we still have plenty of progress yet to achieve … for that we need the support of our community and so many others who understand the benefit higher education affords our economy and society. now i want to talk about student access and success. educating students from every walk of life remains our primary mission and we are committed to ensuring that every qualified oregonian student who wants to attend the uo has a path for doing so. we want the uo to be the school of choice for the state’s best and brightest. we want the uo to be the school of choice for all those who are the first in their families to attend college. we want the uo to be the school of choice for graduates of our community colleges and for our returning veterans. in order to achieve these goals we have our many merit- and needs-based scholarship programs like our incredibly successful pathwayoregon program. we celebrated N years of pathwayoregon this fall. this ground-breaking program provides full tuition and fees for academically-qualified, pell grant-eligible oregonians. i want to emphasize the profound impact of pathwayoregon—which is focused on providing not just a free education to oregonians from low-income families—many of them are the first in their families to go to college and many are under-represented minorities—but we also wrap-around services to these students, including enriched advising, tutoring, and other academic support opportunities. it has made a huge difference. pathwayoregon was the first of its kind in the state, and to date, more N,N oregonians have received a free education at the uo thanks to the program. this fall we welcomed our most diverse freshman class (N percent are ethnic or racial minorities) and our second most academically qualified class in history. getting here is just the beginning, of course. oregon has a problem in both k-N education and undergraduate education. too few of our students graduate and some that do are not well-prepared for their future employment. one critical way to address this is for the state of oregon to better fund education. another ways to help is for us to be smarter about how we support students at the uo. so we have also invested in student success with new programs, initiatives, and soon, a new space focused on student success—tykeson hall—under construction at the heart of campus. the uo is reimagining how to combine academic and career advising to create a successful experience from the moment students step foot on campus to the time they leave and beyond. we are hiring N new advisors to work in that building when it opens this fall, increasing our advising staff by over one-third. even before tykeson hall, we have increased our four-year graduation rate from N percent to N percent. it’s the best in oregon, but this is still not good enough, which is why we are doubling down on student success as we look to the future. i will talk more about this in a moment. turning to our academic and research efforts: as we shift into N, the N opening of the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact building is getting closer and closer. it is hard to believe that it was almost two and a half years ago that penny and phil knight made a half-billion dollar gift to make this $N billion vision possible. the knight campus allows us to dream big about our academic future and reinvent the way we think about applying scientific discovery to solve big problems. all you have to do is drive past on franklin boulevard to see the physical progress on an amazing N,N-square-foot facility set to open this time next year. our team has hit every milestone laid out for the knight campus on time or, in many cases, early. when the vision for this project is fully realized over the next decade, the impact on the uo and eugene will be stunning: N new principal researchers and their teams will support about N new, high-paying jobs N new undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc researchers will work and learn in this new environment our faculty will conservatively bring N percent more federal money for research to our community this will translate into an estimated $N million in annual economic activity that spins off the knight campus, even before we begin to think about the discoveries, technologies, and cures that come from research conducted on the knight campus … research that will be focused on improving the health and wellbeing of the citizens of oregon, the nation, and the world yes, the vision is grand and audacious, but we are making tremendous strides toward its realization. our director, bob guldberg, started work this summer, continued strategic planning, and launched our first faculty hires. bob is an incredible researcher and entrepreneur in his own right. guldberg studies muscle and bone growth and development, focusing on potential regenerative therapies following traumatic injuries and degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. his lab is already up and running as he continues his groundbreaking research. the knight campus is allowing us to deepen our relationship with oregon health and science university. ten research teams are already working together on promising programs to advance science and the human condition. let me round out my comments about the knight campus by noting that it is recession-proof. the project is fully-funded by the generous support of phil and penny knight, and the building, hiring, and work on the campus will move forward no matter what happens with the economy or state funding in the years to come. but the knight campus is not the only initiative that we’ve launched over the last few years to strengthen our academic and research capabilities. the university has continued to bolster its academic leadership as we have hired new deans and welcomed provost jayanth banavar. we have also sharpened our focus on investing in academic strengths in promising areas. a few examples: we have launched a new data science program focused on helping interpret and make sense of huge amounts of information. this has applications in nearly every field imaginable from health care and science to linguistics and business marketing. our nationally-ranked college of education recently received a $N million grant that will allow the educational and community support unit to continue its work helping teach students with disabilities. it’s the largest grant ever awarded to our university and an example of the way in which our research is being applied to help local students and communities. the university continues to invest in and carve out a name for itself in its innovative and collaborative programs such as zebrafish research, obesity prevention, neuroscience, sustainable and urban design, volcanology, green chemistry, and many other programs. another key priority is enhancing diversity and the student experience. as i mentioned, our student body continues to become more diverse. but we are not satisfied. thanks to the continued advocacy of students and faculty of color, we continue our efforts to recruit under-represented minorities to our campus and to make them feel welcome and part of our community. some of the ways we’ve made progress to create a more welcoming campus with diverse perspectives and curriculum: we’ve broken ground on a new black cultural center created a black studies program revamped our multi-cultural curriculum we are in our third year of hosting an african american speaker series on campus renamed a residence hall for a prominent black alumnus and required all units to create and implement diversity action plans on campus as we continue to expand our academic offerings and enhance our diversity we will also modestly grow the number of students on our campus to meet the needs of our community and state. we recognize that growing the institution, even if modestly, has an impact on the local community, and we are committed to working with our neighbors and partners to ensure that we thoughtfully manage those impacts and proactively work to mitigate potential challenges. obviously, all of the progress we have described costs money. turning to our fundraising campaign: this fall we extended our fundraising campaign by $N billion to $N billion. it is likely that we will hit our original goal of $N billion in the next few weeks. thanks to the urging and ambition of our supporters, rather than declare victory, we are upping the stakes and continuing to raise more money for the university’s highest priorities. a major focus of this campaign extension will be on student success including: additional support for pathwayoregon and increasing merit-based aid like our presidential scholarship reducing the tuition for our nationally-ranked clark honors college increasing support for “dreamers”—students under daca and others not eligible for traditional financial aid increasing pipeline programs that help under-represented and first-generation students understand they can attend college continue to support expanded advising at the uo to help students find their passions and great careers after college expanding experiential and global studies programs that prepare students for the job market creating programing for the black cultural center our campaign extension will continue to seed these efforts as we also seek to build a new N,N-square-foot classroom building with a focus on environmental and sustainability programs. we also will pursue new funding for the basic sciences, interdisciplinary projects in the humanities and social sciences, and the presidential science initiative. the third pillar of our extended campaign is to complete fundraising for the knight campus so that it may reach its full billion-dollar potential. there is so much to be excited and optimistic about, however the university of oregon does face formidable financial challenges. my job as president of the university of oregon is to provide opportunity for oregon students, make this university the best it can possibly be, and ensure that every dollar we receive is well-spent and accounted for. our operating costs continue to increase. there is no escaping the reality that we are a people-centric enterprise, and those talented and hardworking teachers and researchers cost money. more than N percent of our budget is personnel. with pers and health care costs rising rapidly, a good portion of our budget is escalating out of our control. on the revenue side, an equally large share of our budget, more than N percent, comes from tuition. but we know that increases in tuition are challenging to students so we want to work hard to keep increases below N percent. we must look to our elected leaders to ensure that higher education is better funded to benefit students, their families, and the state. and to be honest, what we are hearing from salem so far this year is very concerning. there is no more urgent need that increasing support to education, and that should k-N and undergraduate education. we will be making our case in the coming weeks and months—proactively meeting with our alumni, legislators, employees, and labor leaders to advocate for more resources for higher education as we enter the next legislative session. i look to all of you, as active community members, to help us remind legislators that having a strong public university that is accessible to students of all backgrounds is vital to our economy, prosperity, and happiness. we would welcome your active support, so if you would like to help us make the case for education in salem, please let me or any of my staff know. these are exciting and seminal times for the university of oregon and eugene. i am honored to lead the institution during this important era of evolution and change at the state’s flagship institution. more importantly, i am eager to build and strengthen our partnerships and relationships with the community to make eugene, the region, and state an incredible place to work, play, learn, and thrive.  .december N, N president michael h. schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in eugene: hello. you have heard or will soon hear about many of the key initiatives and priorities of the university during this board meeting including: enrollment, student success, faculty hiring, budgeting, and—coming up this afternoon—tuition setting, legislative session, and the knight campus. with so much of this already covered elsewhere, i will try to keep my remarks brief. today i will talk about three things: the assessment of the college of arts and sciences structure, the data science program, and the potential changes to title ix and our efforts to address sexual assault. i will start with cas. as you know, earlier this year andrew marcus announced he would step down as dean, effective at the end of this month. i am immensely grateful to him for his service, leadership, and fervent passion for the arts and sciences that he brought to his work. this leadership change created an important opportunity to not only consider who should lead the college, but also to analyze the structure of cas to determine if the combination of disciplines is best suited to deliver on our mission of excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, and creative work. as you all know, cas is the heart of the university, it is far and away the largest academic entity on campus, last year accounting for two-thirds of all credit hours and receiving more than half the general fund allocated to schools and colleges. this is where most students take their core education courses and the academic area that anchors all students still exploring majors. the question we seek to answer during this period of transition is whether the college in its current size and scope is optimal. should it stay one college, be split into two or three colleges? and what would any such changes mean for other colleges, students, inter-disciplinary collaboration, and our overall aspiration of excellence? to consider these very important questions provost banavar and i sought nominations and empaneled N people to serve on an advisory task force to analyze the structure of cas. the group is made up of faculty members and staff from natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities in cas, as well as one student, executive vice provost brad shelton, and two deans—sojc’s juan-carlos molleda and clark honors college’s gabe paquette. senior divisional dean karen ford will chair the task force. needless to say, the creation of this task force and talking about potential changes has created some uncertainty and insecurity among some members of cas and our university community. indeed, some faculty members are convinced that jayanth and i already know what we want to do and are using the task force to implement that plan. that is not accurate. nothing could be further from the truth. now is the right time to think about what we’re doing. the task force will begin meeting soon and will continue its assessment through winter term with a charge to deliver its analysis to me and the provost on april N. i expect that jayanth and i will come back to the board for a discussion of this matter in june. i am extremely grateful to karen, and all the members of the task force for their service to the university conducting this important assessment and helping to advance humanities and the sciences on our campus. and once again, i want to offer my thanks and very best to andrew marcus as he returns to the faculty. he has served with grace and vision and thoughtfulness. next, i am very excited to announce that the data science initiative has moved into the next phase of implementation. biology professor bill cresko has been appointed founding director of the data science program. he will work with faculty, staff, and students across campus, along with a steering committee of campus leadership to create and grow the research and educational components. this is important on the research side and teaching side. data is growing in importance in how we do research here and when students go out to get jobs. in areas such as environmental big data, business analytics, biomedical data science, and data science of social interactions and social impacts, if affects every part of our university. the focus of the data science initiative will be informed by the work of the data science visioning committee. this group developed a comprehensive proposal for how best to develop the program. jayanth and i approved their recommendations earlier for this process and we are very excited that data science is moving into its next phase of development. as you all know, providing seed funding for this initiative on data science was one of the first investments i made from the fund for excellence created after we received an anonymous $N million dollar gift in N. it is a major step forward. it’s not going to be the easiest. it is incredibly hard to hire top notch talent because google, amazon and similar companies are hiring the same people we want to hire. we need to be creative and strategic about what we are doing. this is very exciting and i am so grateful to bill for his work to advance this exciting and important realm. finally, i want to talk about our efforts to address sexual harassment and violence on campus in relation to the federal government’s proposed changes to title ix. as you know, title ix is the federal law that requires public schools and universities to provide equal access to education regardless of a person’s gender, which includes ensuring survivors of gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence, are able to continue to attend school and flourish. last month, education secretary betsy devos proposed an overhaul of rules for how schools handle allegations of sexual harassment and assault under title ix. those proposed changes are now officially out for public comment. the N-day public comment period ends january N. these proposed changes have raised concerns across college campuses, including at the university of oregon. while we engage with many other institutions around the state and nationally in reviewing the proposed rules and providing commentary to the department of education, the university of oregon remains committed to our students, faculty, and staff and to ensuring that they feel safe and engaged in all of our facilities, programs, and activities. we will continue in our efforts to reduce sexual assault and misconduct, discrimination and harassment, as well as assessing and innovating our prevention and investigation processes. the proposed rules do not change our mission to ensure that all individuals can enjoy full access to their educational opportunities. our title ix coordinator, darci heroy, and members of our general counsel office will be participating in the review and comment period, as we expect many other institutions will as well, and we expect to have robust and open conversations as we learn more. members of the public should also feel free to submit their own comments to the department of education by following instructions in the notice of proposed rulemaking. the initial assessment by our general counsel and title ix coordinator is that many of the proposed rules are consistent with our existing framework. with that said, if the rules are finalized as currently proposed, we would have to consider some changes to our adjudication processes. the standard of proof—preponderance of the evidence—would not likely change. but rather some changes to the nuts and bolts of how the processes work might have to change. for example, we may have to hold live hearings with cross examination conducted by advisors, based on the proposal as currently written. we might also have to allow for different methods of questioning and information review by the parties involved. there may be other changes as well, but, again, the rules are not final, and we are still reviewing the proposed rules and assessing their impact. some of the proposed changes could be positive in giving survivors greater autonomy in choosing whether to move forward with a formal conduct process or whether to explore different alternative resolutions. the proposed rules also give greater clarity on the expectations for support and interim measures to be provided to both complainants and respondents. the proposed changes to the adjudication processes are mixed and involve some positives and negatives for both parties, but lean more heavily towards protections for respondents. the bottom line is that our title ix experts are still analyzing a lot of this information and will work to provide input on the proposed changes. and again, it does not change our intent to continuing to seek ways to improve our prevention, response, and adjudication process to keep students safe and able to pursue their education at the university of oregon. one other note regarding this issue—the university of oregon is among the N institutions that will take part in the association of american universities’ sexual assault campus climate survey in late winter, early spring. we participated in N and found the data very useful for advancing our efforts on campus. students will receive more information about the survey next term. this survey and many other ongoing effort on campus continue to help us seek to make this the safest campus possible for every student. thank you and i am happy to take your questions if you have any.  .october N, N dear university of oregon community, saturday’s horrific massacre of N innocent men and women in pittsburgh, as they worshipped together, no doubt shocks each and every one of us. it should. the N souls whose lives were extinguished were targeted solely because of the god they worship. these killings follow on the heels of the murders of two african american shoppers at a grocery store in kentucky last wednesday and the attempted delivery of pipe bombs to a number of people who were selected apparently because of their political beliefs. the events of last week did not come out of thin air. to say that our nation and our politics are polarized trivializes the problem. civility and reasoned discourse seem to have given way to hate and the politics of distrust and division. each day, we are assaulted by racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, misogyny, nativism, and homophobia, sometimes from the very people who have been elected to lead us. in our bubble in eugene and on the campus at the university of oregon, we are not immune to hate. last year the number of bias-related crimes and incidents reported to the city nearly doubled over the prior year. on campus, we have seen fliers produced by white supremacist groups spewing the rhetoric of hate. and, sometimes in class, we have experienced difficult moments where empathy has given way to antipathy. i want to express my solidarity with all of the groups on our campus who have been the victims of hate and all who share in my outrage at the horrible events of the last week and the current state of affairs in our country. but, there are two other important messages i would like to convey. first, we are part of an academic community, one dedicated to rationality over emotion. it is here, at the university of oregon, where each and every one of us has the opportunity to explore our differences, gain understanding of each other’s perspectives, and, with that understanding, hopefully banish demonization and replace hate with empathy and respect. please expand your usual group of friends and engage in those conversations in the classroom, over dinner, and in the residence halls. and seek out your advisors and professors, and other resources on campus if you need someone to speak with, or to find avenues to become more involved. secondly, please take seriously your opportunity to vote. as november N approaches, vote for candidates who model the behavior we want in our leaders. regardless of party, vote for leaders who eschew hatred and bigotry. vote for candidates who provide solutions to our problems and not just those who articulate our frustrations. and whatever the results of the election, get involved and engaged—embrace our shared democratic values. and as you engage and seek to fix some of the problems my generation has caused, model the type of civility and empathy that is so absent today. take care of yourselves and treat each other with respect. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. dear members of the university of oregon community, the university of oregon is proud to be a welcoming and inclusive campus that supports the rights of every member of our community, including people of all genders and gender identities. recently, there have been events that have left many transgender students and members of the faculty and staff within our community feeling concerned and vulnerable. this is not acceptable, and i want everyone to know that the uo will continue to be a place where anyone can live and study in safety, with dignity, with authenticity, and in an environment that is free from discrimination. we remain committed to providing safe and equitable access to all of our programs, activities, and facilities regardless of gender identity or expression. the uo respects everyone’s right to self-determination and to live as their true selves, and in support of that commitment our institution continues to offer gender-neutral housing and bathroom options, gender-neutral support and education services, and programs that honor people’s pronoun and name preferences. as our title ix coordinator recently stated in this message, our commitment to the fundamental protections of title ix remain unwavering. i hope that those who need support will take advantage of the wealth of resources that are provided at the uo. i want to reassure all of our students, the faculty and staff, and visitors to our campus that you are, and remain, welcome here at the university of oregon and an important part of our community. best regards, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. dear university of oregon community members, when i arrived at the university of oregon in N, i heard the same clear and overwhelming message from virtually every constituency i met with: the university needed strong, decisive, and consistent leadership from johnson hall. the faculty, staff, and alumni, along with our board of trustees, were not satisfied with the uo being known more for athletics and a recent incident involving sexual violence than our academics. these internal concerns were reinforced by an article published in the chronicle of higher education my first year which pointedly bore the headline “an academic reputation at risk. ” the message was clear: we needed to focus on building excellence, which included both a greater emphasis on academic research and helping our students learn, graduate, and move on to successful and fulfilling careers—and we needed to do it right away. after years of changes in our executive leadership and governance, our community was hungry for progress, but a simple question demonstrated the challenges that would need to be overcome in order to move the institution forward in a meaningful way. i had not even unpacked my boxes when i asked how many faculty members would we have in september. as it turns out, at the time no one kept that data in the central administration. to make matters worse, we didn’t have the ability, for a variety of reasons, to get the data in real time from individual academic units. my question and its answer, which encapsulated one of our greatest challenges, were just the first of many illustrations of the extraordinary decentralization of the university of oregon circa N. i asked more and more questions, and learned that five of our eight schools and colleges were spending more each year than they were taking in. i learned that, although some departments were experiencing significant drops in student demand, they continued hiring more teachers, all without oversight by johnson hall. schools and departments spent millions of dollars on duplicative computer systems that did not speak to each other. even more worrisome, those duplicative computer systems operated on an antiquated internet backbone that was in danger of collapse and which conveyed data at speeds so slow that it was faster for scientists to drive hard disks in their cars between eugene and portland than utilize our networks. for a rich university, this type of wasteful behavior might be a sustainable, albeit indefensible, use of resources. but not at the uo, where state funding regularly ranks among the lowest of its peer group. we have taken a number of steps over the past three years to address some of those challenges and to make sure that we create a culture of transparency, efficiency, and accountability at the university. for example, we now have current information on faculty members, student credit hours, and faculty workloads down to the departmental level. this information is now available online. we also have developed a centralized and transparent process for determining tenure-related hiring. rather than having academic departments fill slots each year based on who has retired or left the university, they make recommendations to their deans, who then make recommendations to the provost based on an assessment of overall needs in their schools and colleges. following a collaborative discussion among all deans and a committee of senior faculty members informed by data on operational and mission metrics, the provost publishes a plan authorizing searches for all to see. in terms of the budget, we have sought to ameliorate the havoc that changes in student demand and state retirement and health-care costs have had on our academic departments by changing our financial model. rather than continue the old practice of tuition following student enrollments, with all costs for faculty and administration picked up by the schools and colleges, we created a new system in which we pay for all tenure-related faculty members centrally and make budgetary allocations to schools and colleges for the rest. we have also taken steps to realign some administrative services. for example, rather than every administrative unit having its own independent communications staff, we have tried to improve collaboration and coordination and achieve economies of scale by moving to an integrated model. we have begun rationalizing it services throughout the university to achieve better and more reliable service, greater data security, and hopefully some economies of scale. most recently, we have realigned development staff to better meet the fundraising needs of the university. in the campaign extension, which i announced last week, N percent of the fundraising will be done centrally, largely out of the president’s office. at present, however, only N percent of the fundraisers report centrally. obviously, some realignment of resources is necessary for us to be successful in raising money for university-wide priorities such as student advising, need-based scholarships, a new classroom building tentatively dedicated to environmental sustainability, and research initiatives. when taken together, many of the changes we have made are quite significant, particularly in light of the historically decentralized nature of our university. while all of the practices we adopted exist among many of our peer universities, there is no denying that the results have been jarring for some members of our community. indeed, some have talked about the “centralization” of authority in a way that suggests a zero-sum game—increased authority in johnson hall must necessarily come at the expense of our colleges, schools, and departments. i fundamentally do not see it that way. i served as a dean for N years at two different universities prior to becoming president of the uo. for good or ill, i always try to view campus decision-making through my current lens as president as well as from the perspective of a dean or faculty member. to be candid, if i were wearing my dean hat, i would have mixed feelings about some of the changes we have made at the uo. i would greatly appreciate that the financial risk for tenure-related faculty members and their benefits has been lifted from my shoulders. i would also be relieved that the revenue of my college or school wasn’t solely determined by the course choices of undergraduate students. and, if my own and my faculty’s priorities aligned with central priorities, i would be delighted to participate in university-wide initiatives. on the other hand, i might not like the fact that the provost could second-guess my budgetary decisions. i would be frustrated that some services i consume would no longer be under my direct control. and, if my school or college’s programs did not align with central academic priorities, then i think i would feel left out or pressured to find ways to align. i also probably would not love being held accountable for a set of metrics that i approved, but perhaps never wanted. a more robust role for the president and provost in academic matters might also implicate issues of shared governance. one of the great strengths of american higher education is that decision-making authority with respect to academic matters is shared among the faculty, deans, the president, and the provost. this is the way it should be. curricular decisions, degree requirements, faculty qualifications, tenure decisions, and similar matters should require faculty approval. similarly, research and creative work are not done by administrators; they are undertaken by academic faculty members and judged through peer review. many folks outside academia are critical of shared governance and express frustration with the slow pace of change it often fosters. nevertheless, i remain firm in my belief that this is the best system i know of to promote the creation of knowledge and its transmission to future generations, and i will work hard to make it more effective at the uo. i am comfortable that the greater role provost jayanth banavar and i are playing in our university is consistent with our joint commitment to shared governance and the appropriate role of faculty members as custodians of the institution’s academic mission. each major initiative we have undertaken—whether it be the knight campus or the data science initiative—as well as possible future initiatives in resilience and the humanities and social sciences have been conceptualized and are governed by our faculty. before we created the new faculty hiring process and budget allocation process, our ideas were discussed and modified after many meetings involving faculty members, deans, and members of the university senate. and now that those procedures are in place, every faculty slot the provost approves in the institutional hiring plan has been proposed by the faculty and discussed by deans and faculty members. of course, there is no precise formula to determine the appropriate balance of decision-making authority in a university. it is fair to write that our old, extremely decentralized model was harmful to our mission and wasteful of resources. the point of shifting some of the administrative burden to johnson hall is to establish the capacity to steer our university toward the goals we mutually agree to pursue and to create more bandwidth for academic leaders to attend to core local unit activities. but we need to be careful that we do not go too far and lose sight of the fact that virtually all of the important work of scholarship and education takes place outside of johnson hall by our exceptional faculty members in our schools and colleges. our deans and department chairs will always play the central role in setting local academic priorities, promoting world-class research, raising funds for these purposes, and serving the educational needs of our students. as we begin the school year, i am excited about our future. as i meet with presidents and teachers around the nation, i hear them talking about our great faculty achievements, about our research initiatives, and about our students and the education they receive. i no longer hear about an “academic reputation at risk. ” as jayanth and i, along with our deans, lead the university, i commit that we will continue to seek out and listen to the views of all relevant constituencies, including the university senate and the asuo. while we might not do what every person or group wants, i also commit that we will be transparent and give reasons to support our actions. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. dear university of oregon community members, in october N, before my arrival on the uo campus, the university announced what was then an audacious goal of raising $N billion to strengthen this institution in ways never before considered. it has been an honor to work alongside so many of you toward this unprecedented goal. thanks to the incredible generosity of our alumni and friends, we have reached $N. N billion and will, at some point over the next year, cross that $N billion threshold. it has been a massive undertaking that has transformed this campus in amazing ways and created new opportunities for oregonians. i am deeply grateful to the more than N,N donors who have contributed to the campaign. however, we are already looking ahead. borrowing a metaphor from our track and field heritage, we intend to sprint through the tape and keep going. as bill bowerman once said, “there is no finish line. ” in that spirit, i am pleased to announce that the uo will extend our fundraising campaign by adding $N billion to our goal. why are we extending the campaign instead of declaring victory? simply put, each one of you has helped put the university of oregon in a position where we enjoy incredible upward, positive momentum. as with all great universities, as we make progress we also see more opportunity. what once seemed unattainable is now within our grasp. our donors have told us they are ready and willing for even more success. we want to harness this energy and raise the resources that will enable us to be among the very best institutions of higher learning in the nation. the first focus of this campaign extension is fundraising hundreds of millions of dollars to secure access and success for students of all backgrounds. over the past several months we engaged in strategic planning with deans, faculty, and other campus stakeholders to identify priorities, pockets of opportunity, and aspirational goals. those conversations guided the creation of new fundraising targets, each grounded in our mission to be a great research institution that is committed to the success of our students. here are some examples of what we will be asking our alumni and friends to support: we will raise millions of dollars in sustaining support for pathwayoregon—a groundbreaking program celebrating its tenth year—that provides free tuition and fees for qualifying federal pell grant-eligible oregon residents. more than N,N students—over half of them first-generation college students and a large percentage of underrepresented students—have benefited from this program in the last decade, and we want to double, perhaps even triple, the pathwayoregon endowment to make it self-sustaining in perpetuity. we will seek significant new resources for merit-based scholarships such as the presidential scholarship program, which awards up to $N,N per year to high-achieving oregon students. to attract the best and brightest young scholars, we will seek additional scholarship support and prioritize reducing the higher differential tuition for the robert d. clark honors college, which is ranked among the top N public honors colleges in the country. the uo has always been a place that supports dreamers and daca students, many of whom are in this country and undocumented through no fault of their own, and whom do not qualify for federal aid. while the uo currently provides a track for these students to attend college, we will raise funds to reduce the cost of attendance for these amazing students, who deserve access to the same opportunities as their peers. we will boost financial support for pipeline programs—such as the summer academy to inspire learning and oregon young scholars—that demonstrate to young people throughout the state and nation that college education is within their reach. we will help our students graduate on time and find jobs that will enable them to achieve their dreams. we will raise funds to support the expansion of advising and employment programs in our new willie and donald tykeson hall, with its emphasis on college and careers. we will partner with donors to invest in experiential education programs to give undergraduate students hands-on learning and research opportunities that position them to quickly move into the job market. we also want to build campus resources that optimize the learning experience to ensure that the next generation of uo students have the types of facilities and classrooms that will enable them to discover and grow. our plan is to seek funds for a new N,N-square-foot classroom and faculty office building tentatively earmarked for environmental and sustainability programming. in addition, we will raise money to complete the black cultural center, which will break ground this fall, and ensure that we have the resources to support long-term staffing and programming in the new building. but scholarships, advisors, pipeline programs, and new buildings are meaningless if they are not undergirded by world-class academic programs and faculty. we are fortunate that we have a strong academic foundation across campus. we want to further strengthen research by amassing resources for the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact and the new presidential science initiative. this science initiative focuses on improving human life through the science of brains and behavior (neuroscience), chemical building blocks (material science), understanding and extracting knowledge (data science), and health and wellbeing (microbiome science). we also will work with our faculty in the humanities and social sciences to identify interdisciplinary programs that could make enormous contributions to the state of humanistic knowledge. these efforts will magnify those of our deans to fundraise for faculty support and research facilities within their schools and colleges. our deans and campus leaders have worked hard to develop new fundraising priorities and goals in each of their units to take full advantage of the momentum of this campaign extension. i look forward to working with them and their many volunteers in achieving new levels of philanthropic support for their individual programs. as part of this work, we must achieve the goals of this campaign extension using existing resources. last week, vice president for advancement michael andreasen unveiled a plan to reorganize development functions so that our limited personnel are assigned to support the areas that require the most effort. new teams of central fundraisers will focus on access and student success, our classroom building and associated environmental research projects, and science initiatives. the university of oregon is at an inflection point. we are bending the arc of progress northward toward new levels of academic and reputational excellence. extending the campaign by $N billion is an important way to leverage the creativity, curiosity, talent, and innovation of our faculty, staff, and students across this campus in transformational ways; to send the message that we are bold, independent innovators who will not be defined by our history or preconceived notions of what it means to be a public university. this campaign extension is about engaging our exceptional faculty in further pursuit of academic excellence, providing new ways for our generous alumni, donors, and friends to support this amazing university, and telling the next generation of uo students that we are committed to giving them all the tools they need to be extraordinary. i am excited to work with all of you to make these dreams a reality. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. dear university of oregon community members: it is incredibly exciting to see the university of oregon campus return to life at the beginning of the academic year. the crisp fall air, the flaming hues of changing leaves, and hustle-bustle associated with move-in, the first day of classes, convocation, meeting new people, and rekindling friendships gives me a renewed sense of energy, hope, and enthusiasm. i cannot wait to see what each of you—students and members of the faculty and staff—accomplishes and achieves in the coming year. one of the shared values that binds us together as one of the nation’s great public institutions of higher learning is our commitment to students. the primary mission of the uo is to create and convey knowledge to the next generation so they can go out into the world to become leaders, artists, innovators, musicians, scientists, teachers, small-business owners, informed citizens, critical thinkers, and problem solvers. over the past several years, we have greatly expanded our efforts to ensure that students from every background and income level can come to the uo and succeed. we just celebrated the Nth anniversary of pathwayoregon, an extraordinary commitment to the young people of our state that any federal pell grant-eligible student with a N. N gpa or greater who is admitted into our freshman class will not pay tuition or fees. the pathwayoregon program also includes best-in-class advising that has boosted graduation rates tremendously. some N,N students have already received a free education thanks to this great program. as pathwayoregon demonstrates, financial support is helpful, but does not eliminate all barriers to academic success. we need to provide great advising to all of our students, remove curricular roadblocks to timely completion, and help students plan for life after graduation. that is why earlier this year i committed to hiring N new advisors who will enhance our ability to guide students. and we are going to try something new: academic advisors will not only be able to assist students in selecting their courses, they will also be able to help shape students’ careers. we plan to have the vast majority of our new advisors hired and ready to go when the new college and careers building, willie and donald tykeson hall, opens in the fall of N. research repeatedly shows that one of the keys to succeeding in college is feeling a sense of belonging and connection to the community. we have done a lot in recent years to promote inclusion. among the most important innovations are our first-year interest groups (figs) and our academic residential communities (arcs). we now have more than N figs and N arcs. over the past couple of years, we added figs in food studies, popular music studies, and digital arts. we are also offering new arcs in health sciences and native american and indigenous studies. in N, we are planning to open a new latinx arc. while a lot of great things are in the works, we are not waiting until N to elevate our game. i would like to share with you information about new academic resources we will provide to our students this fall: student one stop: this new website—www. uoregon. edu/onestop—connects students with the huge swath of support services available on campus, including information about academic and career advising, financial aid and scholarships, housing, class registration, safety, diversity resources, technology, and so much more. in the past, due to the uo’s decentralized structure, finding these things on the uo’s many webpages was like looking for a needle in a haystack. but now students can simply click the student one stop link at the top of almost every uo webpage and those resources will be at their fingertips. it is easy. use it. guide app: this new mobile phone application connects students to a host of campus resources that are individually tailored to them—reminders on when it is time to apply for scholarships and financial aid, information about how to get a tutor or advisor for a specific school or college, how to prepare for an advising session, or how to explore student life resources. students can search for and download the app “guide by eab global” and they will be prompted to access a custom university of oregon app that authenticates for each student. the app then displays a unique dashboard for academic appointments, class schedule, major information, and more. there is much more work to be done, but there is also so much to celebrate at the beginning of the term in our focus on advancing the uo’s ambitious student success efforts. the new resources and tools we have launched this week are a meaningful down payment on our long-term commitment to student success at the uo, and i am confident they will pay dividends for our students in the years to come. thank you. as always, it is my great honor to lead the university of oregon. i hope each one of you has a great start to the N-N academic year. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. september N, N president michael h. schill delivered the following remarks at the uo board of trustees full board meeting in portland: thank you, chair lillis. let me first thank asuo president maria gallegos and vice president ivan chen for being here to represent student government. ensuring that we have open lines of communications with our students is a high priority for me and my entire administration. i am very much looking forward to working with maria, ivan, and the rest of asuo on making sure that student voices are heard and well represented. i believe we have a good foundation for a fruitful and productive working relationship. i look forward to working together with you and all students, faculty, staff, and alumni to advocate for the university of oregon, especially in salem, so that we get a good budget, which is essential to our collective success. i also want to recognize senate president bill harbaugh, who is starting his second tour of duty as president of the university senate. what is he thinking? i sometimes wonder when bill has time to eat or sleep, given that he is always teaching, in meetings to discuss senate business, or posting to his blog. his energy really is amazing. i will always view myself first and foremost as a member of the faculty, and i steadfastly believe in the principle of shared governance. i remain deeply committed to working with bill and the rest of senate leadership in a consultative and collaborative manner on vital academic matters. we have much to do in the coming year as we continue our march toward enhancing academic excellence at the uo. i am confident that, though we may not always agree and sometimes engage in fairly heated debate, we have the underpinnings necessary for a respectful and constructive relationship. and i think you are seeing some of the fruits of that in terms of what chris (sinclair, former senate president and vice president) talked about yesterday to the board in terms of core education. thank you for your service bill and i look forward to continuing to work with you. before i make some comments about the start of the term, i want to take a brief point of personal privilege to thank the university of oregon board of trustees for the faith and trust they have placed in me as president of this remarkable institution. the last three years have literally flown by, and i am incredibly proud of the progress that we have made and the momentum that the uo currently enjoys. i am surrounded by talented, smart, and capable administrators, faculty, and staff, and it is only with their support and skill that we’ve been able to achieve so much in such a short time. it is my great honor to work with these people and to lead the uo at this pivotal point in the university’s history, a moment in time when we are re-imagining and reshaping what it means to be a flagship public research institution both in oregon and in this nation. i am humbled by the board’s generosity to me in the form of a new contract. as i have discussed with a couple of you, i plan to donate the entire performance-based bonus that you have given me to a scholarship fund in memory of my mother, ruth schill, who passed away almost two years ago. i am proud to be a first-generation college graduate like many of our current students. i was fortunate to have my mother’s support, encouragement, confidence, and love which convinced me that i could go toe-to-toe with anyone at princeton. i can think of no better way to honor her memory than to establish a need-based scholarship that will be awarded annually to support a deserving first-generation student at the university of oregon. the start of the academic year is just a few weeks away. i can already see more faculty members buzzing around eugene and most will be back by september N. incoming first-year students will begin moving into their residence halls shortly thereafter, with classes officially starting on september N. the beginning of the academic year is always a time of hope, renewal, and excitement on the uo campus. you can feel the campus starting to wake up and come alive with energy and excitement as we prepare for the start of the N-N academic year. we have already kicked-off the new term celebrating something that has been absolutely transformational for so many oregonians—the N-year anniversary of pathwayoregon. when pathway launched in N, this innovative program was the first of its kind in the state—covering N percent of the cost of tuition and fees for academically qualified pell-eligible oregonians. more than that, we provide wraparound advising and academic support services to help these students succeed and thrive during their time at the uo. over the years, parts of it have been copied by some of our peers across the state, and we consider that the highest form of flattery. i always like it when we can be first, but that really is not the point. what matters here is the amazing impact that pathwayoregon has had over the years, including: more than N,N oregonians have enrolled in pathwayoregon and graduated from the uo over the last decade. that’s an amazing statistic when you stop to think about it—the number is bigger than our entire freshman class this year. N percent of the students who have benefited from pathway over the last decade were the first in their families to attend college. N percent of the pathway students over the last decade have been students of color. the retention rate for pathwayoregon exceed the national average for first-year students by N percent. today, more than N percent of the resident students who attend the uo are enrolled in the pathwayoregon program. they pay no tuition, no fees, and many graduate with no debt. i could talk for days about the impact of pathwayoregon, but rather than listen to me, i’d prefer to have you hear from our students in this video. pathwayoregon, and the opportunities it provides our students, would not have been possible without the generous support of our alumni who have contributed generously to create an endowment fund and those who donate annually to the program. at present, an endowment for the program funds about N percent of the annual cost of pathwayoregon. i wouldn’t be surprised if you all heard an announcement in the next month or two of a major initiative to raise an additional $N million in gifts to significantly bolster that endowment for the long term. to support that effort and to thank our donors, kyle henley and his communications team will launch a campaign next week marking the N-year anniversary of this amazing program. it includes a website that tells the story of pathwayoregon and some of its graduates with words, data, video, photos, and much more. in addition, the team will share that broadly with internal and external stakeholders and is working on public relations placements in media outlets throughout the state. starting my substantive comments with a focus on pathwayoregon is a perfect segue into another topic that i will increasingly focus on this year—achieving significant milestones in the student success initiatives we launched about three years ago. you’ll recall that it was in november N that we set a goal to improve the uo’s graduation rates and systematically look at how we can help our students graduate in four years. the uo already has the best graduation rate in the state, but we obviously are not content with that and recognize that we owe it to our students, their parents, and oregon’s taxpayers to do all we can to improve our graduation rate. i want to recognize the great work that associate vice provost for student success doneka scott has done over the last few years to bring us to a point where some of the things we have been working on are now starting to come online and bear fruit. some of these achievements include: this fall, we will launch a “one-stop” website—www. uoregon. edu/onestop—to help our students tap into the huge swath of support services that are available to them—academic and career advising, financial aid and scholarships, housing, class registration, safety, clubs, and so much more. in the past, due to the uo’s often decentralized structure, finding some of these things on the uo’s website was like looking for a needle in a haystack. you can go from one site to another and another. but now all a student has to do is click the “student one stop” link at the top of almost every uo webpage and those resources will be at their fingertips. i like looking at things on a big computer screen or even on paper—some refer to it as analogue; perhaps the better word is old. i am told that our students do everything on their phones these days. this fall we have also launched a new mobile phone app called “guide” that will connect uo students with a host of campus resources that are individually tailored to them—reminders on when it is time to apply for scholarships and financial aid within a college, information about how to get a tutor or advisor for specific school or college, how to prepare for an advising session, or how to connect with some student life resources. they will also be able to schedule appointments with advisors through the new app and eventually will also be able to schedule appointments with tutors. we are not the first in this area, but we are pleased to be state-of-the-art. these two new tools will complement each other and work in tandem with other student success investments that the board is well aware of—our effort to hire more than N new academic advisors and the construction of tykeson hall, which will open in N as a one-stop center for our career and academic advising programs and the home to the college of arts and sciences, division of equity and inclusion, and more. we have searches underway for a tykeson hall director as well as a director of tutoring services. there is much more work to be done, but there is also much to celebrate at the beginning of the term in our efforts to advance the uo’s ambitious student success efforts. i would be remiss if i did not mention that one of our greatest campus partners in these endeavors—college of arts and sciences dean andrew marcus—has decided to step down at the end of the calendar year after more than five years as the leader of the university of oregon’s largest and most expansive college. i am deeply grateful to andrew for his exceptional leadership of cas. he has been a principled leader, a voice of reason, a source of institutional memory, and a tireless advocate for the faculty and students of cas. the most enduring symbol of andrew’s legacy is tykeson hall, which is under construction in the heart of campus. every day, i literally watch it rise from the ground outside of my office. they are making great progress. andrew’s vision is to create an innovative place where students can tap into academic advising, career guidance, and portfolio-building resources in one location. it will be a place where generations of uo students will set themselves on a path to a more meaningful future, and it could not have happened without andrew’s leadership. during his time as dean, andrew has realigned the college’s budget with transparency, fairness, and wisdom. he has helped recruit and hire wonderful divisional deans and dazzling new faculty members as well as retain standout professors and researchers, efforts that have helped the uo solidify and strengthen its academic foundation in a wide range of disciplines. andrew also launched new degrees and programs to serve the evolving demands and needs of students, including the center for environmental futures and the new black studies initiative. i know firsthand how difficult the job of dean can be and i was a dean of a school with one department compared to andrew’s, which is more than N! i want to personally thank andrew for the tremendous impact he has had on the college and the broader university of oregon. he leaves a deep and lasting legacy that will not be soon forgotten. thank you, andrew. provost banavar and i have already started consulting with the college’s leadership team and members of the cas faculty about how best to move forward when andrew steps down at the end of the year. having strong, capable leadership within the college of arts and sciences is a top priority, and we intend to develop and share a search plan in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition in cas. we are proud that the university of oregon is the great liberal arts university in the state of oregon. and cas is the heart and soul of liberal arts at the uo. with that, i will conclude my remarks. i am happy to answer questions. thank you.  .june N, N dear university of oregon community members, as we close out the N-N academic year, i offer my warm congratulations to all of our graduates. i also want to thank everyone—faculty, advisors, graduate instructors and researchers, and staff—who helped our graduates reach the finish line. i look forward to standing in matthew knight arena and watching those caps fly, as the class of N prepares to take flight. together, we accomplished quite a bit this year. we took big leaps forward in advancing our academic enterprise: we broke ground on the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact and hired a permanent executive director to lead this extraordinary effort to further the mission of science in the service of society; we invested in promising new academic programs—from data science and science media to embedding education researchers in high schools—and we continued to hire and invest in world-class scholars in fields such as obesity prevention, black studies, anthropology, and volcanology to name a few. it is fitting that the year was bookended at the start by the groundbreaking for tykeson hall and at the end by the announcement that we will hire two dozen new advisors to work in that same building when it opens in N as part of our new expansion and integration of academic and career counseling. i am incredibly excited to join with the college of arts and sciences, undergraduate studies, and student life in an initiative that will support student success from the moment they step foot on campus to the time students leave and beyond. there is nothing more important. as someone who will probably go down in history as the least athletic university of oregon president, i joined with many of you in cheering on the achievements of our scholar-athletes, both on the field and off. in particular, i was thrilled and inspired by our pac-N champion softball and women’s basketball teams who demonstrated the very best in intercollegiate athletics time and time again. i also enjoyed watching our students excel in activities as varied as producing art, making music, and acting. for our university to soar we need to become more diverse and inclusive. toward that end, over the course of the past year every school, college, and administrative unit created diversity action plans in their corner of campus. we opened a new native american academic residential community, announced that we would build a black cultural center, and redoubled efforts to recruit and support underrepresented students, all of which was on display during last week’s showcase oregon. like most universities across the united states, we experienced tension between the rights and values of free expression and the need to create a safe and inclusive environment on an increasingly diverse campus. with few exceptions, these tensions were resolved in a way that should make us proud. we also held robust discussions from a variety of perspectives and disciplines during our freedom of expression event series that explored our differences and commonalities. as i wrap up my third year as president, i have been reflecting on what i’ve learned about our students and this paragraph is specifically addressed to them. you are impressive, brilliant, passionate, and entrepreneurial. while the vast majority of you love being part of our uo community, some of you feel marginalized and unsafe on our campus. some of you do not feel heard or supported, or fear speaking up for what you need or believe. i am reminded that we, as an institution, and i, personally, need to listen more, engage with you in a more supportive way, and strive to better understand all perspectives and needs. this will be a priority for me and everyone on our campus going forward. i want all of you—every student and every member of our campus community—to benefit from the amazing wave of success our university is riding. we have some of the greatest minds solving big problems—from protecting our earth and making our bodies work better to creating new products and advocating for justice. we are making a difference, making the world more beautiful and interesting, and preparing a generation of leaders. we are, in short, part of something really special here at the university of oregon. i am proud to be your president. thank you for a wonderful academic year. enjoy the summer. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. june N, N president michael schill delivered his remarks during the university of oregon board of trustees meeting on june N, N. welcome to the board, marcia. you have been a great supporter of the uo for years and you bring to us incredibly valuable experience and expertise with respect to executive leadership and k-N education. i am closing my third year. it is amazing to think we have wrapped up another academic year. three years have flown by. thank you, amy, for your service to our students. we look forward to working with incoming asuo president maria alejandra gallegos-chacon and her executive committee in the year ahead. i am sorry chris is not here for us to thank him for his service to the university as senate president. welcome back, bill, for another tour of duty. and as of yesterday’s senate meeting professor elizabeth skowron will be joining the senate leadership team next year as vice president. elizabeth, we will look forward to working with you. as we prepare to send another graduating class into the world, i want to touch on some of the successes and challenges of the N-N academic year. this year we made tremendous progress on each of our key initiatives of improving academic excellence, student success, and advancing the diversity and experience on campus. we've covered or will cover many of these issues during this board meeting, so i will only touch the surface of most of them. feel free to ask me questions. academic excellence the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact has rocked our world and indeed the whole world. we have thus far raised close to $N million in gifts and state support, with the most recent being a gift of $N million coming from lorry lokey for faculty chairs and another $N million, which we will announce soon for faculty research support. the vision is philanthropy and state support of about a billion dollars. the support makes it possible, what goes on in the knight campus is what we do. bob guldberg will join as director in july, and was here this week as we hosted our inaugural event in the knight campus lecture series. digging has begun on franklin boulevard for two new, state-of-the-art laboratories where the knight campus will be located. partnerships with ohsu have been created and we just launched a joint research program for eight uo/ohsu pairs of scholars. david conover’s office has taken the lead on that. we have a small grants competition. i am very excited about the success so far. contacts and partnerships with entrepreneurs and corporations are being explored. this is part of what we told the state. science in the service of humanities. science is important. period. but the knight campus is about getting that science out into the world to make our world a better place. an advisory board is being formed. throughout the state and indeed, the nation, there is excitement and interest in what we are doing here. we continued making more tenure- and tenure-track faculty hires this year. when all of the comings and goings are settled this year, we expect to have increased our ttf ranks by more than N individuals since we set our aspirations toward this goal of N. this is a net increase which includes our retirement. this year’s hiring spanned all of the schools in the university although we have had some focus on priority areas such as black studies and genomics. next year, as you heard, provost banavar has approved a hiring plan, which will include focused hiring for the presidential data science initiative, the knight campus, the business school, and hiring in every part of the university. we re-opened the beautifully renovated chapman hall, home to our honors college, as we continued to invest in modernizing our research and classroom infrastructure including those in pacific and klamath halls. we have prioritized eustis hall in our next biennial capital request to the hecc. yesterday we saw it ended up fairly high on the state list. our laboratories are untouched for decades, and so we need to renovate them to serve our faculty and students. i’ve talked to you in the past about our investments from the presidential fund for excellence, which was made possible by an amazing anonymous gift. you have already heard about data science, sojc’s new media center for science and technology, the college of education’s oregon research schools network, and our matching program for up to nine new endowed faculty chairs—one for each college or school and one each for the three divisions in cas. we have so far successfully matched three—music and dance, the natural sciences in cas, and the lundquist college of business. we have also invested in two really exciting academic programs in the college of design—the urbanism next initiative that examines the impact of autonomous vehicles on cities and the biology and built environment center that studies the impact of building technologies on health and the environment. access and success and as we discussed yesterday, we are using a portion of the anonymous gift to seed the extraordinary expansion of advising that will take place in tykeson hall. related to student success, carrying loads and graduation rates continue to increase. our most recent data indicates that we have a seven percent increase. we expect that to fluctuate in the next year or two. we expect even more dramatic progress as tykeson hall comes on line with an additional N advisors. we have also expanded pathwayoregon and increased our commitment to the state of oregon by increasing our resident enrollment. what is remarkable about pathwayoregon is when we started this program we budgeted for N,N students. we are on track to enroll as many as N,N pathway students; over one-quarter of all resident students. it is an $N million dollar a year commitment to serve bright, lower income students in the state of oregon who want and deserve all the benefits a college education will bring them. diversity and student experience equity and inclusion is vitally important at our university and its importance grows each year as our student body and our state becomes more diverse. vice president for equity and inclusion yvette alex-assensoh will present on the ideal framework and its implementation through diversity action plans later today. we have also made great progress over the past year in implementing our response to several of the demands of the black student task force including: implementing a new multicultural requirement. offering a second year of the african american lecture series–which by all accounts was another success. continuing our work on creating a black studies program. and planning and fundraising for a black cultural center, which now has architectural renderings. we expect to break ground in the fall as we continue to fundraise. this year we opened our native american academic residential community housed at the new kalapuya ilihi residence hall, which you saw at a previous meeting. we worked hard to advocate for the preservation of daca and continue our work to ensure latino students from across the state come to the uo and receive support and connections once on campus. like other universities throughout the nation we are challenged by the growth of diversity on campus, the desire for inclusion, and our commitment to freedom of speech. although we thankfully escaped visits from controversial troublemakers like milo yiannopoulos and richard spencer, we experienced some protests and interruptions by students and incidents involving the posting of white supremacist propaganda on campus. last summer i asked deans juan-carlos molleda and marcilynn burke to put together a set of events throughout the university on freedom of expression. these events took on even greater meaning after charlottesville and the interruption of my state of the university speech in october. the lectures, roundtable discussions, art exhibits, and other events explored the tension between free expression and creating an inclusive campus. in all, we hosted more than a dozen events on a variety of thought-provoking topics. i was impressed with the discourse, energized by our student’s insights, and frankly, i came away with some new thoughts and perspectives on our fundamental legal and ethical responsibilities when it comes to speech and expressions. funding we have talked at length about our budget, so i will not revisit the topic, except to say that funding is and will remain our greatest challenge in the coming years. we, like all universities in the nation, have increasing costs relating to wages and health benefits. but what is particularly damaging to oregon public universities (and to the entire state) is the cost of pers. as you remember, this year and next year we had to add to our recurring expenses $N million to pay for pers. for fyN we expect to add $N million more. that is $N million per year; the equivalent of over N faculty members! as you know we have entire teams working on this because we know that we cannot continue to deliver an excellent education without more money to cover the large increases. and our students and their families are counting on us to stretch every tuition dollar and to provide our students with an outstanding education and opportunity to participate in world-changing research. that brings me to the two new topics i would like to briefly discuss: differential tuition at the last board of trustees meeting in march, you voted to allow to allow the university to charge differential tuition for the lundquist school of business. at that meeting i told you that i would bring to you a framework that would help guide the deans, provost, and ultimately me, in future proposals. after several months of discussion and consultation, i would like to present you with that framework. the framework includes consultation with the asuo and the senate budget committee, the latter with a particular focus on academic impacts that may result from a proposal. while the senate did pass a resolution last week to establish a task force on differential tuition, we have been told that they are likely to not do that because the senate budget committee has a role per framework. i think that’s right—we do not need more university task forces that simply duplicate work; we need to collaborate and work together. the framework is focused on some core principles that center on the value to and impact on students, as well as an ancillary impact on the school and entire institution or other programs. you have the full framework and i will review that briefly here. any proposal to enact differential undergraduate tuition should: demonstrate the tangible value to students that warrants increased costs, such as the potential for greater earnings, improve student services, or accelerate time to completion. demonstrate how differential tuition would substantially increase the quality of the student experience. provide a plan for how the school/college will mitigate the impact of the proposal on students with the greatest financial need, especially to avoid “major shopping” where students may select majors based solely on affordability. focus on strategic investments or services that could not otherwise be provided without serious detriment to the school/college. contain an analysis of market comparisons and information at comparator institutions. show that the proposal has been thoroughly vetted at the program or school/college level before submission to administration, with particular attention to student review and input. be made available to the senate budget committee for review. while this framework is not something you will vote on, i wanted to share with the board how we are thinking about these guidelines, and how we hope to move forward. honorary degrees finally, after a decade-long hiatus, i am pleased that we have begun a process to again to bestow honorary degrees to outstanding individuals who have shown outstanding scholarship or artistic achievement in their lifetime, or performed extraordinary public service or contributions to society in their lifetime. later today we will discuss the two names forwarded for your consideration: businessman and philanthropist lorry lokey and artist carrie mae weems, both of whom are oregonians who have made significant contributions to society. if you approve these individuals as honorary degree recipients later today and if they accept, we will move forward on details around a visit in which they can engage with the community. our hope is that mr. lokey can attend commencement on the Nth given his proximity to eugene and his plans to already be in the area, and that ms. weems might be available to visit in the fall when students and faculty are available to celebrate her artistic works. i look forward talking more about both of them, but for now i will let us get back to the agenda. thank you.  .june N, Ngood afternoon, i’m michael schill, president of the university of oregon. welcome to showcase oregon. this celebration of the university of oregon’s work to advance and sustain equity and inclusion on our campus happens every two years—and so much has happened to both activate, advance, and challenge our university’s work in this arena in two short years. our campus, state, country, and indeed the world, has been undergoing a revolution of sorts in how we perceive privilege, treat one another, and tackle hard issues such as racism, homophobia, misogyny, white nationalism, and more. i know there are many of you in the room who have been fighting these battles for a lot longer than two years; some have been fighting for decades and generations to create a world in which every person is able to live their lives without bias and judgment based on the way they look, who they are, what they wear, who they love, how they express themselves, or where they come from. in fact, the work on the ideal framework began about four years ago… about one year before i arrived on campus. even though i did not begin the process i am proud that i made it a priority and accelerated this important work in ways that moved it beyond planning to the current phase of implementation. aspects of the implementation process were prompted and informed by a number of national and international issues, but the foundation for this work made our response to these issues much more effective. for example, over the last two years as the black lives matter movement gained momentum our campus challenged itself to address the demands of the black student task force. our country faced the end of daca and challenges to dreamers’ ability to work and gain an education in this country. our campus has benefitted by the work of the latino strategies group in designing a training that is helping to institutionalize resources and support on our campus for dreamers. white nationalists and the antifa brought violence to american streets and some college campuses, the me too movement empowered women to stand up to their harassers and for people to finally listen and believe those who’ve been beating these drums for decades. our understanding of gender expression and the many forms in which we see ourselves as people and live authentic lives took leaps forward. and each of these movements and changes had impacts here at the university of oregon. indeed, we have been reworking our processes and policies to ensure that we have the best strategies in place for addressing these issues. and we are celebrating an important milestone today at this showcase. diversity, equity, and inclusion are vitally important at our university and its importance grows each year as our student body and our state become more diverse. it is important for the quality of the education and research we impart and produce. under the direction of vice president for equity and inclusion yvette alex-assensoh and her team of colleagues in dei, as well as the leadership of the schools, colleges, and administrative units, we are moving from planning into the “activation stage” through the our diversity action plans. units all across campus have created plans to help make the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion a reality on our campus. additionally, five working groups are gathering to study and make recommendations about how to provide campus-level support for climate surveys, implicit bias, onboarding, recruitment, and leadership succession plans for my review and consideration. i invite you to visit their posters and provide feedback that can be included in the final recommendation. we also have a host of panels, known as dap-talks, on issues that are important to our success and we are grateful to the presenters and facilitators from campus and beyond who are leading this aspect of our engagement. as part of our dap-talks, i encourage you to visit with our newly elected asuo officers and other students to learn about next year’s work, as the asuo can be an important leader and partner in these efforts. i invite each of you to review the posters, attend dap-talks, and at the end of the day, celebrate the successes of our campus with the awards ceremony. thank you, yvette and to the entire staff of the division of equity and inclusion, and all who helped make this event a reality. we are also very grateful to scholars and practitioners from university of california at irvine, dr. douglas haynes and former pdcc member dante james and christina james, of the gemini group, who are infusing our day with latest information on best practices and also providing individual consultation for all of the daps. this is one day, but we must make it a continued, focused priority every day. thank you for being here and for your work to advance this critical work. enjoy showcase oregon!. the associated students of the university of oregon recently approved a resolution in which they endorsed the boycott, divest, sanction (bds) movement against israel and resolved to prohibit the purchase of products from certain firms because of those companies’ presumed connections to israel. the nonbinding resolution refers only to expenditures and purchases of the asuo, and encourages the broader campus community to follow suit. it did not explicitly adopt the parts of the bds agenda that call for a boycott of intellectual engagements and collaborations with israeli universities and scholars. first, i would like to acknowledge the respectful manner in which students debated the issue. the arab-israeli conflict is one of the most difficult social and political issues of modern times, and it is very important that our community approach discussions of this matter with mutual respect. while emotions understandably were high, that respectful behavior was manifest at the asuo meeting at which this topic was debated. i would also like to acknowledge that the asuo didn’t go so far as to adopt the tactics of the bds movement with respect to boycotts of intellectual interchange between israel and other nations. not allowing the free interchange of scholars would harm the very mission of our university and interfere with academic freedom. while i wholeheartedly support the right of our students individually and as members of a student organization to express their first amendment-protected opinions, i feel it is important to briefly comment on the asuo action because it contradicts the asuo mission to support the interests of all students in a diverse community. the university of oregon is committed to the principle of inclusion, and over the last three years each school, college and administrative unit on our campus has focused – through the ideal framework and diversity actions plans -- on efforts to enhance and strengthen policies and practices that make this campus welcoming and inclusive to all. i believe the asuo resolution is inconsistent with these values. regardless of the relative merits of the palestinian authority and the state of israel, it is important that all of us make every effort we can to avoid dividing our community along the lines of ideology, religion or national origin. to many jewish people, myself included, the bds movement not only seeks to criticize the policies of the current israeli government, but also calls into question the very right of the state of the israel to exist. as asuo considers future legislative actions on behalf of the student body, i hope our student leaders will seek ways to band together in support of our common humanity. i am looking forward to partnering with our campus community – including asuo and all student organizations – toward that end.  .may N, Ndear colleagues, ensuring the university of oregon has an inclusive and welcoming campus for students, staff, faculty, and the community is a top institutional priority. we must continuously look for ways to strengthen and enhance efforts to address and reduce incidents of discrimination and harassment. to further these efforts, the uo is consolidating its title ix and affirmative action and equal opportunity offices under a newly formed office of civil rights compliance. the new unit will be led by darci heroy, current associate vice president and title ix coordinator, and will report directly to the president with dotted lines to the vice president for student life and vice president for finance and administration. the move to streamline operations and merge these investigatory functions aligns the uo with emerging best practices within higher education as institutions across the country seek to improve consistency and coordination of policies and processes for investigating and responding to all forms of discrimination and harassment. the new office of civil rights compliance will bolster the uo’s investigatory capabilities, reduce confusion about where to report, and ultimately improve our ability to respond to and resolve a variety of civil rights complaints. the restructuring will bring together two offices that have similar investigatory roles on the uo’s campus. the title ix office is responsible for institutional oversight of all complaints related to gender discrimination and sexual harassment. the aaeo office is responsible for managing complaints of other discriminatory or harassing behavior, including discrimination based on race, age, disability, or national origin. the two offices already work closely on a variety of issues and initiatives, and we believe they will function even more effectively as a combined unit with consistent processes, oversight, and management of all claims of discrimination at the uo. other important functions of the aaeo office, such as disability accommodations and affirmative action reporting, will remain in the office of human resources portfolio. under this new structure, there will no longer be a separate aaeo office or director. people involved as a complainant or respondent in an outstanding case with either the aaeo or title ix office will have their cases continue without interruption. in the coming weeks and months, the office of civil rights compliance will roll out new tools for reporting any incident of harassment or discrimination. during the transition period, here are the key contacts: for questions about issues related to all prohibited discrimination and harassment, employee reporting obligations, or to make a report, you can contact darci heroy (non-confidential) at N-N-N or titleixcoordinator@uoregon. edu. for concerns involving students, contact the confidential crisis staff in the dean of students office at N-N-N, via the safe line at N-N-safe, or visit safe. uoregon. edu. for questions or information related to workplace disability accommodations contact martin stanberry, ada coordinator, (non-confidential) at N-N-N or martin@uoregon. edu. for questions or information related to affirmative action, contact judy rideout, senior affirmative action specialist, at N-N-N or jbr@uoregon. edu. we believe this new structure will continue to improve our investigation and response functions, and ultimately better serve our university community. if you have any questions or concerns feel free to reach out to any of us. you can also connect with darci heroy at N-N-N or titleixcoordinator@uoregon. edu. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law jamie moffittvice president for finance and administration r. kevin marburyvice president for student life. april N, N as a leader in higher education, the university of oregon has a profound duty and mission to promote and celebrate diversity of all types. bringing people of different backgrounds and beliefs together lifts communities throughout our state, nation, and world and also enhances our primary missions of education, research, and service. in addition, perhaps more than ever, each of us needs to understand the perspectives of people who are different from ourselves so that we might build a community based upon trust and mutual respect. endeavoring to create a diverse community is not enough. for all of the benefits of diversity to take root and flower we must ensure that all students, faculty, and staff feel embraced and part of our community. this is the principle of inclusion. and sometimes we have to go further to ensure that real, rather than symbolic, inclusion occurs—in other words, we may need to take actions to provide different groups particularized support. this is reflected by our commitment to equity. we promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in many ways—through our outreach and pipeline programs, admissions policies, curriculum, and support for multicultural groups. we also sponsor or support an amazing variety of extracurricular events meant to educate and enrich, including this month’s indigenous devotion to education awards, professor regina kunzel’s talk on queer history, the screening of damon davis’s documentary on standing up to oppression, and the “don’t touch my hair” exhibit at the jordan schnitzer museum of art. despite our efforts, there is still more work to do. also, we are not an island; we are challenged by outside forces. racism, misogyny, antisemitism, xenophobia, and intolerance for people of different gender identity and expression and sexual orientation are a part of our nation’s history. progress has been slow and not in a straight line. with the polarization that accompanied the election of N, ugly acts of hate have intensified throughout the united states, in oregon, and even in eugene. we see this in vile messages sometimes posted or chalked throughout our campus. we hear it in the occasional taunts of white supremacist visitors to our campus. you might be wondering what the specific purpose is of this message. i have written and spoken numerous times condemning the intolerance of racists and white supremacists, supporting the rights of dreamers and our lgbtq and native nations communities. well, it is clear to me that from time to time our collective community, particularly our most vulnerable members, need to hear that the leaders of the university remain deeply committed to and protective of our core principles. a second reason for this message is to express my unwavering pledge to doing everything within the law to ensure that the voices of hate do not threaten our community. while we cannot under federal and state law or university policy prohibit people from coming on to campus and expressing their views, we can and will require them to follow university rules governing conduct. if those rules are not strict enough, we will work with the university senate to change them. we will also go further and take actions to protect members of our community who are targeted, harassed, or physically threatened. if you hear of someone who plans to come on to our campus to spread hate, or if you or someone you know is threatened, please let us know by visiting the respect. uoregon. edu website or by calling N-N-N. each provocation by ignorant haters will be met by an even more vigorous effort to promote the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion that we cherish. as many of you know, all of our units on campus are implementing diversity action plans. in june we will provide an opportunity to share the work that is ongoing as well as the additional steps that we are taking as a campus to embed equity, inclusion, and diversity into the fabric of campus life. we will continue to work vigorously with our diverse student organizations, faculty and administrative groups such as native strategies, adpi, los patos, and black strategies, and with the university senate to empower, incorporate, and celebrate our differences, while at the same time not losing sight of the fact that we are part of a broader community committed to learning and tolerance. we will continue to fight for the rights of our dreamers to remain in the united states and get their degrees. i invite each of you to join us in this effort to reclaim and promote our shared humanity. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. april N, N president schill delivered the following remarks during an unveiling of the new hayward field. welcome to all the members of our university of oregon community who are with us today. welcome faculty, staff, students, alumni, neighbors, and friends. today, i have the privilege of announcing a major new milestone in the advancement of the university of oregon, a progression that has been primarily fueled by the generosity of our alumni. the university of oregon is on a rapid ascent toward achieving our highest aspiration—of taking our place among the great public research universities in the nation—so that we may amplify our ability to discover, to prepare the next generation of students for purposeful lives, and to create impact that makes our world a better place. when i stated that goal nearly three years ago upon my arrival in eugene—following many years of leadership churn and state budget cuts—i know a lot of folks must have thought i was delusional. but i also experienced a sense of hope, hunger, and recognition—in other words, a belief—that oregon, with the right support, could make a surging come-from-behind move, just as our track and field, softball, football, and basketball programs had, under the right care and leadership. we asked our faculty to dream big. how could we achieve prominence? they answered with an idea to create a brand new campus linked to the main campus but separate in its inclination. eighteen months ago we received the largest gift ever made to a public flagship university—half a billion dollars—to launch the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact. we have recruited an eminent director and the first two buildings will soon mark the entrance to our campus in grand style. the knight campus and the excitement around its announcement has created a virtuous cycle. we now regularly recruit terrific faculty who come because they understand that the knight campus, the energy it creates, will provide the momentum for growth in their own fields. people like nobel laureate david wineland and neuroscientist david mccormick. civil rights historians leslie alexander and curtis austin. award-winning author and graphic novelist mat johnson. even more important, the promise of our trajectory has stemmed the outflow of our leading faculty to other schools. people understand that we mean business when we say that that our ascent will be steep. additional philanthropic support has followed phil and penny’s gift to feed our academic programs—a $N million anonymous gift for our highest priorities, a $N million gift from tim and mary boyle to restore our edge in zebrafish research, a $N million investment in new faculty chairs from lorry lokey, and a recent mellon foundation grant to fund the environmental humanities, to name a few. this series of events in recent years—an independent board, strengthened administrative and academic leadership, outstanding faculty achievements, extraordinary philanthropy from amazing donors and friends, the successful launch of the knight campus—have set the university of oregon on a rocket-fueled course toward new levels of excellence and national prominence, a course that is unprecedented in our history. i would in fact posit that it is unprecedented among public institutions of higher education in this country in this modern era. our current trajectory toward eminence would not have been possible were it not for the generosity of two people—phil and penny knight. from the beginning phil and penny believed in a vision that a great public university needed to have a strong academic foundation. three multi-million dollar gifts made in the Ns—the biggest in our history up to that time—expanded and modernized our library, the hub of intellectual activity on campus; established the knight endowed chairs and professorships for our best and brightest faculty; and funded the construction of our law school building. a great public university is defined by incredible academics but punctuated by tremendous athletic programs. and phil and penny made sure that the uo had best-in-class facilities by playing leading roles in the building of autzen stadium, hatfield-dowlin complex, jaqua academic center for student athletes, matthew knight arena and marcus mariota sports performance center. and today we celebrate another milestone in our trajectory, another magnificent act of philanthropy led by phil and penny, one that is particularly meaningful to me and our entire community—the next chapter in the university of oregon’s legendary track and field program. when i made my first visit to campus in N, people took me around to show me what took place where: path-breaking science took place in the lokey science complex; accounting and business research and teaching at lillis; social sciences faculty in plc. football was across the river. but the heart and soul of our campus was at hayward field. we could spend the whole day talking about the historic moments that have taken place at hayward field: where steve prefontaine broke records, push boundaries, and became a legend. where mary decker and annette peters dominated and thrilled the nation. where great distance runners became known by just one name: renfro, davis, pre, salazar, chapa, rupp. where nick symmonds led three locals to a mind-blowing sweep of the N. where ashton eaton redefined what it meant to be the world’s greatest athlete. where english gardner planted seeds of greatness that flowered into olympic gold and raevyn rogers anchored an oregon triple crown—magic moments that are part of track and field lore. but perhaps the most consequential moment occurred just over N years ago when a skinny, tow-headed kid from portland stepped on the hayward field track and met a man named bill bowerman. the rest, as they say, is history. today as we celebrate the next chapter of hayward field, we also celebrate something at once more personal and yet universal—the relationship between a runner and a coach; a teacher and a student; an inventor and an entrepreneur; and between an alumnus and his school. with a deep appreciation of where we have come from and a profound optimism for what is yet to come, i am thrilled and honored to unveil designs for the university of oregon’s new hayward field. the new hayward field will be the finest track and field facility in the world when it is complete in N. fully funded by gifts from phil and penny and more than N additional donors, the revitalized and reimagined hayward field will give athletes—including the u of o’s outstanding student athletes—a magnificent, unparalleled stage on which to boldly showcase the power, beauty, and capabilities of the human body—to run, to jump, to soar, and to push the limits of what is possible. in N—more than N years after the first track was installed at hayward field—this hallowed ground will be the centerpiece for the iaaf world championships oregonN. the eyes of the world will be on eugene, oregon, as athletes from every corner of the globe come to our beautiful and vibrant city and state to take part in a global athletic event that is only eclipsed in stature and size by the olympics and world cup. it will be an extraordinary opportunity for our university, our community, and our state to command the world’s attention and tell our story—the story of bowerman and knight and prefontaine, but also the story of george streisinger and ken kesey and geraldine richmond. our new hayward field is about so much more than one historic event—it will be home to the university of oregon’s championship track and field program led by coach robert johnson. it will be a venue for pacific-N championships, ncaa championships, the prefontaine classic, the olympic trials, state high school championships, all-comers meets, and much, much more. the new hayward field will continue to be the heart and soul of the track and field world, the birthplace of the running movement, as well as a cherished asset that everyone in eugene and throughout oregon can claim and be proud of. the new hayward field will honor the legendary student athletes and coaches who have competed and led here, and it will be an unrivaled canvas for the legends that are to come. this new facility will be a place fitting for the university of oregon to honor our past and celebrate our future. i know for many people, oregon’s track legacy is tied to its physical space, and some will have mixed feelings about seeing the east grandstands replaced with a new silhouette. however, our storied and historic track and field legacy is not made of wood and metal, it’s made of the people who competed here, the sweat and tears of the athletes, the leadership of coaches, the cheers of the fans, the crushing defeats, and majestic come-from-behind wins that made our pulses race and our hearts flutter. hayward field is a culture as much as a place, and that culture, built by hayward, bowerman, knight, prefontaine, and so many others, will live on—and flourish—here. this amazing complex will also be more than a world-class and highly sought-after sports venue. from the new iconic bowerman tower, generations of admitted students, faculty recruits, and visitors to the university of oregon will get their first panoramic glimpse of our beautiful campus and a sense of how they will fit into our community. and once they arrive, those who are interested in human physiology will study there. dedicated laboratory and classroom space will help advance our understanding of the human body and the limits of human performance. we will work with our faculty partners to ensure that the academic facilities incorporated into hayward field match the quality of the competition field. this is just one piece of an important campus-wide transformation to ensure that we have the facilities necessary to serve the evolving demands of our faculty and students. before i close, i ask that you indulge me a moment with a personal reflection about the two people who have made today possible—phil and penny knight. when i was first contacted about becoming your president more than three years ago, i saw the potential of the university of oregon. the university had a proud history of being the home of iconoclastic and entrepreneurial graduates and professors. it had a strong reputation appreciated by people who never stepped foot anywhere near the state of oregon. it had just gained independence to advance its mission and attract philanthropy from alumni whose love for the university was as wide as the willamette is long. in short, it was a school ready to assume its rightful place among the very best universities in the nation. but a lot of universities have good governance structures, storied histories, and great ambitions. yet they do not have the trajectory we enjoy now, nor that i predict we will have in the future, because their university families do not include folks like phil and penny. their love, their devotion, their resources to building our university provides not only the current wherewithal for us to move forward, but it provides an inspiration to alumni who will follow them. as i told them on the day we had that wonderful announcement unveiling the miraculous $N million gift to fund the knight campus N months ago, phil and penny knight give us the ability to dream. those dreams can include national championships. they can include nobel prizes. they can inspire young people from the forgotten places, the savannahs of kenya, the streets of montreal, the suburbs of portland, the coasts, forests, and high deserts of oregon—who can come to the university of oregon to succeed. the u of o is a place where they can dream big and prepare for—as phil knight’s coach and teacher, bill bowerman, spoke of often—the struggles and competitions that lay ahead, far beyond oregon. today we celebrate—as we come out of the curve and into the straightaway of the university of oregon’s ambitious race to greatness. the message for every student, every faculty and staff member, and every alumnus is clear: don’t come to the university of oregon to be the best in town. don’t come to be the best in the state or even in the country. you come to the university of oregon to be the best in the world.  .march N, N dear university of oregon community members, late last night, the university sent out a campus safety advisory about two serious crimes involving uo students that happened recently in neighborhoods near campus within the eugene police department’s (epd) jurisdiction. we sent this information to campus as soon as we were able to confirm these incidents with epd. these assaults follow a series of armed robberies and other crimes in recent weeks near campus that have shaken our collective sense of safety and security. they are of serious concern to us, as we know they are to our students, their families, faculty, staff, and neighbors. there is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of our students. we are writing to share information about the steps we are taking to address off-campus safety, and to urge everyone on campus to take care of each other. we have been very impressed with the way our students and others have stepped up to watch out for their friends and classmates by taking extra precautions such as walking together and reporting suspicious activities. we are a community that looks after each other. but there are additional actions we have taken which we would like to remind you about. it is vitally important that if you see or learn information about a crime or suspicious activity that you call police right away. report criminal activity (such as a break-in or intruder, robbery, or assault) immediately to N-N-N, or for non-emergency situations on campus, to uo police department (uopd) at N-N-N. while these incidents have happened off campus within the jurisdictions of eugene police, we are committed to working closely with epd to investigate these crimes and step up patrols. this includes the following recent actions: uopd has added extra officers dedicated to patrolling city streets near campus. uopd is working with the oregon department of justice to install neighborhood cameras early this week. eugene police have extra officers in the area evenings and overnight. epd has substantially increased the number of patrols near campus and has pledged to coordinate with uopd with respect to information and tactics. uopd has contracted with private security to provide four unarmed (non-sworn) security officers to patrol city streets near campus until further notice. the uo campus shuttle has expanded its hours and is running N p. m. -N a. m. daily. a N-person bus has been added to the shuttle fleet to boost capacity. the uo has developed a security plan to help students get safely to early-morning airport shuttle stops on campus, for those departing eugene for spring break. we also urge every member of campus to take action to protect themselves. here are safety tips from the uo police department: students are encouraged to use uo safe ride (N-N-ride ext. N) or designated driver shuttle (N-N-ride ext. N), or the uo campus shuttle (map. uoregon. edu/campus-shuttle), call a taxicab, or contact uopd for an on-campus escort (N-N-N). be aware of your surroundings. if you see someone in distress make yourself known and offer assistance if it is safe to do so, and seek immediate help from police or security personnel. every person and situation is different; survivors must decide for themselves what actions or responses are safest in any situation. if someone attempts to touch you against your will, you have the right to yell "no" loudly, or do whatever is necessary to get the person to let go, and flee to a safe place and seek help. when safe, try to remember as much as possible about the person's appearance and behavior. regardless of what happens during an incident, you have the right to report the crime and to receive services and accommodations. the uo provides extensive resources to students impacted by crime. the office of the dean of students is available to ensure students can receive advocacy, counseling, medical help, academic support, and other aid. here are those resources: survivors have a right to report crimes to police and have crimes investigated and/or prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. call N-N-safe at any time or visit safe. uoregon. edu to learn about options and resources. for students, a range of support services are available through the office of the dean of students, N-N-N; uodos@uoregon. edu. for students, personal counseling and other support services are available through the university counseling center, N-N-N (available N hours); counseling. uoregon. edu. for students, medical and sexual assault examination services are available at university health center, N-N-N; healthcenter. uoregon. edu. for employees, the office of affirmative action and equal opportunity, N-N-N, and office of human resources, N-N-N, can assist in connecting to resources. other community resources available are sexual assault support services (sass), N-N-N (N-hour crisis line) or N-N-N; womenspace, N-N-N or N-N-N (N-hour crisis line); and white bird clinic counseling, N-N-N or N-N-N (N-hour crisis line). please, do not hesitate to reach out to any of the staff listed above if you need support or just want to talk. we have posted a list of campus safety information related to these incidents at dos. uoregon/help. we want our campus to know we are working around the clock to address these issues, to protect our community, and to restore the sense of safety that is a hallmark of the uo. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law matt carmichaeluo police chief. dear university of oregon community members, in the last week, a rash of five armed robberies near the university has disrupted our collective sense of safety. one of my primary concerns at all times is the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff, and the proximity of these crimes to campus is distressing to us all. i have asked police chief matt carmichael to do everything within university of oregon police department’s power to both help solve the crimes and increase efforts to protect members of the uo community from these types of incidents. here is what we know at this time – a young woman was robbed at gunpoint early thursday morning walking on hilyard street near Nth avenue. another young woman was also robbed at gunpoint in the early morning hours of march N in the same area. there were three additional armed ­robberies in the past week ­at local businesses – one at a subway ­sandwich shop, another at tom’s market and also at the neighborhood market. police believe that two men were involved in the tom’s market robbery. we don’t definitively know that any of these incidents are linked, but the suspects do have similar descriptions. additional details and the suspect descriptions are available on the uopd website and eugene police website. anyone with information about the suspects or the incidents should contact eugene police at N-N-N or uo police at N-N-N. while the eugene police department has primary jurisdiction over these crimes since they took place are off campus, uopd is actively working with eugene police to catch those responsible for the crimes, including participating in daily briefings and closely coordinating with eugene police. uopd also has put additional officers in the field, and detectives have ramped up both electronic and human surveillance in and around campus. in addition, we have expanded our campus shuttle services that provide secure alternatives to walking alone at night. the uo campus shuttle program runs a free bus-stop style fixed route shuttle every N-N minutes from N:N p. m. until N:N a. m. every day of the week. also, safe ride and the designated driver shuttle are available to all students, faculty and staff by calling N-N-N or email saferide@uoregon. edu. uopd also offers safety escorts by calling at N-N-N. if you find yourself working or studying late, arrange to leave with a friend or utilize the services above. if you do find yourself confronted by someone who wants money or personal property, give it to them without a fight and call N as soon as it is safe to do so. try to get an accurate description of the assailant, and if a vehicle is involved, try to get the license number. the more information that can be provided to law enforcement, the better. be safe and take care of each other. it is at moments like this when we rely upon the principle that we are all part of a community. please watch out for yourself and others. please be aware of any unusual circumstances and immediately notify campus police about any concerns. i also encourage each of you to take a moment to familiarize yourself with the various campus safety tips at police. uoregon. edu/crime-prevention-tips. one of the things that attracted many of us to eugene is its relative safety and quality of life. i have every confidence that chief carmichael, uopd, and epd will restore that feeling of security and you have my pledge that i will do everything within my power to support those efforts. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. to university of oregon community members, last friday, provost jayanth banavar received the N–N tuition and fee recommendation from the tuition and fee advisory board (tfab). in response, he opened a public comment period for campus stakeholders and held a public forum that allowed him to hear directly from students. he and i greatly appreciated hearing from students at the forum, and thank everyone who invested time in this important process and shared their points of view. the committee’s recommendations include a N. N percent increase for resident undergraduate students and a N. N percent increase for nonresident undergraduate students. for resident students, this represents an increase of $N per credit hour, or $N per year. nonresident undergraduate students would see tuition rise by $N per credit hour, or $N annually. the tfab recommendations also include a $N increase in the student health center service fee, which will help expand health and counseling services for students. after consulting with provost banavar, reading the online feedback, reviewing notes from the three tfab forums, discussing tuition issues with the associated students presidential advisory council, and listening at the forum, it is my current intention to support these tfab proposals—with a few modifications—for the next academic year in my final recommendation to the board of trustees. this tuition plan ensures that oregonians have access to an affordable education at one of the nation’s top research institutions. in addition, the proposed tuition level will provide budgetary support to invest in new tenure-track faculty lines, make more than $N million in strategic investments across campus, and uphold our compensation and benefit obligations to the uo’s dedicated faculty and staff. it is important to recognize, however, that our budget remains vulnerable to unexpected fluctuations, including changes in enrollment, economic conditions, and state appropriations. because of this budget fluidity, adopting this tuition level is something of a risk, and we could find ourselves having to seek additional revenue sources or cost reductions to meet the uo’s fiscal obligations. nevertheless, in this era of rapidly increasing education costs, i believe that risk is worth taking. further, i intend to recommend to the board of trustees that the uo adopt a differential tuition plan for the charles h. lundquist college of business. under the proposal, students would be charged an additional $N per credit hour for undergraduate courses taken in the business school. this would generate an estimated $N. N million of net revenue annually for instruction, advising, tutoring, and career services at the college. the tuition proposal was discussed by student group leaders and the tfab both this year and last. however, the tfab has not made a recommendation for or against the proposal. this type of tuition structure is similar to other schools in oregon and among peer institutions in the pac-N and the association of american universities. not having the resources from differential tuition places the lcb at a competitive disadvantage and could, ultimately, threaten its accreditation. for that reason, i am inclined to recommend to the board of trustees that it adopt a proposal for differential tuition. i recognize that even a modest tuition increase can be challenging for some, and we will work to ensure that the impact of this differential is not prohibitive to our most vulnerable students and their families. therefore, it is my intention to alter the business school’s original proposal to permanently set aside N percent of the revenues generated by the differential tuition for financial aid targeted on the basis of need for lcb students who pay the differential tuition. also, the pathwayoregon program will continue to provide full tuition and fees to academically qualified, pell grant–eligible resident students who start as first-year students on our campus. in fact, one-third of in-state freshman receive the pathwayoregon benefit already, and we are committed to the growth of this program so that the doors of opportunity are open to oregon’s best and brightest students regardless of their financial situation. in a similar vein, i am happy to announce that, in addition to these recommendations, i intend to propose a reduction in the tuition differential for the robert donald clark honors college. currently, the honors college has a tuition differential of $N,N per year, which is among the highest in the country. a strategic budget advisory group comprising students, administrators, and members of the faculty and staff has recommended that we allocate resources to reduce the tuition differential to $N,N per year. the clark honors college is one of the top N honors colleges in the country, and this reduction in differential tuition level will make it easier to recruit to the university high-achieving students from oregon and around the nation. i am very pleased that we are able to make this change. in closing, i remain dedicated to our shared goal of accelerating the progress we have made recently, despite constrained budgets, in enhancing excellence in teaching, research, and support for student access and success programs. we must remain vigilant in our pursuit of excellence in all that we do at the uo. please provide any feedback on my proposals outlined here via this online form. i welcome your input before i submit my recommendation to the board of trustees on tuesday, february N. the on-line comments will remain open until N:N p. m. , wednesday, february N, for the board to review and consider. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. february N, N - president michael schill and oregon state senate president peter courtney wrote the following guest opinion piece in the oregonian newspaper, which also appears on the oregonlive website. as presidents of the oregon state senate and the university of oregon, each of us has a unique perspective on how protecting undocumented children, known as dreamers, benefits oregon. these protections create opportunity. they create hope. they create promise for a generation of young people. it is also the right thing to do. these children did not get to choose the country or the state in which they live. their parents made that choice. they went to elementary school, middle school and high school here. they worked hard. many participated in school activities. this is the only country, the only state and the only home they have ever known. today there is a major political effort to deport them to the country of their parents -- a country they don't know. pure and simple, they are americans in thought, word and deed. oregon is a leader in reaching out to these children. in N, the oregon legislative assembly boldly embraced dreamers by granting them the ability to attend college, pay in-state tuition rates and receive need-based financial aid. tuition equity levels the playing field for the nearly N,N oregon young people registered as part of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. the unjust end of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program would crush their dreams of earning an education and sharing their talents in the place where they grew up, the place they consider home. morality dictates that these young people be allowed to remain in the united states to learn, work and make a life for themselves. oregon is their home. to uproot them would be wrong. tuition equity and daca have given them access to opportunity and the same american dream their classmates enjoy. it has allowed them to contribute to our economy in the light of day, rather than being relegated to the shadows. that is why we urge congress to continue the program and provide these young people a road to citizenship. it is also why we and others support senate bill N. provisions of federal law require that prior to providing a benefit to undocumented students, including institutional financial aid, a state statute must be in place that affirms this authority. sb N ensures compliance with federal law and eliminates the requirement that undocumented students must apply for the daca program to be eligible for scholarships or in-state tuition rates. without this legislation, these students would lack basic protections that safeguard their right to continue their education after high school. lawmakers and university presidents are not so different. the reason most of us do the work we do is to provide a chance for young people to realize their full potential. their opportunities should not be hindered by race, culture, background, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or birthplace. we must make clear that the state of oregon, university of oregon and all our state universities support every student, no matter his or her immigration status. citizens of oregon are valued and welcomed because of their diversity, not in spite of it. our many differences enrich our state. they enhance the learning environments at our universities and community colleges. they help our economy flourish. congress should act quickly to fulfill our moral duty to protect dreamers. in the meantime, oregon will do its part to ensure that all our young people have the opportunity to pursue the bright future they deserve. to punish young people brought here by their undocumented parents would be wrong. it would be cruel. it would be un-american. they are every bit a part of our american family.  .january N, N president michael h. schill delivered the following remarks during the annual martin luther king, jr. , skanner foundation scholarship breakfast in portland, oregon. good morning. i am michael schill, president of the university of oregon. the uo is proud to support the skanner foundation and is thrilled to celebrate the success of the three skanner foundation scholarship recipients who are or will be attending the uo: hiermon medhanie, makayla agnew, and melissa duran. i had the pleasure of meeting these talented young women this morning. they have aspirations to use their degrees to pursue advertising, business and law and they hold great promise to be leaders in our community. i thank all of you for your support of these students attending the university of oregon, and for supporting higher education. last year on martin luther king day, i participated in a march in eugene so the last time i was here was two years ago—in N. to be honest, it feels like an eternity has passed. since my comments two years ago, the black lives matter movement continued to gain steam; donald trump won an election punctuated by racial tension; and white supremacy reared its ugly head nationwide and close to home. in my position as president of the flagship university of this state, i am haunted as many of you are by the spectre of charlottesville—hundreds of men and women marching through the university of virginia with tiki torches with signs terrorizing students with messages like: “white lives matter” and “you will not replace us”. then a protest, counter-protest and deadly violence leaving one person dead. while those of you who are here today never deluded yourself about the demise of racism in the united states, charlottesville is a wake-up call to everyone else that we have much to do not only to make progress in achieving the dreams and aspirations of the reverend doctor martin luther king, but also just protecting the progress we have already made as a nation. i ask myself, what should i be doing as an american and as a president of a major university to promote racial justice in this environment? as many of you are aware some of our students want me to ban or limit speech on campus by people who advocate racial intolerance. under the law, i cannot do that. but i don’t want to hide behind the law in justifying my action particularly on this day when we celebrate and remember dr. king. it was the constitution, including the first and fourteenth amendments, that protected his right to speak words that so many people of the time found distasteful and indeed repugnant. where would we be if the racist politicians of the south had been able to successfully silence the leaders of the civil rights movement? so, how does a commitment to free speech coexist with the moral imperative that i support our students of color in the face of rising racial bigotry and intolerance? first and foremost, i can use my speech and the bully pulpit afforded to me to condemn in the strongest terms the messages of white supremacy. there is simply no room in eugene, oregon, or this nation for racial bigotry and intolerance. these views are the embodiment of ignorance which is the sworn enemy of higher education. i can go beyond mere words and work with our student groups, our community partners, and our faculty and staff to promote the safety and security of our students. i have instructed the university of oregon police department to do everything within its power to fight hate crimes within its jurisdiction and to develop strong relationships of trust with our students, faculty, and staff of color. we have also instructed our staff to remove signs of hate from all places where we can do that consistent with the law. i can also promote education and knowledge. we at the university of oregon through our scholarship and our teaching can teach our students about the struggles of people of color in the united states, about the history of racism in our nation, and about how the problems of the white working class today cannot be laid at the doorsteps of black and brown people. a third way to promote this understanding is to bring students together. diversity serves many purposes in our nation; among the most important at a school like the uo is the opportunity for students from eastern oregon who may never have had a relationship with a black person to meet students from portland and develop friendships and greater understanding of their differences and shared humanity. as president i can also help our black and brown students feel supported and included in our university. many of you know about the great work of the black student task force; indeed former skanner scholarship recipients were among the leaders of this effort. we have done much over the past two years. we have removed the name of a building named after a leader of the lane county ku klux klan and replaced it with the name of our illustrious alumnus d’norval unthank junior; we have increased our efforts to recruit black students in portland and elsewhere to come to the uo; we have inaugurated a black speaker series including a standing room only talk last year by ta-nehesi coates; we have doubled the number of black tenure-track faculty in two years; we have begun work to create a black studies program and reform our multicultural course requirement; and we have raised $N. N million to build a black cultural center dedicated to student success. these are some of the things i can do as president of the university of oregon. i want each of you to know that i and the university of oregon are deeply committed to the ideals of the reverend doctor martin luther king. we will match our words with actions. we cannot teach without enlightenment. we cannot discover without open hearts and minds. we cannot make the world a better place if we do not regard and protect the needs of every member of our community. we are committed to working with our students and all of you to continue the quest toward the dream we are celebrating today. thank you.  .january N, N dear colleagues and friends, as i write this open mike, i feel the earth move under my feet. before you get concerned that i am singing carole king songs (she is one of my favorites) or having a nightmare about the cascadia subduction zone, you should understand that just outside my office massive trucks and bulldozers are busy breaking ground for the new willie and donald tykeson hall, the college and careers building. since the start of the term, construction crews have been diligently digging, hammering, and preparing the site for a stunning new building that will open in fall N. it is noisy; it is loud; and sometimes it feels like the earth really is moving, but it is all for a great and important cause. the tykeson building will not only be placed at a central location on our beautiful campus; in many ways it will serve as a new center of gravity for our efforts connected to the single most important objective we all share—helping our students succeed. it will provide us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to refocus and rethink how we deliver academic and career advising to our students, all under one roof. in addition to adding much-needed office and classroom space to campus, the new building will house college of arts and sciences advising services and the uo career center. it will provide an integrated approach to advising that will help students consider their career options and then work to devise an academic plan for getting there. the construction of tykeson hall is the latest chapter of the conversation we started three months after i took office about the importance of doing everything we can to enable our students to succeed. so much has happened since i stood in front of campus at the emu and made the case that on-time graduation promotes a student’s likelihood of earning a diploma and substantially reduces the cost of college. we have already seen modest increases in carrying loads, retention, and graduation rates. while i am pleased that we have made progress, there is much, much more to accomplish. over the next year we will work with academic advisors in the division of undergraduate studies, the center for multicultural academic excellence, pathwayoregon, and all the schools and colleges to improve and enhance coordination through creation of a unified academic advising action plan. the important work of improving our student success efforts is being led by provost jayanth banavar and dennis galvan, the interim vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies. you can expect to see changes throughout the university to support these efforts in the coming year. we cannot let our decentralized administrative structure stand in the way of our students’ success—and we won’t. today’s students need more than just a degree: they need assistance and guidance in landing jobs that meet their needs and aspirations. we owe it to future generations of students and to those who gave to this endeavor to get this right. we must break down silos between administrative divisions and schools to devise the sort of comprehensive resources and advising that will prepare our students for fulfilling careers in a fast-moving and increasingly global economy. in addition, we must create more high-impact opportunities for students to work with the faculty and more avenues for them to gain experiential education, such as internships and study abroad. while the construction crews are building a strong foundation for the tykeson building, we must start now to lay the programmatic foundation for long-term success. this is one of my top priorities for N. speaking of construction projects and laying a foundation for the future, moving the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact closer to its launch will occupy a good deal of my time in N. luckily, i will be working with a terrific team, including interim director patrick phillips; our newly hired executive director, bob guldberg, who will be joining us this summer; mike harwood from our planning and development office; and scores of others. you may have noticed crews clearing the land on the corner of agate and franklin, and we anticipate breaking ground for the first two buildings in march. prior to the time those knight campus buildings are ready for occupancy in N, we need to do a lot of planning. among the most important tasks will be for us to work with our faculty here at the uo and potential partners such as oregon health and science university to determine the areas of applied science on which to focus. our challenge is to pick areas that are not just hot today but that will be at the forefront of scientific advancement in N years. we will then need to identify, recruit, and hire world-class researchers and postdocs to come to eugene. part of the promise of the knight campus is the advancement of science with a tangible, beneficial impact on society. we hope that the discoveries and innovations will make the world better and, at the same time, drive economic activity in the region. one way this will occur is through the creation of companies that will bring new products and therapeutic treatments to market. we will need to work with faculty members, alumni, and community members to create an ecosystem in eugene to promote this kind of activity. that work begins now. while the creation of the knight campus is the most dramatic academic undertaking at the uo, it is certainly not the only one. provost banavar and i are working with faculty members and deans to support existing areas of excellence and seed new and exciting ones that will strengthen our university’s academic profile and meet our students’ needs. we have already provided seed funding for the school of journalism and communication’s media center for science and technology, the college of education’s oregon research schools network, and faculty lines for the college of arts and science’s emerging black studies program. we are also working with faculty members to conceptualize and fund new and exciting programs in data science, neuroscience, and the microbiome. we have asked deans to work with their faculties to think about new and innovative interdisciplinary programs. it is my hope that great ideas in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and professional schools will outstrip available resources. that is the sign of a healthy, striving institution. the provost and i will work with deans to find new resources through philanthropy, an increase in revenue, and the reallocation of existing resources. the new institutional hiring plan will be one way we can achieve this. i am also eager to move forward with online education. the uo has been slow to move into this realm and, frankly, it is hurting us. students today demand online options. if we do not provide them, they will go (and are going) elsewhere. more robust online offerings could generate revenue to moderate future tuition increases and help fund our march toward excellence. what is more important, the creation of online course options would help our students graduate on time—saving them time and money and accelerating their move into the workforce. i have asked the provost to move quickly and to work with our faculty and administrators to explore and implement models of online education that simultaneously maintain high levels of quality and achieve these objectives. a new year is about resolutions. before winter break i attended a quack chat talk by elliot berkman, associate professor of psychology, who presented research that shows much of the motivation to hold to our resolutions is driven by social connections and our own self-image. i couldn’t help thinking as i listened to elliot that if we all work together toward excellence, expect and encourage each other to be great, and see ourselves as a world-class public research university, we will continue to enhance and increase excellence at the uo. we have much work to do. i hope you’ll join me in the effort to stay focused on the things that matter most—moving heaven and earth to help our students succeed and building an academic program of distinction. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. december N, N given the time of year, i thought i might talk to you in my president’s report about some of the amazing progress our school has made this year, and share a few incredible achievements by our students and faculty members that everyone may not be aware of. academic institutions today perhaps more than at any time since the Ns have become focal points for controversy and disagreement reflecting some of the divisions in our society. but in all of the noise, i want to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the significant progress we’ve made toward meeting our overarching goals of advancing academic excellence, supporting student success, and creating an outstanding and inclusive campus experience, so that our students can make a meaningful impact in our community, state, and world. i’d first like to start with our work to improve our academic and research profile. in my first speeches as president i said that we would strive to hire between N and N new tenure-related faculty members over the next several years. as jayanth reported, this fall we had already increased our tenure-related faculty membership by N individuals—that is net new faculty members. we’ll be adding more though the institutional hiring plan and though the knight campus. these faculty members are terrific. they include senior professors such as david mccormick, a senior professor in neuroscience, who joined us from yale this year leslie alexander and curtis austin, two historians who joined us from ohio state deborah thompson, a political scientist from stanford they also include young, upcoming stars such as chris herndon, an assistant professor in chemistry, who will become one of the anchors of our sustainable materials cluster leilani sabzalian, an associate professor in the college of education, who specializes in the scholarship of native american people, whose research focuses on supporting indigenous self-determination in public schools andrew kern, an associate professor in biology and a member of the obesity cluster, comes to the uo from rutgers university soon, these scholars will be joined by nobel prize–winner david wineland from the national institute of standards and technology, who will seed a new area of excellence in quantum computing, and robert guldberg of georgia tech, who will join us in the fall to lead the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact. you will hear more about bob later today, so i will only say that i am incredibly impressed with the combination of skills, experience, and vision he brings to our campus, and i am so thrilled he is joining us. also, i am very pleased that patrick phillips will remain as interim executive director, having created an outstanding foundation for bob and our faculty to build upon. patrick is a tireless, visionary, and enthusiastic leader who has accomplished more than anyone could have hoped for in a short time. he deserves our thanks and high praise for his work. speaking of the knight campus, just over a year ago, the knight campus was still just an audacious idea on paper—a challenge and a dream. today, under patrick’s leadership, we have acquired the land, created stunning architectural drawings, hired a talented new executive director, developed programming, and launched educational opportunities. we will break ground on the campus very shortly. and, over the past year, we have continued to complete our extraordinary leadership team with the hiring of provost banavar to lead our academic mission and two new deans—sarah nutter of the charles h. lundquist college of business and marcilynn burke of the school of law. there are far too many accolades to mention them all, but i do want to highlight a few of the honors bestowed on members of the uo faculty this last year: national medal of science–winner geri richmond scooped up another national award from the american chemical society: the priestly medal is their top honor biologist chris doe was elected to the prestigious national academy of sciences for his work in developmental biology and stem-cell research six faculty members were named as fellows by the american association for the advancement of science—alice barkan, biology; bruce blonigen, economics; judith eisen, biology; julie haack, chemistry and biochemistry; patrick phillips, biology; and monte westerfield, biology i have a long list of academic honors and awards here that i do not have time to read, but i will share this list with the board, and all are featured on around the o. i am beaming with pride at these achievements. i’ll also remind you of some of the major academic investments we made this year, including launching the interdisciplinary data science initiative purchasing a building downtown to give our arts faculty prime space to create launching the college of education oregon research schools network and the school of journalism and communication’s media center for science and technology the challenge match for endowed faculty chairs in every school, college, and college of arts and sciences unit, one of which has already been claimed a new $N. N million commitment for doctoral education through the raymond fellows program these are just a few of our academic initiatives. turning to our student success and access goals.  . .in the second year of the oregon commitment, our effort to focus on student success, we doubled the number of stamps scholarships available, our most generous scholarship on campus we secured additional funding from oregon community credit union for the pathwayoregon program, which provides free tuition to all academically qualified federal pell grant–eligible oregonian freshman students the student success team launched an effort to more rapidly identify students who are academically at risk, reaching out to faculty members in key courses that students historically struggle in. our campus continues its efforts to create a new culture in which students take at least N credits a term—the way to on-time graduation we have (i have only just learned) increased our four-year graduation rate to N percent, which is N. N points higher than last year! however, there are special conditions that likely contributed to the increase, such as the unusually high level of credentials of the incoming class that might make this an aberration a couple more reminders of student achievement: N uo students earned prestigious scholarships through the gilman, boren, and fulbright programs to study abroad, and just last week we learned that recent uo marine biology and robert d. clark honors college graduate sandra dorning won a prestigious marshall scholarship to study in the uk. we are preparing our students to compete and lead on a global stage. related to student experience and enhancing inclusion and equity—you are all very familiar with the progress we made regarding the demands of the black student task force, from renaming a residence hall in honor of a celebrated black alumnus to the more than $N. N million dollars raised towards a new black cultural center. you’ll also remember the thousands of people who came to listen to ta-nehasi coates, one of the extraordinary african american speakers we hosted on campus. and it was only a few months ago that we opened our beautiful new residence hall, kalapuya ilihi, home to four academic residential communities including one dedicated to native american studies. and we recently broke ground on willie and donald tykeson hall, the new college and careers building, which will be focused on advising and connecting students with career opportunities. speaking of kalapuya ilihi, i was invited by our new faculty member-in-residence, deborah thompson, to the residence hall last weekend. every sunday, deb and her partner make pancakes for the students who live there. i ended up spending a couple of hours talking to students, and i have to say the experience was awesome. first, i was inspired by how smart and engaged the students were. but second, and more in keeping with what i said at the outset, i was struck by just how happy they were. i asked about N students about their experience here at the university. the word that came out of their mouths most consistently was love. they told me that they loved the university of oregon and the education they were receiving and the experience they were having. it wasn’t that they didn’t have suggestions or even some criticisms. but even with our flaws, they couldn’t imagine being elsewhere. i am immensely grateful to our students, faculty and staff members, and administrators for all they do every day to earn the love and loyalty of our students. and i am also grateful to you, our trustees, for all you do, for your faith in me to lead the university in a time of unparalleled challenge, and for the hundreds of ways your efforts will translate into our continued reemergence as one of the great public universities in the nation.  .november N, N dear university of oregon community members, it is my pleasure to announce that i have appointed kevin marbury to the permanent position of vice president for student life. kevin has successfully served in this position in an interim role since october N, proving himself to be an innovative and thoughtful leader who cares deeply about the success, health, and welfare of students at the university of oregon. as interim vice president, kevin oversaw significant leadership and programmatic changes in the division that elevated the student experience and addressed critical issues facing students. this includes the successful onboarding of the new dean of students, assistant dean of students for leadership and engagement, director of fraternity and sorority life, director of multicultural and identity-based support services, and assistant dean of students for crisis response and prevention. he has also deftly helped manage the university’s efforts to address issues related to the deferred action for childhood arrivals policy (daca), fraternity and sorority life, the demands of the black student task force, and sexual harassment and violence prevention, including the implementation of the new responsible employee reporting policy. prior to this assuming his current role, kevin was the director of physical education and recreation at the uo, a program that under his leadership became a benchmark of excellence for universities across the country. prior to joining the uo in N, he was director of recreation and wellness at old dominion university, and he served as vice president for student affairs at edward waters college. during the last year, it became abundantly clear to me that the university and students would be well served by the appointment of kevin permanently as vice president, rather than undertaking an external search. his performance as interim vice president has been exemplary. in addition, kevin’s efforts to reorganize the division of student life will take more than a year to fully accomplish, and we will all be better served if he remains in the role to see them through. i came to this decision after seeking input from student leaders, senior administrators, student life leadership, academic leaders, and kevin’s peers. i also sought out the views of the leadership of the university senate. kevin’s strong background in higher education administration and student life leadership—here at oregon and in previous posts—provides him the tools and relationships to succeed at this critical time on campus in response to national dynamics affecting students. this allows us to maintain strong and consistent leadership at a time in which we are making great strides, and when we still have much important work ahead to ensure all students thrive and feel welcome, secure, and included on our campus. i am very happy kevin has agreed to take on this important challenge. please join me in congratulating kevin marbury on his permanent appointment as vice president for student life, which takes effect immediately. i ask that every member of our campus community work together with kevin and his leadership team to help ensure we meet the university’s critical mission—educating students and creating opportunity for them to become successful future leaders and contributing members of society. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. november N, N dear colleague and friends, for those of us in higher education, the period between thanksgiving and new year’s day is about completing research projects, taking and grading exams, and planning for the winter term. this year, however, we should all be concerned with something going on thousands of miles away in washington, dc—namely, tax reform efforts being considered by congress. simply put, many of the legislative proposals could substantially impede the ability of universities such as the university of oregon to deliver an excellent, affordable education to our students. graduate students have the most to lose under this legislation. about N,N graduate students at the uo currently receive full or partial tuition remissions plus stipends. this financial support is vital in enabling them to afford years of graduate education without amassing huge debts. in return for this assistance and as part of their training, graduate students help support faculty research and teach undergraduate courses in the humanities, social sciences, stem fields, and beyond. tuition waivers or remissions to graduate students are not now taxable; this would change under the tax bill passed by the house of representatives. undergraduates would not be spared from unfavorable treatment. the bill also undermines the practice of lifelong learning by doing away with the lifelong learning credit that provides access to a diverse group of students, particularly nontraditional students. the house bill also proposes ending provisions that permit the deductibility of interest on student debt and the exclusion of the value of tuition waivers provided to university employees and/or their family members enrolled at oregon universities. the targeting of undergraduate and graduate students in the push for tax reform is the most damaging element of the legislation from the perspective of universities, but there is more. under the bills being considered by both the house and the senate, the standard deduction would be increased substantially and the estate tax would be eliminated. on the one hand, increasing the standard deduction—the amount that taxpayers get to deduct from their taxable income before applying their tax rate—sounds like good news. proponents argue it will simplify and potentially lower taxes for millions and millions of americans. detractors dispute those benefits. the problem is that universities increasingly rely upon charitable gifts from alumni and friends to support their operations. this is especially important at universities such as the uo, where state support accounts for roughly N percent of our total university budget. in the united states, the tax system provides an incentive for charitable giving by allowing donors to deduct from their taxable income the value of their gifts. but only people who itemize their deductions qualify for the charitable giving incentive. so, as more and more people choose the standard deduction in lieu of itemization, the incentive for charitable giving will go down, potentially costing universities across the nation billions of dollars a year. in a similar manner, the existence of an estate tax provides an incentive for people to give away money to charities like universities. eliminating the estate tax would remove or reduce this incentive. an additional provision in the tax law targeting private universities is a N. N percent excise tax on endowments of more than $N,N per student. this provision will not affect the uo because of its status as a public institution. nevertheless, the precedent of taxing university endowments is one that should give us all pause. it could easily be extended in the future to public universities and to schools with smaller endowments. why is congress doing this? one explanation is that, in an effort to reduce the maximum corporate income tax rate from N percent to N percent while not ballooning the budget deficit, lawmakers are simply digging into all of the crevices of our nation’s metaphorical fiscal sofa looking for as much money as possible. after all, these bills also eliminate the deduction of state and local taxes and reduce the home mortgage interest deduction, two of the most popular tax breaks in the internal revenue code. but, as recent articles in the media suggest, some see elements in the tax reform act as an assault on higher education. i will leave it for our political scientists to speculate why some members of congress apparently have chosen to target higher education. here is what i am doing—and what i suggest that you, as students and members of the faculty and staff, can do. first, the university of oregon is an active participant in the association of american universities and the association of public and land-grant universities, and both organizations are actively lobbying congress to restore the exclusions for graduate tuition waivers and employee tuition benefits as well as the deductibility of student loan interest. they are also arguing that the charitable giving deduction be universal—meaning that it be available to everyone in addition to the standard deduction. we support these efforts. in addition, members of our governmental affairs staff and i have been meeting with our congressional delegation to let them know the impact of the current proposals on the uo and to urge them to vote against or modify them. if that is something that interests you, more information is available at the american council on education website, including a portal to take action with congress. while the house has already voted on its version of tax reform, the debate continues with the senate taking a different approach. regardless of whether we succeed or fail in stopping elements in the tax reform legislation that negatively affect universities, it is clear that all of us—administrators, staff, students, faculty, alumni, and supporters—need to make the case that higher education in the united states should be cherished and nurtured, not targeted for cuts. members of congress and our state legislatures need to rededicate themselves to the idea that affordable higher education is more than a political slogan—it is a priority that needs to be supported with tax dollars. as the son of two parents who did not go to college, i experienced the transformational effect of higher education, and we need to make sure that that door is open to everyone who can benefit from passing through it. expanding the federal pell grant program, defending the security of daca students, and expanding rather than reducing tuition support is a necessary component of that effort. we also need to make the case for graduate education. our graduate students will complete their education at the uo and go off to careers in academia, the professions, and industry. the research they do here and the work they will do in the future will advance knowledge, fuel the economy, and enlighten generations to come. our nation eats its own seed corn by reducing our support for them by taxing their tuition waivers. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. november N, N dear university of oregon community members, i am thrilled to announce that robert e. guldberg, a prominent expert in bioengineering and celebrated scientific entrepreneur, has been named the executive director of the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact. a year ago, when we embarked on the search for a permanent leader of the knight campus, we hoped to find an extraordinary individual with a rich applied science research portfolio, acute administrative know-how, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to harness the uo’s collaborative culture. in bob we have found all of these qualities and much more. bob comes to us from georgia tech, where he holds the parker h. petit director’s chair in bioengineering and bioscience and serves as the executive director of the petit institute for bioengineering and bioscience. he is also a professor in the george w. woodruff school of mechanical engineering and the wallace h. coulter department of biomedical engineering. his research focuses primarily on musculoskeletal growth and development, regeneration of limb functions following traumatic injury, degenerative diseases such as skeletal fragility and osteoarthritis, and novel orthopedic devices. he has advised more than N postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and published more than N peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. he serves on numerous advisory and editorial boards, and has held several national leadership positions including president of the americas chapter of the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine internal society (termis-am). he is an elected fellow of termis-am, the american society of mechanical engineers, and the american institute for medical and biological engineering. while bob holds impeccable academic credentials, it is his ability to effect change and create meaningful impact that really impressed our search committee. bob describes himself as an engineer who speaks many different “languages”—engineering, biology, entrepreneurship, and the like. this fluency is just what we need for the knight campus. he has successfully navigated the path from scientific discovery to societal impact, having led large groups of scientists and helped translate research discoveries into technologies and companies that are improving lives and solving problems. i am immensely grateful to professor patrick phillips, who has served as acting executive director of the knight campus for the last year. under patrick’s extraordinary and selfless leadership, the knight campus has been transformed from an exciting concept to concrete reality. patrick is a phenomenal leader who has created a stellar foundation for bob and the knight campus team to build upon. i also want to thank the search committee, which patrick chaired, for their outstanding work to select the knight campus’s new leader. i am delighted that patrick has agreed to continue serving as acting executive director of the knight campus until bob arrives in september N. under bob’s leadership, and with the support of our outstanding faculty and the new top-tier faculty members to come, the knight campus will transform the university of oregon’s ability to teach and prepare students, create discoveries and innovations, drive economic benefit, and create a significant impact that will make our world better. please join me in welcoming bob guldberg to the knight campus and the university of oregon. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. october N, N today, i had planned to share with the campus community some wonderful news about investments in three new academic programs, support for student success programming at the soon-to-be-built black cultural center and nine new endowed faculty chair positions for our schools and colleges. we are able to make these investments thanks to an incredibly generous $N million dollar gift. unfortunately, i was not able to tell you my good news in person, because my speech was disrupted by a small group of protesters. instead, i am linking to a video in which i have delivered the speech for you to hear. i strongly value free speech and academic freedom. i had already planned to talk about these issues prior to today’s happenings, because freedom of expression is a pressing issue, and i feel strongly about our need to foster robust debate and discussion. it is essential to our mission as a university. i respect protesters’ rights to share their views, but i do not agree in shutting down another person's right to speak. the vast majority of our students understand the value of free speech. indeed, they understand that the reason many of the protesters today are at our institution is because of the courageous speech of others throughout the years. they also understand that the right way to express their views is not to stop others from expressing their views. i am saddened that the protesters have displayed a disdain for one of the core values of our academy, our democracy, and our history. i come away from today’s experience with a new energy and determination to teach all of our students and members of the community the value of free speech and tolerance. in my speech, which i hope you will watch, i announced a year-long series of lectures and panels about the role of free speech and robust debate in the university. each of our schools and colleges will participate and a wide variety of voices, interests, and views will be represented. it is only through more speech and robust debate that we will heal the differences in our society, not by shouting down those who seek to speak. i invite you to watch my speech or read my remarks.  .video of investing in innovation: presidential fund for excellence the presidential fund for excellence provides funding for the university of oregon to make strategic investments in initiatives and priorities focused on achieving the university’s mission. made possible by a $N million anonymous gift, the presidential fund for excellence aims to: secure the university’s preeminence in focused fields of teaching, research and discovery. promote interdisciplinary work that elevates the university’s mission. improve student experience and enhance student success to prepare them to be future leaders and agents of social and economic impact. adopt innovative teaching and operating practices that improve the university’s ability to achieve its mission. provide benefit to our community and state through these endeavors. the first five initiatives presidential initiative in data science the uo’s presidential initiative in data science is an interdisciplinary initiative bringing together new and existing faculty to create new research and education programs focused on data science. by ramping up its ability to analyze data and extract information about trends and populations, the university is responding to an increased demand across nearly all scholarly disciplines, and society as a whole. the presidential initiative in data science will seek to hire eight new data science faculty in ay N-N in the natural sciences, social sciences, the college of business, and the school of journalism and communication. each of the current hires are listed in the N-N institutional hiring plan and additional hires are expected to be made in future years as the initiative grows. nine endowed faculty chair positions the president will develop nine new faculty chairs, one for each school and college and each division within the college of arts and sciences. one half of each two million dollar endowment will be provided through the presidential fund for excellence, with the schools and colleges responsible for raising the second half of the funds. the provost will work with the deans to develop a set of guidelines for each chair. endowed chairs contribute to faculty excellence by funding support for salary and research, recognizing achievement, and by enabling the university to be more competitive in attracting scholars of the highest caliber. black cultural center programming the creation of a black cultural center is among the top objectives of the university and the black student task force. the black student task force identified student success and timely graduation as a top priority for the center. in order to meet that need, president schill has allocated a portion of the excellence fund to support student success programming at the black cultural center. with more than $N. N million now raised toward its approximate $N. N-$N million capital cost, and construction plans in development, groundbreaking is scheduled for N. media center for science and technologyschool of journalism and communication the new media center for science and technology, based in the school of journalism and communication, will explore how scientific discoveries and technological solutions are conveyed and understood by a wide variety of audiences. through experiential and traditional classroom teaching, students will learn how to be better communicators of science and technology. faculty and students will work collaboratively with university scientists, external institutions, and private companies to research and evaluate best practices. the presidential fund for excellence will provide seed funding to begin the media center for science and technology’s programs and research. oregon research schools networkcollege of education the new oregon research schools network, in development by the college of education, is a five-year pilot program that aims to dramatically improve the quality of public schools in oregon and increase the number of college-ready graduates. the network will be created by placing uo coe faculty members in up to N high schools across oregon, connecting schools with research and expertise provided by the college of education. faculty members will teach students and provide pedagogical training to the high school teachers. costs for each placement will be shared with local school districts, with an emphasis on schools with high proportions of first-generation and under-represented students. the presidential fund for excellence will provide seed funding to launch the network and will also explore providing additional support to the university’s pipeline programs summer academy to inspire learning and oregon young scholars.  .september N, N president michael schill sent the following message to campus welcoming faculty, staff and students to the N-N academic year and inviting them to the state of the university address: dear university of oregon campus community, as i drove onto campus this week, i got a familiar feeling of excitement. new students were settling into their residence halls and beginning to navigate the campus. returning students were greeting each other and catching up on what they did during the summer. in other words, the campus was coming alive. it reminded me how fortunate we are to live and learn in such a wonderful community. as we embark on what i hope will be an amazing N–N academic year, i want to write to you about the core values that are essential to our success as a great public research university. these values are part of the way we “throw our o” and make an impact that provides scientific, artistic, economic, and social benefit to the region, our state, the nation, and even the world. first, every person on our campus is part of our uo family. you belong here. as i stated in a campus message this summer, we value every student and member of the faculty and staff, regardless of immigration status, race, religion, ethnic or national origin, political view, socio-economic status, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. the quality of the education and experiences we provide at the uo are enriched by our differences. second, as a community of scholars, we must look out for each other. this starts with having zero tolerance for sexual harassment and violence. it means respecting yourself and not abusing drugs or alcohol. it means standing up to hazing and other forms of bullying and harassment. we all have a responsibility to do something or say something if we see a fellow duck in trouble or at risk. this weekend i sent a message to campus with darci heroy, associate vice president and title ix coordinator, strongly affirming our commitment to addressing sexual harassment and violence, and letting our campus know that recent federal changes to title ix will have little, if any, impact on our policies or practices. the third value i want to talk about is our commitment to free expression and academic freedom. free speech is the bedrock of higher education. without the ability to speak out, question, and debate the tough issues of the day, we might as well not be a university. free speech—peaceful, nonviolent expression of views—is essential for teaching and research, and for our ability to move our society forward in a positive direction. if you don’t like what you hear, do not shut that speech down. instead, speak out yourself. finally, the university of oregon values the pursuit of excellence in everything we do. this means striving to do your best, challenging the status quo, looking for new and better ways, and investing in the people and programs that exemplify these values. i get excited when i think of the incredible ideas, writings, experiments, performances, designs, and discoveries our faculty will generate in the coming year. each moment of insight or discovery that takes place at the university of oregon adds up to a cascade of knowledge that prepares our students to lead, benefits our state, helps us understand our world, and makes an impact. this is our mission and how we improve society. i will share more of my thoughts on the many ways we can support and encourage excellence in teaching, research, and service next week during my state of the university address. i invite you to join me on friday, october N, at N:N a. m. in the erb memorial union ballroom as i provide this university update. i hope you join me or watch the event as it is live-streamed on the uo channel. it is going to be an outstanding academic year. again, welcome, and go ducks! michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. september N, N president michael schill and associate vice president and title ix coordinator darci heroy sent the following message to all faculty, staff and students regarding the university's commitment to addressing sexual harrassment and violence: dear university of oregon community, the u. s. department of education on friday provided new interim guidance on title ix, the federal law that prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination in education, which includes sexual harassment and violence. as was clearly stated in a recent reaffirmation of the university of oregon’s strong commitment to title ix, the new federal guidelines in no way erode our resolve to provide services to survivors, encourage those who experience sexual violence to seek help, and to be fair and equitable to all, including those accused. we believe that the new guidance will have very little, if any, impact on our current policies and procedures related to title ix. over the last few years the university of oregon has put tremendous time and energy into increasing staff and resources available to address the serious problem of campus sexual assault. we remain as committed as ever to the goal of minimizing sexual violence and harassment. at the highest level, the new federal title ix guidelines continue to require schools to address sexual misconduct cases with fair, impartial, and timely investigations that are free from conflict of interest or bias. those investigations must use either the preponderance of the evidence standard or the clear and convincing evidence standard to determine whether a violation of the student conduct code has occurred. the uo’s policies and systems clearly meet those standards. we will continue to treat sexual misconduct cases the same way that we do other serious allegations of violations of our conduct code. the uo already uses a preponderance standard in its student conduct code investigations, including those related to title ix, and we have no intention of moving away from that practice. in addition, we are pleased the new guidance gives schools greater freedom to purse alternative resolution options, such as mediation, in cases where it is appropriate and both parties agree. ultimately this provides us a greater ability to accommodate the wishes of students. finally, the federal announcement is not related to, nor does it change, the uo’s new policy on reporting responsibilities for employees who learn that a student has experienced sexual assault or violence. full details about the policy and employee responsibilities are listed on the title ix website. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law darci heroyassociate vice president and title ix coordinator. president michael schill delivered the following remarks at the university of oregon board of trustees fall N meeting september N, N welcome. i am thrilled to be entering my third year. with your support and encouragement, the hard work of our administrators and faculty, and the financial support from many of our alumni friends, we have made excellent progress toward our objective of making oregon the best research university we possibly can be. yet, i begin every day with a clear understanding of how much more we need to accomplish. there is no time to take victory laps or feel complacent. our potential is endless but, of course, so must be the work to achieve that potential. in that spirit i want to express my great happiness that jayanth banavar joined us as the provost on july N. he is the product of an amazing search. i’ve never been on a search committee that was so unanimous in their decision. i am thrilled that he is here to be my partner and to head up our academic program. he has spoken about my work ethic, but when i am sending emails at N:N a. m. or N:N p. m. i can always expect a quick response from jayanth. i think all who have gotten to know him respect him. he has great academic values, interpersonal values, and great integrity. jayanth is the perfect antidote for complacency. as you heard him say twice, a typical jayanthism is the question he asks faculty almost daily: how can we hire people who are better than you? how can we improve our teaching? how can we prepare our students in the very best way? that is the spirit every faculty member should aspire to—continuous improvement. he shared his view of excellence and how we know it, and i will share mine. i think the question of what is excellence is not complicated. it is a university whose faculty are judged by their peers in their disciplines, who are determined to have the scholarship of the very highest quality and impact. there will be different standards in different fields. jayanth will be working on this on our campus. to be honest, we don’t know how good we are here at the uo. it is through peer review that we will determine this. and the question is not just about who effectively creates knowledge but also the communication of knowledge. who inspires students to think critically, to really push them, to get them to bring out the best in themselves? that is what an excellent university does. it helps students get degrees in a reasonable amount of time. it is a university that is committed to equity and inclusion, and what it means to be human in our place and time in our world. this is why i joined the academy, this is my Nth year. it’s why i’m proud to be part of academia and thankful that this vision of excellence is shared by our board. we are going to really focus on that in everything we do. i want to take a few moments to provide a few updates and tell you about a new and exciting initiative we are launching. chris sinclair gave you a set of priorities. i’m excited to work with the senate. those are important goals that are focused on academic matters as they are commonly understood in higher education. knight campus search as you know, we are making rapid progress on the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact. since the last board meeting, we secured the first $N million in state bonds for construction of the first two buildings on the campus. we also took ownership of all the land that we will need for phase N and patrick has been steadily working with our architects to create an extraordinary design for the buildings. we expect to have architectural renderings completed in the next couple months. we have worked to create a financial plan for the campus, have created initial linkages to ohsu, and are continuing academic planning to prepare for faculty hiring. i am also very pleased to say that we are getting closer to hiring our permanent knight campus director. our search committee worked steadily through summer, which led to an impressive pool of applicants. i hope and expect to make a selection in late october or early november. i cannot thank patrick phillips and his stellar team enough for their work to date on this massive and historic undertaking. fundraising the knight’s extraordinary half billion dollar gift was not only the largest gift ever to a public flagship university, it also lead to a record-breaking fundraising year for the university of oregon. we will be officially releasing the N-N totals next week, but i can tell you that it will be close to $N million. i am awed and inspired by the generosity of our alumni and supporters. i am also incredibly grateful to mike andreasen and his terrific team for the groundbreaking year they delivered. daca as you know, the trump administration announced this week the intent to end daca—the deferred action for childhood arrivals program that allows immigrants who were brought to the united states as children without documentation to stay in america to attend school, work, or serve in the military. the president’s action means that the federal program will take no more applications and gives congress six months to come up with a permanent solution to the problem. thousands of young people in oregon on the daca program and their families now fear for their future. earlier in the week, i sent a message to campus about daca. in it, i expressed my strong opposition to ending daca protections or creating the uncertainty this action has created. in addition, i provided information for affected students about the services we offer. we have already joined with other universities in support of daca and will take further actions as warranted to protect the rights of students who are here in the us through no fault of their own, so they may to flourish at our university. this is their country. they are getting educated and working. i have sometimes been asked about what guides me in making comments or taking stands on sensitive political issues. my own view is that a university president needs to try to keep his or her own political views separate from his or her role as president. while i may feel strongly about some set of issues, my views are entitled to no more weight than anyone else’s views. a university is the combination of many people, each with a right to have his or her own view on important issues of the day. for the university to take an official view can sometimes feel like a violation of the rights of its individual components to free expression. there are, however, some issues which affect higher education and our university and which demand comment or action. daca is one of those. and there will be more of those, in which i will keep my own views separate from those, and focus on the needs of the institution. the shortsighted action of the trump administration in creating uncertainty among our students is just plain cruel and counter to the interests of our nation. enrollment each year around this time, i get antsy and want to know how our enrollment numbers are going, and each year roger thompson, our vice president for student services and enrollment management, tells me to be patient and wait for our students to arrive so he can give me an accurate count. and of course, each year, i manage to get him to take an educated guess. according to roger, we expect to have on campus somewhere between N,N and N,N new freshman this fall. in addition, we should have around N,N new transfer students. this is very similar to last year when we welcomed N,N freshman and N,N transfers. a big unknown is our foreign student population. with changes to china’s economy and the current political situation this number is more fluid this year than in the past several years. all fifty states will be represented and over N countries. we expect this to be our most diverse freshman class ever. with our new live-on requirement, we will have the highest percentage of new freshman living on campus in recent history. data science finally, i am extremely pleased to announce an exciting new presidential initiative. the university of oregon is launching a new interdisciplinary initiative focused on data science. this is an initiative of the entire university. provost banavar and i have appointed biology professor bill cresko to lead the presidential initiative in data science that will bring together existing faculty and recruit new faculty across schools and colleges to create new educational, training, and research programs at the uo. this effort will touch most of the schools and colleges at the university and will also be integral to success of the knight campus. like all good academic ideas, the initiative bubbled up from our faculty, deans, and department heads. we have approved eight tenure-track searches for this year in data science in natural sciences, social sciences, the college of business, and the school of journalism and communication. we expect to make many more hires in data science in the years to come. this initiative responds to the increasing demand among employers and our researchers in fields as diverse as marketing and the sciences for students and colleagues who can manipulate data to extract information about trends and populations. this is the direct result of our new institutional hiring plan that jayanth just spoke about, allowing us to centrally look for trends and needs among our departments, and direct attention and resources their way. you cannot do work at the highest level without data science. why data science? data science has been heralded for advancing nearly every kind of intellectual endeavor. it has the potential to change nearly everything related to future discovery, innovation, and problem solving—from climate change and disease prevention to consumer behavior and financial investing. for example, as david mccormick and chris doe told you at the last meeting, we are now able to map millions of neurons in the mind, but how do we make sense of all that information? or every time you click on a webpage or follow a link, you create consumer information that can be crunched and assimilated to create a unique and specific web experiences. like those amazon ads that follow you. that is data science. there are tremendous opportunities for productive collaborations between data science specialists and our faculties and students in business, economics, communications, ethics and philosophy, language, and the list goes on and on. we feel that we are in a unique position to maximize the impact of an interdisciplinary initiative in data science: we already have significant strength among many of our existing faculty. we historically benefit from a lack of traditional barriers among fields. this permeability is generated by our small size and by the absence of separate schools of engineering and medicine. that leads to a really good interdisciplinary culture. the knight campus will inevitably be home to data science scholars as well as consumers of data. uo’s strengthening relationship with ohsu, whose faculty are hungry to develop relationships with our faculty, particularly in areas such as data analysis. bill will be engaging with campus over the coming weeks and months as we launch these hires, and we will continue to share more information. this new presidential initiative is an example of the kind of research and curriculum development the university of oregon should invest in and seek out. it will raise the entire university. this is what will inform our academic and our fundraising. i am very excited to see where our outstanding faculty, department heads, and deans take us. thank you.  .september N, N members of the university of oregon community, president trump this week is expected to make changes to the deferred action for childhood arrivals immigration policy, also known as daca. i join hundreds of university leaders as well as local, state, federal, and business leaders in strongly urging president trump to continue this program. i also write to let our students know that we support them, and to provide information about where our students and their families can go for assistance, should the need arise. in a world full of ambiguities, there is no ambiguity for me about the importance of continuing daca. my view of morality dictates that young people, many of whom were brought here as infants or toddlers, must be allowed to remain in the united states to learn, work, and make a life for themselves. the united states is their home. to uproot them would be wrong. period. but the argument for daca doesn’t just rest on principles of morality; it is also good for our country. one of the reasons the united states became the greatest nation in the world is because it was founded, built, and shaped by immigrants. millions and millions of people, including all of my grandparents, risked everything to come to the united states to escape religious, ethnic, and political oppression or to seek out a better life for their children. the very act of coming here showed grit and determination, the willingness to assume risk, and courage—just the skills necessary to build our nation. the future of our nation’s economic prosperity also depends upon embracing immigrants and making sure that they are educated to become productive citizens and positive contributors to the economy. birthrates are declining among our country’s native-born, and immigrants currently make up about N percent of the workforce. to uproot young immigrants from their schools and jobs or to force them into the shadows is the equivalent of shooting ourselves in our collective feet. regardless of what happens in our nation’s capital, i want to again make very clear that the university of oregon supports every student, regardless of immigration status. every person on our campus is valued and welcomed because of and not despite their diversity of thought, race, culture, background, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and birthplace. our many differences enrich this institution’s learning environment, enhance the student experience, and are essential to our mission of teaching, research, and service. as is currently our practice, the uo will continue to protect the privacy of students, follow the law, and treat every member of campus with respect and inclusion. this means: the university of oregon will not facilitate immigration enforcement on our campus without legal compulsion, such as in the form of a warrant or a clear demonstration of exigent circumstances such as the imminent risk to the health or safety of others; the university of oregon police department will not act on behalf of federal officials in enforcing immigration laws; the university of oregon will not share with immigration enforcement any information on the immigration status of students unless required by court order. the university is reaching out directly to students who may be impacted by the president’s decision to provide them with information about support and services. several important points of contact and sources of information will continue to be updated as needed in the coming days and weeks: for current information on the status of daca and frequently asked questions about immigration issues, please see the immigration faq webpage. justine carpenter, director of multicultural and identity-based support services, is the campus point-person in support of undocumented and daca students, carpenter and can be reached at N-N-N or justcarp@uoregon. edu for additional information on the uo's support for daca students, please visit the uo dreamers workgroup website. should an immigration official ask for information about a uo student, employee, or visiting scholar, please immediately contact the office of the general counsel at N-N-N or gcounsel@uoregon. edu. in the coming weeks and months, i urge everyone in our community to reach out and embrace those students who now face the uncertainty of knowing whether they will be able to remain in the united states. as i have repeated on many occasions—we are a family. families take care of each other, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that all of our students are supported. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law translations:en españolmandarin - 關於童年入境暫緩遣返計劃的聲明暨致學生聲援書vietnamese - lời phát biểu về daca và sự hỗ trợ cho sinh viên. august N, N dear university of oregon community, over this past weekend we witnessed a tragedy in charlottesville, virginia. white supremacists and neo-nazis, many of whom were armed and dressed in military uniforms, marched on the university of virginia’s campus and took to the streets to spew venomous hatred. when they were confronted by counter-protesters, violence ensued. dozens of people were injured and one young woman and two police officers were killed. on behalf of the leadership of the university of oregon, i unequivocally condemn the hatred, ignorance, and violence expressed by these white supremacist and white nationalist groups. our university community rejects any ideologies or groups that embrace racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or anti-semitic views. under the guise of patriotism, too many people in our nation are betraying our common understanding that we are all “created equal. ” i am appalled by the voices of hate who feel empowered in our nation. all of us must stand against this scourge of ignorance and intolerance. the tragedy in charlottesville is a reminder of the critical importance of the work we are currently undertaking at the uo to build a truly inclusive community of academic excellence. when students and faculty members return to campus in late september, we will continue, with renewed vigor and commitment, our efforts to make this university more respectful, more inclusive, and more welcoming to people of all races and ethnicities; all nationalities and religions; all sexual orientations and gender identities; and all abilities. i hope you will join with me in this important work. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. june N, N dear members of the university of oregon community, i am writing to briefly interrupt finals to acknowledge the closure of a terrific academic year, to thank everyone for their contributions to the university of oregon, and to warmly congratulate all our graduates. as we close the book on N–N, i am filled with gratitude, awe, and a sense of accomplishment for all that we have achieved together this year. next monday, we will be celebrating the class of N at commencement. this will be my second opportunity to say a few words to our graduates as they head off to make their mark on the world. it is one of the special privileges of the job—looking out into the sea of green and thinking about the many ways in which you will shape our future, lead our country, and make the world a better and more interesting place to be. you are woven into the fabric of the university of oregon, and i am immensely proud to call you oregon alumni. remember, once a duck, always a duck! i will spare you a long list of all that our campus accomplished, both for the sake of brevity and for fear of leaving something out. however, i will mention a few things: i am thrilled with the progress we made in launching the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact, the major advances we made to increase the diversity of our students and faculty and foster a culture of inclusion, and the stability we created in hiring outstanding deans who will lead their schools to new heights of excellence. all of these initiatives (and so many more that have gone unnamed) are essential to our goals of supporting academic excellence, improving student access, and enhancing our campus diversity and experience. to be sure, we have much more important work to do, and it will require the focused attention of all members of our community. that, however, is a message for another day. thank you for a fantastic year! i am optimistic and energized as we wrap up the academic year. i wish you all an enlightening, safe, and happy summer. sincerely, michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. june N, N president michael schill reaffirmed the university’s commitment to sustainability following the trump administration’s decision to withdraw the united states from the paris accord: as national a leader in sustainability and environmental research and innovation, the university of oregon recognizes that climate change is real and one of the defining scientific and social challenges of our times. the uo remains committed to leading and pioneering research and academic initiatives focused on finding creative solutions to the world’s environmental challenges. the uo will continue its efforts to advance sustainable stewardship of our resources, including promoting responsible purchasing, reducing green-house gas emissions, minimizing solid and hazardous waste production, and promoting sustainable and efficient campus planning and design.  .may N, N dear university of oregon community members, the higher education coordinating commission’s decision yesterday to reject the university of oregon’s tuition plan is disappointing and creates uncertainty on our campus. if it stands, we will be forced to make even deeper cuts at the uo than are already anticipated, including cuts that will likely affect student support services, academic programs, and jobs. while we would like the hecc to reconsider its vote, we are already evaluating additional budget reduction steps that can be taken if this decision holds and the state does not provide additional support for public higher education. no one wants to increase tuition, but the university is left with little choice given that tuition is the uo’s main source of revenue after decades of declining state support. prior to the hecc’s vote, the uo’s tuition plan would have required more than $N million in budget reductions next year, which would come on top of more than $N million in cuts made in the previous fiscal year. i have steadfastly expressed my view that we will try to shield the academic part of our university from the impact of this year’s budget cuts, but if we are forced to limit our tuition increase to less than N percent, then that aspiration will likely be impossible. in the face of cost-drivers that institutions do not control—including retirement and health benefit costs—oregon’s public universities have been clear that significant additional state support for higher education is necessary to keep tuition increases low and to maintain critical student support services. state legislators still have the opportunity this session to approve a higher-education budget that prioritizes oregon students and their families and makes the proposed tuition increase at the uo and other institutions unnecessary. the state of oregon deserves a world-class research institution like the uo. the hecc’s decision to overturn a tuition plan that was reached through months of inclusive campus engagement and careful deliberation by our institutional board of trustees, however, threatens our ability to deliver on that promise for all oregonians. we will continue to work with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to make the case in salem that cutting higher-education funding and usurping campus independence will lead to untenable outcomes for the uo and all of higher education in oregon. as we have said repeatedly, the uo stands ready and willing to provide hecc commissioners with the information they need to reconsider their decision about tuition on our campus. this situation is very fluid and time is of the essence, given that the fiscal year starts on july N, but you have my commitment that we will communicate with the campus community as we hear more. i appreciate your patience and understanding. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. april N, N dear university of oregon campus community, over the past few months, i have spent a lot of time in salem talking with lawmakers about the urgent need for additional state funding for public higher education. elected officials tell me they understand the critical importance of higher education to the future of the state, but oregon’s challenging political and fiscal realities—specifically a $N. N billion budget shortfall in the next two-year budget cycle—make it difficult for them to meet all of the state’s needs, including those of public universities. it is with a significant level of uncertainty that we must move forward with budget planning for the N–N fiscal year that starts on july N. the uo must take steps now, some of them difficult, to prepare for this uncertain future. as we move forward, i am committed that we minimize the impact on our academic core. to recap developments from the last few months, the state is proposing flat funding for public higher education, which in practical terms is a $N. N million cut next year given the way state appropriations are distributed over the biennium. in addition, the university is forecasting significant cost increases—largely created by salary growth tied to collective bargaining agreements and unfunded retirement costs—equaling approximately $N million in additional expenses next year, putting the total gap we need to close at $N. N million. with the shortfall in mind, in march the uo board of trustees approved a conditional N. N percent tuition increase for resident undergraduates and a N percent increase for nonresident undergraduates. i believe this tuition increase is too high, but it is necessary given our financial position. public universities in oregon have calculated that it would take at least an additional $N million in biennial state support for most public higher education institutions to keep tuition increases to around N percent and preserve core student services next year. this is why the uo’s tuition increase is conditional. for every $N million in additional state support, we are committed to reducing our in-state tuition increase by roughly N percentage point. however, we will not know where state funding will shake out until july, when lawmakers will likely finalize the state budget. with decades of shrinking state dollars, tuition has become our primary source of funding. we have adopted an enrollment strategy for next year that aims to attract a strong incoming class and modestly increase the number of new students, which would help manage rising costs. the bottom-line is that tuition revenue and state support make up N percent of our general education budget, and there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in those areas with three months left until the start of the new fiscal year. given what we know at this time, we estimate the uo will still face a budget gap of approximately $N. N million next year that must be closed with either new revenue or budget cuts. it is my judgment that it would be imprudent to wait until the late summer to take action. therefore, i am taking steps now to reduce the projected shortfall by roughly one-half, or $N. N million, for the fiscal year beginning july N. those steps include the following: a N percent reduction in administrative general fund spending. i have asked each vice president to provide a budget reduction proposal to me by may N. given that labor costs account for about N percent of the university’s general education budget, it is likely that some of these cuts will require hiring freezes and layoffs. i will review the proposed budget reduction plans and they will be vetted by the office of the general counsel and human resources. we anticipate being in a position to communicate any reduction decisions by july N, with an october N implementation date. schools and colleges will be exempt from this budget cut. estimated savings: $N. N million eliminating the strategic investment fund. in the past, the university has set aside about $N million a year for strategic investments and asked a budget advisory group composed of students and members of the faculty and staff to review, assess, and award funding to various proposals submitted from campus stakeholders. one million dollars of these funds have already been precommitted to tenure-track faculty hires related to the cluster initiatives. as was announced earlier, we are not running the strategic investment process for the remaining $N million this year. any new initiatives for fy N that would normally have been funded under this program will have to be supported with dollars reassigned from within individual units. estimated savings: $N million ceasing the distribution of graduation incentive grants. the university launched a program in N to provide $N,N grants to juniors and seniors at risk of not graduating. while this program, funded by state appropriations, is promising, it is something we must halt—at least temporarily—given the absence of adequate state funding. estimated savings: $N. N million ceasing distribution of interest on auxiliary and designated operation funds. many auxiliary and designated operations funds have been allocated interest when fund balances are positive. going forward, we will suspend those interest payments and reallocate them to our general fund to help with the budget gap. interest will still be distributed to grant funds, plant funds, internal bank funds, and restricted gift funds. estimated savings: $N,N while i would like to write that the savings achieved from this $N. N million of budget reductions would be enough for this year, that is unlikely to be the case. as all of you know, i have assembled an ad hoc budget advisory task force made up of faculty members, students, and staff members that is looking more closely at additional strategic steps that could be taken to either raise revenue or reduce expenses over the long term. my expectation is that any recommendations that come from this group will be more targeted than the initial steps i have outlined here and will be announced later this summer. despite these painful financial realities, i remain optimistic about the trajectory of the university of oregon. as we move forward, we will work diligently to protect our academic and research programs and accelerate our recent progress in enhancing excellence in teaching and research. we will continue to invest in faculty hiring, research infrastructure, and support for student access and success programs. while today’s budget challenges will make this harder, we cannot and will not stall our pursuit of excellence at the uo. by working together, we will be able to weather challenges that are ahead of us. thank you. michael h. schillpresident and professor of law. april N, N as my two-year anniversary as president of the university of oregon approaches, enough time has elapsed for me to do some assessment and make some course corrections. over the past N months we have achieved quite a number of things. we have hired great new deans for five of our eight schools and colleges; we have worked with all members of our community to increase diversity and inclusion on campus; we have begun the hard process of putting the university and each of our schools and colleges on a firm financial foundation; we have received the largest gift in the history of flagship public universities to launch the phil and penny knight campus for accelerating scientific impact; and we laid the cornerstones for increasing student success and timely graduation. with each dean and faculty member we have hired, each gift we have received, each change to our administrative practices, and each student we have enrolled, we have emphasized our single-minded aspiration to become a great research-intensive university. i am proud of what we, collectively, have achieved. but today’s open mike will focus on a failure, rather than a success. i am concerned that in my rush to change the trajectory of our school, to replace the chaos of five years of revolving presidencies, and to build our academic core, i have not appropriately acknowledged and articulated the valuable contributions of all members of our community. in this open mike i would like to write specifically about our non-tenure-track faculty (nttfs) and discuss some of the issues we are grappling with that involve this important part of our community. instructors, lecturers, and professors of practice have always played a role in american universities. in recent years, however, their proportionate numbers have grown tremendously. many provide valuable instruction to our students throughout the university, especially in the arts and sciences. some do sponsored research, particularly in the natural sciences and college of education. and, a significant number bring unique skills and perspectives to the classroom. increasingly, as universities offer students experiential opportunities, nttfs, particularly in professional schools, can tie what students learn in class to the work world beyond college. the impetus for most of the growth of nttfs at the uo and elsewhere, however, has been financial. cash-strapped universities, particularly in the public sector, have increasingly substituted nttfs for tenure-related faculty to save money and increase flexibility. full-time nttf salaries at public universities, on average, are N percent lower than assistant professors; N percent lower than full professors according to data from the american association of university professors. part-time and pro tem nttfs are often paid much lower salaries and many find it necessary to put together jobs from more than one university to make ends meet. at the uo, our reliance on nttfs followed a two-decade wave of public disinvestment in higher education in oregon. the number of nttfs continued to grow, peaking in N-N, even as undergraduate enrollment shrunk. the value of our nttfs and the high esteem in which they are held here are reflected by the fact that the university of oregon is a leader in professionalizing the role of nontenured faculty. for example, the first collective bargaining agreement negotiated between united academics and the university reclassified hundreds of part-time “adjunct” faculty jobs as career positions, removing the old “up and out” system. salary floors were created, career paths were set forth, multi-year contracts were offered, and significant promotional salary increases were agreed to. these were important advances for nttfs, many of whom have dedicated their entire careers to the uo. an important role in shared governance was also fortified; indeed, last year the president of the university senate was an nttf. these changes enhanced the stature of nttfs on campus, but they also grea