Good morning trustees,
I am grateful to be with you for the final Board meeting of what has been a demanding year at the University of Oregon.
Let me begin this morning with a conviction shaped by my years of observing campuses rise to challenges and falter under them: Meaningful progress depends on trust. Policies matter, strategy matters, data matter, yet none of it will move the university with any real power unless the people responsible for establishing and advancing our shared purpose — the leaders among our faculty and staff, and at every level across our schools, colleges, and central administration — trust one another’s intentions and judgment.
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From the moment I set foot on campus two summers ago, I have sought to make connections and to hold space for the people of the University of Oregon, and for the different truths that animate our community. We began with the Provost’s Council, the academic leadership team of deans and vice-provosts. We turned our regular meetings from information sharing to collaborative working sessions, and in our retreats, we have sought at once to deepen our relationships and to hold ourselves accountable to our shared commitment to authentic, values-enacted, collaborative leadership.
This year, the council is reforming and refining how the academic allocation is distributed to our schools and colleges, with the overarching goal of providing more transparency, autonomy, and accountability for our deans, and more clarity for our university community. We are not establishing a new budget model. But we are trying to change a culture that had become too prescriptive to one that is more coordinated and collaborative. To do this, we have taken concrete steps to increase the share of the academic allocation flowing directly to schools and colleges. And we have removed some unnecessary restrictions on how deans can use allocated funding to maximize flexibility and to allow them to make more strategic decisions.
I have been grateful for the regular meetings of the Senate Budget Committee this term, led by Melynda Casement. One of the things UO Senate leadership and I learned from the difficult budget work we did this summer was the importance of creating a regular cadence of open interactions, so more members of the university community can learn about and provide input on changes like these — forging the trusting relationships with leaders across the university that are central to healthy shared governance.
In the same spirit of transparency and collaboration, with Joe Buck’s University Advancement team, we created the Academic Campaign Council, which regularly brings together our deans, academic leaders, and development officers to align fundraising priorities and strengthen our capital campaign. Our collective focus is to find ways to invest in faculty across the university — from the humanities to the sciences and all the fields that define our academic identity — and to build world-class facilities that support their work, so we can elevate our academic mission and reputation. These conversations are already opening new possibilities. When we share plans openly and face challenges together, collaboration becomes more than a value; it becomes a catalyst for progress and the key to unlocking exponentially higher levels of fundraising across our academic enterprise.
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We are continually working to align action with impact, so thank you for approving this morning three new academic programs speak to that goal.
The Masters’ degrees in Data Science and in Cybersecurity bring the most sophisticated understanding of technology together with the deepest understanding of the human condition provided by the liberal arts. The B.Ed improves access for students to the Ballmer Institute and advances our effort to create a new profession that will address our national mental health crisis.
These programs can launch with minimal new costs, and they offer real revenue potential. They are responsive to the needs of society while promising positive impact in our state and beyond, at a time when the value of higher education is increasingly questioned.
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Finally, I am thrilled to announce a new initiative that could transform how we attract and nurture exceptional undergraduate students — giving them an immersive experience in pushing the boundaries of human knowledge from day one.
The Provost Undergraduate Research Assistantship pilot program will provide research funding for approximately 60 first-year students with interests in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM. Students will earn a $5,000 award, while their faculty mentors will receive a $1,000 stipend per student. Beginning this spring, we'll offer this to applicants who demonstrate exceptional academic promise — the students every university wants. We are hopeful that this will position the University of Oregon to compete for the brightest minds and will offer them a powerful reason to stay.
I want to thank Grant Schoonover, Kevin Hatfield, Lanch McCormick and their team for leading this effort.
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As we look ahead to 2026, let me reiterate that no priority matters more than the trust we are willing to build with one another. Trust is earned through honest dialogue. It is rooted in courage. The courage to engage our differences — of opinion, perspective, and lived experience — not as obstacles that paralyze us, but as resources that deepen our work, lending our decisions texture and depth and giving the changes we make together the purchase they need to endure. Indeed, a university is supposed to be a place where ideas meet, conflict, and complicate each other. The pursuit of truth itself requires this.
In my view, it is not enough to navigate and weather the challenges we face during this disruptive time for higher education. We must elevate the quality of the educational experience we provide; enhance the impact of the research we do; and make good on the promise of higher education to do good for society. And to do this, we must cultivate habits of leadership rooted in trust.
Thank you.