President’s Blog
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SOU and Sustainability
October 20, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
SOU continues to make headlines related to sustainability. We've just learned that, based on our green power purchasing and other factors, the Environmental Protection Agency is going to name SOU one of the top twenty universities for green power. This is wonderful news, a great testament to the work done by our students, faculty, and staff—and our hardworking Sustainability Council.
Eric Dittmer recently sent me a list of sustainability-related initiatives undertaken by students, faculty, and staff:
Planning and More Planning
October 13, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
Last year, we took our first steps in strategic planning. We developed a mission statement that was discussed across campus and approved by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in February 2008. We also formalized a number of smaller plans for initiatives that were already in process when I arrived in 2006 (you may view these and other planning documents here).
This fall, a number of other very significant plans are underway. Provost Jim Klein is heading a Master Academic Planning (MAP) process, which will enfold most of the smaller plans developed last year (online instruction, theatre, Medford, and so on). An Enrollment Management Plan has been drafted under the leadership of Peg Blake. An Affirmative Action Plan is emerging from work being done by Marion Boenheim and Deborah Frierson. A branding process led by Christine Florence is also underway. Sylvia Kelley, our incoming Vice President for Development, will create short- and long-term fundraising plans. All of these will enrich the vision behind the SOU strategic plan.
Ceremonies and Celebrations
September 23, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
As the summer winds down and fall term marches closer, groups all over campus start coming together. This year, we celebrated the opening of the Higher Education Center in Medford with a spectacular ribbon-cutting and Open House. The executive team met for a day's retreat out at Deer Creek.
We kicked off the year with a breakfast for faculty and administrators. New faculty spent time learning the campus, getting to know one another, and meeting many folks on campus. Faculty and staff participated in workshops and meetings. Departments met to reconnect and set goals.
Vacations
August 19, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
It's heading toward the end of August. The new academic year is just weeks away. The first holiday catalogs are already arriving. The air is a tad smoky, and the price of gasoline is breathtaking. But the weather is warm, Ashland is awash with playgoers, and vacations are happening in many shapes and forms.
On my desk are vacation artifacts: a calendar from Ellen Siem's trip to Turkey, a post card from Peter Angstadt that was carried up by mule from the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Emails are coming in from Europe and Asia. My calendar is sprinkled with visits from friends and family vacationing in Ashland.
The End and the Beginning
July 01, 2008
Dear Campus Community:
Now that we’ve sailed into summer after the excitement of Commencement and end-of-year celebrations, we can take a few minutes to reflect on the previous academic year and look forward to the next one.
I’ve been enjoying and learning from the reflections gathered at our Faculty and Administrator Breakfast on June 12. At that event, we asked participants to jot down items that surprised them in 2007–2008 and things they’re looking forward to in 2008–2009.
SOU Soaring
June 03, 2008
May 21 and 22 were memorable days at SOU. Our first annual SOAR celebration took over the campus as students and faculty moved from building to building, participating in a grand array of presentations, posters, performances, discussions, and exhibits.
I did my best to visit as many sessions as possible. I learned about great grey owls, the Blue Ledge mine, English country dances, cumulative voting, child soldiers—and much more.
A Sustainable Community
May 13, 2008
On Friday, May 9, we held a President's Breakfast organized by our SOU Advisory Board. Focused on sustainability, the breakfast centered on an inspiring discussion and laid an excellent foundation for further communication and partnership. I was delighted that representatives from the Ashland City Council and the cities of Talent, Phoenix, and Grants Pass, as well as individuals from organizations such as Avista and the Land Conservancy, were able to attend.
Sustainability continues to be a major initiative on the campus. Last year, as you know, the student initiative for green tags made SOU the first Oregon campus to offset all of its electricity and natural gas with renewable energy added to the grid. The following are a few highlights of our work on campus:
Blogs, Blogs, and More Blogs!
April 22, 2008
New media enrich our knowledge and communication. As I was thinking about updating my own blog, I thought about Dennis Dunleavy’s SOU Today. It’s been great to watch it evolve into a dynamic, visual review of life on our campus. I appreciate deeply that Dennis takes the time to capture our day-to-day campus experiences with such panache and enthusiasm.
But Dennis isn’t the only SOU faculty member connecting through blogs with students and the rest of our worldwide community. K. Silem Mohammad’s Lime Tree engages readers in re-thinking poetry. And links from that blog spin you through cyberspace to seemingly infinite topics, sparking ideas and making associations between the visual and the verbal.
Trip to Guanajuato
April 02, 2008
I am delighted to have joined the community of SOU faculty, staff, and students who journeyed to Guanajuato. I made the trip in mid-March with Meredith Reynolds, and together we met with many people from the university and the city of Guanajuato. Our trip overlapped slightly with a group from the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, so for a few days, the Ashland presence in Guanajuato was pervasive—we were everywhere!
As many people have said, the cities of Ashland and Guanajuato share many common aspects and values. Both cities have a true commitment to the arts. For instance, it was wonderful for us to arrive for the opening of the Feria del Libro y Festival Cultural Universitario. This is a huge university event that goes on for two weeks. Celebrating books and arts, the festival attracts thousands of visitors.
February's Tragedies
March 04, 2008
February was a difficult month. We lost our wonderful student, Gladys Jimenez, and we mourned the deaths of five students at Northern Illinois University. These tragedies, and the ongoing memory of the violence at Virginia Tech, continue to haunt us and stay in our memories. Also, within our university community are other difficult and sad situations—serious illnesses and personal challenges seemed to come at us in a tidal wave during February.
Last week’s meeting of the Ashland Traffic Safety Commission gives me hope that we will see improved safety on Siskiyou Boulevard. I look forward to working with the City of Ashland on plans for increasing safety and awareness for both pedestrians and drivers on the major road running through the city and the campus.
More Information on our Mission Statement and Planning!
February 26, 2008
As I mentioned in a recent newsletter, we are making good progress on our planning process. The Strategic Planning Group has been discussing ways to help us weave the new, approved mission statement more deeply into the fabric of the campus. Dennis Dunleavy and his students are continuing to work on an “unpacked version” to help expand everyone’s understanding of the mission and its connections with SOU. As soon as we have some samples of unpacking, we will share them with the campus.
We are ready now to begin reviewing individual plans. The provost has received three plans: for the Medford Higher Education Center, for online instruction, and for international student recruiting. Here is the process we will use for reviewing and for receiving campus comment.
Mission Statement and Planning
February 04, 2008
In a blog last October (click here), I wrote about the Strategic Planning Workgroup and the progress toward a new SOU mission statement. Since that post was written, we have had our visit from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) evaluation team, and they stressed that we should finalize the mission statement and move forward with strategic planning.
Once we had the approval of the Academic Senate and the Student Senate, we took our draft mission statement to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in January. They made a few suggestions but supported the general direction we are taking. I am hopeful that the Board will approve this mission statement at their meeting next week.
