The Oregon State University-Cascades campus in Bend, Ore in an undated, provided photo.
Hannah O'Leary / Courtesy of Oregon State University
The top executive at the Oregon State University-Cascades campus, Sherman Bloomer, is no longer on the job due to “new information gathered through an investigation” from OSU. Bloomer is just the second permanent leader of the Cascades branch campus since it opened 10 years ago.
In a letter sent to the OSU campus community Tuesday, Oregon State Provost Roy Haggerty said he removed Bloomer from the Cascades chancellor and dean role this week.
In the note, Haggerty said OSU’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, as well as an external team, are continuing to investigate Bloomer. Haggerty gave no further details on the subject matter of the case, other than that the university’s Office of Audit Risk and Compliance received a complaint involving Bloomer on March 18.
“OSU employees are accountable for upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct and complying with all applicable laws, regulations and policies,” Haggerty wrote in the April 7 communication. “The university strongly encourages all reports of suspected wrongdoing, violations of university policy, or breaches of ethical conduct.”
An OSU spokesperson said the university has no further comment on the removal or investigation.
Bloomer had been the leader of the OSU-Cascades campus, located in Bend, since May 2023. At the time, Oregon State administrators lauded Bloomer as a highly qualified and talented higher education leader.
He held several leadership roles throughout OSU before taking on the Cascades dean position, including an 11-year stint directing the university’s budget and resource planning office. Before OSU, Bloomer held faculty positions at Boston University and Duke University.
The timeline of Bloomer’s investigation is currently unknown. Haggerty asked the OSU community for “patience as investigators continue to work deliberately and expeditiously according to university policies.”
Becky Johnson is set to temporarily step into the Cascades dean role throughout the investigation. Johnson has served as interim president at OSU and as the first leader of the campus in Central Oregon before retiring from academia in 2022. She had served nearly four decades at Oregon State.
