Remarks by Senate President Gilkey to the UO Assembly 31 May 2000

1.  (US9900-8) The UO Policy statement on Extension of tenure probationary period deals with faculty members with parental responsibilities for a new baby or child. This was adopted by the Senate and promulgated by the President. Although affecting relatively few instructional faculty, it provides valuable evidence of the UO's committment in this area.
2. (US9900-9) The statement of  ``community values'' reminds us: "The University of Oregon has a long and illustrious history in the area of academic freedom and freedom of speech. A culture of respect that honors the rights, safety, dignity and worth of every individual is essential to preserve such freedom" - this statement of shared community values is an outgrowth of the work of the Diversity interns with input from many people; it was adopted by the Senate, and promulgated by the President. It is truly a work of shared governance.
3. (US9900-12/13/14) The work of the Senate Budget Committee, comprised of Professors Frank, Kellman, Tublitz, and Westling and of Provost Moseley is another exemplar. Rather than engaging in sterile confrontation, the SBC worked together to make a start at solving some of our salary problems. Although much remains to be done, an excellent beginning has been made. The three documents the SBC presented and which were adopted by the Senate were the statement of Pinciples, the White paper, and the implementation document. The work of the SBC continues next year.
4. (US9900-15) The ad hoc committee on committee restructuring issued its report. It affirms "The long standing and highly valued tradition of shared campus governance at the University of Oregon rests on the basic tenet that major decisions are reached after broad discussion and consensus. It affirms the need for  REGULAR COMMUNICATION AND CONSULTATION AMONG ALL CONSTITUENT GROUPS.
5. Finally, let me turn my attention to the US9900-10A (licensing code of conduct) and US9900-10B (membership in the WRC).  I heard President Frohnmayer remark "It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal the neighbor's newspaper,  that's the time to do it". Presumably as a fomer attorney general of the State of Oregon his remarks have a figurative rather than a literal  meaning. But in any event, I do not think things look dark; to the contrary, I think the process we employed in joining the WRC is an excellent example of Shared Governance. I should like to quote briefly from the Resolution of Support for President Frohnmayer which was adopted by the FAC on 8 May 2000: "the decision to join the WRC was made through an established deliberative process, with much public debate and input from a wide cross section of the University community. It does not reflect one person's opinion nor that of one small group. Rather, it symbolizes the combined efforts of members of the community and the University Senate, as elected representatives, to address the circumstances under which the University's name and logo are used".

 

 

Next year the Senate Executive Committee will serve as the Senate's oversight committee concerned with our membership in the Worker Rights Consortium. To assist the Executive Committee with that task, incoming Senate President Jim Earl created a subcommittee to review the issue during the coming year. Let me paraphrase his remarks to the UO Senate last week:

This committee will make its reports and recommendations to the Executive Committee; these will be forwarded to the Senate for debate; and the Senate's recommendation will be forwarded to the President. This new committee will consist of two former Senate presidents, Ann Tedards and Jeff Hurwit, and this year's chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee, David Frank. Jim will serve on this committee ex officio. The committee is charged to bring clarity to the many issues surrounding the University's membership in the WRC. The committee will provide regular interim reports and listen to the many voices in this complex public debate: students, faculty, administration, trustees, alumni, licensees, donors, and others.

1. Provost John Moseley for his work with the Senate Budget Committee during academic 1999/2000.
2. Senior Vice Provost Lorraine Davis for her attendance at the monthly UO Senate meetings for many years where she was always "at the ready" with a wealth of information and valuable insights into the matters under discussion.
3. Professor David Frank for his work as chair of the FAC and as a member of the SBC during 1999/2000.

President Frohnmayer stated to the UOAA: "It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others." This is certainly not the case with regard to his leadership. Again, I quote from the statement of support by the FAC:  "In light of the ongoing controversy regarding the decision for the University of Oregon to join the Worker Rights Consortium, the Faculty Advisory Committee affirms their support for University President Dave Frohnmayer. His leadership and his commitment to our long standing system of shared governance are qualities that we appreciate and respect." In testimony to the high regard in which his leadership is held, it gives me great pleasure as outgoing Senate President to ask him to come forward and receive a brief symbolic token of our appreciation for him.

I concluded my remarks to the assembly in the fall stating: "The purpose of the University is not bureaucracy. Rather it is Scholarship and Teaching; these are central to our University. Scholarship and Teaching are not in conflict; without scholarship we have nothing to share with our students - without communicating our knowledge, scholarship is barren." I meant every word of that. It has been a high honor and privilege being your Senate President this year and I am grateful to you for affording me the opportunity to serve in that capacity this year.