• Last Friday, Provost Jayanth Banavar received the 2018–19 tuition and fee recommendation from the Tuition and Fee Advisory Board (TFAB). In response, he opened a public comment period for campus stakeholders and held a public forum that allowed him to hear directly from students. He and I greatly appreciated hearing from students at the forum, and thank everyone who invested time in this important process and shared their points of view.
• As I write this Open Mike, I feel the earth move under my feet. Before you get concerned that I am singing Carole King songs or having a nightmare about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, you should understand that just outside my office massive trucks and bulldozers are busy breaking ground for the new Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall, the college and careers building.
• We should all be concerned about tax reform efforts being considered by Congress. Simply put, many of the legislative proposals could substantially impede the ability of universities such as the University of Oregon to deliver an excellent, affordable education to our students.
• Announcing Robert E. Guldberg, a prominent expert in bioengineering and celebrated scientific entrepreneur, as the executive director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.
• President Trump this week is expected to make changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, also known as DACA. I join hundreds of university leaders as well as local, state, federal, and business leaders in strongly urging President Trump to continue this program. I also write to let our students know that we support them, and to provide information about where our students and their families can go for assistance, should the need arise.
• President Schill's end-of-year message acknowledges the closure of a terrific academic year, thanks everyone for their contributions to the University of Oregon, and warmly congratulates all the graduates. As we close the book on 2016–17, he is filled with gratitude, awe, and a sense of accomplishment for all that has been achieved together this year.
• The Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s decision yesterday to reject the University of Oregon’s tuition plan is disappointing and creates uncertainty on our campus. If it stands, we will be forced to make even deeper cuts at the UO than are already anticipated, including cuts that will likely affect student support services, academic programs, and jobs.
• Over the past few months, I have spent a lot of time in Salem talking with lawmakers about the urgent need for additional state funding for public higher education. Read my update about the challenges and optimism for the University of Oregon.
• It is my great pleasure to announce that distinguished physicist Jayanth R. Banavar will join the University of Oregon as our next provost and senior vice president. The hiring of Jayanth as the UO’s next chief academic officer is the culmination of a nationwide recruitment that started in August.
