When the University gives an employee a new position but does not renew his or her contract, essentially firing the employee, the administration has virtually no obligation to explain why to the public.
This was evidenced during the recent shift in the director of the Department of Public Safety. On March 9, Doug Tripp became the director and Kevin Williams, who had held the position since August 2007, was transferred to a different department.
The administration announced the move only in an e-mail to staff, faculty and administration.
Williams’ boss was Frances Dyke, vice president of finance and administration. “I cannot go into details about the personnel change because of the state’s confidentiality rules,” she said in an e-mail. “I hope you can understand the privacy concerns surrounding personnel issues.”
In January 2008, Linda Brady, former vice president and provost, announced she would not renew the contracts of two directors in the Office of International Affairs, also pointing to state laws prohibiting her from releasing specific details behind the dismissals. After students and alumni around the world campaigned against the dismissals, the two directors were reinstated in March 2008. Brady said the dismissals were based on “an incomplete understanding of the circumstances.”
The concern for privacy Dyke mentioned prohibits the public from accessing Williams’ performance evaluations and reviews that could indicate why he is no longer director. At the University, all of an employee’s personnel record is confidential except for directory information, records of academic achievement and salary information.
Under this rule, none of the people who pay for DPS can find out why it has a new director. Neither the students who pay tuition, nor the taxpayers who provide state funding, nor private donors can find out what motivated Dyke to promote Tripp over Williams in the middle of the school year.
The promotion could have resulted from poor performance on Williams’ part, internal conflict or other problems.
However, Oregon Public Records Law states, “Any category of personnel records specifically designated as confidential pursuant to valid rules … shall not be deemed a public record.” Whatever the University decides is confidential, like a performance review, cannot be disclosed.
Williams himself gave no reason. “I’ll talk to you but every response will be ‘No comment,’” he said.
Tripp and Williams competed for the director position in 2007, when Williams was hired. Tripp has a master’s degree in criminal justice from University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and directed DPS at Milwaukee Area Technical College before becoming associate director at Oregon in 2007.
Williams has been director of DPS since Aug. 31, 2007. He worked for two years before that at the Lane County Sheriff’s Office and brought Tasers into Lane County jails. Williams also advocated bringing Tasers to the University campus, a position many campus and community members protested. Before moving to Eugene, he worked for 20 years as a police officer in Los Angeles.
Tripp denied the Emerald’s request for an interview before the beginning of spring term. “It is my preference to wait on this interview until I transition from interim to a regular appointment. At that time I will be comfortable discussing how UODPS moves forward,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I appreciate your patience.”
Williams will continue to work at the University until his contract ends and the University will not renew it. He will be the senior campus security planner in the Department of Campus Operations. He will advise George Hecht, associate vice president of campus operations, on security issues for campus facilities.
Hecht did not respond to multiple requests for an interview to discuss Williams’ new job description.
ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz reflected on the former DPS director’s character. “Chief Williams was someone who I have a great deal of respect for, both as a colleague, and as a friend,” he wrote in an e-mail. “He cared a great deal for the safety and well-being of students and the overall campus, and that showed in his work.”
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