UO trustees provide engagement opportunities during fall term

The University of Oregon Board of Trustees has released its fall schedule, which will provide several opportunities for members of the UO community to engage with trustees.

The schedule includes two ad hoc board meetings to supplement the board’s regular quarterly meetings, a trustee listening session and virtual office hours for the campus trustees.

“One of the most disheartening aspects of this pandemic is the inability to connect in person,” said board Chair Chuck Lillis. “All of the trustees are anxious for the time when we can meet in person and engage in activities directly with students, faculty and staff at the UO. Until then, we are committed to being available and look forward to hearing from individuals on campus through email, office hours or our virtual listening sessions.”

The ad hoc board meetings will take place Thursday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m., and on Friday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. The meetings will be virtual and reserved for presentations and board discussions; no action items will be on either agenda.

The subjects of the Oct. 29 meeting will be updates on fall term operations and COVID-19 health and safety, the University of Oregon Foundation and UO Information Services.

The subjects of the Nov. 13 meeting will be the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact annual report, the UO’s fundraising campaign and fall enrollment and financial data.

Both meetings will be livestreamed and also available via teleconference. That information, along with meeting materials, will be available on the board’s meetings webpage.

The student, faculty and nonfaculty staff members of the UO Board of Trustees are each holding office hour sessions as they normally do each term to hear from the campus community.

Individuals interested in attending one of these office hours should RSVP via email to: trustees@uoregon.edu

Student trustee Katharine Wishnia will hold virtual office hours for students Tuesday, Oct. 27, from noon to 2 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and Thursday, Nov. 5, from noon to 2 p.m. Wishnia is an undergraduate student in the Robert D. Clark Honors College studying political science, business administration and psychology.

Faculty trustee Laura Lee McIntyre will hold virtual office hours for faculty colleagues Friday, Oct. 30, from 11 a.m. to noon, and Friday, Nov. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. McIntyre is a professor and head of the Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences.

Jimmy Murray, the nonfaculty staff member on the board, is holding virtual office hours with OA staff Tuesday, Oct. 27, from noon to 1 p.m., and with classified staff Wednesday, Oct. 28, from noon to 1 p.m. An in-person office hour for both groups will take place Oct. 28, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Erb Memorial Union’s Swindells Room. Murray is a technology specialist and student coordinator with the Price Science Library.

Members of the community should feel free to email the board at any time via trustees@uoregon.edu

Several trustees will take part in a board listening session later in the term. The session will allow members of the campus community and public to provide oral comment to the board, since recent virtual meetings have been limited to written public comment due to logistics. The date and time of the listening session are still being finalized.