News Release May 7, 2004
Office of the Chancellor P.O. Box 751 Portland, OR 97207 PHONE (503) 725-5700 FAX (503) 725-5709 www.ous.edu |
Contact:
Di Saunders, Cell: 503-807-5539 (today); Office: 503-725-5714
Board of Higher Ed Reviews Impact of
Measure 30 Campus and Chancellor’s Office Cuts, Construction Budgets and
Legislative Concepts
Also hears report on strategic directions from EOU and
WOU Presidents
PORTLAND, May 7 – The State Board of Higher Education (the
“Board”) met yesterday and today at Eastern Oregon University in La
Grande, hearing reports on several items ranging from the effects related to
Measure 30 budget reductions on campuses and the Chancellor’s Office to
proposed 2005-07 capital construction budgets for new facilities and to support
deferred maintenance requirements.
Board President’s Resignation On behalf of the Board, vice president Dr.
Geri Richmond expressed sadness at its acceptance of Neil Goldschmidt’s
resignation as Board president. She said that the Board is fortunate that it is
made up of an outstanding group of highly skilled and dynamic individuals that
share the Governor’s passion for turning around the disinvestment in
postsecondary education in this state. “This Board has incredible
momentum and energy, and a change in leadership will not slow this group down
at all in our commitment to making significant and positive changes for higher
education for all of Oregon’s college and university students and their
respective communities,” Richmond said.
Chancellor’s Office Review Board vice president Geri Richmond
and member Henry Lorenzen reported on the changes to be made in the
Chancellor’s Office (CO) reorganization. Prior to the Board’s
general approval of the
reorganization plan, Richmond said, “The fiscal crisis in Oregon coupled
with the increasing costs of higher education may be placing the access and
affordability of a public college education beyond the means of too many
prospective students. Given this crisis, there may be no better time than now
to reconsider how well the OUS is serving the state.” Lorenzen said that emphasis in the CO
will be placed upon shifting the development and implementation of academic
programs to the campuses or other agencies. The role of the CO should focus on
policy, advocacy, strategy, incentives, and accountability for educational
outcomes, leaving the universities more freedom to mount programs and offer
services in ways consistent with their Board-approved mission and the
state’s educational goals. The reorganization eliminates Academic Affairs
as a division of the CO, and refocuses this work through the areas of
Enrollment Policy and Community College relationships; High Schools and Teacher
Education; Strategic Programs and Planning; Graduate and Research Policy. The
Board will also have further discussions on the total savings achieved through
the reorganization, and to ensure that the new structure will best serve the
Board Working Groups’ initiatives. The Board will continue its review of
the rest of the CO departments, with additional changes to be reported over the
next several months.
Capital Construction Budgets Three campuses presented proposed
2005-07 capital construction budgets to the Board. WOU proposed the
construction of a new classroom building to house the Divisions of Computer
Science and Business and Economics, and the Department of Mathematics; the
funding requirements include $14 million in State XI-G bonds/general funding,
federal funds, and gifts/grants/lottery funds; operations and maintenance on
the building will run $250,800 annually. SOU future projects proposed are for
the Medford Instructional Facility, Sciences Addition and Remodel Planning, and
the Theatre Arts Addition and Remodel; combined, funding requirements are $16
million in General Funds, XI-G bonds, federal funds, and SOU Foundation and
private funds. PSU proposed 14 new projects, of which the top priorities
include a community college partnership education center near Clackamas Town
Center, the purchase of City Tower to handle enrollment and research growth
demand, and a Student Recreation Center; funding requirements for the three
Priority #1 projects would be $93 million in XI-G bonds, assuming outstanding
bonded indebtedness, XI-F bonds among other funding mechanisms.
Impacts of Measure 30 A $7.5 million budget reduction for OUS resulted from the
failure of Measure 30, reported Tom Anderes, OUS senior vice chancellor for
finance and administration. Last month, Board president Goldschmidt announced
that $1 million of the total would come from the Chancellor’s Office,
reducing the total impact to the universities to $6.5 million. The reductions
on campuses, summarized in the chart below, impacted the universities in
different ways, including faculty and staff reductions, reduced course offerings,
inability to enhance laboratory equipment used to train students in the current
technologies used in the field, decreases in student services, research,
library services and repairs and maintenance on campuses.
|
Campus |
Total
2003-05 Campus State General Fund E&G Allocation |
Percent of Total |
Campus
Share of Measure 30 Reduction |
|
Eastern Oregon University |
$ 25,014,037 |
5% |
$ 315,672 |
|
Oregon Institute of Technology |
29,967,620 |
6% |
378,186 |
|
Oregon State University |
159,079,113 |
31% |
2,007,548 |
|
OSU - Cascades |
6,681,853 |
1% |
84,324 |
|
Portland State University |
114,588,191 |
22% |
1,446,081 |
|
Southern Oregon University |
29,124,509 |
6% |
367,546 |
|
University of Oregon |
121,091,153 |
24% |
1,528,147 |
|
Western Oregon University |
29,516,715 |
6% |
372,495 |
|
Campus Total |
$515,063,191 |
100% |
$6,500,000 |
|
Chancellor’s Office/OCECS |
--- |
--- |
1,015,480 |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
$7,515,480 |
EOU Report Eastern Oregon University’s Interim
President Dixie Lund, and President-designate Khosrow Fatemi, held a
conversation with the Board regarding the University’s current status and
strategies to further its development. President Lund said that EOU hosts an
array of academic partnerships with nearly every community college in Oregon,
offering programs from liberal studies to fire services administration to
business administration. In collaboration with OUS sister institutions, EOU
provides degree offerings such as agriculture and natural resource management
with OSU, nursing with OHSU, information technology with OIT, and criminal
justice with SOU. Lund discussed the school’s high level of corporate
involvement, including Oregon Dental Services, where ODS, along with Eastern
and OIT, are working to provide a dental hygiene degree in La Grande. Regional
involvement with the Eastern Oregon Rural Alliance provides resources for economic
expansion, policy review, and education/workforce development in rurally
distressed areas. During President Fatemi’s presentation, Board members
saw an examination of income and educational levels throughout Oregon and in
particular, eastern Oregon. Fatemi explained that the relative low level of
higher education experience has a direct impact on the economic potential for
the region. To address these issues, EOU is working to provide more access and
encouragement for students to attend college through aggressive recruitment,
joint admission and dual enrollments with community colleges, having high
school students attend college courses at EOU, and through enhanced distance
education offerings. Fatemi also showed how programmatic growth in new
undergraduate and graduate degrees, including an MBA, along with more
involvement in economic and community development, will assist in providing
educational resources to the citizens of Oregon. A key problem in addressing
these issues is the low level of salaries paid to the faculty and staff.
Comparative data with other OUS institutions and identified peers places EOU at
the bottom of the list in terms of compensation offered to employees, making it
difficult to compete in today’s marketplace. The University will seek to
create a “Blueprint for Excellence” to focus on these issues by
enhancing EOU’s academics, creating a global university, improving
diversity, supporting research, locating new resources and increasing service
and development.
WOU Report Dr. Philip Conn, president of
Western Oregon University, provided an overview of the accomplishments and
strategic directions at an institution that is described as providing the
“total collegiate experience” for students. Established in 1856,
WOU is Oregon’s oldest public university and offers a small school
alternative to Oregon’s larger institutions, and a culture of personal
interaction between faculty/staff and students. Undergraduate majors have grown
from 17 in 1980 to 43 currently, supported by 283 full and part time faculty
for its 5,000 students. WOU serves the highest percentage of Latino students in
any of the OUS institutions, 5.3% of its total, and serves both students of all
ages, with 22% now over age 30. Its traditional strength has been in teacher
education, but it has expanded over the last several years in other liberal
arts and sciences areas. WOU’s
--more--
Center for Teaching and
Learning links teaching to learning through people and technology, and its
Regional Resource Center on Deafness is nationally recognized for its work in
rehabilitation and assistive technology.
Connecting with community
colleges is a key goal for WOU, and it is developing co-enrollment agreements
and collaborating with Chemeketa and Clatsop Community Colleges on course
offerings and exchanges. WOU has extended its program offerings through
expanding summer offerings and use of online delivery systems to provide
greater access and scheduling flexibility for students. Service learning and
public service is a focus for WOU students who extend their learning through
“real life” experiences such as involvement in after-school
programs for young students and helping community organizations with special
projects. Students are also actively involved in research in all of the academic
areas. WOU has recently begun implementing its strategic plan with an emphasis
on enhancing the quality, productivity and distinctiveness of the university.