President's Report – March 2015

We were all very sorry to hear about the loss of Rosie's mother. She and her family are in our thoughts during this difficult time.

I was also saddened to hear of Dave Frohnmayer's passing yesterday, and my heart goes out to his loved ones. Dave served Oregon in many ways, and higher education in particular, over a long career in public service, most notably as our former state attorney general and then as president of the University of Oregon.

As we all know, Lane's accreditation was reaffirmed in January, and we are in good standing. Unfortunately, the Register-Guard story on that topic was misleading, to put it mildly. I was appreciative of the editorial that followed, and that the RG printed my guest viewpoint. I have written to faculty and staff, our legislators and others to set the record straight. Going forward, it is important that each of us assure our students and constituents face to face that we're in good shape and received a normal review with eight commendations and seven recommendations. We're doing the work prescribed in our two-year timeframe to address the recommendations. Accreditation is a process of continuous improvement, and we are pleased to have this tool to help with our daily work.

In a few other interviews, I talked with KNND in Cottage Grove about the upcoming board election; and discussed accreditation with KUGN, KMTR, the Oregonian, and The Torch.

I appreciated the Guard's editorial on performance based funding where Tim Nesbitt of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission published his opposing views. This is a good thing, because finally attention is being paid to the important issue. The Oregon Education Association (OEA) is opposed, as are we. I will continue to make the case that performance based funding ignores the research and does not recognize the unique needs of community college students.

The work the board is doing to reach out to our district through the Community Conversations is very helpful. Kudos to Florence for having the best community turnout so far! Thanks to Sharon Stiles, Brett Rowlett, and Donna Zmolek for getting a good turnout and to Pat Albright for interviewing with KCST to help promote that event.

Congratulations to Russ Pierson, whom you know has been named the new dean in Florence. I appreciate all the work he did in Facilities on main campus, and we are very glad to have him at the helm in Florence.

We are continuing our internal Global Conversations on topics that shape our higher education world. In the past month we discussed Online Educational Resources and Digital Media with Ian Coronado, and Care in the Community College with Maurice Hamington.

For winter term, we're now in the tenth week of classes, and registrations are down 17.9%. Three weeks before classes begin, registrations are down 21% for spring term.

I am pleased to share with you that our Foundation has announced the President's Circle Awards for Philanthropy. The Individual Award goes to Doug McKay; the Corporate Award goes to the Pape Group; and the Foundation Award goes to the Coeta & Donald Barker Foundation. I am grateful to each of these generous supporters. They will be honored at the President's Circle event on May 21.

This week a new entrepreneurial venture of our Center for Meeting and Learning, Lane Catering, began providing 233 lunches each day to Datalogic, Inc. of Eugene. Datalogic is a tech firm in west Eugene that makes scanners and bar code readers. This is big win for Lane. Our Culinary and Hospitality students will get catering experience at corporate sites, and we will be earning revenue for the college. Food will be locally grown whenever possible, including produce from Lane's Learning Garden. Meals will be prepared by culinary students under the direction of a Lane professional chef, and served by Lane Hospitality students. Any leftovers will be composted, and excess food will be donated to organizations such as the Eugene Mission. Since Datalogic approached Lane, other corporate customers also have contacted us. Corporate catering is an emerging field for our students.

Congratulations to Bonnie Simoa and the Dance program. They have a nice two-page spotlight in the current issue of Eugene Magazine, including a description of their work with Balinese dance.

We have been fortunate that meningitis has not been reported at Lane as we have many dual-enrolled students at the UO where local cases have occurred. Thanks to Vice President Kelly for getting a message out, including that we're prepared if things change. Jayne Culberson in the Health Clinic continues to work closely with Lane County Public Health and the UO.

You'll hear more from Brian tonight about our first foray into sheltering homeless students in freezing conditions. For now I just want to give a shout out to Brian Kelly, Jace Smith, Mike O'Neal, and Clive Wanstall for going above and beyond to pull things together on very short notice for our first night.

We are having more sightings of cougars on main campus and our Emergency Planning Team has been diligent in alerting students, faculty and staff. We have also notified Fish and Wildlife in case we need any assistance.

As always, we've had a rich selection of workshops, presentations and events. I was fortunate enough to attend a few, including an Honors Program seminar, an AAWCC breakfast meeting as part of the Day of Dialogue happening across the country, and a stunning Collaborations dance performance. Our Winter Term Concerts begin on Thursday with the Lane Symphonic Band. You can get all the details on the college newsroom at lanecc.edu/newsroom.

Finally, Spring Break begins March 23.