President’s Blog
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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.
Fall Achievements
January 21, 2008
Now that we’re back for winter and spring terms, I thought I’d list a few of our accomplishments from last fall. We’ve all been very busy—but we also got a lot done! I’m very appreciative of all the hard work that went into these achievements.
Budget and Enrollment
SOU Crisis Preparedness
January 07, 2008
One of my new year’s resolutions is to help SOU become better-prepared for responding to campus crises. Thankfully, our campus has a very low crime rate; nevertheless, we need to have good communication and preparation for a variety of situations, be it a computer virus, a natural disaster, a real or perceived threat, or a criminal act.
SOU is equipped with Blue Light Emergency telephones; we have Campus Public Safety officers on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; and we’re connected to the 911 emergency system. We conduct periodic drills with the Ashland Police and Fire Departments, as well as with Jackson County Health. We work closely with the Ashland Police Department (APD) to keep our students and campus safe. APD Officers and SOU professionals who work closely with SOU students meet regularly.
My Trip to Korea
November 30, 2007
As I mentioned in my last blog, I’ve recently returned from Korea, where Dr. Younghee Kim and I spent a week meeting with university administrators and staff (and a few students) and exploring international partnerships.
The trip was made possible by our long-time partner, Dankook University, as they were celebrating their 60th anniversary. They invited me and ten other presidents from around the world to participate. It was a wonderful experience.
