The State Board of Higher Education approved plans to reorganize the Chancellor’s Office on Friday, which will result in a reduction of 18 staff positions and savings of more than $1 million.
The reorganization is the first step toward redefining the role of the office in relation to the Oregon University System, and comes after a three-month review headed by a special committee.
“This reorganization represents a new and more efficient way for the Chancellor’s Office to support higher education in Oregon,” Henry Lorenzen, co-chair of the Chancellor’s Office Review Committee, said in an OUS press release.
Under reorganization, the number of staff will drop from 39 to 21, according to an OUS handout. As part of the cuts, the Industry Affairs division will now have two staff members instead of four, while staff in the Decision Support department dropped from 13 to nine members. The Academic Affairs unit, which had the highest number of staff, saw a reduction from 19 staff members to just seven.
“Nineteen reduced to seven is really in line with this new vision we want to go with for the Chancellor’s Office,” said Board Vice President Geraldine Richmond, who helped head the review committee.
There are also three grant-funded positions.
In addition, the Division of Academic Affairs has been eliminated, while a new Graduate Program Council and a Provost Council have been created, according to the press release. Work previously handled by the academic affairs unit, which was responsible in part for new campus programs, will now be managed through the new councils, University Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis said.
New areas of the organization include Enrollment Policy & Community Colleges Liaison; High Schools & Teacher Education Liaison; Strategic Programs and Planning; and Graduate and Research Policy, the release states. Individual campuses will take over responsibility for the development and implementation of new or revised academic and grant-funded programs.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski thanked Richmond and others who worked on formulating the office’s reorganization.
“Whenever there is reorganization, and I’ve been involved in a number of those, it’s very destabilizing to the employees,” Kulongoski said. “But this is about positions, not individuals.”
It was Kulongoski’s first meeting with the board since he appointed himself board president May 7.
Davis said the reorganization will impact the University in two ways. Changes to the Chancellor’s Office will affect how work gets done in terms of functions related to the university system as a whole.
However, she added that the reorganization will not diminish the oversight role of the Chancellor’s Office.
“It will still guarantee and promote collaborative activities,” Davis said.
The reorganization may also help to offset the universities’ $7.5 million budget shortfall. However, Davis said those savings should not be overestimated and campuses still have to deal with large budget deficits.
The University expects to deal with $1.5 million in cuts because of Measure 30’s failure, and it may be forced to cut 16 institutional positions and raise tuition.
Changes to tuition will be discussed further at the Board’s June meeting, Davis said.