BOARD REPORT – MARCH 13, 2013

On February 15, the most recent state revenue forecast was released. State economists noted that the ending balance for the current biennium will be up about $162 million, thanks to changes in federal tax law which spurred a sell-off of assets, providing a boost to Oregon tax receipts. The sell-off will also result in a slight decrease in the revenue forecast for the coming biennium. Even with the decrease in revenues related to federal tax changes, the ending balance for the next biennium is projected to be up slightly because of the additional carryover available from this biennium, providing lawmakers with a small increase of $87 million. While this is good news, state economists cautioned that the additional revenue for this biennium brings the state closer to triggering refund checks due to Oregon's kicker law. The next forecast will be released in May.

Last Monday, the Legislature's budget leaders released the co-chairs' budget, what they are calling, "Oregon's Turning Point Budget." The budget, aided by last month's forecast showing additional revenue, provided a $600 million increase over the Governor's Budget to the K-12 school fund. The Community College Support Fund remained unchanged from the Governor's Budget at $428 million; however, the co-chairs indicated that budgets would be subject to a 2 percent hold back over the first year of the biennium. Assuming that revenues follow the May forecast, budgets would receive the "held back" funds in the February 2014 session.

The co-chairs' budget also proposes revisions to the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS), not as many revisions as the governor has suggested, but they are looking at some sort of COLA cap the first year and then a tiered COLA proposal going forward.  So their budget would be $400 million in savings, whereas the governor's is about $800 million.

I've mentioned before about the possible changes to our funding distribution formula.  The impetus for this was that the Funding Team appointed by the Governor made recommendations to him about outcomes based funding, aka performance based funding.  The Governor's budget gave direction to examine balancing access with success, again outcomes or performance based funding.  A subcommittee of the Presidents Council has been working with Commissioner Preus and NCHEMS, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, to develop a model.  I personally don't agree with the proposal.  I made those concerns known at the Presidents Council meeting last month, as did some other presidents.  That feedback was taken by the subcommittee, and it's continuing to do its work, hopefully taking into consideration some of the concerns we raised.  In the meantime, Commissioner Preus shared some information with the state board about this last week, and has developed a set of principles around this model.  I think it's fair to say that the model is not complete; they haven't really figured out what the final product would be.  But I think it's also fair to say that they're suggesting that 30 percent of our funding be tied to certain performance outcomes.  I talked with the Commissioner yesterday, and I've asked her to provide the principles and some background information that I can share with the board in April, and we can start a conversation about this and the impacts on the college and the fundamentals that undergird the proposals. 

Now on to some better news.  First, I'd like to congratulate Head Women's Basketball Coach Greg Sheley and ask him to stand. Last month, Coach Sheley won his 500th game. He is one of only 12 active coaches in the National Junior College Athletic Association to achieve this and he did it in just 15 years; for others it took 22-35 years to accomplish this incredible feat. In addition, Greg has coached the Women Titans to four NWAACC Championships, including this year. That, too, is a remarkable record.

We're very proud to have Greg on our team.  Also, what speaks to Greg and Division Dean Chris Hawken's dedication is the attention they pay to student success.  Greg's student athletes are remarkable in their own right. Collectively, this fall, they took 229 credits, passing all but four courses with an average GPA of 3.473. Their cumulative GPA over their college careers is 3.379; this is significantly higher than the average student and demonstrates how student athletes contribute to Lane's progression and completions goals. Our student athletes committed themselves to more than 600 hours of basketball, held down jobs to help pay their way, and maintained high academic standards. Let's give a hand to Coach Greg Sheley and the Women Titans Basketball Team.

I'd also like to welcome Dawn DeWolf to her first board meeting in her new role as Executive Dean of Career and Technical Education.

Congratulations to former Lane student Eric Richardson. Eric is the new president of the NAACP of Lane County and formerly served on Lane's student government. Eric's new position was announced at the association's annual Freedom Fund dinner. Also at the dinner, Lane received the 2012 Corporate Diversity Leadership Award for our efforts to strive for an inclusive and diverse work force. The association also acknowledged our own Bob Ackerman for his years of civil rights work.

Congratulations to The Torch for winning Second Place for General Excellence in the 2013 Associated Collegiate Press Midwinter Convention Best in Show Awards.

Thanks to board members Susie Johnston and Pat Albright for joining me and hundreds of others at the Dr. Arun Gandhi lecture, and to Donna Koechig and our Diversity Strategic Directions Committee for making this event possible. Donna and her team also arranged for the special performances of the play, "Paul Robeson," performed by our own speech faculty member, Dr. Stanley Coleman. It's wonderful to be able to enrich the lives of students and the community with events like these.

I would like to congratulate Cam Preus who has been named the new president for Blue Mountain Community College. Cam served Oregon's community colleges for many years and her move will be a loss for us but a gain for Blue Mountain.  I look forward to working with her in her new role.

The Comcast Newsmakers interview that I taped in January is now available on their YouTube site. If you haven't seen it, Joan will provide the web address.

Some of you saw my op ed advocating for better community college funding—I hope our elected officials in Salem saw it as well.

I'd like to thank Pat O'Connor and Deron Fort for their joint letter to the editor reminding readers that we not only still have vocational training roots, but the tree has branched out quite a bit over the last five decades.

We continue to work on the Building 4 indoor environmental quality issues. We are going to be upgrading the fresh air intake hood and duct work for the HVAC system and relocating some exhaust pipes.  We are finding alternate spaces for students, faculty and staff, including the dental clinic and the MOA clinic.  It's our intention to find that space over the course of the next academic year and to figure out what is going on with the building and what we are going to do with it in the long run. 

Thanks to Sharon Stiles for attending the League for Innovation CEO/Board Trustee retreat in February. 

Thanks to board members for representing Lane at the annual LCOG Appreciation Dinner. Although I couldn't be there, it was wonderful to share the Intergovernmental Team Award with City Manager Jon Ruiz. This is the kind of partnership we need to promote a healthy economy.

Commendations are due to Advanced Technologies Division Dean Pat O'Connor, Aviation Academy Director Steve Boulton, and their staff and students. They successfully completed an FAA audit of our Aviation Maintenance and Flight Technology programs. The FAA had no recommendations and noted many positives inside and outside the hangar.

On February 6, the President's Office and the Downtown Neighbors' Association sponsored a Safety Perception Workshop at the Downtown Campus Center for Meeting and Learning. The study will be available later this year and used by the Downtown Neighbors Association and Eugene Police Department to help improve downtown safety.

Thanks to board members for attending the National Legislative Summit and the OCCA Summit.