President's Report – February 2015

This week we received our letter from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities re-affirming our accreditation. They are requesting that we expand our fall 2015 report on mission and core themes to address recommendations 1 and 3 – planning and institutional effectiveness. Those were underway before the team's visit; we knew that institutional effectiveness would be a factor, and the committee had its first meeting yesterday. They are also calling for an ad hoc report without a visit in spring 2016 on recommendations 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 – governance, program review, student learning outcomes, communication about the student complaint process, and implementing the cultural competence policy. On recommendations 2, 6, and 7 – governance, student complaint process, and the cultural competence policy – they said we were substantially in compliance, but they could use improvement. Recommendations 1, 3, 4, and 5 – planning, institutional effectiveness, program review, and student outcomes – do not meet the criteria of the standards, so those have to be addressed within two years. We identified this in the self-study and had already started the work, but there is a two-year timeline on that work. The good news is that there is no focused visit. What that tells me is that they are confident that we will take this seriously and address the recommendations they have made. It was a good report overall.

For winter term, as of Monday of the 5th week of classes, total registrations for all classes are down 20.9% compared to the same point last year. The Business Officers group reported on state enrollments at its last meeting. Most colleges have a decline and some are neutral. Lane's decline is the most severe.

This year's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day events were outstanding. Many members of the Lane community participated in the marches, presentations at the Shedd, and the evening celebration. Speaker Holly Robinson Peete delivered a targeted message about where society is today and how much we are at risk from complacency. Thanks to Rosie for your welcoming remarks, and heartfelt thanks to Greg Evans and the students for coordinating the vent. Congratulations to our award winners including Greg for the Social Justice Award; Michael Weed for the Community Leadership Award; Amiel Farfan for the Maddie Reynolds Award; and Shermel James for the BSU Scholarship.

On Monday, February 2, the Foundation hosted an opening reception for donors to celebrate the newly refurbished and re-opened Titan Store as part of our CLASS project. Students are going to love it. Tony and his team have done an incredible job.

Kudos to our on-campus Child and Family Center for achieving a five-star rating in Oregon's Quality Rating and Improvement System. In addition to that distinction, our center is the only one in Lane County accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
I also want to congratulate the Center for their award of a one-year grant of $6,315 to offer professional training and development for child care providers, and to thank the Cow Creek Indian Foundation for this generous donation.

In the past month I interviewed with KMTR about the MLK celebration, and with KVAL about President Obama's free community college proposal. Thanks to Pat for interviewing with KEZI about the board's Community Conversation on January 26.

I'm not going to say much about the legislature, because Andrea Henderson is here from the Oregon Community College Association (OCCA) today, and she will update you on that. I do want to point out that at your place is the response to the board from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) on the letter that you wrote to them in December.

Last week, the Main-McVay Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which has spent the past year studying possible transit improvements for Main Street in Springfield and McVay Highway to LCC, forwarded recommendations to the City of Springfield Governance Team and the LTD Board. The group recommended more study of a possible EmX or enhanced bus route from Thurston High School to the Springfield (Downtown) Station and an enhanced route for the McVay corridor. A "no build" option was also forwarded for both, a requirement to apply for federal funding. LTD staff recommended removing EmX as an option on the McVay corridor due to construction costs, low ridership numbers, and uncertainty over future development. LCC's rep on the committee, Brett, had many questions on the federal funding for the McVay segment that staff were unable to answer, so the committee amended the final recommendation to encourage more future studies of a McVay EmX.

As you may have read in the Register-Guard last week, the City of Eugene is reconsidering its proposal to expand the Urban Growth Boundary into the Russell Creek Basin. Eugene city staff are going over their initial calculations to determine if there is sufficient need for expansion. On the other side of the highway, the City of Springfield has begun their work on possible UGB expansion into the area between Seavey Loop Road and Johnson Crusher. In January, Springfield held meetings with neighborhood residents and business owners to discuss their proposal.

President Obama released his blueprint for the 2016 federal budget on Monday. The $4 trillion budget included a number of reforms and new proposals for higher education and workforce training. New proposals impacting the community college sector include:
* $60 billion over 10 years for the America's College Promise proposal (federal free community college proposal).
* $200 million per year American Technical Training Fund, which would serve as a successor to the expired Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant (TAACCCT) program.
* $7 billion over 10 years for a College Opportunity and Graduation Bonus program which would provide an annual grant to eligible institutions based on their number of on-time graduates that receive Pell Grants.
* Streamlining existing higher education tax credits to create a more robust and permanent American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) with increased refundability, and excluding Pell Grants from taxable income.
* For the Pell Grant program, the budget proposes extending the annual consumer price index (CPI) increases to the Pell Grant maximum beyond 2017 and continuing Ability to Benefit students enrolled in career pathway programs.
It's unclear how many of these proposals have a future in a Republican Congress. We will find out more at next week's National Legislative Summit. Lane was mentioned in the budget due to the Senior Companion program.

Some of us are off to the Association of Community College Trustees National Legislative Session next week, and I'm sure that the free community college tuition proposal will be a big talking point there.

Let me mention three upcoming events for your consideration:
• This Friday, our Cultural Competency Professional Development Committee welcomes speaker Tricia Rose who will address "Educational Equality in an Unequal World" this Friday at 9:30 a.m. in the Longhouse
• Friday night and Saturday is KLCC's annual Microbrew Festival at the fairgrounds. It's a key fundraiser for KLCC as well as a great event.
• Our Faculty Professional Development Academic Colloquia Series will feature a lecture and book signing by Margaret Robertson on February 19 at 5:30 p.m. at our Downtown Campus. Margaret published the text, "Sustainability Principles and Practice" in 2014.
• The KLCC Brewfest will be held this Friday and Saturday at the Lane County Fairgrounds.