Greg Perkinson “transitioned” out of leadership role in late July with no announcement by university; SOU President Bailey working on revising budget after end of state legislative session
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
The Southern Oregon University University Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting Monday, Aug. 28, to review its budget in light of what the state legislature approved in the session that ended in June, but a key member of the SOU leadership team that crafted its multi-year “realignment” budget plan won’t be there.
Vice President of Finance and Administration Greg Perkinson’s last day at Southern Oregon University was July 27, Perkinson told Ashland.news in a phone interview Monday.
Asked whether he was voluntarily leaving the university, where he’s served since December 2017, he said, “It was a good time for me to transition.”
Asked if the intensity of the past budget year had any impact on his decision to leave, he said it did not.
“You know, I think the team is amazing and I’ve had a lot of intensity over the years, so no, that certainly wasn’t a factor for me,” Perkinson said.
Perkinson said Neil Wolf, executive vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, has been helping to bridge the gap in the open role since his departure.
“What I would say is that I was at SOU for five-and-a-half years, and so I really enjoyed my time there, developed some great friendships, and I’m sure I’ll keep those for, you know, the rest of my days … it was just a good time for me to transition to something new,” Perkinson said.
Perkinson said SOU President Rick Bailey is refining the budget prior to the special meeting with the board.
Bailey, via a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed for this story, prior to making a presentation to trustees at the special meeting scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 28. The location of the meeting was not listed on the SOU website as of Monday.
In a text message, Board Trustees Chair Daniel Santos, Santos told Ashland.news that the special meeting would include a post-legislative update on the status of the 2023-24 budget. Santos declined to comment on Perkinson’s departure, which he referred to as a “retirement.” He deferred comments to Bailey or Mosley.
“Over my five-and-a-half years there, the budget is set by the board in June when they approve it or adopt it,” Perkinson said. “But then we continue to refine it every time there’s new data that comes in. For example, when the legislative long session ended in, I guess it was end of June, we had a whole new set of revenue numbers, we go back into the budget, back into the pro forma and update everything we know about both revenue and expense so … updates to the budget are really normal.”
“If something drastic happened, it could bring the budget back to the board,” he added. “As we refined the budget over the last five years, we would always bring updates to the board and sometimes that was good news and sometimes that was bad news.
“SOU’s no stranger to what I would call “puts and takes,’” he added. “Things that ebb and flow in the budget cycle.”
Perkinson said he would like to remain in Ashland, pending his future work plans for another company.
“I’m just keeping myself open to all of the options that are out there,” he said.
No announcement was made by the university of Perkinson’s departure, and he remained on the SOU executive leadership webpage as of Monday.
Reach Ashland.news staff reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.
