Wish that 8 a.m. class was available online? That day may come soon. The University of Oregon is currently working on an initiative to facilitate more online courses, certificates and degree developments.

About 4,000 students crossed over to the digital classroom by taking at least one of the 60 different online courses offered at UO, according to Kassia Dellabough, director of the Office of Professional Outreach and Development for Students.

Dellabough was one of the first to teach an online course in 1997 and currently part of the group looking into increasing online education offered. Dellabough also is working with UO Senate on various policies related to assessment and academic quality. She’s also looking toward some policies related to course delivery reviews.

“I have found that in many cases, students actually seem to get more engaged in some of the content,” Dellabough said. “I may have stronger student to faculty dialogues via discussions and email than I might in an office meeting or larger class interactions.”

A key driving force behind the popularity of online courses is the flexibility for both students and faculty.

Sophomore international student Mengting Li is taking two online classes this term for her accounting major. Although she has liked the flexibility, one thing Li has found difficult in her online courses is not having physical presence of a teacher or classmates makes. “It’s really hard because no one teaches you so you have to learn it by yourself,” Li said.

Oregon State University and the University of Washington are two schools that provide a robust online education system. OSU’s e-Campus has received a number of awards including a spot on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Bachelor’s Program in 2014. E-campus offers over 30 bachelor’s degrees and graduate programs.

For the last 10 years, the UO has offered one online masters program in Applied Information Management. The university is carefully looking at both of these models and assessing how the UO can implement a similar program that fits within its core mission and its evolving budget model. Oregon is also currently collecting data on the pricing and development of online courses.

Lee Rumbarger is a director for the Teaching Effectiveness Program and is also working on expanding the scope of online education at UO. The TPE is offering several workshops this academic year about teaching “hybri” courses — which are partly traditional, partly online — through its “Think Small, Teach Big” series.

“Teaching online may present additional teaching challenges, but it also gives us tools for overcoming those challenges,” Rumbarger said.

Since the mid 1990s, the majority of UO’s online courses are managed under Academic Extension. Some departments offer online classes without Academic Extensions services and run them through their regular course development.

“With the recent unionization and local governing board, we are seeing some major impacts on how the UO will approach online education,” Dellabough said. “The direction and details are still in formation and under review at the president’s level.”

Under the glare of fluorescent light in her office, Anne Laskaya slouches over her desk. Pages of medieval literature are scattered all over her work space. The associate English professor ends her week the same way she has for the past 30 years she’s been at the University of Oregon — catching up on research. That is, at least, when she can afford it.

Laskaya’s research requires her to travel to the location where her primary sources are — many times to libraries outside of Oregon. The decline of financial resources from the state over the years has made it difficult for the university to pay for the research that tenured professors like Laskaya are required to complete.

“Not all of us have the ideal personal life to pursue research without having to worry about money, without having to worry about who cares for the children, or who cares for the elderly parents or family obligations of a number of different kinds,” Laskaya said.

Shrinking research funds and stalled salary increases over the years have made it difficult for professors like Laskaya to pursue research work that is essential for a premier research university like Oregon. Low salaries have also made it difficult for the university to retain non-tenured staff, who are otherwise enticed to leave for other jobs with higher pay or tenure-track positions.

The University of Oregon ranks 27th out of the 34 schools in the Association of American Universities for federally-funded research. Being part of this coveted membership allows Oregon to establish itself as a flagship research institution that helps to attract national talent to campus.

“The state disinvestment in higher education … has been a pretty precipitous decline over the last decade,” Provost Scott Coltrane said. “At the same time, how much money the state and federal government are putting into research in general has also gone down.”

Last year Laskaya traveled to research at the National Library of France in Paris as well as giving a presentation on her previous work at a conference. The total cost of her two-and-a-half-week research trip was about $6,000. The university contributed only $1,500 for travel expenses.

For two years Laskaya took on extra advising and service duties on top of her teaching and research load to raise the funds. Doing so slows down the publication of her work and, as a result, slows down her promotion to a full professor, a position which earns a higher salary than associate or assistant professor.

This spring Laskaya’s work requires her to travel to the University of California Los Angeles. She will have to fork over $700 of her own money to make her way there.

UO faculty salaries are on average lower compared to their peers in the AAU. UO full, associate and assistant professors make an average of $90,000 — $20,000 less than the AAU average, according to 2012-13 data from UO Office of Institutional Research.

For an associate professor in humanities like Laskaya, the average salary is about $70,000. Wages are shaped by their market value and can dramatically differ upon different departments. Comparatively, non-tenured staff make on average lower salary compared to their tenured faculty colleagues.

Lower than average salaries can be a barrier to retaining dedicated faculty.

Professor of romance languages Gina Psaki remembers a young and eager former colleague of hers about 20 years ago that was lured away by a $20,000 raise at State University of New York Buffalo.

“It begins to look kind of suicidal to just stay put if what you need to do to secure a raise is to move,” Psaki said. “And that is something that has been a big problem for retaining good faculty for our campus for a long time.”

The boom of UO student enrollment in the past decade also spurred an expansion for non-tenure-track faculty instructors responsible for the majority of the University’s teaching. They are required to carry out eight courses a year instead of the five that tenured faculty are required.

“One of the choices the university has made as their funding as declined is to hire less expensive labor,” said Ron Bramhall, a senior instructor in the College of Business. “To me, that doesn’t mean that that labor is less qualified or less effective but I do think it’s a problem for universities in general to proclaim their commitment to academic excellence and research and to pay the people that do that at low rates.”

The University does not maintain overall data points on retention rates for non-tenure-track instructors, but instead collects that information within each department.

“As we have a need, and as long as they have an interest, and as long as we can afford it, we will continue to appoint them,” Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Ken Doxsee said. Throughout his experience, the most common reason for non-tenure track faculty to leave the university would be to follow career interests like moving into tenure-related positions.

A mobile workforce interrupts services for students. It can make it difficult for students to connect with their instructors and can make it challenging to to obtain a letter of recommendation from faculty that leave. A high turnover rate also makes it more difficult to build working relationships, trust and collaboration within the campus community.

According to Bramhall, non-tenure-track faculty can face a lot of unpredictability. At the end of each contract, non-tenure instructors could face an end to their job based on different reasons like personalities involved or a changing direction of a program.

Coltrane hopes to help the UO flip that around.

Coltrane said that one of the UO’s goals is to be more competitive in salaries. The collective bargaining agreement signed last year is the first step in doing so. The agreement guarantees smaller, but more frequent salary increases for faculty. Faculty will receive a total of three raises this year, each increasing by 1.5 percent of the base salary. In addition to the raises, faculty can also receive merit raises, though the process varies by department.

“How we get good at research is by hiring good faculty. That’s what it’s all about,” Coltrane said.

The university also started implementing career non-tenure contracts that secure employment for up to three years instead of on an annual basis. The UO is currently reclassifying the faculty based on this new type of contract. The numbers for how many non-tenured staff will be reclassified are not yet available.

Before the bargaining agreement from United Academics passed in 2013, senior instructors were eligible to get two-year contracts, though it was not required. Like most universities, UO non-tenure-track faculty begin their career with a 10-week to one year contract before they can go up for a promotion to senior instructor after six years.

“One of the reasons I joined the union and became involved in the bargaining process was to try and help non-tenure-track faculty get more predictable secure employment,” Bramhall said.

Coltrane hopes that by standardizing contract and pay levels across different departments and colleges, faculty will have more stability and predictability.

Finding revenue streams to supplement salary raises is an ongoing conversation between administration and faculty. The provost sets his eyes on finding private donations. Specifically, the UO hopes to use private gifts to increase staff within targeted departments, as well as increase its amount of tenure faculty.

“We are trying to get the right mix of research and teaching, and part of doing that is identifying those areas where we are already good, but we can be great,” Coltrane said.

During the Friday afternoon rush, University of Oregon students head out on a 5-mile bicycle ride with Eugene at-risk and homeless youth. Their goal: kicking each other into the “next gear” of community engagement and physical fitness.

The Next Gear Bike Club was designed to be a mentorship program with Hosea Youth Services that provides members of the UO Warsaw Sports Business Club the opportunity to get hands-on experience making a difference in their community.

“I think homelessness in Eugene is such a rampant issue,” member Jesse Schwarz said. “It’s in front of us a lot. We see it every day around campus and in the community … I think it’s something that needs more awareness and attention.”

Hosea has been a refuge for at-risk and homeless youth in Lane County since it first opened in 1995. The drop-in center for those in need of services is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The program is designed as a competition between mentorship groups where participants can move up in “gears” and earn prizes along the way. Every two bike rides equal one gear with six gears in total. The club is planning to present those who reach the goal with a bicycle, but are currently having some trouble securing a donation. At the moment, local bike shops like Blue Heron are providing free bike rentals for program use.

“It’s been really positive for the kids to get out do something like that and to have people come and want to spend time with them in that capacity, outside of (the) drop-in (center),” Hosea Director Tauna Nelson said.

She applauds the group for rolling with the punches when it comes to the unpredictable weather and staying committed throughout the weeks.

Schwarz, senior and ethnic studies major, is one of 12 members who has had an eye-opening experience through the program.

“They are our age and you realize how much we really have in common with them,” Schwarz said. “Even though we are in college and they are figuring things out, we are listening to the same music, caring about the same things, thinking about a lot of the same things.”

Business administration major Brandi Beutler feels the same way. One girl in particular has left a mark on her heart and Beutler loves seeing her face light up with she comes into the center.

“Every week we get to know the people that go on these bike rides with us more and more,” Beutler said. “I think the most rewarding part of this is seeing how excited they are and how they look forward to it.”

Rallying people to participate and be consistent in the program has been an unanticipated challenge for the group. Regardless, the team has expanded their original plans to pair with the youth center through winter term, intending instead to continue the bike rides and morph the program into more of a one-on-one mentorship.

“By helping them out, I’ve learned that they have goals just like I do,” Beutler said. “And they want to achieve those goals, not matter how little or big those goals are.”

A University of Oregon alumni with a bachelor’s degree will earn, on average, $1.2 million more than a high school graduate over the course of their lifetime, according to Roger Thompson, UO vice president for enrollment management.

“Higher education is an economic development tool,” Thompson said. “I’m not sure if our state has seen it that way over the years. But I’m hopeful that as a part of 40-40-20 that Gov. Kitzhaber view higher education as the economic tool that it is.”

Despite ranking third from the bottom nationally in high school graduation rates, the state of Oregon hopes to flip the switch and produce a 100 percent graduation rate by 2025.

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education showed that Oregon had a 68 percent graduation rate for the second year in a row in 2013.  Oregon beats Nevada’s graduation rate of 63 percent and the District of Columbia’s 59 percent.

The 40-40-20 plan is designed to boost educational attainment among Oregon residents and serve as an upward mobility tool to fuel the state’s economy.

The bill, passed in 2011, is meant to have 40 percent of Oregon residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 40 percent with an associate’s or equivalent degree and 20 percent receiving at minimum a high school diploma.

The UO is looking into how it can play a role in achieving the state’s goal.

One way the UO has helped is through the creation of Connected Lane County. The coalition pulls together all education providers in Lane County — from superintendents to university and community college presidents — to work together to ensure that young people in the county have the best possible educational services throughout their schooling.

“To get to a 100 percent graduating from high school, which is the first pillar of the 40-40-20, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to get that piece accomplished,” Thompson said. “And then to have 40 percent of the state holding bachelor degrees, that becomes pretty challenging as well.”

Within the last 10 – 15 years, the UO has made strides in improving its own graduation rate, says Jamie Moffitt, UO vice president of finance and administration. The graduating class of 2013, for example, had the highest number of undergraduate degrees awarded in the university’s history with over 3,000, according to Moffitt.

A contributing factor to the increase of degrees may be the growth of enrollment at the university.

However, Thompson states the raw number of students is likely to decline from now until 2021 due to low birth rates.  Although high school graduation rates may improve, the amount of students will likely be lower than previous years.

With so many future bachelor degrees, the remaining question is whether or not Oregon will have an adequate supply of jobs for an increased workforce.

“My first thought is that the idea is that the increase in college educated workers is expected by policymakers to induce firms to expand in Oregon,” said Oregon Economic Forum Senior Director Tim Duy. “Of course, this is a two way street. If the jobs are not available, then workers can leave.”

In the Valentine’s Day spirit, the tooth fairy – wand in hand – found her way to the University of Oregon campus to voice her support for the the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation in a rally outside of Johnson Hall today, Feb. 14. The mid day rally was intended to raise awareness for the union’s current bargaining proposal for major dental insurance.

GTF’s gathered outside the administration building were also joined by campus organizations including United Academics, Service Employees International Union and Student Labor Action Project, as well as students and community members.

The graduate student union is currently in bargaining negotiations with the University administration over their contract, set to expire March 31.  Since their first session in late November, the union has outlined their proposals for increased in wages, paid parental leave and an expanded health coverage plan that would include major dental care.

According to GTFF bargaining team member Steve McAllister, the university currently provides its GTF’s with some dental coverage that often covers a portion dental procedures, as well as teeth cleanings and some fillings depending on what filling is used.

As a graduate student himself, McAllister expressed the difficulty in paying for his own dental procedure last year after having an emergency root canal.  He was able to use his health insurance to pay for some of the procedure but was unable to cover the expense of the crown that needed to be placed on top of the tooth.

“I could not not get it done, I was in a lot of pain,” McAllister said.  “The dentist told me I was in danger of having a really bad infection so I just went into debt for it.” McAllister used a credit card to pay for the procedure.

The graduate student union conducted an internal survey in the first half of the negotiation process indicating that one in three respondents had current dental problems that are not being covered through the current health insurance provided.

“We’re talking about 500 people in our bargaining unit right now are wandering around campus with some kind of hole in their head that they can’t get treated because the dental coverage plan doesn’t cover it,” McAllister said.

The graduate student union is also alarmed by the University’s proposal to replace their health trust for another plan on the market that would be equal to comparable to that of their current health plan.

“The health care trust means that it is administrated by the GTFF and it’s a nice streamline process. If we have a problem we go to (them), and (they) fix it,” said a GTFF representative. “If you get dropped by your insurance for some reason because of a technical error, they take care of it.  Large institutions are always going to be harder to negotiate than a small GTFF run organization.”

UO’s Chief of Staff Greg Rikhoff was present during the rally to accept and deliver the support statements from different union members to President Gottfredson.

“At the least we feel our message will be delivered to the President’s office. It’s just a matter of him listening to that and make changes to the bargaining table,” GTFF President David Craig said.

The GTFF also hopes to showcase support through their online petition found on their website.

“We feel this event was kind of a benchmark for us. I feel it went very well and so hopefully in the weeks ahead it continues to move forward,” Craig said.

SEIU Labor Choir member Dorothy Attneave was one of many union members that came to stand with graduate students today.

“In general, I know GTFs are hardworking and need to be paid enough to survive until they get their degree,” she said.

Attneave, who works for the UO’s department of Planning Design and Construction, recalls the amount of support the GTFF gave the SEIU during their contract negotiations last year.

The University administration and the GTFF are set to met this evening in Gerlinger 302 to discuss issues rallied for at today’s demonstration and plan to meet every Friday for the next two weeks to arbitrate compromise.

University campuses like the University of Oregon are trailblazing the way to reduce driving, according to a recently released report by OSPIRG Education Fund.

Students and faculty gathered together Thurs. Feb. 13 at the Outdoor Program Barn to show support and awareness to the released report entitled “A New Course: How Innovative University Programs Are Reducing Driving on Campus and Creating New Models for Transportation Policy.”

The report is the sixth in the series of studies that are examining the national shift away from driving.  This is the first study that has examined how university campuses play a role in curbing the amount of car use.

“Across America, colleges and universities are showing that efforts to meet increased demand for transportation options deliver powerful benefits for their community and surrounding areas,” Kiana Doyle, an OSPIRG representative, said.

The study provides recommendations on how cities can learn from the practices of campus universities in hopes to decrease driving.

“Universities have a lot in common with cities,” Doyle said. “They must get the most value out of limited land, they are acutely aware of problems associated with being overrun by cars.”

Cited in the study is data from the Federal Highway Administration which states that between 2001 to 2009, Americans between 16 to 34-years-old decreased their annual driving miles by 23 percent.

The study also assessed how forms of communications like social media help to promote initiatives of alternative methods of transportation.

UO has a number of sustainable travel initiatives including the Outdoor Program Barn, home to the UO’s bike share program and a space where students and staff can work on their bicycles. In addition, the UO is nationally recognized as a bike friendly university.

“Although we didn’t have a role in the report, the enthusiasm and all the energy behind that report is really felt on campus at U of O,” UO Bike Program coordinate Briana Orr said.

The study showcased a vast menu of universities that like the UO provide similar services to alternative modes of transportations like biking and bike-share, transit buses, ride-sharing.

“Anything that helps brings those types of examples to the larger public is a great way to push some competitive spirit across campuses to be the most sustainable and learn from one another,”Professor of Planning, Public Policy and Management Marc Schlossberg, said.

Prior reports in the series have indicated that Millennials are getting lower amounts of driver licenses than past generations past.  Young people also will rather also spend more money on rent for locations with accessible transportation.

“I don’t drive and walk for irrational reasons. I do it when it’s the most convenient and direct way of getting around,” Schlossberg said.

President Gottfredson has announced Bruce MacAllister as the University of Oregon’s new ombudsperson starting mid-March.

“We are delighted that MacAllister has chosen to bring his skills and rich background to the University of Oregon,” said Gottfredson in an email sent to the university community Monday afternoon.

MacAllister hails from Santa Fe, N.M. where he was working as the Ombudsman Program Director from the International Foundation for Online Responsibility, a non-profit organization develops policies for Top Level Domains. As ombudsperson at the UO, MacAllister will be tasked with helping to mediate disputes between the university and outside groups, as well as helping resolve internal conflicts through means of consultation, negotiation and mediation.

According to the IFOR website, MacAllister is described as “a recognized expert in conflict resolution system design, compliance reviews and in facilitating conflict resolution.”

He worked in the University of California system for 20 years, serving half of that time as the first Ombuds Program Director for Los Alamos National Laboratory, an organization with a 10,000-person workforce with an annual budget exceeding $2.2 billion.

MacAllister received his Bachelor of Science from Phillips University in Biology, Chemistry and Pre-Medicine and a Juris (law) Doctorate from the University of Tulsa where he graduated in the top third of his class.

“I’m flattered and excited that the University of Oregon community selected me from among the excellent candidates that applied for the position. I really enjoy working with organizations to help them with their ombudsman programs and sharing my expertise in organizational conflict resolution, mediation and training. I look forward to joining the university community and helping the UO implement a world-class university ombudsman program,” MacAllister said in the email.

The University of Oregon has increased the enrollment of out-of-state students over the years in order to bring needed revenue and help keep the price of education down as operational costs increase and state funding remains a small portion of the budget.

Next year, increased costs for employee benefits and a tuition freeze for in-state residents for 2014-2015, may put an additional strain on the university budget and further increase university dependence on out-of-state tuition.

The Public Employment Retirement System is a university expense that has increased dramatically over the past years. From 2010 to 2013, the cost for the pension went up from $30.4 million to $50 million.

The most significant increase in the PERS costs came in the 2012 fiscal year when rates jumped $15 million. According to an email from Vice President for Finance and Administration Jaime Moffitt, if not for the recent legislative PERS reform, the UO would have expected another significant increase.

Health care is also another increasing expense for the university and is referred under the Public Employees’ Benefit Board costs. The university spent $53.1 million on PEBB costs in 2010 and $63.6 million in 2013. Retirement costs per employee vary depending on when they were hired and what health plan they chose. According to Moffitt, health care costs per full time employee are currently running at $15,120 per year.

The UO does not control the costs for PERS and PEBB. Those are set by the state.  All figures listed show total amounts for the entire university.

Though the tuition setting process is currently underway and an official price tag won’t be set until late spring, Moffitt certainly doesn’t expect to see a decrease in the cost of out-of-state tuition.

According to enrollment data from the UO Office of Institutional Research, this year out-of-state students made up nearly half of the student body with 11,419 enrolled.

“We are always cognizant of the fact that student tuition is the largest source of university resources,” Associate Dean of Finance Administration Gordon Taylor said.  “We do our very best to allocate them efficiently, responsibly and effectively.”

California resident and UO senior Michelle Harvey felt like attending an out of state college was her only option, due to competition among state residents in the University of California system.

Out of three other out-of-state schools, Harvey chose UO because it was the most affordable. Still, she has found it necessary to take out student loans to pay for education.

“It hinders what I am going to do next because it’s going to be adding on to student loans,” the education major said. “But I’m thankful I have more school to do to put off paying for student loans.” Harvey plans to go grad school next year.

Correction: An earlier draft of this article incorrectly stated that out-of-state students comprised more than half of the UO’s 2013-2014 enrollment. The 11,419 non-resident students represent 46.5 percent of the student body, not a majority. There were 24,548 students enrolled at UO this academic year.

Drivers are asked to avoid the 13th block of Mill Street to Ferry Street as crews work to repair damage caused when a falling tree branch knocked down a telephone wire earlier this afternoon.

Two cars have also been damaged from tree debris. According to residents, branches have been falling all morning and continue to descend.

Residents blocked off the street, directed traffic and cautioned pedestrians to avoid the area  before city employees were able to get to the scene and officially close it off.

According to a Eugene Police Department officer, no other street on 13th Avenue is currently closed.

After three months of negotiations,  the University of Oregon administration and Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation — the campus union representing graduate teaching fellows — have been unable to come to agreements on the union’s three main issues: increasing the minimum wage, expanding healthcare coverage to include major dental and establishing paid leave — specifically for parents.

Due to the current snow story, the bargaining session set for today, Feb. 17 has been postponed.  Both teams are hoping to reschedule the session for a later date this month than to cancel it altogether.

“We would like the University to take our proposals more seriously than they have so far done, and would like to see them directly address, rather than sidestep,” GTFF President David Craig said.

There are over 1,300 GTFs at the University of Oregon who assist in teaching, research or administrative positions. Each GTF receives a monthly salary, a full-time tuition waiver, a mandatory fee subsidy and access to health insurance.

Currently, the average GTF salary does not cover the cost of living expenses as calculated by the University’s financial aid office. The GTFF has proposed that GTF minimum wage level should reflect the University’s cost of living estimate. The UO Administration has proposed 1.5 percent wage increase for the next year, and 2 percent wage increase for the following year.

The GTFF said the increases would still leave GTF salary about $660 dollars short of estimated living costs every month.

According to UO Director of Communications Julie Brown, with salary, tuition, fees and benefits taken into count, the nine month total compensation for a .49 Level I GTF totals at least $39,211 this year.

“Graduate assistants fill valuable roles at the University of Oregon…,” Kimberly Espy, the dean of the graduate school said. “As we move to the next steps in GTFF bargaining, the university is ready to work with the union to draft an agreement that reflects all of our priorities.”

A survey conducted by the GTFF revealed that about 10 percent of GTF respondents are parents. The GTFF has requested that contracts include up to six weeks of paid leave which would also prevent a disruption of health benefits that result from extended leaves of absence.

“I would have been another statistic, another female academic unable to finish her degree because of child bearing,” Jeni Rinner, a GTF representative who testified on behalf of parental leave said. “Support women scholars by establishing parental leave.”

GTFF Media Liaison Gus Skorburg, doesn’t believe that a parent should have to choose between having enough wages to pay basic living expenses and having paid leave to adopt or give birth to a child.

At the last meeting, UO administration proposed to possibly replace the GTF’s health insurance plan with one that is “comparable and cheaper” and would no longer be under GTF oversight through its health trust.

“The trust is a vital component of our mission as a member-run union, and to suggest, as the University’s team did, that GTFs wouldn’t care if it were eliminated, is simply false,”  Craig said, also stating that the union was “insulted” and “alarmed” by the proposal.

The GTFF is  planning on holding a rally outside of Johnson Hall next Friday, Feb. 14 in support of receiving major dental coverage from the University.