President's Report – February 2014
In January we received a $100,000 gift from an anonymous donor for scholarships supporting students with experience working on LGBT issues or with the LGBT community. We are very grateful for this support.
Fourth week enrollment for winter term shows registrations down 11.6 percent compared to last year at the same time.
The Oregon Small Business Development Center Network, located at Lane, has launched a new market research service. The Southern Oregon University Market Research Institute, located at SOU in Ashland, will prepare customized market research data and analyses for OSBDCN clients. Kudos to OSBDCN State Director Michael Lainoff for his leadership on this, and thanks to US Bank for grant funding.
Many thanks to Greg Evans and ASLCC for one of the best Martin Luther King, Jr., Day community celebrations in years. Students brought the celebration back to campus with a special presentation by actor Giancarlo Esposito. Ragozzino Hall filled to capacity. I am proud of our own Elizabeth Andrade, who received the ASLCC Social Justice Award. Lane's Budget Committee member Carmen Urbina and Foundation Board Member Francisca Johnson received the Human Rights Commission Latina Leaders Award.
I am also proud to congratulate Elizabeth Andrade for being named Outstanding Classified Employee of the Month for January. You know Elizabeth from her presentations to the board and as the project coordinator in my office. Elizabeth truly lives Lane's core values with integrity and courage.
Congratulations to KLCC News Director Tripp Sommer. He has won the Leo C. Lee Award from the national Public Radio News Directors organization for career service and achievement in public radio journalism. Under his leadership, the KLCC newsroom has won more than 70 awards in PRNDI's annual Excellence in Journalism competitions. Tripp also has trained hundreds of volunteer and student journalists, some of whom have gone on to national fame.
Thanks to Downtown Campus Director Jenette Kane and Public Safety Officer Mike Schneider for working with one of our key downtown neighbors, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, to mitigate parking and smoking issues in our shared alley. The theatre extended a special thank-you to Lane for being great neighbors.
We now own a 1994 Gillig Phantom 40-foot bus donated by LTD. Kudos to Pat O'Connor and Diesel Tech instructors Steve Webb and Al Clark for making this happen, and to Pat and Tracy Simms for branding the bus with a Titan look. The bus will serve as a training tool for Diesel Tech students, and when not in use as a lab, we will use it at events. Hopefully you noticed it parked out front this evening. The bus is good shape, but it does have quite a few miles on it, so it is not intended for extensive transport.
The facilities report in your packet has an update on the CLASS remodel, which is going very well. I want to congratulate Facilities and our contractors for diverting more than 99.7 percent of 1,800 tons of debris from the demolition phase for recycling.
Here's a high note: Our Facebook page now has more than 10,000 likes. PCC and Chemeketa each has about 6,800. Facebook is a crucial and low-cost marketing tool. Kudos to Tracy Simms for taking Lane's page into prominence and for engaging students in this meaningful way. Our Twitter pages, incidentally, have about 2,000 followers, also a good number.
Lane is featured in the January issue of High Country News magazine as one of 22 colleges, and the only community college in the Western United States & Canada, to offer a degree or certificate in sustainability. Thanks to Jennifer Hayward and others in our Institute for Sustainable Practices for helping earn this recognition for Lane. Here's a copy of the magazine which you can pass around.
We evacuated Building 16 due to a gas leak a couple of weeks ago. Goshen Fire and Northwest Natural responded. A leak in a supply line was found and fixed. The evacuation was smooth and media coverage was positive. Kudos to Facilities, Public Safety and our Emergency Team for their fast response.
In Salem, the legislative session began Monday. The short, 35-day session runs through March 9. We expect the Oregon Promise bill will pass to form a study group, so we will make sure we are involved with that.
Last week, I attended the Oregon Business Council's Higher Education Leadership Symposium with Pat and Brett. The one-day summit brought education leaders from around the state to discuss the continuing changes to Oregon's education system. Keynote speakers included the Governor, Jamie Merisotis from the Lumina Foundation, and Pat Callan from the Center for Higher Education Policy. During the afternoon session, I had the opportunity to share my reflections on the topic of how we should fund higher education and with what accountability.
On January 13th, I attended a legislative town hall meeting on campus held by State Senator Lee Beyer and Representative Phil Barnhart. Much of the conversation focused on this month's legislative session in Salem. I'd like to thank all of those who attended, including Paul Zito, Pat Albright and Matt Keating.
Next week is the National Legislative Summit in Washington, DC. For the first time in a few years, we will be traveling to Capitol Hill without the threat of a government shutdown, a positive development. I look forward to sharing more with you next month.
As always, there are a lot of events happening this month:
The LCOG Appreciation Dinner is February 7The annual KLCC Microbrew Festival is this Friday and Saturday at the fairgrounds. This is a key fundraiser for the station.Next Wednesday, February 12, our Early College and Career Options program will introduce computer science into their curriculum with a hands-on event including a chance to experiment with code, and a chance to hear a panel presentation with our partners in the program. It's open to the public. Contact High School Connections if you want more information.Waiting for Godot opens this Friday