Lieuallen
Continued from Page 1
The problems facing higher education are similar
also In 1961 Lieuallen inherited a furious word battle
over program planning between members of the
Joint Ways and Means Committee and the former
chancellor. Now, he finds himself in a similar spat
with legislators. Lieuallen and the state board have
been criticized for not dealing realistically with
budget cuts, program reductions and unnecessary
program duplication in the system
“I'm tempted to believe that there may be some
kind of structual reason why this sort of reaction
occurs near the end of the tenure of a chancellor,”
Lieuallen says "In 1961 it was line-item budgeting In
1981-82 it is inadequate long-range planning and
inadequate program reduction ” Some legislators are
trying to excuse their lack of fiscal commitment to
higher education by criticizing the system, he adds.
Part of higher education’s problems with the
Legislature may be Lieualien's style, some critics say
University Pres Paul Olum criticized Lieuallen
recently for not only the way he has handled program
cuts, but also for his lobbying style
“Lew, by his own choice, hasn't been a person
to organize a strong lobbying effort,” Olum says
Politically, Lieuallen has been defensive, rather than
aggressive, Olums adds, cautioning that his contact
with Lieuallen has come only during six years of
budget problems
Most of the criticisms of Lieuallen’s lobbying
style are just "personal judgments,” Lemman says
“We need to tell our story better and more often But
if you can buy a vote with dinner, we re in deep
trouble as a society.”
Lieuallen says he’d rather not talk about his
lobbying style “I really don’t want to comment on
that. I don't perceive it that way, but some others do
It’s an area that, at this junction, wouldn’t do me or
them any good for me to debate it.”
Olum praises Lieuallen for keeping institutions
strong within the system. Unlike chancellors in other
state systems, “He hasn’t tried to run us,” Olum says
“I don’t believe the chancellor should be a
dominant figure," Lieuallen says, adding that a
chancellor is primarily an administrator and
politician. “I don’t think a chancellor succeeds or
fails by telling the institution presidents what they
ought to do in their academic programs I’m not
saying it wouldn’t be appropriate for a chancellor to
provide input, but the most important scholarly
leadership will come from within the institutions It
has to.
“When the chancellor begins to compete with
the presidents for that leadership, you begin to build
internal dissentions that are destructive We pay
‘The chancellor is
a symbol as much
as a person'
presidents a reasonably good salary, and we expect
that kind of leadership from them It's simply a
practical consideration Presidents are closer to the
action.”
Lemman agrees "There's a difference between
anarchy and a confederation of institutions which are
pushed, monitored and cajoled instead of being told
what to do. Ultimately the control is there and
exercised, but the technique is to keep a loose,
rather than tight, reign on people Our strength lies in
the system concept.”
Lieuallen says one of his strengths has been his
knack for getting people to work together. "Having
good ideas isn’t really a great virtue unless you can
implement them ”
Lieuallen has been able to get people to work
together because “he works hard at it," Lemman
says. "He consults widely and often, listens well and
attempts to reach a consensus He is a person who
takes issues very seriously, but not himself
"Lew delegates authority very well, and expects
people to take risks He’s tolerant of mistakes and
people s shortcomings; he realizes that no one can
do it alone "
Both Lemman and Olum describe Lieuallen with
similar words: warm, friendly, has a sense of humor,
cares deeply about higher education
"He really does want what is best for the
system," Olum says, adding that Lieuallen always has
been candid with him, even when they’ve disagreed
Having a thick skin is part of the job description,
Lieuallen says
"I’ve told myself that the chancellor is a symbol
as much as a person I'm not always successful, but I
try to persuade myself that a certain amount of
criticism is part of the job description and is
inevitable If I don’t want to be the person most
closely related to the symbol then I ought to get out
"Criticism is not fun, but I don't let it ruin my
life "
Lieuallen's long stay in the job is a testament to his
ability to distinguish between personal criticism and
criticism that comes no matter who is chancellor,
Lemman says.
But Lieuallen has gotten more than his share of
criticism during these tough economic times,
Lemman says “Had he left five years ago or five
years from now the attitude about him would have
been different It's easy for any lame duck to be a
scapegoat
"It’s tragic that after what — by any objective
standards — is a brillant career in higher education
that it ends on this note He's being blamed for things
that are not of his making Some pople are
transferring their own shortcomings to Lew
“I obviously have a high regard for him, both
professionally and personally " Lemman pauses, his
voice softens.
“I’ll miss him a lot ”
Stories by Sally Hodgkinson
Photos by Bob Baker
Lieuallen rebuts higher ed critics
The state system is not overbuilt, is not
overburdened with program duplication
and does not have inadequte long-range
program planning, Chancellor Roy
Lieualien says, in response to recent
criticism from legislators.
“People argue that Oregon is overbuilt
in higher ed, and I agree,” he says "But
in the last two decades, it has been
overbuilt in the community colleges, not
in the state department of higher ed We
have the same institutions we had in
1946.” Thirteen community colleges
have been built within the last 20 years,
he adds
When Lieualien is asked how much
duplication exists in the State System of
Higher Education, he bristles “There is
quite a bit of duplication. We have a
program in physics at Oregon State, a
program in physics at Portland State, a
program in physics at the University of
Oregon and a program in physics at
Southern Oregon State College. That's
duplication There's no way I can argue
against that
“But that's not the question The right
question is: Do you have unnecessary,
expensive and undesirable duplication? I
say we have very little or none at all.”
In 1909 the State Board of Higher
Curriculum was established to regulate
and coordinate programs for the Univer
sity and Oregon State University, the only
two higher education institutions within
the state at that time. The cirriculum
board was replaced in 1929 by the State
Board of Higher Education, also entrust
ed with avoiding unnecessary and ex
pensive program duplication, Lieuallen
says
A recent study by the state system on
program duplication shows that, when
matched against comparable systems,
Oregon institutions have very little du
plication
Lieuallen and the state board also
have been criticized by institution pre
sidents for making across-the-board
budget cuts to schools instead of cutting
low-quality programs
"You have to judge quality on what the
objectives of the institution are You
don’t judge quality on whether you have
seven National Academy of Science
winners in one institution and none in the
other. Eastern Oregon State College is
not an institution designed to attract and
support National Academy award win
ners.
"Some people say Oregon State
University is a better institution than
Eastern Oregon, and, since we're cut
ting, what you ought to do is cut out
Eastern Oregon State and preserve
OSU Well, that’s a pretty hard decision
to make in terms of the citizens who live
east of the Cascades "
The board cannot close institutions
because they are established by statute.
"When you hear legislators say, ‘Why
doesn't the board close a school,' that's
rhetoric. Only the Legislature can close
an institution."
Lieuallen says he and the state board
are trying to preserve as many programs
as possible — even if quality suffers in the
short run — to prepare for the population
growth of the 1990s.
"No one argues whether the recession
will go away. The argument is when it will
start going away We should not elimin
ate programs and institutions that might
take decades to re-establish."