Hello Everyone
We will host the first in a recurring series of Campus Conversations from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday morning, November 16, in the Rogue River Room. The goal of these conversations is to discuss institution-wide subjects and create space for questions and answers. These conversations will be open to all of our students, faculty and staff. The events are not mandatory (I’ve learned my lesson on that already…), but everyone is highly encouraged to attend and participate.
As we prepare for the conversation on the 16th, I’d love to ask you to think about the following topics so that we can brainstorm solutions together. These are not in order of priority – all four are important issues and worthy of a campus-wide discussion:
1. TRU+PSU funding: In its 2023 session, the Oregon Legislature granted each of the Technical and Regional Universities (and Portland State University) ONE-TIME funding; for SOU in the coming fiscal year, the amount could be as high as $2.25M. The goal of the funding is to help us with our long-term fiscal stabilization. The legislation stipulates that it is “not to be used to cover shortfalls in operations or provisional funding for programs or activities with ongoing costs. This funding is to assist PSU and the TRUs in reimagining offerings, economizing budgets, and leveraging resources to adapt to shifting demographics in order to ensure long-term financial sustainability while safeguarding community stewardship, access, and affordability." I think that the CISR project (where we invested the first, smaller tranche of funding) and renewable energy transformation are good examples that meet the legislature’s intent, but am open to additional suggestions as well. Your input is sought and welcome on the best ways to use this sustainability funding.
2. Equity Diversity and Inclusion: with our VPEDI’s recent departure, I’d like your inputs on what the university should consider (both in the short term and long term) for the optimal organizational structure for EDI. Our campus community challenged us during the SOU Forward process to consider a smaller executive footprint. We WILL remain fully committed to the EDI work – the question is whether we should have a vice president guiding us or opt for an alternative structure.
3. Unclassified staff: we need to discuss institutional strategies for taking care of unclassified staff (both in alignment with national compensation data and in cost-of-living-adjustments), in addition to the ongoing negotiations we have with our faculty and staff union partners.
4. Student Health and Wellness Center: the SHWC has experienced an imbalanced financial structure in the last few years. In the interest of maintaining services for students without overburdening the student fee structure, the institution is exploring a potential partnership. We will discuss options and considerations moving forward.
Please be prepared to share your views on the above topics. If there are other subjects that you would like to discuss soon, please feel free to send a message with suggestions to me and Mary Katie (presidentsoffice@sou.edu) and we’ll put them in the parking lot for future discussions. We'll also explore anonymous ways to suggest topics. Thanks in advance, everyone, and we look forward to seeing you on the 16th.
Very Respectfully
