Trustees to get closer look at academic investments, funding

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The Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon will take a deep dive into how the university invests in academics during the regular spring meeting, June 7-8.

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee will hear details on the recently unveiled 2019 Institutional Hiring Plan that authorizes 56 searches for faculty members across a variety of disciplines. According to Jayanth Banavar, provost and senior vice president, the plan is not only a reflection of the president and provost’s priorities for the university but also each dean’s academic vision.

The plan also includes prospects for collaboration and synergy among schools and colleges that emerged during the dean and faculty group discussions. It is intended to be a continuation of efforts to hire tenure-track faculty who will enhance the UO’s scholarly profile and academic excellence and who will share a commitment to student success.

Banavar will later talk with the Finance and Facilities Committee on the new academic allocation model, in which each school or college is given a single operating allocation for the fiscal year based on a number of core components. The model will make schools and colleges responsible for creating an internal, balanced budget based on its operating allocation.

Previously, the university followed an activity-based budget model, primarily driven by student activity such as student credit hours, the location of enrolled majors and graduate students, and earned degrees.

In addition to academic-specific funding, the trustees will consider a proposed fiscal year 2019 budget and related expenditures. The expenditure proposal includes more than $1 billion in operating expenses and $183 million in capital expenses.

Other items under discussion by trustees:

  • Student success initiatives.
  • Presidential initiative in data science.
  • University Housing capital plan.
  • Student conduct code revisions.
  • Transform IT implementation.

Full agendas and board materials are available at https://trustees.uoregon.edu/node/26.

Committee meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 7, and the full board begins at 9 a.m. Friday, June 8, all in the Guistina Ballroom in the Ford Alumni Center.