coe-staff: Winter Welcome and Update

[Mia Tuan]

Dear COE Community,

Welcome back and happy new year! I hope you took some time over the break to recharge and disconnect. It was a busy and intense fall, with the launch of the faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and TK20 keeping a lot of us busier than usual. Good or bad, I anticipate an equally busy winter.

First, some congratulations are in order:

  *   Jeff Todahl and Phyllis Barkhurst - The Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect and its 90by30 Initiative were awarded a $275,000 grant from Meyer Memorial Trust. The Meyer award builds on previous support from the Ford Family Foundation, the Oregon Community Foundation, and anonymous community donors.
  *   Charles Martinez was confirmed to the Oregon State Board of Education by the State Senate. He will represent Oregon's 4th Congressional District through June 2017.
  *   Atika Khurana, a second-year faculty member in FHS, will join fellow academics as a Distinguished Research Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.
  *   Yong Zhao was ranked ninth in the 2014 "Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings," announced by Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies for the American Enterprise Institute and a blogger for Education Week. This year's rankings included 200 scholars.
  *   At least four FHS seniors had letters to the editor published in area newspapers as part of an extra-credit assignment. They wrote about various FHS-related issues.

*         Andy Garbacz, in School Psychology, has been appointed to serve as Associate Editor of the Journal of School Psychology.
As always, keep an eye on The Loop<https://coe.uoregon.edu/coe-news/> for the latest COE news.

Now, an update on the CBA:

  *   United Academics (UA) and University of Oregon Academic Affairs and Unclassified Personnel Services are working together to implement the CBA as ratified on October 9, 2013. Highlights of the new agreement include faculty investment; excellence rewarded; academic freedom and shared governance; and increased job security for non-tenure track faculty.
  *   If you are a bargaining unit faculty and met the criteria established for retroactive salary changes, you will already have received a 1.5 percent increase retroactive to January 1, 2013.  In addition a one-time payment of $350 (prorated for less than 1.0 FTE) was made to all faculty employed on the date of the collective bargaining agreement ratification. At the same time dues for UA, who bargained on behalf of their members for these actions, were also assessed in the November paychecks. Union dues will continue to be assessed via monthly payroll deductions. The current rate is 1.1 percent of monthly salary.
  *   1.5 percent raises and merit increases based on a merit increase pool of 2 percent for all bargaining unit faculty will be made retroactive to July 2013 (to be received in January 2014 paychecks).
  *   A review of eligible adjunct faculty positions will be done to determine reclassification to career positions.
The Dean's Office will continue to provide you with updates as the phased-in implementation takes shape. We also encourage your questions, some of which might be answered at the CBA website<http://academicaffairs.uoregon.edu/collective-bargaining-agreement-0>.
And updates on two important searches:

  *   Recruitment for the permanent COE Dean is underway. The search committee, chaired by Dr. Michael Moffitt, has engaged Parker Executive Search Firm to assist in the process. The position description is posted and can be seen at http://jobs.uoregon.edu/unclassified.php?id=4535. You are invited to submit nominations for this position. Visit the link for instructions on nominating candidates.

  *   In my capacity as a member of the provost search committee I'd like to remind you that the first candidate for the Provost position will give a public presentation followed by a Q&A session and a reception on Monday, January 13, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Ford Lecture Hall in the Art Museum (enter through the north courtyard because the museum is closed on Mondays).  As I'm sure you know, the first candidate is an internal one: Scott Coltrane.  He will be followed by three external candidates, each making a presentation late in the afternoon on the first day of the three succeeding work weeks: Tuesday the 21st (because of MLK day), Monday the 27th, and Monday, Feb. 3.  I encourage those of you who do not have directly conflicting engagements to attend.  Since the provost is the chief academic officer of the university, this is a very important hire for the UofO.  By participating in the process, you will be in a position to provide input, which will be taken seriously.  You can provide that input by getting in touch with me or by posting your thoughts on the president's website at http://president.uoregon.edu/content/provost-search-information-and-feedback.  At that link you'll also find information about the candidates a few days before each campus visit (Coltrane's information is already there).
Best wishes everybody for a happy new year and positive start to the new term!
Mia


________________________________
[COE logo]


Mia Tuan | Interim Dean
tuan at uoregon.edu<mailto:tuan at uoregon.edu> | 541.346.3405
170 Lokey Ed | 1215 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403


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