Board Report – February 2012

I want to thank ASLCC and our Black Student Union for again sponsoring the community's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and keeping the dream alive. Congratulations to Lane student Erica Bullock for winning the first $500 scholarship from the BSU, and Lane student Eric Richardson for receiving the ASLCC Martin Luther King Jr. Award.

This is rare, but we closed Florence campus for a couple of days last month due to severe winds and rain. The campus lost phone and computer service and some trees came down. Thanks to Dean Mary Jeanne Kuhar for managing the closure and to Facilities Maintenance and Planning staff since they were on the scene and dealing with that quickly. We also briefly closed our Cottage Grove center due to an area power outage.

There was a delay in financial aid refunds last month due to an internal computer system challenge. We jumped on it, and the system was restored the next day, but that was long enough for 30 or so students to express complaints. We won't charge any late fees, and we've discussed ways to maximize communications with students and to improve their financial literacy. This incident shows how dependent some students are on financial aid for living expenses. We haven't had a delay in many years. It's noteworthy that last year we disbursed $104 million in financial aid to more than 12,000 students.

We revised enrollment reports for fall term after correcting a program glitch. Final fall FTE was 4 percent up from fall 2010. Fourth-week reports for winter term show an increase of 1.5 percent.

The AARP Foundation has awarded $200,000 for the Plus Project, a two-year initiative to put people ages 50+ back to work by increasing their skills, connecting them to employers, and addressing financial instability. Partners include Lane, Enterprise Contact Center, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Lane Workforce Partnership, and Goodwill Industries Prosperity Center. We will provide reservation sales representative training to 100 low income and long term unemployed senior workers. Lane Workforce Partnership is the fiscal agent. Classes will begin spring term.

I am pleased to note some kudos:

• Greg Evans will receive the 2012 Trailblazer Award from the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers Association at its annual gala in Salem this Saturday. The award recognizes contributions to the advancement of Oregon's African Americans in the state and for paving the way for others to follow.
• Theater student Mathew Bostrom recently won five singing and acting awards at a competition in Los Angeles, including Actor of the Year, from among thousands of contestants.
• Health and Physical Education instructor Sean Hayes has been invited to deliver a workshop and lecture at on swordsmanship at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England. He has taught the Armizare style of martial arts at conferences in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and has presented research in the U.S. and abroad.
• Dance instructor Mary Seereiter inspired a student to make a $500 donation to the dance program. In a letter, Pat Frishkov wrote, "I have taken Mary's Authentic Movement class each of the last two years. They have provided significant fun and healing for me. And I love the new studio. It even has cubbies along the windows, on which folks like me can take naps during day-long workshops. LCC is a treasure in our community and the strength of its dance department is a part of that resource."

If you're keeping up with Titan basketball news, you know that they Jammed the Gym a couple of weeks ago and gathered 523 pounds of donations for Food for Lane County, not to mention winning their games against Clackamas. Go, Titans!

Our Visiting Scholars on Islam speaker series is continuing, and we recently had Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer of UC-Santa Barbara present on "Global Rebellion and the Arab Spring," and scholar Jamillah Karim talk about "Race in America."

Our Diversity Strategic Directions Conference drew 183 attendees and 250 others who tuned in via live streaming. Thanks to Donna Koechig, Bill Schuetz, and the IT staff for making this important training so accessible.

The legislature convened last week, and the one-month session is off to a fast start. Budget leaders announced that a deal to balance the current budget has been made. As expected, the deal includes the state keeping the 3.5% budget holdback from the Community College Support Fund. We will continue to talk to legislators about the impact of reduced state funding and, depending on the revenue forecast, push for any available remaining funds.

The revenue forecast came in today, and it is down $35 million. Hopefully this is a sign that things are about to level out. We will continue to make the case to legislators for the Community College Support Fund.

Representative Dave Hunt has introduced a $50 million economic development package in the House, which includes $10 million in lottery-backed bonds for community college capital construction projects. If passed, Lane would receive $1 million for additional STEM/CTE classrooms/labs. The bill had its first hearing last Thursday and is expected to pass out of committee this week.

Other priorities we are tracking this session include legislation dealing with achievement compacts, the Higher Education Coordinating Committee, the Chief Education Officer, and textbook affordability. Brett has updated bill lists for anyone interested.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out his vision for economic growth with a focus on job creation and taxes. This includes significant investment in community colleges. Obama proposed a new initiative to train and place two million Americans in good jobs through partnerships between businesses and community colleges that give workers the skills that employers explicitly need.

Congratulations to Suzanne Bonamici, who has been elected to serve out the remainder of David Wu's term in Oregon's 1st Congressional District. Suzanne began her college career at Lane before transferring to the UO to earn degrees in journalism and law. She is a strong supporter of public education and community colleges. We are thrilled to have a Titan walking the halls of Congress.

The Lane Council of Governments held its annual appreciation dinner here in the Center for Meeting and Learning. Thanks to Susie, Tony, Bob and Pat for attending.

Thanks to Susie and Pat for joining me and Brett at the OCCA board meeting here at Lane last month. I believe Susie and Tony will join me and Brett at the AACC-ACCT National Legislative Summit next week in Washington, DC, and we have a full schedule, including meetings with Oregon's Congressional delegation.

I am again serving on the UO president search committee with 21 others including PCC President Preston Pulliams.

The Register-Guard is assigning longtime higher ed reporter, Greg Bolt, to the county beat. Diane Dietz will now cover higher ed in addition to business and environment. I want to publicly thank Greg for his dedicated coverage of higher education and his ability to report complex issues in a clear and meaningful and fair way. The transition will take some time, and we will continue to work with Greg on occasion, while getting Diane up to speed on Lane.

I would like to conclude my report with a 90-second video promoting the EMT program. Career and technical deans are working with Tracy Simms to develop videos for each CT program as part of an update of our Learn to Earn web resources.