President Bailey heads back to the Digital Media Center for his August video message, which focuses mostly on the Vitality Plan for SOU’s transformation to a “Living Laboratory” operating system that unifies academic offerings, streamlines pathways and prioritizes essential human capacities. The president acknowledges all those who offered their thoughts and suggestions to the planning process and gives a quick progress report on how the plan will be implemented over the next several months. “It’s all about how do we serve students, how do we serve them better and how do we preserve this university,” he says. President Bailey also discusses a recent economic impact study that shows SOU generates a total of $730 million annually for Oregon’s economy – 24 times more than the $30 million provided by the state for the university’s operation. “That alone should tell you the importance of our university,” he says. “The more students we serve and more students who make it to graduation stage, that’s not just good for those students, it’s good for the community.”
