On Nov. 13 the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation and the University of Oregon returned to mediation as the potential GTFF strike approaches. The mediation session did not yield an agreement, and the GTFF will continue in their preparation to strike.

The GTFF and the administration have been bargaining since November 2013, and after a failure to reach an agreement at the bargaining table the GTFF voted to strike on Oct. 24. The GTFF has requested two weeks of paid leave as well as a 5.5 percent raise of the minimum salary for all GTFs for two years. The university offered two proposals: A 6 percent raise per year of the minimum for two years to level one GTFs and 3 percent to levels two and three, or 5 percent in the first year and 4 percent in the second of the minimum for all GTFs.

Interim Provost Frances Bronet released the following comment:

“I am disappointed that the bargaining teams didn’t reach agreement during the latest mediation session. The university is still committed to negotiations and we hope the union and its members will also continue to work toward a contract that meets the needs of everyone. We don’t want a strike, but we are prepared to minimize disruption for everyone. We value the contribution of GTFs, and the current offer reflects that – in many ways that go above and beyond other universities.”

As student debt and the cost of higher education continues to rise, the past year has seen the rise and fall of two different proposals: Measure 86 and Pay It Forward.

Measure 86, which would have created a state fund to aid Oregon students pursuing higher education and allow the state to incur debt in doing so, did not pass during elections on Nov. 4.

Pay It Forward is a proposal that offered students free tuition while attending college by paying a percentage of one’s income back after graduating, and went unsupported by Oregon’s higher education board.

Jim Brooks, the director of financial aid and scholarships at the University of Oregon, credits the demise of Pay It Forward to multiple factors.

“It doesn’t make clear that it would just defer tuition,” Brooks said. “You still have room and board, you still have to buy books, you still have to pay for those things.”

School funding without tuition was another issue that needed fixing, Brooks said.

“How would the schools then survive?” Brooks added.

At the University of Oregon, full-time tuition, estimated as 15 credit hours for undergraduate resident students, has risen from $5,570 in 2004 to $9,918 in 2014, according to records from the Oregon University System.

Federal and state aid have not risen proportionately, which have increased the cost of higher education for students in Oregon.

For example, according to the Office of Student Access and Completion, in 2004 the maximum award for the state-funded Oregon Opportunity Grant within the Oregon University System was $1,482, which covered 26.6 percent of tuition at the UO. This year, the Oregon Opportunity Grant amount is $2,000, which only makes up about 20 percent of tuition.

Bryce Keicher, a sophomore majoring in international studies, applied for 150 scholarships during her senior year of high school.

“My whole senior year I committed completely to applying to scholarships cause I couldn’t go to college without them,” Keicher said.

Keicher has funded her entire education through grants and scholarships.

Jacob Bieker, an incoming freshman, was awarded the Stamps Leadership Scholarship last spring.

The Stamps Scholarship is a partnership between the UO and the Stamps Family Charitable Foundation. It covers tuition and fees, room and board and $12,000 of enrichment funds for the recipient to pursue academically-related experiences such as study abroad, research or unpaid internships.

According to Bieker, paying for college independently was expected of him.

“My parents told my sister and I that we always had to pay for our own college, because they had to do that too,” Bieker said.

According to Brooks, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships has different goals to decrease the burden on students, such as growing scholarships including Pathway Oregon — a scholarship program for incoming freshmen who are Pell Grant eligible with a 3.4 GPA or higher. The university also plans to raise money for financial aid with its recent capital campaign.

Another proposal is a grant program to help students in their junior and senior year.

“These are students who may have been borrowing all along, who are running into issues with their debt or hitting limits,” Brooks said. Brooks cited a study published by EdCentral, which shows that the majority of students who default on their student loans do not have a degree, and that those who obtain their degree generally manage to avoid default.

This program would provide $10,000 grants to juniors and seniors to give them that final push.

“It’s part of the goal to try to get students through all the way to graduation,” Brooks said.

On Nov. 12, a crowd of Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation members and student groups held a rally outside of Johnson Hall in response to the potential GTFF strike, chanting and calling for the university to support the GTFs.

The GTFF has been bargaining with the University of Oregon since November 2013 and have voted to strike over fair pay as well as medical and parental leave.

Many different groups attended the rally to show their solidarity with the GTFF’s decision to strike. SEIU, the union of UO classified staff, attended the rally, holding their weekly meeting outside of Johnson Hall in order to support the GTFF.

Speakers included UO students Vincent Hand and Lillian Huebner, members of the UO Student Labor Action Project. The group has publicly declared their support of the GTFF in their vote to strike in an open letter to Scott Coltrane.

“We as undergraduate students are sick and tired of the administration putting our education in the backseat to make way for their politics,” Hand said.

A member of SLAP also held a sign with the face of Michael Gottfredson on it, and the number $940,000 written across his forehead – a reference to the severance package Gottfredson received upon resigning. The SLAP speakers addressed Gottfredson’s severance as well.

“Our tuition shouldn’t be wasted on presidential severance packages and union busting lawyers,” Huebner said, referring to the outside lawyer hired by the university to aid in bargaining.

Beatriz Gutierrez, ASUO president, also spoke at the rally to show support of the GTFF.

“The university wants to give me an education where my instructors are treated like they don’t deserve to have families, or they don’t deserve to be sick,” Gutierrez said. “I don’t want an education like that. I want an education where my instructors are paid well, and where I know when I go into a classroom, that my instructors are giving me 100 percent because we’re giving 100 percent to them.”

Many of the speakers addressed Interim Provost Frances Bronet’s recent email to all UO students, sent Nov. 11, and read excerpts aloud to the crowd, including Joe Henry, president of the GTFF.

“The message that has been lost in all the rhetoric is the fact that, first and foremost, these GTFs are students,” Bronet wrote. However, according to Henry, it is important to highlight that the GTFs are not just students.

“We teach a third of the instructional hours of this university and do a significant portion of the research,” Henry said. “When we go to conferences, we represent the university. We are the university.”

Other speakers included United Academics’ Vice President Ron Bramhall, Kurt Willcox of the Board of Trustees and Denielle Perry, a GTF and mother. A “labor choir” made up of SEIU members also led the crowd in songs, including a song called “Move the Bargaining On,” sung to the tune of “Let the Church Roll On.”

On Nov. 13 the UO and the GTFF are scheduled to return to mediation. If a resolution is not reached during that session, there will be one more session the day before the potential strike following Thanksgiving break.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

The Register-Guard published a viewpoint written by University of Oregon professor of psychology Jennifer Freyd today highlighting the role of research in ending sexual violence on college campuses. Freyd’s September survey showed that one in ten female UO students have been raped, and since then has spoken nationally on the need for reform on the UO campus.

In the piece, Freyd explained scientific methods and why these methods are important in this domain. According to Freyd, gaining accurate information about sexual assault is difficult due to the stigma survivors face. Scientific methods allow researchers to create reliable and valid measures of sexual violence in order to produce truthful results without the bias that politicians or university administrators might have.

Freyd acknowledged the “corrupting influences” within the science field as well.

“We recognize the enormous power of incentives, and that is why we require that scientists disclose their funding sources,” Freyd wrote.

Freyd also acknowledged her own personal bias as a scientist conducting campus victimization surveys.

“So I offer this perspective as a matter for others to debate and consider further,” Freyd wrote. “Debate is crucial to both science and to healthy democracies.”

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

The Presidential Search Committee has chosen Parker Executive Search to assist in finding the next UO president, according to Around the O.

The national firm has experience in higher education as well as Fortune 500 companies and not-for-profit organizations. The University of Oregon also has prior experience working with the firm: Parker Executive Search aided in the search for an athletics director in 2012 as well as a dean of the School of Education during the summer of 2014.

The committee, chaired by Trustee Connie Balmer, will identify potential candidates and share their recommended finalists with the Board of Trustees.

In the past week the committee, as well as the Presidential Advisory Group, has been holding forums to receive community input regarding the new president.

Upcoming forums include a Eugene community forum from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, in the Browsing Room in the Knight Library, and a Portland area community forum from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the White Stag Building, 70 NW Couch St.

You can also email PresSearch@uoregon.edu or take a survey here to contribute ideas and thoughts to the committee.

Follow Francesa Fonta on Twitter @francescamarief

The Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon voted unanimously to adopt a revised University mission statement on Nov. 5. The board held a meeting on Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. in room 403 of the Ford Alumni Center to vote on the new mission statement.

The university began seeking community and student input in revising the UO mission statement in April 2014, creating a web page providing information about the revision and inviting feedback from the public.

The Academic and Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees met on Nov. 3 to consider the final revised version of the new UO mission statement, according to Around the O.

On Nov. 5, all trustees were present by phone except for Ann Curry, as well as President Scott Coltrane and Senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Barbra Altmann.

Before voting, Chair Chuck Lillis praised Coltrane and Altmann for their role in the revision process.

“I think the process was long and involved, and you guys played a key role in a highly collaborative process,” Lillis said.

Trustee Mary Wilcox also took a moment to thank the community in their help in revising the mission statement.

“I also really want to thank the campus community, because they had significant input as well,” Wilcox said. “What it shows me is how much everyone on this entire team cares about creating a mission statement that reflects what this university is all about.”

There was a unanimous vote in favor of the revised statement of those present at the meeting. The university will go on to present the statement to the Higher Education Commission Council for final approval.

You can read the revised mission statement here.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

After both parties submitted their final offers on Oct. 27, the University of Oregon and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation will attend another mediation session on Nov. 13.

The session will take place during the 30-day cool-off period following the GTFF’s vote to strike over issues such as paid leave and fair pay. Recently, the Student Labor Action Project has publicly supported the GTFF in their vote to strike, as well as United Academics, the University Senate and UO classified staff.

In their final offer, the GTFF proposed that GTFs receive two weeks of paid leave due to documented medical need and two paid weeks of leave during the 12 weeks of parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child in a 12 month period. The university offered 12 work weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period and did not offer any paid leave.

Addressing the issue of wages, the university offered to raise the minimum salary by 6.1 percent for level one GTFs and by three percent for levels two and three. Their previous offers were a three percent raise per year for two years to level one GTFs and three percent for levels two and three, or five percent in the first year and four percent in the second for all levels. The GTFF’s final offer still included a 5.5 percent raise for all three levels.

In addition to the mediation, there will be a rally held by the GTFF on Nov. 12 outside of Johnson hall from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

On Oct. 23, the 2,870 red flags displayed in the memorial quad will be taken down as the Red Zone campaign winds down.

The annual campaign, organized by the ASUO Women’s Center, is an international effort to raise awareness of dating violence and sexual assault on college campus. According to Selina Mitchell, sexual violence prevention and education coordinator for the ASUO Women’s Center, the “red zone” refers to a student’s first day on campus until Thanksgiving break, a period in which there is an overall spike in sexual violence cases on campus.

“It was originally to combat dating violence on campuses but because of the publicity that we’re seeing on campus we decided that we wanted it to be about sexual violence prevention,” Mitchell explained.

Mitchell recently transferred to the University of Oregon from Portland Community College. She began working in sexual assault services with crisis line shifts and youth group involvement two years ago. Part of her job is to plan campaigns such as the Red Zone.

“What we’re trying to do is just show students that the campus does take this seriously, and there are resources, and that there are places on campus that combat this kind of thing while also educating new students on what is going on,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s vital knowledge to understand that this is serious.”

Jane Ou, the Women’s Center event coordinator and an international student from China, added that the roughly 3,000 flags help students conceptualize the gravity of the issue.

“People don’t think that it happens, because for them it’s just a number,” Ou said. “They always hear about it from TV or lectures, but for me it’s important to visually show them how large the number is and to bring awareness – to shock them.”

The Red Zone organizers also worked with the UO director of sexual violence prevention and education Kerry Frazee during the planning stages of the campaign.

“In my role, I felt it valuable to be included in those discussions and support their efforts,” Frazee said.

According to Mitchell, sexual violence awareness is not limited to the fall campaign, and one of her goals for the entire year is to focus on consent.

“It seems like people have heard this word a lot, but don’t know exactly what it means,” Mitchell said. “There are subtle ways of saying yes and saying no when we look at sexuality. And my personal goal on this campus is that the prevention part of my job will to give people the tools, when they’ve just met somebody, to openly communicate and say, ‘This makes me uncomfortable,’”

Ou has two goals: to increase awareness of sexual violence among international students and to incite action in fellow students.

“I don’t want people to just be shocked by the number,” Ou said. “I want them to pay attention to sexual violence, and actually think about what they can do do help.”

On Oct. 27, the Pac-12 Conference voted to pass reforms for student-athletes, according to the Pac-12 website.

The reforms, passed by the presidents and chancellors of the Conference’s 12 member universities, include guaranteed four-year athletic scholarships for student-athletes in all sports, effective 2015-2016. Student-athletes who transfer from one Pac-12 school to another will be able to receive scholarships immediately from the new institution, effective this year.

Student-athletes who leave school before graduating can use the remainder of their scholarship later to finish earning their degrees if the student-athlete departs the institution in good standing and has completed 50 percent of their degree, beginning in the 2016-2017 school year.

Pac-12 schools will also be required to provide direct medical expenses for documented injuries to student-athletes for four years after separation from the team or institution, as long as the injuries were sustained during their college athletic career. They will also increase student-athlete representation in Pac-12 governance by including student-athletes in Council meetings and giving them a role in deliberations. This will take place in 2015-2016.

Issues the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors will address in the future include incorporating the full cost of attendance into student-athlete scholarships and protecting student-athletes against the excessive time demands of intercollegiate athletics.

Follow Francesca Fontana on Twitter @francescamarief

According to the University Counseling and Testing Center (UCTC), almost 40 percent of college students will report feeling extreme depression yearly, while five to ten percent will report thoughts of suicide.

The Suicide Prevention Team is teaming with the UCTC to offer faculty and staff suicide prevention training sessions, according to an article on Around the O.

The Suicide Prevention Team is a group of faculty and staff from the UCTC as well as other fields, from the Office of the Dean of Students to the Clark Honors College. The team participates in providing training sessions and meets monthly to discuss and improve suicide prevention on campus.

The training sessions, which last from one to two hours, teach faculty and staff how to help at-risk students by recognizing warning signs and being aware of campus resources. The longer sessions also include role play of effective intervention and communication skills.

For a list of suicide prevention resources, click here.