May 12, 2000
The Oregon University System (OUS) is proposing that higher education employees eligible for staff fee privileges be given the opportunity to transfer such privileges to one family member (including a domestic partner) per term, effective fall 2000 for at least a two-year trial period.
UO employees currently may enroll for up to 10 credit hours per term at $15 per credit.
A public hearing on the OUS plan, to be authorized by adoption of oar 580-022-0031, Transfer of Staff Fee Privileges, is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 16, in 358 Susan Campbell. Interested parties are urged to submit oral and written testimony during the hearing or by May 31 to hearings officer Joe Sicotte, associate vice chancellor for human resources.
View copies of the proposed new rule at the OUS Chancellor’s Office, 111 Susan Campbell.
As drafted, the rule defines "family member" to include spouses or dependent children as specified by Internal Revenue Service code and "domestic partner" as construed by the Public Employees Benefit Board (pebb) domestic partnership affidavit.
Under the plan, staff fee benefits could be used once per academic term by either the employee or a family member for no more than 10 academic credits. During a term, benefits may not be transferred more than once, nor may they be subdivided or shared by more than one person.
Recipients of transferred staff fee privileges may use them at any Oregon Department of Higher Education institution, subject to policies of the instructing institution. As drafted, the plan indicates that institutions may exclude programs from eligibility for the privilege.
The proposed policy states that family members would pay all mandatory enrollment fees such as the resource, health service, building and incidental fees.
Verification of employee qualification to transfer the staff fee benefit would depend on human resource system records at each OUS institution. Spousal, dependent or domestic partner eligibility would have to be established no later than the first day of classes of the term of enrollment.
Neither higher education retirees nor employees of OHSU would be eligible for transfer of staff fee benefits, according to the draft rule.
The policy would be in effect during the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 academic years. The Board of Higher Education would determine whether to continue the program after Spring Term 2002.
UO benefits administrator Helen Stoop says that UO implementation of the policy will be finalized following the May 16 public hearing and formal promulgation of the new rule in late June. She anticipates employees will be able to transfer their staff rate benefit to family members this fall.
For information about the proposal, call 6-5795.
Families in Good Company has declared the University of Oregon one of the six most "family friendly" employers in Oregon.
During an April 27 awards ceremony in Portland, the university was honored in the government category for, among other strengths, its long-term support–since the mid-1980s–for programs that help employees juggle work and family needs.
Singled out were the university’s three on-site child development program serving nearly 400 families of employees and students.
On May 15, one of these, the Vivian Olum Child Development Center, is breaking ground for a Phase II addition that will increase its capacity to serve employee families. The $600,000 project, involving additions to play areas and re-configuration of some interior spaces for increased efficiency, is expected to be completed by the start of fall term.
Other UO strengths cited during the Families in Good Company awards event included a "family support" personnel policy, a work-family task force, a work-family coordinator, work-life training sessions, a work-family library and family support groups.
"Thanks go to many who have worked over the years to help create an environment at UO which supports balance in work and study with family and personal lives," says Linda King, Human Resources director. "Among those is Karen Logvin, our Work and Family Services administrator, for her invaluable leadership."
The University of Oregon’s decision to join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) for one year has generated controversy and raised important questions. Here are President Dave Frohnmayer’s answers to some queries he’s received:
Q. Didn’t you cave in to a group of student protesters?
A. Our decision to join the WRC was not a result of the recent protests. In fact, more than a year ago, we began a dialogue with students, faculty, alumni and other advisers about how to answer most appropriately the concerns voiced by critics of so-called "sweatshop labor." The concern–that merchandise carrying the university’s official logos not be made in overseas factories that have less than humane working conditions–is legitimate.
Last fall, I appointed a special committee (including faculty, students and an alumni representative) to provide me with a recommendation for how to monitor our more than 275 licensees to ensure their compliance with a code of conduct that acknowledges the individual rights of workers.
The committee recommended joining the WRC. During this school year, ASUO leadership also recommended that we join the WRC, and a vote of the student body endorsed the idea. The debate then passed to the University Senate.
Q. Have other schools made the same choice?
A. To date, 48 universities have joined the WRC. Members include UCLA, Cornell, Indiana, Columbia, Michigan, Minnesota, Georgetown, Wisconsin and the University of California.
Q. Where is the money coming from to pay for the university’s WRC membership?
A. Fees from our licensing program.
Q. What about criticisms of the WRC?
A. The WRC is not perfect. No monitoring group is. When we agreed to a one-year membership, we stated a number of concerns about:
• Governance–Ensuring proper influence for university members and more clarity regarding selection of advisory board members;
• Membership balance–There is little or no business or corporate participation at present;
• Transparency–Meetings and outcomes are closed to the media and non-member observers–a particular concern for us as we are an open-meeting state and an open-meeting institution;
• Disclosure of all contributors and their affiliations.
Contrary to the mistaken impression that recent news reports may have given, the university has not suddenly reconsidered its decision to join the WRC. The university’s action has always included establishing a process for internal review in cooperation with the University Senate during the next academic year, to evaluate whether the WRC can meet the terms of our conditions for membership and to assess the group’s fairness and effectiveness. Planning for that evaluation has already begun.
Q. Weren’t you concerned about Phil Knight’s reaction?
A. Phil and I have been close friends for more than two decades, joined in great part by our devotion to the University of Oregon. Our tie extends further than our own friendship; our fathers went to law school at the university together. There is no doubt that Phil Knight’s generosity has helped our students, faculty and our entire university community. I feel strongly that our campus and the people of Oregon owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. Phil and I will continue to talk; I remain hopeful about the outcome of our conversations. I urge everyone to leave us room to work on this together.
UO employees gave the equivalent of more than 70,000 pounds of food, a 283 percent increase over 1999, to help feed local individuals and families during the Governor’s Food Drive which ended March 1.
"It’s extremely heartening that the UO community responded with such generosity," says food drive chair Karen Scheeland, Governmental Affairs.
Tops in cash and food donations were Psychology with $7,697; Facilities Services with $5,335; and employees in Johnson Hall with $4,536.44. Each received gifts or gift certificates donated by local merchants.
"UO Today," which highlights the scholarly pursuits and interests of UO faculty and visiting speakers, will broadcast the following shows during May and June at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays on AT&T cable channel 12, and at 9 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m. Tuesdays, 10 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. Fridays on AT&T cable channel 97:
May 15—19: Barbara Allen Babcock, O’Fallon Lecturer
May 22—26: Barry Lopez, Oregon author
May 29—June 2: Peggy Pascoe, History
June 5—9: Saskia Van Oosterhout and Brinda Rao, Rockefeller Scholars, CSWS
June 12—16: Elias Bongmba, Religious Studies guest lecturer, and Wendy Maltz, CSWS
Bibliographic Tables of Contents for Summer Term Course Packets are due Monday, May 22, to Kati Kronholm at the Copyright Clearance Office at the Baker Downtown Center. Send new or changed lists by e-mail to katik@oregon or fax them to 6-0895. Questions? Call 6-5370.
The deadline is noon on Monday, May 22, to apply for the Bruce M. Abrams Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Studies Undergraduate and Graduate Awards–two $500 prizes for the best essays or projects advancing LGBT studies by current UO students in any discipline. Pick up and turn in completed applications at Women’s Studies, 315 Hendricks. For information, call 6-5529.
Knight Library’s Media Services is open for video/film viewing and video/film and AV equipment check-out from noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays this spring. These expanded hours are a direct response to the research and instructional needs of UO faculty and students, according to Director Tom Matney. Questions? Call 6-1947.
Two UO geography students won top honors at the 65th Association of Pacific Coast Geographers annual meeting. Jacqueline Shinker received the Presidents Award for Outstanding Paper by Doctorate Student and Peter Killoran received the Presidents Award for Outstanding Paper by a Master’s Student.
Honored April 11 during a campus-wide reception as recipients of the 2000 Officer of Administration Recognition Award were Leslie Bennett, Knight Library; Dorothy Grover, Telecommunications Services; Anne Leavitt, Student Affairs; and Judith Ogasawara, University Health Center. Also receiving accolades as Classified Employee Recognition Award winners were Debbie Burrington, Arts and Sciences; Shereé Johnson and Terrie Penfold, Business Affairs; and Adam Yapp, Architecture and Allied Arts.
Howard Davis, Architecture, published a new book, The Culture of Building (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Steve Shankman, English, co-authored The Siren and the Sage: Knowledge and Wisdom in Ancient Greece and China. The book, on contemporary philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, was published in January.
Richard Linton, chief research officer and director of sponsored programs for the University of North Carolina System, will become the UO vice provost for research and graduate studies and Graduate School dean, effective Aug. 1. A faculty member and research administrator for 23 years in North Carolina, Linton received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1977. The author of many research articles, he is president-elect of the Microbeam Analysis Society. Linton, 48, succeeds Tom Dyke, Chemistry, who was interim vice provost for research, and Marian Friestad, Marketing, who was interim Graduate School dean.
Marilyn Scott Linton, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in German literature from the University of Oregon in 1969 and 1975, will return to her alma mater this summer to fill the new position of associate vice provost for undergraduate studies, at .67 fte, and associate professor of German, at .33 fte. Her duties will include enhancing the undergraduate experience and opportunities for international students. Linton is interim director of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships and Intellectual Life at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she also serves as assistant chairman of the Department of Germanic Languages and was assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1990-94.
Kenneth Helphand, Landscape Architecture, gave the keynote speech on "Places" at a September meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects in Boston.
Gaylene Carpenter, Arts and Administration, presented "Stability and Change in Perceptions of Leisure and Wants-Out-of-Life Among Mid-Life Adults: A Longitudinal Examination" in October at the Leisure Research Symposium for the National Recreation and Park Association.
Jim Mooney, Law, in October presented a week of USAID-sponsored seminars on banking law to Republic of Georgia judges.
Joseph R. Fiszman, Political Science emeritus, died April 17 in Eugene. A UO faculty member since 1959 whose specialty was comparative East European political systems, he taught and conducted research during sabbaticals in his native Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The author of two books and numerous professional articles, Fiszman, 81, held master’s and doctoral degrees from Emory University and Michigan State. Memorial contributions may be made to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Diabetes Association or the UO Development Fund.
Roy J. Sampson, Marketing emeritus, died on March 29 in Eugene. A graduate of Tennessee Technological University with MBA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, he joined the UO faculty in 1959 specializing in transportation and public utility economics, management and policy. Memorial contributions for Sampson, 81, may be made to the UO Scholarship Fund.