On top of the world

The Crater Lake Science and Learn Center opened Friday, and I’m thrilled with the new prospects and opportunities available there. A memorandum of understanding was signed by OIT, Southern Oregon University and Crater Lake National Park in establishing the new center.
OIT’s Dr. Larry Powers is coordinator of research at the center. He is currently working with Oregon State University scientists who are studying moss there, but looks forward to working with scholars from around the world. I would love to put my microbiology background into practice with some Crater Lake research, too.

Larry has always taken students into the park for research opportunities. Now we have a formal agreement and the benefits will be many, including those for our Sponsored and Pre-College Programs.

OIT faculty members Claude Kansaku and Jim Long will place a GPS system on The Old Man in the Lake, a floating log that travels around Crater Lake. It will monitor location, temperature and wind speed.

You might not know that I’ve been the chair of Crater Lake Trust over the past 18 months. I’m privileged to serve the National Park and know that this new center will increase OIT’s connection to its own region and research scientist around the globe.

Below, I’m posting some pictures from Friday’s Grand Opening. There were so many friends of OIT there. I can’t name them all, but Congressman Greg Walden, Commissioner Al Switzer, businessman Bill Thorndike and JELD-WEN Foundation Executive Director Bob Kingzett stand out in my mind. Actually, everyone there is a true friend of the university, including retiring SOU President Elisabeth Zinser and the new president Mary Cullinan.

Talk to you next week.

GRAD is grand

I wanted to take the time to reflect on the work done by the students in the GRAD program this summer. I’ve told you before that GRAD stands for Graduation Really Achieves Dreams, and I was pleased to attend the students’ program completion ceremony last Thursday in Chiloquin.

The 15 student participants will be sophomores and juniors at Chiloquin High School this fall. During the four weeks they spent with us, they traveled from Chiloquin every Monday morning to live and learn on the OIT campus and in local nature areas. Each Thursday afternoon the students returned to Chiloquin to spend time with their families and friends.

What struck me about these students is how eager they were at every opportunity. While canoeing along the Wood River, learning about the natural ecology and biology there, one student exclaimed it might be fun to be a biologist. It was a new thought based on applied learning instead of the rote textbook experience most students perceive as education.

These young people camped and hiked at Crater Lake, never complaining about the length of the walking excursions or the inconvenience of living so close to nature. The opportunity to learn in a National Park, within close proximity to their homes, made the experience more meaningful to them.

Throughout their month at OIT it was fun to watch the students interact with each other and other campus community members. They are a tactile group, often hugging and seen at the end of summer barbecue highlighting each others hair with markers.

At the ceremony each family was proud of the accomplishments of their student. I appreciate the enthusiasm and promise they brought to our campus and look forward to next year’s GRAD program.

I’m posting several photos of the GRAD experience. The Sponsored and Pre-College Programs office has done yeoman’s work to promote educational opportunities to local youth. I’m delighted to see the interaction between the GRAD students and the OIT students serving as summer counselors.

Serendipity abounds

I was pleased to meet artist and sculptor Obie Simonis last week. He and family were in Southern Oregon to look at his sculptures on the OIT and Southern Oregon University campuses.

Obie created the “Radiant Flux” artwork that rests outside the College Union. He indicated that an OIT engineering technology alumnus helped him pull the forms for the piece. Obie had high praise for OIT’s high-caliber of professional training.

His wife, Jacqueline, is the Associate Dean and Co-Director of Student Support Services at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was very interested in OIT. Ironically, when they walked into my office, I thought I was meeting a new student in their son Lucas.

I love the serendipity of life experience. Obie’s survey of his work taught me more about our campus history, and he will be back on campus in the future to polish “Radiant Flux” and affix a nameplate.

At the bottom of this post, I’m placing photos of the construction progress on the CHP. I appreciated the anonymous request for more photos, and Zack’s interest in seeing more, too. By the way, Zack, the junipers around campus are being removed to make way for more sod. Many of the junipers are dying and the grass will help the campus grounds crews keep everything looking tidy. Wherever it is feasible, flowers will be planted.

On the note of serendipity, did you know that all of the roses around campus were donated by Jackson and Perkins? All Roger Hulet has to do is pick up the phone and make a request; the company then provides the rose bushes for planting. It’s really enhanced the beauty of our campus.

CHP update

It’s exciting to see the progress on the Center for Health building. It seems everything is still on schedule to occupy the first wing of the building in the fall of 2007. Although right now it is still in the leveling and dirt removal stage, by next week we should see the cement work begin. The first wing includes the medical imaging programs, classrooms and offices.

On the topic of the second wing, we will begin the definitive design work on this phase in late August or early September. This wing will include nursing, as well as additional OIT allied health programs.

At the OUS board meeting in July, OIT requested authorization to seek a state bond (“G” bond) to be matched by private gifts of $9 million to complete the building. The CHP will be 80,000 square feet, including the second wing. The OUS board placed this request at a high priority to receive capital investment funding.

OIT will need to make a case for this project with the Governor and legislature. Since we have raised the private matching money, this will definitely be a major asset for seeking the state contribution. I am looking forward to soliciting political support for this project with our local legislators and others. I hope others will join me in this effort. The Klamath Falls community is so supportive, and my heartfelt thanks go out to businesses and individuals who have participated in our fund-raising campaign.