President Rick Bailey has two topics for this month’s video message to campus and the community. First, as the Oregon Legislature is tackling a variety of statewide crises, he urges viewers including state lawmakers to think of SOU as an economic engine. The university not only transforms individual lives by producing teachers, scientists, artists, health care providers, business leaders, entrepreneurs and other professionals, but the eventual work of those professionals will “lessen the severity of those crises in our state.” So by prioritizing higher education in general and several SOU-related projects in particular, legislators can increase the state’s spending power. This month’s second topic is SOU’s relationships with businesses “from Roseburg to Redding.” The president encourages any business leader in the region who doesn’t already have a relationship with the university to get in touch and become involved. SOU is always seeking to become “more nimble and adaptive to the business community,” and there are many ways in which learning experiences and participation can benefit both businesses and students.
