UO Board of Trustees to discuss presidential search, tuition costs

Miranda Cyr, Register-Guard
·2 min read
An entrance to the University of Oregon, with Pioneer cemetery on the left.
An entrance to the University of Oregon, with Pioneer cemetery on the left.

The University of Oregon Board of Trustees plans to discuss tuition costs for the next school year and the presidential search, among other university-related topics at its meetings Monday and Tuesday.

This quarterly meeting is the first since the last regular meeting in September, which took place shortly after former UO President Michael Schill resigned to work at Northwestern University. Former Provost Patrick Phillips has taken over as interim president while the board conducts a national search.

The two days of meetings will be held at the UO Ford Alumni Center in Eugene. Monday's session will focus on committee discussions − the finance and facilities committee, the academic and student affairs committee, and the executive, audit and governance committee. Tuesday's meeting will include the full board and action items to be voted on.

Tuition setting

A 20-member Tuition and Fee Advisory Board worked to begin determining student tuition costs for next school year. The group is focused on advising the president in developing undergraduate and graduate tuition recommendations and reviewing fees that include course and housing fees.

The tuition board will collect input from students in coming months and develop a proposed tuition for the president during the winter term. There is not yet an estimated tuition increase, but the agenda presentation highlights university-wide costs that include higher staff and faculty pay among other increases for a total of $24.4 million.

The tuition board members include:

  • Two Associated Students of UO officers

  • Two undergraduate students

  • One graduate student

  • Two faculty − one drawn from Senate Budget Committee

  • Staff representatives from from Business Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, Clark Honors College, Financial Aid, Institutional Research, the Provost’s Office, Student Life, and Undergraduate Education

The presidential search

At the last meeting, the board decided what positions it was looking to fill on the Presidential Search Committee. Since then, the committee has been formed with 22 members.

The search committee met with more than 40 constituent groups and received feedback on the attributes they would like to see in the next president. Feedback was given by faculty, staff, students, volunteers, donors,state, local elected officials, and other community members.

The committee drafted a presidential profile. The board will vote on Tuesday to approve the launching of the national search to begin candidate recruitment.

More items

Other items on the board's agenda include a new research innovation partnership proposal, a discussion on campus climate and culture and an update on union collective bargaining, which will be held in a closed executive session.

The board meetings will take place at the Giustina Ballroom in the Ford Alumni Center at UO. Written public comment are being received until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.

To watch a livestream of the meetings, visit trustees.uoregon.edu/meetings.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: UO Board of Trustees to discuss tuition costs, presidential search