Wednesday’s University Senate discussed several key issues, including University Provost James Bean’s announcement of a proposal to remove the University from the Oregon
University System.
Bean told the Senate the purpose of breaking away from OUS is to secure future financial security for the University. The proposal will be officially released today. Bean said the University’s title as a state school is merely in posterity and that the funding figures reflect an entirely different reality.
“Out-of-state tuition, private donations, research grants and other things are the bulk of this school’s funding,” he said. “The UO is a state agency only in name.”
Bean said the proposal would remove the University and its assets from the authority of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education that presides over the seven OUS schools.
He insisted this was not a move toward privatizing the University but instead creating a financially sustainable plan for the University. As part of the current OUS policy, all schools’ assets, regardless of their source, are controlled by the state board and can be reallocated from one university to another. The University’s consistent financial success often puts it on the losing end of the allocation equation, Bean said.
The legislative portion of the meeting commenced with discussion of a proposal to establish a University-wide freedom of inquiry and freedom of speech policy. Concocted by a faculty and administration committee that includes members of the law school and the School of Journalism and Communication, the proposal is based off a similar measure featured in the University of Michigan bylaws that protects all forms of speech on campus regardless of their nature.
“We are reluctant to pass a speech code on campus because we felt it was unconstitutional,” said dean of the law school Margaret Paris, who helped to write the proposal. “There is no University policy for restricting things like hate speech, because it sets a dangerous precedent.”
The Senate also approved a proposal drafted by the same committee regarding the University’s Use of Facilities policy. This new resolution would make a clear distinction between “University entities” and “non-University entities” when processing requests for access to University spaces and resources. University entities would be any faculty member who received departmental approval for their event. Any faculty member who has not gained this authorization is to be considered a non-University entity and will be allowed to apply as a private person subject to the policies of the University Scheduling Office.
University Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Russ Tomlin, who presented the proposal, insisted the resolution was not connected to the Pacifica Forum controversies.
Finally, the University Senate approved a resolution to amend the Office of Student Conduct’s procedure for serving official “notices of allegation” for students who have been caught violating University policy. Previously, students had a window of 14 calendar days to respond to e-mail notices informing them of their infraction. The new measure passed by the Senate will reduce this time frame to four business days from the time the e-mail message was sent to the student.
The Senate meeting ended with a few words from ASUO President Amelie Rousseau in which she outlined some of her goals for the coming year, including the creation of a civic engagement minor for students to gain academic credit for involvement in their community.
Rousseau also expressed interest in considering a campus smoking ban similar to that of Lane Community College and said she would continue to uphold the Student and University Senates resolutions to bar riverfront development.
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