October 21, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I am very excited to announce that I have selected Kassy Fisher as the new associate vice president and chief of staff for the Office of the Provost.

In her 15 years with the University of Oregon, Kassy has earned a reputation as a thoughtful leader and problem-solver who values strategy and collaboration.

She joined the UO in 2006 as coordinator of Graduate Student Affairs and was ultimately promoted to assistant dean and director of finance and administration in the Graduate School (now Division of Graduate Studies). Since 2015, she has served as associate vice president for Campus Services and chief of staff to the Vice President of Finance and Administration. In this role, she oversaw four departments that comprise 100 employees across the VPFA portfolio and provided leadership and coordination on projects that crossed departmental and divisional lines. For the past year, she has also served as deputy incident commander for the Incident Management Team’s COVID-19 response, establishing processes, implementing policies, and adeptly leading and collaborating with teams across campus who are working to continue the mission of the university through a pandemic.

Prior to coming to the UO, Kassy held roles as a resident director at both California State University and Salisbury University in Maryland. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in education, both from Salisbury University.

Kassy will start her new assignment on December 1. I look forward to having her join the Office of the Provost and to working with her in this new capacity.

I am grateful to the search committee, led by Chair Jane Gordon, vice provost for UO Portland. Their work to identify top candidates from a national search in a short amount of time was commendable and appreciated. 

Please join me in welcoming Kassy to this new role at the University of Oregon.

Patrick Phillips
Provost and Senior Vice President