September 30, 2019

Dear faculty and staff,

As promised, here are my main takeaways of the retreat discussions, actionable responses, and suggested five-year vision and specific priorities for the school for the following three years, which I hope we will continue to discuss and refine with your input. Thank you again for your active participation in the retreat, and feel free to reach out with additional comments. This is an ongoing process and ideally a dialogue among administration, faculty, and staff.

What I believe I heard you say at the retreat was as follows:

• Want a clear course release policy and transparency around the process.
• Want differential compensation for different types of classes, depending on class size, etc.
• Are concerned about too much invisible time and want to be compensated or to have a clear understanding of the compensation for service work: advising, experiential learning, etc.
• Need to develop a better understanding and empathy for each other’s work and responsibilities, especially the increased tasks staff have taken on. You suggested several ways we could do this, including brief profiles at our regular faculty/staff meetings, “mystery lunches,” etc. (See below).
• Need to foster culture of courtesy and empower people to be able to say “no” as well as “yes.”
• Want consistency and continuity in GE assignments and training.
• Need clear communication directly from top leadership and transparency about the agenda and discussions within leadership meetings to enhance trust in administrative decisions and processes.
• Need e-space for shared knowledge repositories.

I would like to offer some clarifications and initial responses to your concerns. The following information and ideas may be helpful in contributing to our ongoing discussion:

Workload

• The business office, human resources, and administration will continue to analyze workflows and responsibilities of Eugene and Portland staff that began this past summer. New and incoming hires (such as the Experience Hub Coordinator and the Fiscal and Grant Coordinator) should help in reducing the amount of extended duties across the SOJC. Staff members will also be profiled in faculty and staff meetings to increase our understanding of the significant contributions they make to the school’s operations and student success.
• Our course release guidelines are posted on the Office of the Provost’s (OtP) website; there is a process for requesting and approval for each course release.
  • Dean’s course release guidelines, as approved by OtP, can be found here
  • Current career faculty workload policy here
• Since the policy was approved two years ago, Leslie has mailed all full-time career faculty in winter term (late Jan, early Feb) and invited requests for course releases, referencing the policy. Once received, the DAC evaluates these requests and relays their recommendations to the dean. Almost all the DAC’s recommendations have been enacted.
• I think it would be helpful for area heads, in consultation with faculty in their areas, and the Undergraduate Affairs Committee to analyze their curricula, especially advanced classes that require intense advising and grading, and how class size and changing technology affect the quality of instruction and student experience. This analysis, in the form of a written report, would ideally include development of a coherent curriculum in line with university guidelines.
• Better defining experiential learning would allow us to decide which initiatives to support and which are discretionary. Perhaps certain experiential learning activities are of limited comparative value to students and should be a lower priority for SOJC resources.
• The SOJC Graduate Office and Graduate Affairs Committee should evaluate how GEs are assigned and trained and see if there are better ways to improve continuity and class fit. It may be possible to hire professional master’s or advanced undergraduate students to serve multiple classes and assist GEs and students (e.g., on software programs used across several classes), thereby saving valuable instructor time.

Communication

• Given the support expressed for the mystery lunch idea, we will pursue establishing this on a trial basis.
• I will consult with the DAC whether they would like to conduct faculty and staff meetings to enhance faculty governance. The meeting agenda would be coordinated with the Dean’s Office and will include opportunities for deliberation and debate.
• We have an SOJC employee blog (https://sojcemployee.uoregon.edu/), which needs updating, improving, and better use. I am instructing the Communications Team to work on the upgrades and develop, in conjunction with me, an internal communication plan. Similarly, we will work on a better system to archive our institutional memory, such as meeting minutes, records of events, “Around the O” stories, and more.
• We also have an SOJC events blog (https://journalism.uoregon.edu/about/events). We will make sure that is also up to date, so you don’t miss important school’s events.
• To clarify, all communication coming from the Dean’s Office or myself is vetted and approved by me. I assume full responsibility for all communications written by me or others on my behalf. The tone of these communications may vary somewhat, but the official nature of those communications should not be in question. I’m also available to talk to you in person; please feel free to set up an appointment with Angie.
• A channel or box for anonymous questions and suggestions is a great idea that we can implement immediately! We will put something in faculty services and let you know once it is ready to use. I will check it regularly.

You asked me for a vision and a set of more specific priorities. Here is a draft of my five-year vision for your consideration and a group of priorities for the following three years to be discussed at the faculty and staff meeting on Friday, October 11.

Draft Vision

The UO School of Journalism and Communication will become the leading international, entrepreneurial-focused, communication program for civic-minded students who reflect our increasingly complex, diverse, multi-cultural society. Driven by world-class innovation, we will teach, mentor, graduate, and place resilient, adaptable, and skillful professionals and scholars who will shape the future of journalism and creative media industries, and transform the landscape of higher education.

Recognizing that we are challenged by workload and resource constraints, in the following three years, I believe the SOJC should focus on:

• Taking advantage of the 25th Anniversary of the PhD Program in Media Studies to promote research excellence and attract PhD students that will help advance the research agenda of SOJC scholars and support the teaching needs of the school. This will be achieved, in part, with curricular and degree requirement changes, promoting the profile of research faculty and doctoral students, and illustrating the synergy between scholarship, teaching, and practice.
• Achieving the full potential of the production facilities of the Experience Hub and the OR Lab in Portland by providing internal grants to faculty for special hands-on and research projects and continuing to forge industry partnerships and offer media and research services across the university.
• Maintaining the support and work toward the sustainability of experiential learning programs.
• Consolidating the role and activities of the Media Center for Science and Technology (new name under consideration to better communicate the mission of the center) under the leadership of Ellen Peters and Mark Blaine as a cross-disciplinary research center that amplifies the scholarly profile of the school.
• Maintaining support and work toward sustainable growth for key innovation centers and initiatives across the SOJC, including the Agora Journalism Center.
• Supporting all efforts to sustain the quality and size of the professional master’s based in Eugene and Portland. And with faculty involvement, develop new residential and/or professional master’s or 4+1 programs in areas such as sports or science communication.
• Securing funds for the creation of a mobile newsroom tentatively named Oregon Story that will connect the dots with all journalism programs, such as Agora, Track Bureau, and Catalyst.
• Bring SOJC faculty and staff together by securing additional space in or close to Allen Hall and improving connectivity and programs between Eugene and Portland.
• Taking advantage of the 20th Anniversary of the Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism and the 25th Anniversary of the Snowden Program to reaffirm our commitment to ethical practices and the sustainability of local news operations.
• Reviewing the goals and curricula of each sequence to ensure it supports the vision of the school as an innovative and entrepreneurial leader and provides a coherent pathway for students
• Co-sponsoring and help with the content of Fall Media Day with the Oregon Chapter of the Journalism Education Association (OJEA).
• Taking full advantage of our involvement in the 2021 World Athletics Championships.
• Looking ahead, we need to establish a smooth succession plan for key leadership positions within the SOJC, such as associate deans, area heads, and program directors to provide continuity.

I look forward to discussing this suggested priority list, which I believe has the potential of advancing the visibility and preeminence of the school across campus and beyond.

Thank you in advance for your feedback,
Juan-Carlos