Remarks to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education

21 June 2002

Portland State University, Portland, OR

President VanLuvanee, Chancellor Cox, Directors and Guests:

Goodafternoon. I'm feeling particularly upbeat today despite what's going on in Salem as another successful academic year has come to a close. I'm pleased to have played a part in the lives of some of the students who celebrated their graduations this past weekend. Several of you also had the privilege of attending one of the commencements to bring greetings from the Board so you learned first-had of the remarkable achievements of students who were awarded their diplomas. It never ceases to amaze me how much some students can accomplish while taking a full load of difficult classes: being a single parent, working 20 or more hours a week because financial aid doesn't cover both the cost of the education they so badly want and their living expenses, volunteering through their church or through an on-campus organization and still excelling in their course work. I get tired just enumerating all they do. If there's one thing I'm confident of, it's that the role we – and I mean all of us from in-the-classroom faculty, to staff at all levels, to institution leaders and Board members – play in helping these graduates reach their goals is one of the best we can ask for; the outcomes are worth the trials and tribulations we encounter along the way. If students at my institution are indicative, we're doing our jobs quite well despite inadequate support. Two students serve as examples: both just graduated with bachelor degrees in mechanical engineering technology, both have accepted positions with Sandia National Laboratories and both will be earning about $60,000 a year – only slightly less than some of our experienced full professors earn on an annualized basis. Or the 2002 graduate of Western who wrote three senior theses and has a Fulbright fellowship to study abroad. You undoubtedly know of many other such examples. Yes, indeed, it was a successful academic year.

That said, let me also note that at our most recent IFS meeting, held in LaGrande, I heard several senators characterize their campuses as "cranky" right now – a message perhaps legislators should hear. Normally buoyant faculty and staff are demoralized and exhausted by the constant battles to secure the revenues needed to provide the quality programs we're expected and want to offer. They are annoyed at the time and effort being expended in deciding how to best make the required cuts – time and effort taken away from the central mission of education; however, they do understand the importance of making careful decisions on these cuts. The numbers of staff and faculty leaving several of the institutions seems abnormally high. Many are choosing to retire rather than continue to scramble for funds to do what they know is essential in providing a more than mediocre educational

experience for our students. Faculty positions go unfilled because salaries are not competitive; faculty are "volunteering" for more courses, course offerings are being reduced and class sizes increased. All these conspire to create "crankiness". Perhaps it is well that the summer hiatus is ahead for many.

I referred to our last meeting in LaGrande – one of the favorite venues for IFS senators. The eastern part of the state is particularly attractive at this time of year – green hills and fields with snow-capped mountains above; a trip to LaGrande provides a nice respite from busy end-of-the-year activities. President Creighton, in his welcoming remarks, reiterated many of the ideas that have been discussed here at your meetings:

· faculty, the Board, and the presidents should work as a team to move the system forward

· the OUS must develop a single effective message to convince Oregonians of the importance of public post-secondary education

· faculty have to be leaders in determining what the OUS should be

· money buys good faculty which the system needs

· higher ed. must work to keep Oregon’s best students because they're likely to stay and contribute in Oregon upon completing their college work

· K-12/higher ed. boundaries should be blurred to some extent for the good of both

Other guests included Director Bassett, Interim Provost Betts, budget director Lindsey, two EOU students (the student body president and the OSA liaison), and anthropology professor Kathleen Dahl. In the interests of brevity, I'd like to mention only a couple topics from the wide-ranging discussions we had with these guests.

First, we learned from the students that they understand that tuition must rise; their concern is that it not rise dramatically as this would adversely affect enrollment at Eastern. They spoke of students who said if tuition increased too much, they would have to drop out of school for the time being and find a job to save money before returning to school. When queried by a senator about what "quality" meant to them in terms of their education, both students responded that program diversity and more options were marks of quality for them. Both noted that often they couldn't get the necessary or desired courses to complete their programs when they needed them.

Professor Dahl, one of the organizers of the unionization effort at Eastern, spoke with senators about what has prompted this move from some full and part-time

faculty. Among the issues, which she emphasized are not just EOU issues, are

· the declining importance placed on higher ed. by the state

· faculty wanting more voice in how revenue cuts are apportioned

· insecurity among younger faculty which translates into looking for long-term commitments about salary and working conditions that go beyond the present administration which may not be in place indefinitely

The union-organizing committee has gathered enough signatures from both full and part-time faculty to request an election be held on campus to decide whether the American Federation of Teachers would be the faculty’s bargaining unit. That request is now pending. I might add that at OIT, there is also discussion of forming a union. The primary motivation is the loss of cashback and the impact that has on some salaries but the privatization effort and the loss of a promised 2% salary increase in January – a casualty of the cuts being made at OIT – contributed to the union consideration as well.

At our business meeting on Saturday, senators focussed on two issues that arose during Friday's discussions: enrollment growth and decentralization. (Despite the amount of time devoted to them, budget issues are not our sole interest.) Concern was expressed regarding whether there are any overriding principles guiding enrollment growth for the system as a whole and for the individual institutions. There was also confusion about just what impacts enrollment growth has on which aspects of the budget. As regards decentralization, senators are uncertain just what this term comprises. Conjectures included individual institutions setting their own tuition rates, their own calendars, investing their own funds, hiring their own attorneys, developing their own legislative agendas, and appointing their own institutional boards. It is clear that IFS needs more information to better understand both these important topics; we plan to take these up at future meetings and will undoubtedly call on Board members and chancellor's staff to help us.

The IFS will next convene in October in a meeting hosted by OIT but being held in Bend as a way of learning more about the Cascades Campus. Chancellor-designate Jarvis has agreed to join us; representatives from COCC and from the community will also attend. We're hoping Director Lussier will be available too. Let me reissue my earlier invitation to Board members: "y'all come"; you are always welcome at our meetings; you needn't wait for a formal invitation – just come on by, we'd love to have you.

Finally, senators asked me to again convey thanks for more fully including faculty in the chancellor search process. We are pleased to have been of assistance in this important task.

In closing, I'd like to extend my thanks to President VanLuvanee for his service to higher ed. as president of this Board over the past year. And thanks to each and every one of the Board's members for your efforts as well. Faculty do appreciate the thoughtful work you do though we may not convey that as often as we should. Thanks, too, and goodbye to Chancellor Cox – you will be missed.