President Bailey’s Video Update for December 2025

Progress and momentum are the two themes for this month’s video message from Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey. He points out that SOU is one of just three public universities in Oregon to have a gain in overall student headcount this fall, and that lines up with a new initiative that the university will soon launch. “Project Architect” will have two primary goals: to increase enrollment among first-year students, and to increase overall retention of students – to “hold onto them and make sure they get all the support they need to get to the graduation stage,” President Bailey says. “We have to be the architects of the university we want to be.” This month’s message also touches upon SOU’s value to its region and state. A study from a few years ago found that the university generates $282 million per year in economic activity – almost nine times the $32 million SOU receives from the state’s Public University Support Fund. The governor has recently announced that she wants to elevate Oregon to be one of the nation’s top 10 business-friendly states, and President Bailey notes that the current top 10 states on that list contribute about $5,000 per year more per student in their public universities than Oregon. “Universities are the engines to make that (business-friendly ranking) happen,” he says.