Chapter VIII

A. Categories of Employment at the University of Oregon

The state of Oregon, according to ORS section 240, provides four basic categories of employment within the state’s agencies. These groups include classified civil service, classified management service, unclassified-faculty service (which at the UO has three subdivisions: officers of instruction or teaching faculty; officers of administration or administrative faculty; and officers of research), and elective office. In the past, this statute controlled the employment categories at the state’s colleges and universities.

Most state employees are members of the classified civil service. As such, each individual has a job classification matched with a salary range and a detailed position description that falls within the range of appropriate activities for positions in that class. The individuals in most of the positions within the classified civil service are members of the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU) bargaining unit. However, a few classified employee groups are represented by other union organizations.

In Oregon’s state service, the employment category of elective office is used for the governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, the state treasurer, legislators, state judges, and local elected officials.

In 1995 the Higher Education Administrative Efficiency Act (SB 271) exempted the Oregon University System (OUS) from the state employment categories. OUS and UO administrators subsequently developed a new unclassified employee category that combined management service and officers of administration into one employee group under the category of unclassified faculty service. This category was created by the state in recognition of higher education’s need for employees with flexible responsibilities, hours, and salary ranges. The University of Oregon has maintained three subdivisions of unclassified faculty service: officers of instruction, officers of administration, and officers of research.

Administrative faculty members are usually professionals in their fields. In addition to the normal requirement that one remain current in one's profession, members of the administrative faculty are also expected to participate in their professions, as do the members of the teaching faculty—by research and publication in some instances, or by participation in professional development activities in others. In a number of cases, appointment to an administrative faculty post requires an advanced degree, often the Ph.D. or its equivalent.

The University of Oregon has a long tradition of teamwork and collegiality. The line between administrative and teaching faculty is not sharp, and members of each group have grown to rely upon and respect members of the other. At the UO, to a large extent administrative faculty members may participate in faculty governance on an equal basis with those in the instructional ranks. They vote in campuswide elections and participate fully as members of the University Assembly and Senate, the Faculty Advisory Council, and on most faculty and administrative committees.

Members of the classified staff are also involved in governance, participating on a number of committees that deal with the quality of their work life as well as that of faculty members and students, and advising the university administration through their associations and union organizations. The university is extremely fortunate to have a dedicated, hardworking, and talented workforce. People in every professional category are known to go beyond what is expected to promote the high-quality educational environment of which we are so proud. As colleagues and co-workers we represent a community that relies on one another and respects the important contributions that each person makes to the university's total enterprise.

B. Appointment Status

Officers of administration are appointed on fixed-term contracts of one or two years. In many units, initial appointments are for one year, and as the faculty member becomes experienced and proves his or her professional capability, longer-term appointments may be offered.

Officers of administration are not eligible for tenure within their administrative roles. However, tenured faculty members may be appointed to administrative posts. In certain high-level administrative positions it is traditional for the incumbents to hold tenure in an academic department: For example, the president and provost are both tenured members of the faculty, as are the academic deans. However, each of these officers serves in the administrative capacity on a term appointment basis or at the pleasure of the president, and is not tenured within the administrative post.

C. Evaluating Administrators

Officers of administration, like their teaching colleagues, are entitled to an annual evaluation by the head of the department, dean, or director of the faculty member's administrative unit. University policy requires that an in-depth evaluation be conducted every three years. Naturally, the duties and responsibilities of administrative faculty vary considerably, and no single performance-measuring device can be applied equally to all members of the group. However, the university and the State Board of Higher Education have set out criteria upon which it is appropriate to evaluate an officer of administration's performance. It is up to the evaluating supervisor to make clear which of the performance criteria have the most bearing on successful performance within any particular administrative endeavor. The acceptable criteria are as follows:

1) Quality of administrative, technical, or service activities:

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   1. effectiveness in performing the responsibilities inherent in the position and in carrying out assigned tasks;
   2. efficiency in using the resources allocated for the accomplishment of the objectives of the position or office;
   3. ability to coordinate and direct the efforts of others and effectively use their competencies;
   4. establishment and maintenance of cooperative relationships with other departments and divisions;
   5. maintenance of constant evaluation of the operations for which the employee is responsible;
   6. readiness to suggest corrections of deficiencies and to introduce innovations to improve operations;
   7. skillfulness, tactfulness, and effectiveness in relations with students, faculty, and other colleagues;
   8. effectiveness in general performance of responsibilities to promote the welfare and central purposes of the university;
   9. adaptability to new job requirements; capability of being employed in another position commensurate with skills, experience, and education, including the capability of being employed as an officer of instruction;
   10. effectiveness in carrying out affirmative-action responsibilities of the university;
   11. effectiveness in administering university safety programs.

2) Professional growth

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   1. participation in conferences, conventions, seminars, and professional meetings—reading papers, holding office, serving on committees;
   2. attendance at conferences, conventions, seminars, and professional meetings;
   3. awareness of current developments in the employee’s profession;
   4. association with organizations and groups that will result in professional improvement of the participant and bring recognition to the university;
   5. professional consultation;
   6. constructive use of sabbaticals and leaves of absence;
   7. other evidence of growth, including demonstration of capacity to learn from experiences and adapt to changing circumstances, improvement of performance, and demonstration of ability to assume larger responsibilities.

3) Leadership in service

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   1. departmental, college, or school committees or activities;
   2. university or state system committees or activities.

4) Service and activities on behalf of the larger community:

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   1. academic contributions to community activities;
   2. academic service on behalf of public bodies.