President's Report – January 2015

Welcome to winter term. I hope everyone had a safe holiday. It already feels like ages ago.

You can see that our CLASS project has really advanced. We're looking forward to a soft opening of the Titan Store later this month, tentatively set for January 26.

Winter term second-week enrollment is down 16.3% compared to last winter, so the trend continues.

I interviewed this afternoon with KMTR TV about our student loan default rate. That's on your agenda tonight for an update.

We got some good news from Salem this afternoon. The co-chairs budget was released and set the Community College Support Fund at $535 million. If funding at the end of session allows, they might increase that to $550 million.

Regarding Obama's recent proposal, there is going to be legislation introduced by Senator Hass on free tuition for community college students. He's very open to working with us to figure out how that might work. If they fund it, it can work, but that is the key.

We are engaged in a pilot project with the University of Oregon as part of the Lumina Project Oregon Reverse Transfer (PORT) grant. The project is to create systems to encourage community college students who have transitioned to Oregon universities with 90 credits or more but have not yet earned a degree at their community college to have their university credits returned to their community college for a degree audit to see if they qualify for an associate's degree. The first group of fall term UO students has self-identified to have their UO transcripts sent to Enrollment and Student Financial Services at Lane to perform an auto-awarding review. We are looking at more than 150 transcripts to see if we can award any associate degrees. Research shows that students who complete an associate degree are more likely to also complete a bachelor's degree and have lower financial aid default rates.

We had 44% employee participation in our annual giving campaign, raising almost $98,000 for the LCC Foundation and the United Way. I am grateful to everyone who was able and willing to participate. Kudos to Public Safety, who had a 53% increase in participation for total participation of 80%. Also, Continuing Education and Cottage Grove had a 25% increase in participation, Specialized Support Services had a 22% increase, and KLCC and The Library had 18% increases. Thanks to Phillip Hudspeth in the Foundation for coordinating the campaign.

Last Friday, President Obama announced two new community college proposals. The first, entitled America's College Promise, is a federal-state partnership grant that would provide free tuition at community colleges for qualified students. I interviewed with KLCC on Friday about this, and also on Monday with the Community College Journal. Obama's proposal is based on a program launched this year in Tennessee. In order to qualify, students would have to be enrolled at least half-time and maintain a 2.5 GPA while making progress towards their degree or certificate. The requirements for community colleges are that they offer 1) academic programs that fully transfer credits to local public four-year colleges and universities, or 2) occupational training programs with high graduation rates and lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. Community colleges also would have to adopt evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes. The federal government would cover three-quarters of the cost under this proposal, but states would be required to provide some matching funds if they chose to participate. The projected cost of this proposal is $60 billion over 10 years. It is unclear where the funding would come from and whether this has a chance in a divided Congress. This is sure to be a topic we discuss with our Congressional delegation next month when we're in Washington for the ACCT National Leadership Summit.

President Obama's second proposal, entitled the Advanced Technical Training Fund would be a successor to the expired Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant (TAACCCT) program. Funds would be used to support college and industry partnerships that include "work-based learning opportunities, provide accelerated training, and are scheduled to accommodate part-time work." The proposal would fund the creation of 100 programs at community colleges or other training institutions, as well as the expansion of existing programs that have strong outcomes.

The 2015 Oregon Legislative Session officially kicked off on Monday. The governor and members of the legislature were officially sworn in and pre-session filed bills were given a first reading. Floor sessions and committee hearings are up next, beginning February 2. By law, the session must conclude by July 9. Over 1,000 bills were filed the first day.

Oregon business and political leaders came together in Portland last Tuesday to rally support for the Oregon Business Plan agenda at the annual Leadership Summit, which I attended. This year's priorities include: connecting education to work, improving the economy and opportunities in rural Oregon, and improving earnings and moving Oregonians out of poverty. A recurring focus throughout the day was the need to reinvest in Career and Technical Education. The day also gave the Kitzhaber administration an opportunity to talk about its education goals, and he gave a moving speech on the disparities we face even in a recovering economy. If we only look at job growth and productivity, we are missing the fact that hundreds of thousands of Oregonians are not doing well.

I wanted to let you know that I resigned from the Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB). I talked to the Governor over the holidays and felt that it was important that I move from the state policy table and focus more locally. Yesterday was my last meeting. I'll share with the board the letter that the Governor sent to OEIB members. I'm feeling good about that decision.

I presented and attended the Oregon President's Collaborative in Portland yesterday on how to advance Oregon's educational attainment initiatives and other shared interests.

We have some important events this weekend.
• The first is a celebration of Life for Richard Archambault. That will be on Sunday, January 18, from 1-4 p.m. in the Longhouse. As you will recall, Richard was a long-time volunteer and supporter for the Longhouse and Lane's Native American student program. He passed away last month.
• On Monday, January 19, we will celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., with participation in the Eugene march and then here at Lane to hear actress and activist Holly Robinson-Peete. Lane is always well represented at these events, and of course it was our students who founded the community celebration and have kept it going. At this time when events across the world are drawing harsh lines of division and accentuating difference, it is even more important that we come together and stand for the dream of Dr. King.
• On February 6, our Cultural Competency Professional Development Committee is hosting Tricia Rose, civil rights scholar. She will speak at 9:30 a.m. in the Longhouse. Tricia wrote "Black Noise," which has become a foundation text for the study of hip hop culture. The presentation is open to anyone interested.

Just a reminder that you have three Community Conversations this term: on January 26 at the Downtown Campus, in Room 114; on February 5 in the Springfield Public Library Meeting Room; and on March 18 at our Florence Center. All of the conversations will be held from 6-7:30 p.m.

We have another faculty and staff Global Conversation this month, on January 20. Dawn DeWolf will lead us in a discussion of Oregon's 40-40-20 educational attainment plan.