Letter from UO President Frohnmayer to the UO Community September 27, 2005

September 27, 2005

Dear Colleagues:

As I write these words, memories are still fresh of the splendid Convocation we held Sunday afternoon. Thousands of students, faculty, staff and community members celebrated the opening ceremonies blessed by the presence of an outstanding scholar and speaker _ James Gates _ who captivated us all with the joys of science, the wisdom of Einstein, and larger lessons about life. Many thanks to all who developed and participated in this enormously successful beginning to the school year.

I send my greetings to the talented new faculty and staff who join us for the first time. My thanks extend to those who are continuing, with the hope that the splendid Eugene summer months or your travels elsewhere have brought you back with fresh vigor and enthusiasm as we start the new year. This is a joyful time.

That joy, however, is tempered by the ravages we have witnessed in the Gulf Coast states and which are ongoing. Many thanks to everyone on campus who responded to make arrangements for individuals displaced by the hurricanes. Numbers of students and faculty from affected institutions have joined us for this term, and we extend to them our most heartfelt welcome.

During the summer months, the legislative assembly adjourned with the most positive results for capital construction in decades. Thanks to the governor, the legislature, members of our staff, and the magnificent philanthropy of donors, we received bonding authority for completion of phase three of the Lillis Business Complex, completion of the remodel and expansion of our theatre, and major funding for new College of Education facilities worthy of the outstanding quality of that splendid school. Legislators have told us that our determination to achieve an extra margin of excellence through our private fund-raising efforts was central to their decision to provide this bonding authority. The legislative session also marked the end of the salary freeze, which allows us to begin to address our compensation issues and pursue the faculty salary objectives put forth long ago in the Senate Budget Committee white paper on this subject. I am pleased to report to you that the commitment to end the state's disinvestment in Oregon's universities has been met.

The public phase of our $600 million Campaign Oregon, of which the capital projects mentioned above are a part, is not yet one year old. I am happy to note that we are ahead of the fund-raising schedule, having raised more than $367 million. Last fiscal year was an all-time fund-raising record for us and, of the $92 million that we raised, more than $80 million was for academic purposes. We are grateful to all of you who have worked diligently to ensure the success of this fund-raising campaign, the largest ever in the state of Oregon for any purpose public or private.

We have opportunities and challenges on a number of fronts. Our efforts to be more visible and present in the Portland metropolitan area have been underway for a number of years; they are now gaining momentum in a variety of schools and colleges and in our attempt to find geographic sites that are appealing and adequate for our needs. The state's largest city is also the home of the largest population of our alumni, potential students, and donors. Our active plans to have a

Eugene site for medical education beginning next year, in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University and PeaceHealth, are part of this larger outreach and involvement with the Portland metropolitan area.

The senior vice president/provost's search is advancing well, with a number of highly qualified candidates. This is the single most important university search in more than a decade, and I particularly ask faculty to watch for opportunities to participate in on-campus interviews as they develop.

I commend the work over many meetings through the summer of the diversity executive working group. The controversial subjects of last spring's draft report are being confronted in admirable, tough-minded, and intellectually demanding give and take. No one should pretend this work is easy; we owe a great deal of gratitude to the members of the working group as well as the many others who over the years have worked diligently to engage us in diversity both intellectually and in our hiring and recruitment practices. Our work on this will continue through fall term with opportunities for participation from the university community.

In another area in which personal and professional concerns are interwoven, I need to remind this community of the attention through the summer months given by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education to issues of sexual harassment and coercion and to the pitfalls of consensual relationships in which parties involved have not taken the proper steps to avoid conflicts of interest. The board has developed new directives with which our policies are in compliance, but those policies need to be better publicized. I take the opportunity of this letter to remind everyone in this community that sexual harassment and coercion of any kind is not tolerated and that policies of disclosure to a responsible supervisor and removal of potential conflicts of interest apply to consensual relationships within the community. (OAR 571-004-0007)

On a different front, people within our community are undertaking our annual Charitable Fund Drive, and I hope you give them your most sincere and generous participation. Recent events that have wrought such devastation should have made us starkly aware of many people previously invisible to us whose needs are acute and whose plight is tragic. I hope we will carry our spirit of generosity to causes local, national and international to the extent our means permit us to respond.

The academic year ahead is one into which we can all carry a spirit of optimism. Eager new students fill our streets, buildings, and residence halls; we continue to set new records in sponsored research and in our income from inventions; the legislature has provided both a stable operating budget as well as bonding for many critical building projects; and the glorious early autumn sunshine continues to bathe this campus as it has for seemingly endless weeks.

I thank each of you for your service to the university and welcome your engagement at the beginning of this term. As always, I welcome you sending comments, suggestions, and advice to me at pres@uoregon.edu.

Warm regards,

Dave Frohnmayer President