Former dean speaks to budget conflicts

Howard Gelberg, former dean of Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said he’s found a silver lining despite losing his position last month.

“The one good thing that’s come out of this for me is the support, not just from faculty and students, but from parents of students, too, that they appreciate what we’ve done with the college. I’m very grateful to have that support,” he said.

Gelberg was dismissed as dean Jan. 18.

OSU released a press release announcing the change in leadership Wednesday.

OSU officials initially gave no reason for Gelberg’s “transition” from dean to professor, but Gelberg cited disagreements over budgets.

On Thursday, Sabah Randhawa, OSU’s provost and executive vice president, confirmed that money disputes did prompt his decision to replace Gelberg.

“The main thing really was we had differences in the general budget strategies,” Randhawa said. “We have been very supportive of the growth in the college, but the growth has to be fiscally sustainable.”

Rich Holdren, senior associate vice president of research, will serve as interim dean of the college while OSU searches for a new dean.

In order to be fully-accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the dean of a College of Veterinary Medicine must be a veterinarian, which Holdren is not. Until OSU appoints a dean who is a veterinarian, its college will be on limited-accreditation status.

Gelberg, a tenured professor and veterinary pathologist, is continuing to teach in the college and provide clinical services.

He said he’d like to continue to contribute to academic veterinary medicine, whether at OSU or elsewhere.

A letter written by Gelberg on Jan. 19 and distributed among the college’s faculty and staff states that OSU executives were not responsive to his detailed budget requests for the 2006 fiscal year.

Gelberg continues to say that the budget he received fell short of the college’s needs and didn’t reflect the money it brings in from all sources.

He added that OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine has an annual budget $34 million below the national average.

“I was told to balance the budget I was given. I refused. In my opinion, accepting the campus-generated budget meant breaking my good faith promises to you, halting the college’s spectacular growth, compromising patient care and taxing the human resources within the college to the point of career stagnation for some of you,” Gelberg wrote.

Gelberg included in his letter praise for his colleagues and the college he’s helped expand since coming to OSU in 2001.

Randhawa, provost and executive vice president, met with the college Jan. 20 to discuss the change in leadership.

At the meeting, Stuart Helfand, professor of oncology, shared a letter he wrote in support of Gelberg.

Helfand attributed the college’s improved reputation in recent years, and consequently its ability to attract prominent faculty and more external funding, largely to Gelberg’s leadership.

“(Randhawa’s) decision to relieve Dean Gelberg has sent shockwaves through each and every employee of this college. I am sure many faculty members went home last night asking the question if this is the right place for them to pursue excellence in their own career development,” Helfand wrote.

Helfand closed by asking what, if anything, he and other faculty members could do to get Gelberg reinstated and “help maintain the positive energy this man has single-handedly brought to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Oregon State University in general.”

The College of Veterinary Medicine has an initial budget for the 2006 fiscal year of $12.7 million.

Mark McCambridge, OSU’s vice president for finance and administration, said that Gelberg had requested about $13.5 million. He said the College of Veterinary Medicine isn’t alone in wanting more funding.

“Everyone in the university is in that situation and has been for years,” he said.

On the Net

The Gazette-Times obtained letters written by Stuart Helfand and Howard Gelberg. To read them in full, see the ‘Community’ section of www.gazettetimes.com.