Presidential Potpourri

I’ve changed the background color of the blog and will endeavor to always have visuals, thanks to the valuable input of Adam Braly. He is the ASOIT web developer. Adam took the time to review my blog and give me valuable advice on how to make it more appealing to students. I don’t want you all to feel like it is just another textbook, as Adam pointed out.

Clinton Hankins is also helping me with the blog. He is writing an article for The Edge and is also creating a public relations campaign for the blog.

U.S. Senator Gordon Smith was on campus on Oct. 19. I was pleased to share OIT’s successes with him. We are particularly keen to have his support for some federal initiatives involving the Oregon Renewable Energy Center and the Oregon Center for Health Professions. Also, I asked him to support the concept of the Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner, which will allow dental hygienists greater educational opportunity and provide excellent oral care outreach to underserved populations. Several students from the Medical Imaging and Dental Hygiene departments attended this reception.

U.S. Representative Greg Walden was on campus Oct. 21. We spent a great deal of time talking about renewable energy with him. He travels back to Oregon every week and he attended the opening of the Crater Lake Science and Learning Center in August.

The election season is still in high gear, and I’m carefully watching to see the outcome of a couple of measures that will potentially greatly affect higher education. Please get your votes in if you are eligible to cast a ballot in Oregon.

This week I’m off to the state board meeting in Portland. I will be reporting to the board along with the other university presidents about our performance indicators. You can see how OIT is doing by clicking here.

While I’m there, I’ll also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Gretchen Schuette, president of Chemeketa Community College. The memorandum will detail ways our university will work with Chemeketa to help students earn bachelor’s degrees in dental hygiene and health sciences. We also have articulation agreements that allow Chemeketa students to transfer classes easily between the community college and OIT.

That’s all for now. I’ll talk to you again next week. Next week we’ll talk about the Cash Net system on campus. I have made note of Christie’s comment on the topic.

Further points on higher education

Sad, but true: it is becoming harder for students to work their way through college. Tuition rates have climbed, and students often must choose between working enough to provide for themselves, and oftentimes their families, or taking a full-time course load.

Looking at OIT’s revenue sources in the past five years, the amount of state support has eroded, while the tuition has increased.

One of the attributes of the budget submitted by the Oregon University System to Governor Kulongoski is the request to re-establish predictable, affordable tuition. This would be tied to statewide median family income figures, and seek to rebalance the student-state share of funding. Also proposed is expanding need-based aid for low- and middle-income Oregon students through the Oregon Opportunity Grant. Currently, 512 OIT students receive this grant.

As students, it is good for you to know that the Chancellor’s Office and the OIT administration are working to help you through your educational path.

The value of higher education in Oregon

During the election season, there are a lot of messages swirling around government officials, state budgets, and numerous initiatives.

It is important for all taxpayers to understand the importance of public higher education within Oregon. This goes beyond paying lip service to the accepted notion that education is a good thing. There are critical attributes that are only addressed through access to postsecondary education.

Here are some points that I want our student body to know and ponder:

1 Higher education helps improve and stabilize the state’s revenue structure. People with university degrees traditionally earn 78 percent more than those with only high school diplomas. Increased earnings also mean increased taxes paid, which fund all state services.

1 In the future, 80 percent of Oregon’s jobs will require workers holding a university degree.

1 When Oregonians are properly trained and educated, companies and industries can rely on homegrown talent and will have no need to import talent from other states. This will also help with economic development, as it will help attract and retain employers.

1 The more educated the Oregon population becomes, the less state services will be needed. There is a direct, inverse correlation between a person’s level of education and the need for public assistance, state-supported healthcare, and the odds of being incarcerated. A more educated workforce will be less likely to be unemployed, too.

1 Education improves the state’s vitality. People with university degrees are more likely to vote, volunteer within the community, and support and encourage their children to pursue a college education.

These are all points that are easy to acknowledge, but everyone on campus must be knowledgeable when it comes to making our case to those who don’t understand why a degree matters.

Of landscaping and visual appeal

I want to thank Nathan for his comments about the appearance of the campus. His thoughtful points about the Marketplace are also well taken.

I asked our Director of Facilities Services David Ebsen about our efforts to beautify our surroundings. Here is what he said:”We are focusing more attention on the appearance of the campus grounds. We know we have a long way to go but we are making headway. The parking lot island where we used the river rock was an attempt to improve the parking lot image with a minimum of maintenance and still have aesthetic appeal. The islands do not have an irrigation system to support turf. As for the trees...we are currently planting between twenty and thirty trees each year to address this concern. The tennis courts have received little attention because they are slated for removal when the student housing project is developed.”

Strategic success to date

Our previous strategic plan was called the Blueprint for Success and it focused on 2002 through 2007. Here are our accomplishments associated with the plan:

Accomplishments in Access
14 new degree offerings
150 online courses, serving 750 students each term
Diversity Center and Cultural Forum established
$11,448,874 in scholarships given
Articulation and reciprocity agreements in place with regional community colleges
Five allied health program partnerships underway

Accomplishments in Excellence & Quality
Student Success Plan created
Strategic Enrollment Management Plan drafted
TOP grant renewed for five years
Nearly meeting all seven performance indicators
Continual review and assessment of academic programs
Highly-regarded faculty recruited and retained
Improved faculty and administrative compensation plans in place – salary increases 2005-06 after three year freeze
$310,410 in productivity grants awarded since 1998

Accomplishments in Workforce Development & Economic Opportunities
OIT personnel are statewide leaders in initiatives to build the healthcare workforce
ETIC provided $3,711,825 to support four diverse OIT programs and activities
OREC and the Geo-Heat Center are world leaders in the application of renewable energy
OIT graduate success hit 97 percent
Team Klamath, and other economic enhancement activities, are among the civic endeavors of OIT staff
Industry advisory boards helped drive improvement of OIT programs and increased degree offerings

Accomplishments in Fiscal & Operational Efficiency
Enhanced service delivery and customer satisfaction earmarked by Finance & Administration
Fundraising reached a five-year high with launch of Oregon Center for Health Professions’ Prescription for Oregon capital campaign

Accomplishments in Partnerships
OIT joined the Oregon Manufacturing Consortium and the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition
Boeing employees offered bachelor’s and master’s degrees
Dental Hygiene offered in La Grande in cooperation with Oregon Dental Service and Eastern Oregon University
Sponsored and Pre-College Programs facilitate opportunities for youth to embrace education; 1,317 students earned 4,751 credits in 2004-05

My entire presentation for the faculty convocation associated with strategic planning is available here, as is the complete accomplishments document.

Strategic positioning

We are creating a new strategic plan for the university, as our current plan is coming to closure. We’ve had many great accomplishments and I’ll share those in separate posts. For now, I want you to know that I’ve assembled a strategic positioning team and we are building on our recently completed self-study to take us into the year 2017. ASOIT President Christine Frazier is a member of the team, and I am hopeful that other students will provide feedback on the various areas of the plan.

This process begins with a new vision for the university and here is what we’ve created, based on our strategies:

Oregon Institute of Technology will grow and be recognized as an outstanding university in Oregon, the Northwest region, and nationally with graduates who excel in the technological workplace. We will be known for our commitment to applied research, the preparation of “world-ready” graduates, and partnerships that ensure quality programs and opportunities for OIT to be a leader in economic development.

The areas we will address in the new strategic plan are:
Student Population
Student Success
Affordability
Academic Programs and Outreach
Integration of Academic Programs/Opportunities for new teaching/learning models
Applied Research
Globalization
Sustainability
State-of-the-Industry Technology
Partnerships
Alumni Engagement
Recognition/University Image/Brand, Reputation
Fiscal Viability to meet the goals and visions

I encourage you all to look at the draft self-study available from the home page of the OIT Web site. Your feedback will be appreciated.

Stay tuned for more information later.