Gerard Sandoval, an associate professor in Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon, was nominated by Gov. Tina Kotek to become a trustee on the school’s Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees is a group of 14 individuals from different career paths who are nominated by the Governor to hold fiduciary responsibility over the University, emphasizing financial management. The board requires at least two undergraduate students, and a mix of faculty, alumni, non-faculty, graduate students and more to diversify perspectives in the positions.
Sandoval was nominated as the faculty trustee, representing staff experience and perspective. Sandoval said that he would ultimately advocate for the interest of the UO, in hopes of securing the school’s financial stability.
“I also have a secondary role of representing the interests of the casualty,” Sandoval said. “In terms of advocating for the faculty, it’s pretty simple. They want to do their research, so they need their funding. They want to be able to have the academic freedom to teach what they want to teach.”
Sandoval’s own research focuses on urban development and planning in relation to immigration, such as housing gentrification and redevelopment’s effects on undocumented workers and immigrant communities.
Due to his expertise, Sandoval was appointed and served as a commissioner on the Land Conservation and Development Committee from 2019 to 2023. He also served as a councilmember on the Oregon Housing and Committee Services for a four-year term.
“On the Housing Committee, we gave out millions of dollars for building affordable housing throughout the state, so it was a very positive experience,” Sandoval said.
“But the Conservation and Development Commission was a different experience, because we were regulating what cities can do with their land, so that was a lot more politically contentious… That experience really helped me understand how to make difficult decisions.”
Sandoval believes his experience with state-level politics will help him navigate the financial situation that the UO is struggling with. He said some of the decisions he had to make during his term on the Conservation and Development Commission were unpopular with others.
“I’ll be able to make tough calls when needed. I’m not a yes person, so I won’t just go along with what the board says,” Sandoval said. “For any decision that I have to make, I first really understand what the consequences of that would be, then I speak to a lot of different stakeholders on their thoughts, and then have a public discussion around that.”
Sandoval understands that his term on the Board of Trustees won’t be a smooth time.
“There’s a lot of low morale, and that’s because we have the perfect storm at the university. Our research funds have been cut, we’ve seen a drop in out-of-state students, and we have structural difficulties around our finances. All of these things have come together to form this perfect storm, where faculty are caught up in the middle.”
Sandoval testified in front of the Oregon Senate Committee on Rules and Executive Appointments on Monday and was officially confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 1.
“I would like to thank the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Oregon Senate for entrusting me with this critical responsibility,” Sandoval said in his official statement. “I won’t sugarcoat how difficult the next two years will be at the UO, but I’ll do my best to serve the university with honor and urgency.”
