Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, Juan-Carlos Molleda, told The Daily Emerald he hasn’t always followed University of Oregon travel policies. His June 11 statement said the reason why he didn’t receive official approval for his personal travel was due to his executive assistant turnover.

“Following a transition in executive assistants in mid-2023, I discovered the process hadn’t always been properly followed—specifically, personal travel wasn’t consistently indicated, required cost comparisons were missing, and final submissions were sometimes incomplete,” Molleda wrote.

The day before, he told The Emerald he had obtained approval for his personal travel. 

“I obtain approval for personal travel and report any days off when traveling nationally or internationally,” he wrote on June 10 in response to The Emerald’s article. 

On June 11, Molleda sent an email to SOJC faculty recognizing how he has impacted faculty and staff’s level of morale and stress. He attached his June 11 statement to The Emerald on the email, which states that the SOJC is under an internal audit, part of a university-wide initiative.

This was Molleda’s first official announcement to SOJC faculty and staff about the audit, a SOJC employee said.

Provost Chris Long told The Emerald on June 5 that UO has launched an audit into Molleda’s travel and personal reimbursement expenses. 

“The university’s Office of Internal Audit launched an audit into Dean Molleda’s travel and personal reimbursement expenses earlier this year,” Long wrote. “That audit is still ongoing.” 

Provost Long did not state that there was a university-wide audit initiative. 

On Wednesday, Molleda faced 45 minutes of questions by SOJC faculty during a meeting.

Faculty asked him why he declined to be interviewed by The Emerald, why he advocated for the use of ayahuasca to students, and his responsibility in creating the deficit, a recording of the meeting obtained by The Emerald shows. 

He defended why he declined his interview with The Emerald, stating that he wasn’t given enough time to respond. 

The Emerald reached out to Molleda on May 27 for an interview as early as May 28. Molleda had scheduled a sit-down interview with the Emerald in the afternoon on June 3, but he cancelled it on June 1. 

In the meeting, Molleda defended his use of travel time, stating his travel is essential within his role as dean. 

A Daily Emerald investigation shows Molleda failed to disclose his personal travel to the university during his trip to Paris in 2023 and to Spain and Portugal in 2024. Both trips were designated for business purposes. He leveraged them largely into personal travel without telling the university and posted photos from his trips on his public Instagram account, titled “globalprmolleda.” 

Molleda left France seven days after the end of a two-day conference, his trip costing the university $8,069. In Spain and Portugal, Molleda added six personal days on the front end and back end of his proposed 11-day university-funded trip. His trip cost the university $14,203. 

In order to follow university travel rules, UO employees must submit a travel request and identify any personal travel days. They also must provide airfare cost comparisons to show personal travel is not creating increased expenses on the university. 

Molleda violated his $30,000 travel limit outlined in his offer letter. In the 2023-2024 school year, his travel expenses rose to $46,000. For what his limit can’t cover, Molleda pulls from UO Foundation endowment funds to pay his way for travel. He said he does not pay for his travel out of the SOJC’s operating budget, which is currently in deficit. 

He said he’s paid for his personal travel overseas with his own money. 

Since The Emerald published its investigation on June 9, Molleda has sent out several statements to both The Emerald and SOJC faculty. 

He sent a 5:20 a.m. email to faculty on June 9 saying that he hoped The Emerald’s story about him does not become a distraction. He also said that beginning in January 2024, he’s begun to ensure better travel spending and documentation, and that he’ll be vigilant and transparent with his travel. 

The SOJC is facing a budget deficit under Molleda’s watch. Records obtained by The Emerald show he went forward with a $2.2 million increase on personnel costs between 2022 and 2024, though the SOJC’s funding only increased by $269,233 between those years. 

Molleda requested a $1 million increase from the Provost’s office, but was told in a July 25, 2022 email that his school would not be receiving any budget increases. 

In his June 11 statement to The Emerald, Molleda wrote that he did receive approval from the Provost’s office to hire new staff and faculty members. 

Molleda has repeatedly blamed the deficit on faculty and on the Provost’s office, internal memos and emails obtained by The Emerald show. 

During the June 11 faculty meeting, he recognized that he has shifted blame onto others for the creation of the deficit. 

Molleda will be at the SOJC’s commencement ceremony on June 16, UO spokesperson Eric Howald told The Emerald.

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