Company Profile
University of Portland
Company Overview
Founded in 1901, the University of Portland is a private, comprehensive, Catholic university with a mission of teaching and learning, faith and formation, service and leadership. Guided by the Congregation of Holy Cross, the University addresses significant questions of human concern through disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies of the arts, sciences, and humanities and through studies in majors and professional programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a diverse community of scholars dedicated to excellence and innovation, we pursue teaching and learning, faith and formation, service and leadership in the classroom, residence halls, and the world. Because we value the development of the whole person, the University honors faith and reason as ways of knowing, promotes ethical reflection, and prepares people who respond to the needs of the world and its human family.
The University of Portland is an Equal Opportunity employer fully dedicated to achieving a diverse faculty and staff. The University of Portland does not discriminate in its educational programs, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other school-administered programs, or employment on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by and consistent with the law. Please see the University’s full Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination Policy here: https://www1.up.edu/disclosures/nondiscrimination-policy.html.
Company History
Tradition has it that while traveling aboard ship along the Willamette River one day, Christie noticed a large building atop Waud's Bluff. When he learned that it was West Hall (renamed Waldschmidt Hall in 1992, in honor of the late Most Rev. Paul E. Waldschmidt, C.S.C., president of the University from 1962-1978), the site of the defunct Portland University founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1891, Christie decided to purchase it (with financial assistance from the Congregation of Holy Cross) for the school of his vision. He named it "Columbia University" after the mighty river that flowed nearby, and when it opened its doors on September 5, 1901, it was staffed with priests from the archdiocese.
Christie was practical enough to know that his school needed more than he was able to provide through the archdiocese, and he approached the Congregation of Holy Cross's Indiana Province with a challenge: "Take over Columbia and make it the Notre Dame of the Pacific Northwest!" The challenge was accepted, and the following September the C.S.C.s, as they were called, assumed ownership. Christie's challenge had special meaning to the C.S.C.s, for in 1841 several members of their order had traveled from France and founded the University of Notre Dame in the woods of Indiana. The success of Notre Dame in the years that followed, and the deep commitment of the Congregation of Holy Cross to education, assured Christie that his own vision would one day be realized.
Columbia University achieved junior college status in 1922, and the first junior college class graduated the following year. In 1925, the College of Arts and Sciences was founded; four years later the first bachelor's degrees were awarded to a class of seven men.
In the 1930s, the University's name was changed to the University of Portland, the St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing became part of the University as the College of Nursing, and the School of Business was created.
In 1948, the School of Engineering was created. The University established its Graduate School in 1950 and the School of Education in 1962. In 1967 the Holy Cross order transferred ownership of the University to a lay Board of Regents.
Today some 4,200 students and approximately 300 faculty are engaged in teaching and research on the campus once on the edge of the American wilderness. The University has garnered national honors from U.S. News and World Report magazine and Barron's Best Buys as one of the best teaching universities in the West, and was honored by the Templeton Foundation as one of 100 colleges in America especially adept at education of character. In many ways the University has not swerved an inch from Archbishop Christie's dream in 1901--to provide a "superior education unequaled by any institution on the Pacific Coast."
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
For 23 consecutive years, the University has earned a top-10 ranking by US News & World Report in the “Regional Universities – West” classification. For six consecutive years, UP has been the top Oregon school in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance annual ranking of best values in private universities. And for three consecutive years, Bloomberg Businessweek has named University of Portland the top school in Oregon for “return on investment” in a state-by-state ranking of schools providing graduates with the most return for the price of their education.
Benefits
This is a full-time, 12-month, exempt position with benefits. Benefits include: medical & dental insurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, sick & vacation time, tuition remission benefits starting after 90 days (employee) or 2 years (spouse and children) of employment, retirement contributions after 2 years of employment, and eligibility for the University’s home purchase assistance program consistent with program requirements. (Please note that eligibility for all University benefits is subject to applicable policies, practices, and requirements.)