Summer is here

This week the campus became alive again with the start up of summer session classes, Hustlin’ Owl basketball camps and Pre-College activities.

Tonight is the kick-off dinner for the GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) program going on this summer. Sophomores and juniors from Chiloquin High School will spend Monday through Thursdays on campus from July 17 until August 10. They will live in the Residence Hall and take two camping trips to Crater Lake National Park. Transportation is provided from Chiloquin to campus, and back, each week. The program is sponsored by GEAR UP, OIT, the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships, AT&T and TransCanada.

These students will participate in a high altitude balloon launch, wildlife photography, water quality experiments, embedded programming, and research involving the Old Man in Crater Lake (a floating stump).

We are hoping that some of these young people will be future students at OIT.

Next week I’ve asked Valeree Lane to post some of my favorite photos of campus on this blog.

The weekend of July 16 and 17, as part of the Klamath Cruise vintage car show, there will be a sock hop here on campus. Please join the fun!

Have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July holiday.

The rush is over...

We’ve made it through commencement season, and I continue to hear positive feedback about Martha Ackmann’s address. You can read it online here. She traveled to Oregon with her father, Florenze, and I believe they enjoyed their stay. As we parted they were planning a Father’s Day trip to Crater Lake. The photo below shows Martha talking to some of the attendees at the Commencement Eve dinner.

At that dinner, I was pleased to make Thomas Sternburgh an Honorary Emeritus Faculty member. He was one of the founding instructors of the Medical Technology program at the old campus. It was a fitting turn of events that he was named Emeritus the same week we broke ground for the Oregon Center for Health Professions. The facility will house the Clinical Laboratory Science program, which is the new name for Medical Technology. Phased out in the late 1980s, the program is now offered in Portland through a partnership with Oregon Health and Science University.

Pictured above are Mr. Sternburgh and one of his students, William Dettwyler. Mr. Dettwyler is a Golden Owl, a designation assigned to alumni with graduation dates of 40 or more years ago.


I thought you might also like to see a photo from the groundbreaking. We were so fortunate that the weather held off. There had been rain and hail earlier in the day. I was so pleased with the attendance. Many people told us that no one attends a groundbreaking, but the more than 200 in attendance seems to discount that theory.

I want to thank Mike Payne for his feedback. As this blog continues, I hope to provide more detail about areas where I would encourage more student discussion. It was interesting to hear about the lack of pencil sharpeners. I imagine the use of mechanical pencils made someone think there wasn’t a need for the devices. It’s amazing what you can learn here.

I also want to thank Palmer for his positive feedback.

Have a great weekend.

Two down, one to go

Well, we’ve completed two commencement exercises and we have tomorrow’s graduation in Klamath Falls. Tomorrow 302 graduates will walk to receive their degrees. The day also marks our first Master of Science candidates in Manufacturing Engineering Technology and our first graduates in Respiratory Care. I’m posting a couple of pictures from last week’s events.

The little girls are the daughters of Boeing graduate Stephen Stramer. They were so excited about their father’s achievement. Boeing’s graduation was held in Seattle.

The Portland Operations graduate I’m pictured with was caught in Portland traffic and didn’t make the graduation ceremony June 9. His name is Isaac Obune and he graduated in information technology. Isaac was a transfer student and entered OIT in 2003.

EvilZues posed some interesting questions in regard to my last post. First, I’m not sure what cement barricades and rocks are being referenced. The cost of the Center for Health Professions is $22.5 million. The estimated return value to the community in the first year is $31 million. The needs of students are always our priority. The reference to cutting programs is puzzling to me. No programs are being cut.

If EvilZues would like to schedule an appointment to clarify these points, I would welcome that opportunity.

Talk to you again next week.

Bloggity, blog, blog, blog

Have I used the word busy lately? It’s a whirlwind of activity around here. I was in La Grande at the end of last week for the state board meeting. There is always so much engaging and stimulating discussion at the meetings that one cannot be bored at a board meeting.

This week finds an alumni reception for the Center for Health Professions and commencement exercises for our Boeing and Portland programs. It is also Dead Week, which means that finals are a week away. I wonder what the etymology of Dead Week might be. Perhaps the sleep deprivation (or is that depravation?) of students results in a zombie-like state. Maybe it’s the death of the term. I guess Dead Week was easier to say than Penultimate Week.

Finals Week concludes with Commencement in Klamath Falls. I’m looking forward to our address by Martha Ackmann. She’s funny and intelligent. I cannot wait to hear what she has to say. Her book, The Mercury 13, should be on summer reading lists. It’s a very good, quick read.

Danise Watters’ article about this blog appeared in The Edge May 26. I’m surprised there haven’t been more student comments, but there was Memorial Day and end of term projects to consider.

I’m looking for some feedback. You are welcome to send your comments. I had envisioned my topics being driven more by student interest.

I’ll post again next week…