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While there has been a consistent trend toward student enrollment growth and higher tuition payments, Southern Oregon University’s financial situation has remained a cause for concern for many years. The difficult financial state has prevailed due to a lack of state funding.
Since the 2008-2009...
There is a light in the darkness of retrenchment. In fact retrenchment and academic re-organization may be beneficial for Southern Oregon University. If you want to get a better understanding of SOU’s current situation, check out our reports
http://cm322groupfinal.tumblr.com/
SOU Now: The Impacts and Opportunities within Retrenchment and Reorganization
Despite financial challenges and a lack of state investment that has forced SOU into retrenchment for the second time in less than ten years, the university is finding new opportunities out of their financial struggles.
Prospective SOU students and their families receiving a campus tour. SOU is working to attract new students based on the new opportunities provided through the recent retrenchment and reorganization processes
After undergoing the process of prioritization followed by an academic reorganization, SOU then enacted the retrenchment plan which was finalized in March of this year. Since the university fell below the required fund balance, retrenchment was necessary.
Fund balances, which are a percentage of overall annual budgeted operations revenues, are required to be above five percent. The fund balance represents the university’s cash on hand.
Three months after the March release of the final retrenchment plan, it is becoming clear that SOU is finding new opportunities out of its most recent budgetary challenges. According to administrators, while change it difficult, there are also many opportunities and improvements as a result of the retrenchment and reorganization process. Click below to view the administrative stories:
http://cm322groupfinal.tumblr.com/post/88400911117/tamiraetalks-going-through-retrenchment-and
http://cm322groupfinal.tumblr.com/post/88401086007/administrative-perspective-on-retrenchment
This blog covers the story of retrenchment and its impacts on various stakeholders including students, faculty, departments and programs.
To read more about retrenchment and reorganization including the untold stories, check out our SOU NOW blog.
A student art project allowed students to share their own analysis on retrenchment; one student's response is above. To read the full story, visit http://cm322groupfinal.tumblr.com/post/88396543312/art-exhibition-reflects-frustration-with-retrenchment
Student body president Tommy Letchworth, breaking down retrenchment.
“Going through retrenchment and reorganization is hard, but it’s all about change,” says Greg Jones, Director for the newly created Director of Business, Communication, and the Environment. Ongoing budgetary struggles forced SOU to enter retrenchment after completing a reorganization process designed to help the university streamline services for efficiency, while still serving the region and its students well through the academic programs offered.
Jones was the chair of the Environmental Studies program before accepting this new position. He says the reorganization and retrenchment process encouraged departments to look for synergies and opportunities.
“You have to adapt or you won’t be here in the future,” Jones said.
According to Jones, the Environmental Studies program felt there was some synergy with the business and communication departments in the aspects of sustainability. So, the three departments joined together to form the Division of Business, Communication and the Environment. The idea of creating divisions is to move from large colleges to streamlined schools that create opportunities for students to receive interdisciplinary content while pursuing their degrees. SOU created seven divisions through the reorganization process.
“Change is hard in many ways, it never comes easy” said Jones of the reorganization process. But, he believes change is inevitable, comparing the university to a business saying, “If we were abusiness, we would have to do this.”
There are many facets of the recent changes at SOU, one of which is to ensure the university is relevant and the right size for the region it serves. Jones believes opportunities exist anytime a process or collaborative relationship is developed and SOU is no exception. Without the retrenchment and reorganization processes, SOU may not have identified some of the recent collaborations and ideas that are currently being implemented.
Jones captured the overall process by saying, “Change produces opportunity.”
These new ideas are providing future students with increased opportunities for interdisciplinary coursework leading directly to jobs. Students selecting environmental sciences as their primary major will now have more flexibility and creativity in meeting their educational and occupational goals. For example, students will now have much more flexibility to earn certificates in Emerging Media and Digital Arts, Applied Art, Hospitality and Tourism or Nonprofit Management.
“It’s very creative,” Jones said. He believes the new model will allow provide students with a greater potential to fill a niche when they get into the job market.
Jones also believes students in general won’t see a huge difference in class sizes. He referenced the fear that students will see larger classes go from about 50 students to 100. Jones says that is not the case.
He believes faculty will see a larger impact than most students, as their workload will increase by serving more students. Most of the changes will be in already larger lecture based courses. Those that previously had 50 students may now have 60, according to Jones.
He explains that the university recently ran the numbers on student to faculty ratios over the past two years. According to Jones, the student to faculty ratios haven’t changed for the entire university in that time period. So, while there is a lot of buzz about the negative impacts of the retrenchment and reorganization process, according to Jones, the changes that are being implemented provide many opportunities for current and future students.
“Going through retrenchment and reorganization is hard, but it’s all about change,” says Greg Jones, Director for the newly created Director of Business, Communication, and the Environment. Ongoing budgetary struggles forced SOU to enter retrenchment after completing a reorganization process designed to help the university streamline services for efficiency, while still serving the region and its students well through the academic programs offered.
Jones was the chair of the Environmental Studies program before accepting this new position. He says the reorganization and retrenchment process encouraged departments to look for synergies and opportunities.
“You have to adapt or you won’t be here in the future,” Jones said.
According to Jones, the Environmental Studies program felt there was some synergy with the business and communication departments in the aspects of sustainability. So, the three departments joined together to form the Division of Business, Communication and the Environment. The idea of creating divisions is to move from large colleges to streamlined schools that create opportunities for students to receive interdisciplinary content while pursuing their degrees. SOU created seven divisions through the reorganization process.
“Change is hard in many ways, it never comes easy” said Jones of the reorganization process. But, he believes change is inevitable, comparing the university to a business saying, “If we were abusiness, we would have to do this.”
There are many facets of the recent changes at SOU, one of which is to ensure the university is relevant and the right size for the region it serves. Jones believes opportunities exist anytime a process or collaborative relationship is developed and SOU is no exception. Without the retrenchment and reorganization processes, SOU may not have identified some of the recent collaborations and ideas that are currently being implemented.
Jones captured the overall process by saying, “Change produces opportunity.”
These new ideas are providing future students with increased opportunities for interdisciplinary coursework leading directly to jobs. Students selecting environmental sciences as their primary major will now have more flexibility and creativity in meeting their educational and occupational goals. For example, students will now have much more flexibility to earn certificates in Emerging Media and Digital Arts, Applied Art, Hospitality and Tourism or Nonprofit Management.
“It’s very creative,” Jones said. He believes the new model will allow provide students with a greater potential to fill a niche when they get into the job market.
Jones also believes students in general won’t see a huge difference in class sizes. He referenced the fear that students will see larger classes go from about 50 students to 100. Jones says that is not the case.
He believes faculty will see a larger impact than most students, as their workload will increase by serving more students. Most of the changes will be in already larger lecture based courses. Those that previously had 50 students may now have 60, according to Jones.
He explains that the university recently ran the numbers on student to faculty ratios over the past two years. According to Jones, the student to faculty ratios haven’t changed for the entire university in that time period. So, while there is a lot of buzz about the negative impacts of the retrenchment and reorganization process, according to Jones, the changes that are being implemented provide many opportunities for current and future students.
In the aftermath of retrenchment, Southern Oregon University has been faced with the challenge of reorganizing and reformatting the structures for school administration, faculty and classes. With this transition, along with the school’s reorganization which followed a year-long process of prioritization, the school’s academic departments have been given the challenge of combining ventures in order to create seven different university divisions.
These include undergraduate studies, business, communication and the environment, education and health, science, technology, engineering and math, center for the arts, language and culture, and social science and public affairs. David Humphrey, previously the director for the Department of Performing Arts, will now accept a new challenge as the director for the Center of the Arts.
In spite of the many changes occurring on campus, and the resulting challenge of adaptation, Humphrey feels confident and optimistic about this new transition. The newly founded Center of the Arts will not only include the performing arts, but EMDA (emerging media and digital art), art and art history, and creative writing.
According to Humphrey, the idea for a Center of the Arts began over a year ago, long before school wide reorganization became an actuality. He says, “Discussion for joining and creating the Center of the Arts began over a year ago. We wanted to bring visual and performing arts together. Creative arts and EMDA then decided they wanted to be a part of it as well.
The intent was to make sure the arts are more accessible for students because what we find is that art students in particular are multi-talented and we wanted to make it possible for new coming students to explore different forms of art. We’ve looked into streamlining degree programs as well as creating programs that are more pertinent to today’s day and age and preparing students for a future career in the arts.”
Robert, aka “Bobby” Arellano has been serving as the director for the Center of Emerging Media and Digital Art for the past four years. He also feels excited and optimistic regarding the change stating, “When the subject of reorganization came around, the arts, visual art and art history, EMDA and writing were all really ready to become more involved with our friends in performing arts. I went to a lot of the meetings where we discussed best how that would happen, and realized that performing arts, which have always kind of been their own area at this school, were a natural family to writers, visual artists, and digital artists. So we decided to create this overall Center for the Arts.”
Randolph Jones, a professor for EMDA agrees and believes that the general outcome of this this reorganization will be a positive one. “Ultimately this is going to create a better atmosphere of learning for students because there will be better planning for curriculum that complement each other more.”
While the subject of change within a school can be daunting, Professor Arellano feels strongly that this integration will benefit the performing arts and visual/creative arts as well. “I really believe, I have faith in this, as someone who was an art student that we’re making this a better school for artists who need to be prepared to collaborate. Collaboration is just a part of the arts. Whether you’re acting on the stage or on the screen, it’s important to have some facility with digital media—how to work with writers and visual artists. Similarly, I think our digital media students are going to benefit from this by having some professional actors and musicians to collaborate with as well.”
However in the aftermath of retrenchment, and in order to make some of these changes possible, some difficult decisions had to be made. Several courses and majors have been cut including art history. While it is sad to see these majors discontinued, Humphrey believes the choice was necessary to the survival of the university.
Administration and staff were forced to examine which majors and classes had the lowest consistent enrollment, and with that information, make a very hard and difficult decision.
Humphrey says, “When I came here two years ago, I looked at the size of the university and the number of programs that were offered with only one or two students in it, and I was astounded. I was wondering how the university was able to support that and they can’t. It was time that the university did some pruning, and the financial crisis has really caused the university to need to do that. Pruning is important because it creates new growth and new opportunities, and I believe that through this process we will come out much stronger and be able to provide our students with a much deeper education than it would have been possible to do before. We’re focusing our energies and that’s what the university needs to do.”
And while the art history major will no longer be offered, classes in art history will continue to be taught. Art and art history are not alone, however, in making the tough decisions. Music will also have to streamline curriculum, cutting the individual concentrations, and instead transitioning to a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in music. Additionally, EMDA will begin to transition more into a creative arts area, which will include art history.
As the Center of the Arts begins its transition, Humphrey believes this transition is only the beginning. He explains that they are currently in the process of renaming it the Oregon Center of the Arts, and that establishing this creative nucleus will not only impact the school, but the region, the state and even the country.
“We will focus on Oregon artists,” he explains, “students who come here to study, artists who come here, faculty members, anyone born in Oregon, anyone who drives up I-5. Consequently we have a focus, and that focus is substantial. We’re not just an academic unit but we are a center for the arts.” He explains that the school has already formed relationships with professional organizations locally that will enable this transition to be carried out smoothly.
He explains that the three tiers included in this center of the arts are the academic unit, the allied arts program, and the arts partnerships. The allied arts program includes the chamber music concerts, the summer institutes, the Shakespeare Institute, and the workshops offered over the summer. The arts partnerships include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Symphony and the Repertory Singers. His hope is that the success of the center is much broader and will become significant statewide over time.
Through this center, students will be presented with opportunities to work alongside and to meet experienced artists- not only located in Ashland, but on a much larger scale. Its goal is to provide students the chance to study with talented, professional artists, to experience internships, and for people from all over, to come to Ashland where they can utilize the benefits of this creative hub.
“Oregon Center of the Arts, wouldn’t that be exciting!” adds Professor Arellano, “We have to get a lot of levels of approval and make sure it’s the right fit, but I really appreciate him (Humphrey) and other colleagues having the ambition to say, ‘You know what? We should claim this’. All the arts exist here.
He went on to say, “Folks from all over the country, all over the world love to come here, for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, we have an awesome writers institute in the making, and beautiful facilities in our visual arts and now for digital media as well. It just makes sense! Let’s own it, let’s get the support of the state with regard to politicians, businesses, and other non-profits, and let’s have an ambitious goal that we’re really going to represent Oregon in the world of the arts. This spot is special, and we should welcome the world through this particular chance.”
While the changes to the university have been challenging, Humphrey feels confident and excited about future opportunities, and the future of the university overall. “I think the future looks bright, I think the learning environment is outstanding, we have an outstanding faculty. I think we have everything going for us, now we have to manage our ship and plow through and make it better for the future.”
In the words of Professor Arellano, “Stick with us, it’s going to be awesome.”
SOU changes create new opportunities
“Going through retrenchment and reorganization is hard, but it’s all about change,” says Greg Jones, Director for the newly created Director of Business, Communication, and the Environment. Ongoing budgetary struggles forced SOU to enter retrenchment after completing a reorganization process designed to help the university streamline services for efficiency, while still serving the region and its students well through the academic programs offered.
Jones was the chair of the Environmental Studies program before accepting this new position. He says the reorganization and retrenchment process encouraged departments to look for synergies and opportunities.
Greg Jones, newly created Division of Business, Communication, and the Environment Director.
“You have to adapt or you won’t be here in the future,” Jones said.
According to Jones, the Environmental Studies program felt there was some synergy with the business and communication departments in the aspects of sustainability. So, the three departments joined together to form the Division of Business, Communication and the Environment. The idea of creating divisions is to move from large colleges to streamlined schools that create opportunities for students to receive interdisciplinary content while pursuing their degrees. SOU created seven divisions through the reorganization process.
“Change is hard in many ways, it never comes easy” said Jones of the reorganization process. But, he believes change is inevitable, comparing the university to a business saying, “If we were a business, we would have to do this.”
There are many facets of the recent changes at SOU, one of which is to ensure the university is relevant and the right size for the region it serves. Jones believes opportunities exist anytime a process or collaborative relationship is developed and SOU is no exception. Without the retrenchment and reorganization processes, SOU may not have identified some of the recent collaborations and ideas that are currently being implemented.
Jones captured the overall process by saying, “Change produces opportunity.”
These new ideas are providing future students with increased opportunities for interdisciplinary coursework leading directly to jobs. Students selecting environmental sciences as their primary major will now have more flexibility and creativity in meeting their educational and occupational goals. For example, students will now have much more flexibility to earn certificates in Emerging Media and Digital Arts, Applied Art, Hospitality and Tourism or Nonprofit Management.
“It’s very creative,” Jones said. He believes the new model will allow provide students with a greater potential to fill a niche when they get into the job market.
Greg Jones facilitating a class discussion in an Environmental Data Analysis course.
Jones also believes students in general won’t see a huge difference in class sizes. He referenced the fear that students will see larger classes go from about 50 students to 100. Jones says that is not the case.
He believes faculty will see a larger impact than most students as their workload will increase by serving more students. Most of the changes will be in already larger lecture based courses. Those that previously had 50 students may now have 60, according to Jones.
He explains that the university recently ran the numbers on student to faculty ratio’s over the past two years. According to Jones, the student to faculty ratios haven’t changed for the entire university in that time period. So, while there is a lot of buzz about the negative impacts of the retrenchment and reorganization process, according to Jones, the changes that are being implemented provide many opportunities for current and future students.
Reduction in SOU minors could lead to reduction of students
SOU’s retrenchment plan has left many students uncertain about their academic future. While the overall goal of retrenchment is to stabilize the university’s finances, many current students may face barriers to achieving their goals with reduced course offerings and less faculty in their departments due to program reductions.
The combined average five year graduation rate in minors slated for elimination is more than 19 (see figure 1). If the five year average graduation holds true nearly twenty fewer students per may no longer be able to complete their intended minor due to cuts in the retrenchment plan. While there is a teach-out clause that serves to ensure affected programs will be taught out in two years or less, in order to be eligible for the teach out students had to declare a minor by the deadline of April 1.
Figure 1
Student Sam Burress is one of those students for which all of her programs have been affected. Burress is a Forensics Chemistry major and a photography minor.
Normally a student applies for a minor as a part of the graduation process. Burress declared the Photography minor by the April 1 deadline since the program is being eliminated.
Since the deadline of April 1 has passed it remains unknown how many, if any, students working toward a particular major or minor were not aware of the deadline to declare. Since minors don’t typically need to be declared, some students may not realize they may face additional barriers when it comes to taking all the required courses needed to fulfill a minor. Since some underclassmen aren’t meeting with advisors as regularly, it remains untold how many students could be affected.
Aside from the current students affected, future students interested in these programs may not attend SOU now that they have been listed for elimination. Burress said the only reasons for her choosing this school over an Ivy League are now gone with the elimination of both Photography and much of the Forensics program.
As local college access advocate Linda Hugle suggested in a recent interview, when you reduce programs you reduce the potential of students interested in that program attending your university. Hugle was the principal at North Valley High School from 2005 to 3020. In her experience, criminology was one of the most popular programs for North Valley graduates.
A combined total of more than 50 students per year graduated with one of the credentials slated for elimination, which include a combination of majors, minors, certificates, and concentrations. While many of these were targeted for their low student interest, the Forensics concentration within the Criminology and Criminal Justice major has seen more than ten graduates per year (see figure 2).
Figure 2
SOU must enter retrenchment because the university has fallen below the required fund balance. Fund balances, which are a percentage of overall annual budgeted operations revenues, are required to be above five percent. SOU has fallen below that level and as a result entered into a required retrenchment plan in which reductions to staff and academic program save $7.8 million in one-time savings and $6.1 million in permanent savings.
The goal of the plan is to achieve a five percent fund balance by the end of the 2013-15 biennium and a ten percent fund balance by the end of the 2015-17 biennium. The plan includes reductions to permanent faculty position by 12.58 and includes an additional reduction of 22.52 FTE from known retirements.
Student SOAR project uses art to express feelings about retrenchment
SOAR highlights SOU student and faculty achievements.
Last week, Southern Oregon University students and faculty were showcasing and celebrating faculty and student research and achievement at the annual event called SOAR. SOAR is an acronym for Southern Oregon Arts and Research.
Even during uncertain times at SOU, the event provided an upbeat and positive atmosphere throughout the SOU campus. One student, Eden Redmond, found a way to use art as a way to express the feelings she felt about SOU’s retrenchment process.
Redmond’s art exhibit titled “Retrenchment: Revision” was displayed in the on-campus Thorndike Gallery earlier this spring. Her project and the results it yielded was one of the many student works displayed as a part of SOAR.
Redmond stated that during the retrenchment process she felt there was a need for reciprocity in the dialogue that was happening. When retrenchment was announced, the information felt very scattered. It seemed to her that students, faculty, staff and administrators all seemed to have a different understanding. There was a “fundamental disconnect,” Redmond said in her presentation.
The art exhibit purposely used SOU colors and the exact same font SOU has chosen for use on their website. The exhibit included a transparent voting box that providing a visual gauge of how people felt about retrenchment. People were allowed to vote for the SOU commitment they found to be of most importance using plain red pieces of paper as their ballot. These red pieces of paper placed in transparent voting boxes provided a visual representation about how people felt about the SOU commitments listed on the website.
Redmond’s exhibit also included a video interview with President Cullinan as a part of her project. She said she received no response from her request to interview other academic leaders and administrators with the exception of Associate Provost Sue Walsh and President Cullinan.
Redmond also displayed SOU’s mission statement and asked the audience to describe their personal mission while at SOU. According to Redmond this was a way to bring critical discourse analysis about the university is experiencing retrenchment. She was surprised at the casual tone some used in their responses. Interestingly, 6 pieces had art or drawings.
Some of the responses were satirical with 6 including art.
Some responses seemed sincere, but were cause for further analysis such as this one in which the author chose to fill the majority of the space provided.
Other responses were simple, yet still included art such as this one with Spongebob Squarepants drawn onto the form.
For Redmond, retrenchment was personal. She is a visual arts students striving for a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
“I knew art was going to be a victim,” she says when describing her thoughts when she first heard the university would enter retrenchment. “I was pissed!”
The chair of SOU’s communications department Jody Waters, Ph.D., approached Redmond about collaborating on this project.
“This is a cry and a shout for communication.” Waters explains that this project is not critical against the university, but instead a different way of framing the conversation.
Waters believes this project shows ways in which we might transform our system of education. She said Redmond’s project, which she calls The Redmond Approach, “reminds us we have a lot of weapons.”
She describes Redmond’s approach to retrenchment as one that invites the speaker to both define the context and the social relation while working within the artificial constructs created by the project. She expanded by saying this project allowed people experiencing retrenchment to revisit the conversation.
It takes the conversation from the “we must cut” mentality to one of “we can do this.” Redmond’s exhibit provide a strong example of data sets existing all over the place and all around us.
“This now lives in the world and is a part of the conversation,” Waters said of the project.
Student Eden Redmond and faculty member Jody Waters team up to present at SOAR 2014.
10 posts! Thanks to @erikplamer and #CM322.
SOU retrenchment process seriously affects some students
The recent release of Southern Oregon University's "Final Retrenchment Plan" has created a sense of uncertainty for some students. The plan reflects how the university will achieve a 5 percent fund balance by the end of the next biennium and a 10 percent fund balance by the end of the 2015-17 biennium.
The plan details reductions in both staff and academic programs that result in reducing permanent faculty by more than 12 full time positions while increasing the student to faculty ratio from 17-to-1 to 21-to-1. All of this has come about as the state investment in higher education and regional universities has continually declined causing SOU to rely on tuition dollars as its largest source of revenue.
The plan includes the elimination of majors, minors, certificates, and concentrations within majors as well as reductions in continuing programs. Future students will no longer be able to receive degrees in any of the majors that will be eliminated which include Art History, Physics, and the French Language and Culture option.
Retrenchment also includes the elimination of three co-majors that are not attracting sufficient numbers of students. All three are co-majors within the business major that are not recognized by the accrediting body for the SOU business program.
The forensics concentration is being cut in the process of retrenchment. Of the programs slated for elimination, the forensics concentration has the highest five year average graduation rate of 11.4 students.
While retrenchment is designed to create a more financially stable university, for some students the impacts of the cuts have serious impacts. “I’m one of those students who all of my programs are being cut,” said forensics chemistry major Sam Burress.
“I turned down an Ivy League to come here because of the forensics program,” Burress continued.
She said that one of the professors worked in the FBI on cases of interest to her. Burress described some of the program attributes that drew her to the university. “Students used to have the ability to perform summer internships in the forensics lab, but because the program is being cut and the instructor has been eliminated, that is no longer possible,” she explained.
“My only reasons for coming to this school are now gone,” Burress said. “I’m kind of fumbling in the dark.”
Burress is also a photography minor. She recently had to declare her minor since the program is being cut. The retrenchment plan includes a “teach-out” section explaining that under normal circumstances affected programs will be taught out in two years or less. However, students needed to declare a program by April 1 in order to be included in the teach-out process.
Normally a student applies for a minor as a part of their graduation process. However, Burress had to declare the minor by April 1 since the program is being eliminated. Since the deadline of April 1 has passed it remains unknown how many, if any, students working toward a particular major or minor were not aware of the deadline to declare.
The retrenchment plan was informed by the 2008 strategic plan adopted by the university which established priorities as well as the prioritization process the university conducted during the 2012-13 academic year. After the provisional retrenchment plan was released in February, comment periods were provided that resulted in feedback from a wide variety of sources.
Local stakeholders and external community members along with state governing bodies such as the State Board of Higher Education and the Oregon University System’s Chancellor’s Office provided feedback, recommendations and suggestions. The Final Retrenchment Plan’s introduction states that the plan reflects input received during the comment periods.
SOU retrenchment may affect local college going rates
Linda Hugle, former principal of three different schools in the Three Rivers School District, speaks about the challenges SOU's retrenchment process may have on the college going rates of local residents.
For local supporters of building a college going culture in the Rogue Valley, Southern Oregon University’s budget woes, recent retrenchment and proposed changes in governance make the job of encouraging students to go to college that much more difficult.
Lifelong educator and resident of Wimer, Ore, Linda Hugle says that students and families who don’t see college as a part of their path often have a limited knowledge of the college going process. Hugle explains that when budget and governance concerns are as public as they have been in the past year with Southern Oregon University (SOU), it can lead to misinformation.
Many of the parents in the school districts where Hugle has served are not college educated. Therefore, there is a limited knowledge about how the college itself and the college going process works. Hugle believes the lack of knowledge can lead to fears that are not grounded in reality. All of this makes the job of getting more students to college even more challenging than it already was.
“It’s already a hard sell to sell the importance of college to a family who haven’t seen it as a reality,” she said. “The minute somebody throws some cold water on it in terms of cost and program offerings, it becomes even harder.”
“Knowing there was a regional point of access made the whole idea of going to college a lot more comfortable because they can see the schools close to home as an entry point,” Hugle said. Students and families who begin to believe that the local point of access may not be a viable option may not look elsewhere for an education. Instead the lack of access may confirm the belief that college is not the right place for some students and they may look to alternative post-high school options.
She goes on to explain that an increase in university costs is felt by everybody. “As students bear more and more of the cost [of a college education], that becomes more of a disincentive,” she explained.
She explains that while some students may not be tuned in to this process, as a school narrows their offerings as a college, they are inherently narrowing the number of students that are interested in that college causing less students to think of the institution as their destination.
From Hugle’s experience, music, education, and criminology were some of the SOU programs that attracted the largest number of students she served. SOU’s retrenchment plan includes reductions within both the music and criminology departments, with some programs being eliminated such as the Criminology and Criminal Justice Forensics concentration. Such eliminations could impact enrollment from regional students if Hugle’s experience matches today’s reality.
Issues such as these raise very real concerns for the educational attainment rates of local citizens. At a time when more and more educators are working to get students to attend some form of postsecondary education, the impacts of SOU’s budget troubles may have unintended impacts on the college going rates of the Rogue Valley’s high school graduates.
Hugle serves on the board of directors for the Oregon College Access Network and considers herself someone with a passion for getting youth to higher education. Hugle, now retired, was the principal of North Valley High School from 2005-2010. She held several positions prior to that including principal at two other schools in the Three Rivers district, Special Education Specialist for the district and teacher.
SOU President Mary Cullinan’s recent announcement that she is considering another Presidential position at Youngstown University in Ohio caused many to ask how this change in leadership could affect the institution during this difficult time of retrenchment and shifts in the governance structure. Director of Governmental Affairs and Chief of Staff Liz Shelby has worked for five presidents at SOU including Cullinan. Shelby provides some context to what a shift in leadership really means for SOU and the relationships it has built in the legislature.
Students weigh in on governance changes at SOU
SOU prepares for a shift in its governance structure during a budget crises that has led to retrenchment.
Following a year filled with institutional crises, Southern Oregon University received some clarity on how the institution will be governed in the future when the Oregon State Board of Higher Education approved, with conditions, a local governing board of trustees for SOU.n Student leaders are involved in the process and have a number of concerns about the process for establishing a local board of trustees.
Students, faculty and staff will each have one representative on the local board of the total 11- 15 member board. Student leaders are concerned about the lack of accountability for the local board members because only the governor has the authority to remove a member of the local board according to Associated Students of Southern Oregon University Director of Communications Kristy Wright. Students believe that there should be some level of local accountability with a process for removal of a trustee. “The board should be accountable to the communities they serve,” Wright said.
She also said student leaders were concerned about the timeline. Because institutional president Mary Cullinan needs to have her recommendations to the governor within a month, the student government is searching for a young enough student that has all of the qualifications that are being expected of the student board member. The student trustee will serve a two year term, but the local board won’t begin its governing authority until July 2015, if the student representative is to be a current student for the duration of their term, the appointee needs to be a freshman, a student expecting to stay through spring term in 2017, or an undergraduate who is committed to pursuing graduate work at SOU. Wright feels there are a lot of requirements that have been placed on students to comply with the process without much regard to the unique constraints students face.
Beyond the structural challenges of the governance changes, student leaders are concerned about the long term implications of the smaller regional and technical universities being governed by local boards, without access to the shared resources previously provided through the Oregon University System and its state allocation. Wright explained that there are benefits to the state when all the universities work together. She said that students statewide know that it is not always profitable for rural areas to provide access to education, but it is necessary since not all Oregonians can move to get their education; “people have jobs and families,” she said. “It is our social responsibility as a community and a state to share resources and allocate them where they are needed.” Wright supported her concerns by saying that 30% of students at SOU are over the age of 25. SOU isn’t just educating the traditional student and Wright believes that policy makers need to think in broader terms about who higher education serves. “As a whole state, we are stronger when all people are educated,” she said.
These changes have come about due to the passage of both SB 270 and HB 4018 in the 2013 legislative session. SB 270 created a process for the smaller regional and technical universities, which includes SOU, Eastern Oregon University (EOU), Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT), and Western Oregon University (WOU), to allow the campus presidents to propose the model of governance they see most fit for moving their institution forward.
In a letter to SOU Faculty Senate, Representative Peter Buckley explained that while SOU, EOU, OIT, and WOU did not support the elimination of the Oregon University System and the OSBHE, its governing board, there are some protections built into the legislation for these institutions. In his letter, Representative Buckley said that he and Senator Bates worked to ensure the smaller institutions were not financially impacted by the loss of the system and in his letter he said that the institutions, “would have a voice in the next steps for their own futures.”
“Let the faculty teach.” Associated Students of Southern Oregon University President Tommy Letchworth believes this is one way Southern Oregon University (SOU) can change. President Letchworth said he knows a lot of the needed changes cost money, which SOU does not have due to budget cuts, the retrenchment process the university is currently undergoing, and a pattern of state disinvestment in funding for public universities. President Letchworth believes there are real benefits to recognizing faculty who are working hard for SOU because they care about the institution and its students.
While the Physics Department at Southern Oregon University is moving out of its current home in the Science building as well as phasing out as a major (above photo), newly appointed Associate Vice President for Curricular Management Karen Stone, pictured below, has a positive outlook for the benefits retrenchment will bring. Stone herself has seen benefits by being promoted to this Vice Presidential role from her former position as the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She said her role is about managing resources better and described benefits of the reorganization at SOU, including professors being more available for cross-departmental teaching as the university moves toward greater collaboration.
