The Fall classified staff “Meeting with the President” was held on October 13th, the event was well attended. President Lariviere expressed his appreciation of the effectiveness of the staff who work in classified support positions. President Lariviere expressed that he continues to be surprised by the level of productivity of our support staff considering the relative number of people performing the work on campus. He plans to continue his visits to the various areas of the campus to increase his knowledge and awareness of all the campus functions, to meet the staff, faculty, and students.
In his comments President Lariviere pointed out that 9.5% of the operating budget for the UO comes from state revenue and that the current model for expenditures is not sustainable for our needs. He reported that of the $650 million dollars allotted for Higher Ed, there are 6300 budget line items directing the expenditures for these dollars. His immediate goal is to stop the erosion of capital investments and work to increase non-resident enrollment. He believes this will aid in the stabilization of the funding base on the UO campuses.
In the question and answer period, Star Holmberg, membership coordinator, asked President Lariviere why the voluntary furlough (or pay reduction) program for unclassified employees was discontinued. There was a moment of stunned silence when President Lariviere stated “because it was not needed”. Because classified employees must take furlough time off in compliance with the agreement between OUS and SEIU, those in attendance were surprised at his statement. In response, President Lariviere shared information regarding his desire to introduce greater flexibility for each institution to the number of furlough days during negotiations. He reports that he wanted to bring an alternative plan to the bargaining table that included language that would allow for fewer days if it was determined we did not need to make as steep of a cut in the budget as originally anticipated. President Lariviere stated that these efforts were unsuccessful. He also stated that he was legally constrained regarding his ability to share his views during collective bargaining.
As a side note: I contacted several SEIU staffers that were at the bargaining table and learned that they were not aware of the proposal suggested by President Lariviere and of any requests directed toward the OUS bargaining team. I think most of the classified staff have been made aware of this information already, so I don’t think this is news to most of us now.
Our featured presenter Pam Farmer, Director of Training and Development, provided an in-depth review of the new Skillsoft training database available to UO employees. Please visit the ODT website for details at: ODT.uoregon.edu
