President’s Report – January 2016

Happy New Year. I hope you had a good holiday. As you know, we started off the term with our first snow and ice closures of the year, and I want to thank everyone for making adjustments and putting students first.  I especially want to thank Facilities and Public Safety for coming out in the middle of the night to make the campus safe for our students and staff.

On tonight’s agenda we’ll learn more about the Oregon Promise from Financial Aid Director Helen Faith. Helen will also clarify where we are with the Perkins loan program, contrary to information in a December 30 Register-Guard story.

I’d like to congratulate Helen on her election as President-Elect of the Western Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (WASFAA). WASFAA is the regional professional development and advocacy group for financial aid administrators in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and the Pacific Islands.

Marketing Director Tracy Simms has announced her retirement.  She will be with us through June of this year.  In the meantime, I will be working with staff before opening up a position.  This also affects the outside agency with which we work, which is why I recommend maintaining Funk Levis as the agency of record for the next year.  It doesn’t make sense to go out to bid when things are going to be changing soon.  I’d like to congratulate Tracy, and I look forward to the next few months that she will be with us. 

Another view on how well our state supports higher education is presented in the recently released report, “Young Invincibles Student Impact Project 2016 State Report Cards.” The report gives Oregon an F in four categories, including spending per student, burden on families, state aid to students, and education as a state priority. We got a D in tuition. We received a B- in equity attainment. Overall, Oregon was given a failing grade.

As of Monday, the start of the second week of winter term, total registrations for all classes are down 11.9%.  This is a critical issue at Lane.  It is a national trend, but clearly, the state’s lack of support is a factor, as is the typical economic trend that enrollment falls when jobs pick up. We have our Strategic Enrollment Plan in place but need to keep working on how to turn things around.  We’ll start that conversation at your retreat at the end of the month.

We are doing all we can through marketing to boost enrollment. Last week, every household in our district with a 17-year-old received a letter from me along with a two-sided flyer featuring information about the Oregon Promise and getting started at Lane. This is intended to prompt seniors and their parents to consider Lane a smart start as they begin the college application process. The same flyer will be inserted in The Register-Guard to help promote our “Annual How to Pay for College” event this Saturday. We are also running an Oregon Promise ad on the radio and Pandora. In support for our consideration of a bond, special ads in Open for Business and The Register-Guard’s Blue Chip emphasized our partnerships with over 800 local employers. The creative ad for our new billboards and bus advertising also supports the idea of investing in your personal and the community's future. I'll pass around the publications for your review.

Congratulations to Lane’s Small Business Development Center. We lead the state’s SBDCs in total new job creation for 2015. The Lane SBDC worked with 673 businesses that created 120 new jobs. Kudos to the entire SBDC team.

I’d like to welcome Stephanie Willett as Head Coach of our new Women’s Volleyball Team. She previously coached at her alma mater, Southwestern Oregon Community College. Welcome also to John Galas, Head Coach for our new Men’s Soccer team. He has coached at both the collegiate and professional levels, including successful stints at Florida State University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Arizona.

Congratulations to Titan Sophomore Kylee O'Connor. She was named to the 2015 NSCAA Junior College Women's Scholar All-America team. She has maintained a 3.9 grade point average while dual-enrolled at Lane and the University of Oregon. She also was named a NWAC All-Star this fall. Kylee led the Titans to their second consecutive Southern Region Championship and a spot in the NWAC playoffs.

Finally, congratulations to the Health and Physical Education division for this morning’s grand opening of the Fitness Connection to the public.

• On December 17, the House and Senate Interim Committees on Judiciary headed up by Senator Floyd Prozanski held an informational hearing on safety and security at Oregon’s schools.  Topics discussed included warning signs and prevention, issues and responses during active shooter incidents, and issues and responses in the aftermath of events.
• Elected officials and business leaders gathered in Portland last month for the annual Leadership Summit.  Governor Brown told attendees she wants to create a seamless educational system from cradle to career, and in that effort she has created a new Education Innovation Officer position. 
• Last Monday we hosted a town hall meeting for local legislators at the Downtown Campus.  Nearly 90 people braved the elements to meet with State Representatives Phil Barnhart, Paul Holvey, Val Hoyle, and Nancy Nathanson, and State Senators Lee Beyer and Floyd Prozanski.  Most questions addressed next month’s legislative session, which begins February 1. I’d like to thank the CML staff for their help as well as Matt Keating for attending.
• On Saturday I attended Senator Jeff Merkley’s town hall in Coburg.  I had the opportunity to thank him for his work to reduce interest rates for student loans as well as ask for his support of America’s Promise.
• I also attended our local state of the city and state of the county addresses.

There are a few important events that should be on your calendars.

• The 2016 Eugene Community Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will feature keynote speaker April Ryan, noted journalist and veteran member of the White House press corps. The celebration will be Tuesday, January 19, at 7 p.m. at the University of Oregon, Columbia Hall, Room 150. This year’s event is sponsored by Lane Community College student groups and my office, in collaboration with the University of Oregon.
• We will celebrate the official re-opening of our wonderful Center Building remodel on Wednesday, January 27, from 12-1 p.m.

Chair McCown read a letter from Umpqua Community College Interim President Rita Cavin as follows:

“Dear Chair Tony McCown,

On behalf of the entire Umpqua Community College community, I want to express our sincerest thanks and praise for the help Lane’s employees have provided to us over the past several months.  Our ability to move forward on our path to recovery this fall is resting directly on the shoulders of the Lane employees who have helped and who have continued to provide assistance to our campus.

Your administrative team helped us stitch together the initial decisions and held us up when we needed it most.  Mary provided constant support to me, while working late to keep your college running.  She was by my side, helping me look stronger than I felt and helping me focus on what needed to happen next, rather than the awful event that had just occurred.  The Lane Vice-Presidents each provided the same support to UCC Vice Presidents.  That initial week of support helped us face everything that came our way.

LCC help came from multiple departments and in unexpected areas.  Your financial aid staff helped us work through important decisions that we never imagined having to make and that helped us put students first.  Your security personnel helped us feel safer and more secure, lending not just their presence but also their smiling faces during our dark days.  Your human resources team helped us with payroll, when our staff needed to focus elsewhere.  Your counselors helped our faculty figure out ways to support each other and make plans for returning to the classroom.  Your public information officers helped us manage the media.  Again and again, when we needed help in those first few weeks and beyond, someone from Lane came to our aid.

On a personal level, I deeply appreciate the vision, energy and commitment of President Spilde and the LCC Board.  Without your full approval this extraordinary support would not have been possible.

In Oregon, we have always prided ourselves on the voluntary, cooperative community of relationships among community colleges.  Lane comforted us, embraced us, and helped us do the work we needed to do.  I want the Board to know how much this helped all of us at UCC.  I hope you will have the chance to read this message at a Board meeting so that all members of the board are aware of the extent of Lane’s assistance.  Across UCC, we are all grateful and appreciative for the help.  You can be proud of the leadership, compassion, and work of Lane’s staff in support of UCC in our time of need.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sincerely,
Dr. Rita Cavin
Interim President, UCC”