Letter from UO President Frohnmayer to the UO Community January 6, 2004

January 6, 2004

Dear Colleagues:

As I write this letter of winter term greetings, our campus remains open even during especially inclement weather. I appreciate the heartiness of our students as they trudge through the freezing rain to their classes. Even more, I appreciate and honor the efforts of faculty and staff to meet classes, keep the streets and pathways clear and safe, heat and maintain the buildings, prepare meals, open offices, and continue to do hard work with heartwarming good spirit. We owe you all a great debt of gratitude.

Since I last wrote a number of events have transpired. Some give cause for anxiety, others for greatly renewed hope. As you all know, the pending referral vote on February 3 will affect the university very directly if budgeted revenues are lost. I urge you to study the issues carefully, to register if you have not done so, and to cast an informed and intelligent vote as befits your exemplary role as citizens of the larger community.

The late fall also brought news of Governor Kulongoski's higher education initiatives. These include his now completed slate of new nominees to the OUS board, with former Governor Neil Goldschmidt among them. I welcome Governor Kulongoski's passionately delivered statements of support for higher education. He has struck four themes that are both happily and remarkably consistent with our own four strategic directions: access, excellence, economic development, and reinvestment in higher education. As I write, we are actively working with the governor's office, our OUS colleagues, and political allies to bring muscle and sinew to these critically important themes.

One of the important reinforcements of the public actions of state government is our own Comprehensive Campaign. While we are still in the silent phase, we have raised more than $200 million and are slightly ahead of our projections. We have obtained a lead gift for the education building and have now raised more than $30 million of the ambitious $100 million target for scholarships. The latter includes a gift for student scholarships from the Giustina family in excess of $6 million. Many other gifts, yet to be announced, have been completed or are in the final stages of acceptance. We have every reason to be happy with the progress of the campaign. Those who worked so hard to develop its component parts should take personal and professional pride in helping give the campaign both direction and momentum.

I know that much of your labor as faculty and staff has been performed without the incentives that I believe are so vitally necessary. I refer, of course, particularly to the state mandated compensation freeze and to uncertainties respecting retirement and other benefits. Please know that we labor daily to do what we can in all feasible ways to recognize your loyal performance. As I write, the issues surrounding the optional retirement program are still being clarified; you have my assurance that this particular issue has occupied my personal attention as your advocate.

There are many positive achievements to report, including our continuing record enrollment and retention of students; another record-setting pace in federal research and external grant support; numerous honors achieved by individual faculty members; and continuing excellence in the conduct of our staff in performing their duties. This week we have announced the appointment of Gregory Vincent as vice provost for institutional equity and diversity. Vice Provost Vincent has an outstanding record, was highly acclaimed universally during the search process, and is ideally positioned to give even sharper focus to our commitment to diversity. We will shortly issue our annual report on our progress on diversity matters. I urge those who wish to review the particulars to go to the president's website.

In other areas affecting the university, I salute the approval of our East Campus Plan earlier this week, noted in a highly complimentary article in the Eugene Register-Guard. I also note, as we acknowledged in announcing our intention to build an arena to replace McArthur Court, that cost estimates might increase and would lead to reassessment of our original plans. That reassessment is occurring and has been shared in significant part with campus leadership. I will keep the leadership informed as we proceed.

I continue to be heartened by comments about our university from colleagues around the nation. Not only were we singled out for our hospitality during the visit of the presidents and chancellors from the Association of American Universities; our colleagues also were singularly impressed with the quality of our academic programs, the beauty of our campus, and the collegiality of our community. Other colleagues around the country have touted the exceptional quality of our international programs and our highly efficient business practices in the face of cutbacks in state funding - which have affected every research university in the nation in these times.

I wish you well in the coming months and thank you again for your continuing support of the university's mission. As always, I welcome your comments and would be pleased to respond to your concerns. I can be reached at pres@uoregon.edu.

Best wishes for a slightly warmer winter,

Dave Frohnmayer