Provost and Senior Vice President Jayanth Banavar sent the following message to the campus community Jan. 12:

Colleagues,

There is no question that we all share a common goal—supporting our students and ensuring that they have the resources to be successful during their time at the University of Oregon and beyond. This week Dennis Galvan, interim vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies, announced some changes to the UGS team that are aimed squarely at improving and enhancing the way we support student success initiatives at the UO. These changes include a new arrangement in which our highly successful programs such as PathwayOregon, Teaching and Learning Center tutoring and academic support, and our first-year enrichment programs are all better connected and are all ultimately managed by Doneka Scott, associate vice provost for student success. Dennis has detailed those changes in a memorandum to the UGS staff.

The reorganization that Dennis has embarked upon does not eliminate any programs. It simply consolidates administrative oversight of our student success programs within UGS to increase collaboration and coordination. Dennis has been working closely with me and leaders within the provost’s office and UGS to develop a plan that will ultimately strengthen and improve alignment among various student success programs. While we have many fantastic programs—and many talented and dedicated people who support those programs—in some instances our siloed and decentralized structure meant that those programs were not achieving their full potential.

I understand that change can sometimes be unsettling, but change is necessary if we are to better support our students. I thank everyone within UGS for their patience and understanding. Though some positions may change slightly, this is not an effort to reduce FTE within UGS. Some of you may have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or Dennis.

Thank you,

Jayanth Banavar
Provost and Senior Vice President