January 2, 1998
All faculty and staff are urged to attend "Facing the Future," a major address to the University Assembly by President Dave Frohnmayer, at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 150 Columbia.
"The issue is not 'Do we need to change?' Higher education is changing and the pace of that change is increasing rapidly," says Provost John Moseley. "Our choice is either to be changed, or to participate and attempt to define change."
The urgency of immediately addressing issues that already are forcing changes on higher education and the UO was a repeated theme in deliberations by all seven Issues Definition Groups convened Fall Term. These groups identified three mega issues--the overarching major influences already reshaping the UO. Those include a potential $5 million shortfall in Fall 1998, creatively addressing the technological and societal changes affecting how and what the UO can and should provide in its academic program, and developing a clear vision of what we want the UO to become in the new century.
"During winter term we are inviting everyone on campus to think creatively about how the UO can keep itself healthy and strong and prepared to meet the needs of its students in the new century," says Moseley. "All ideas are welcome."
At the request of the president and provost, seven groups met Fall Term to identify and define crucial issues related to the university's economic situation; its students; public perception and support; educational quality; the changing market; UO's relationship with system and state; and the role of faculty, students and staff in institutional change. Each group reported findings and shared in a large group discussion meeting in November.
A representative from each of the seven groups then met in December with the provost and vice provost for academic affairs as a Core Group to synthesize the information gathered and to prepare a report of key findings to guide the campus in seeking solutions.
Examples of specific issues identified:
During Winter Term, solutions groups of classified, faculty and students will be convened at the department level and across functions and departments to propose creative ways to use the forces of change to improve the UO academically, strengthen its financial position and put the UO in a leadership role in defining higher education in the 21st century.
What should a UO education be in the 21st century? The Core Issues Definition Group believes that failure to address this central question will lead, by default, to changes in the UO which will be very unfavorable for the future of the university, its faculty, staff and students. The Solution Groups must give their best creative thought to transformational changes in this area, the Core Group report recommends.
Information about joining the Solutions Groups, the Core Group Report of key findings and the full reports for all seven Issues Definition Groups are available at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~acadaff/change/process.html.
The release of the long-awaited Governor's Task Force Report on Higher Education and the Economy in mid-December has shifted the frame of debate from, "Should higher education in Oregon change?" to "How far and how fast?"
The report recommended wide-ranging changes in governance and funding designed to make state schools more responsive to student and state educational needs. Five days after hearing the final recommendations, Gov. Kitzhaber told the State Board of Higher Education that he supports many of the ideas.
"Oregon has a great system of higher education," he said, "and I believe we can do a better job of making it more independent, entrepreneurial and able to respond to the changing market for education."
He then forwarded specific ideas to OSSHE for action:
OSSHE Chancellor Joe Cox responded that the system would "rise to the challenge that [Kitzhaber] has given us. We expect to be both doing things differently and doing different things."
One of the first--and a move long advocated by UO officials--will be revamping OSSHE's funding system. OSSHE Board vice president Tom Imeson announced that "We expect to have a new budgetary approach with delivery of a proposed budget by late spring."
President Frohnmayer is encouraged by the developments.
"Our message has been heard," he said. "Now it is time for the hard work of making high-quality higher education available to increasing numbers of Oregonians."
NOTE: Gov. Kitzhaber's reaction to the Task Force report, as well as a link to download the report itself, can be found at http://www.governor.state.or.us/governor/news/n971219.htm.
With the arrival of winter term, the Mediation Program, funded by ASUO and Student Life, has changed its name to Conflict Resolution Services, a name that more clearly reflects the breadth of services it offers to anyone affiliated with the university.
"Because the office provides more than simply mediation for helping people handle their conflicts in a non-adversarial manner, we decided it was time to more adequately reflect what is available," says Diane LeResche, the program's new director this fall following Jacqueline Gibson's retirement. "Offering comprehensive services is the trend across North American campuses."
Established in 1987, Conflict Resolution Services is one of the oldest university-based mediation centers in the country.
Current services include a variety of culturally appropriate conflict resolution methods, peacemaking, go-between, conciliation and mediation/arbitration, as well as consultations and coaching regarding interpersonal, small- and large-group conflicts.
The program's trained mediators and interns also offer workshops on various aspects of managing serious disagreements, handling "difficult people," anger management and basic conflict resolution skills; and the design and facilitation of problem-solving, planning, decision-making and team-building gatherings.
All services for faculty, staff and students remain free and confidential, LeResche says.
For information, visit the Conflict Resolution Services office in 318 EMU or call 6-4240.
Discover Oregon, a new Learning Community designed to improve the retention of UO's undeclared students, is seeking faculty members to submit proposals to teach year-long one-credit courses designed to enhance the academic and advising experiences of students who have not decided a major.
"The Discover Oregon program will improve the academic experience of our undeclared students and foster success in many who otherwise might feel a bit lost in their first year at college," says Dean Joe Stone, Arts and Sciences.
Course proposals are due Jan. 21 and will be reviewed by the Discover Oregon faculty advisory board.
"The program offers faculty members the opportunity to meet regularly with small groups of students, guide them through the intellectual challenges of their first year at the university, and help them begin the process of selecting a major," says Sherri Willard Argyres, assistant director of Student Academic Progress.
Discover Oregon courses include academic advising components and academic content that expose students to the university's broad curricular areas--the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, fine arts, business, education, journalism, music, and architecture and allied arts.
For example, in a social sciences course titled Discover: War, students might explore war from psychological, economic, historical and sociological perspectives. At the same time, they would review the university's general education requirements, discover career avenues for social scientists, improve their study skills, and develop a four-year academic plan.
Faculty members interested in teaching a Discover Oregon course can contact Willard Argyres, the program's administrative coordinator, by calling 6-1154 or sending e-mail to sargyres@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Since "UO Today" debuted in March 1997 on cable-access television channels in Eugene and Portland, the half-hour interview show has introduced the scholarly interests and activities of UO humanities faculty to viewers in the state's major metropolitan areas.
With the arrival of the new year, "UO Today" also will air in Ashland, Medford, Ontario, Salem and Sunriver.
Locally, "UO Today" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on TCI cable channel 97 and at 9:30 p.m. on TCI cable channel 96.
In the Portland metropolitan area, viewers can see the program at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on Paragon Cable System's channel 27. At 4 p.m. Sundays, TCI Cable System subscribers can see "UO Today" on channel 33.
Check local cable listings in other areas for broadcast schedules which are subject to change without notice.
Programs and guests set during winter term are:
On the move
Wes Morrill, Student Life dean and Counseling Center director, will be on professional leave during winter term, visiting multiple institutions to study crisis management. Laura Blake-Jones will be acting dean of Student Life, and Robin Holmes will be acting director of the Counseling Center.
J.T. Sanders, Religious Studies, and John Schellman, Chemistry, have been given the rank and title of professor emeritus. In his 28 years here, Sanders was department head and served in various university governance posts, while Schellman, here for 39 years, was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences.
In the spotlight
Jane Dawson, Political Science, is winner of the 1997 Marshall Shulman Prize for her book, Eco-Nationalism: Anti-Nuclear Activism and National Identity in Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine (Duke University Press, 1996). The award for the best book of the year in Soviet and post-Soviet policy studies is given jointly by the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and the Harriman Institute of Columbia University.
Dan Moshavi, Management doctoral student, has been awarded a $2,500 Harvey Wilson/Society for Human Resource Management Doctoral Dissertation Grant. His award is one of just five or six granted each year by the 60,000-member professional association.
Dare Baldwin, Psychology, received an American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. She studies the mechanisms by which infants and young children acquire knowledge to guide future learning and action.
Jennifer Freyd, Psychology, was awarded the Pierre Janet Award for excellence in scientific writing in the field of dissociation and dissociative disorders for her book, Betrayal Trauma, by the International Society for the Study of Dissociation at its annual conference held Nov. 8-11 in Montreal.
Tom Stevens, Chemistry, was one of two recipients of 1997 Discovery Awards presented Nov. 19 by the Oregon Health Sciences Foundation. The awards are for major contributions in original medical research by an Oregon scientist.
Russell J. Donnelly, Physics, received the Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology at a convocation ceremony at Reed College in September.
In Print/On Display
Jon Erlandson, Anthropology, co-authored with Ian Hough and others a paper, "The Cico Chert Source on San Miguel Island, California," in the most recent issue of the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology.
Terri Warpinski, Fine and Applied Arts, and Natalie Sudman are artist and author of Sagebrush: A Visual and Literary Homage to the Great Basin Desert (lone goose press).
Sharon R. Sherman, English, is the author of Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video and Culture (University Press of Kentucky, October 1997).
On the podium/stage
Kay Westerfield, American English Institute, was a plenary speaker at the English for Specific Purposes Conference `97 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Jacquelyn Schachter, Linguistics, gave a plenary address at the Second Language Research Forum in October at Michigan State University. Presenting papers were Pat Rounds, Linguistics; Ruth Kanagy, East Asian Languages and Literatures; and GTFs Jong-Bai Hwang and Min Kyong Ju, both Linguistics, and Jaeyeon Lim, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
In memoriam
Astrid M. Williams, Germanic Languages and Literatures emerita, died Nov. 16. A UO alumna and a faculty member from 1934 until retiring in 1972, Williams, 99, had taught German, Swedish and Norwegian language courses as well as German and Scandinavian literature in English translation. In 1968, she received the St. Olav Medal from the Norwegian king in recognition of her services to the land of her birth.