President's Report - May 2015
Given the interest in the budget and the number of people expected to speak, Pat and I conferred and agreed, pending the board's approval, to postpone the Science Spotlight on Student Success presentation to next month. However, there are some upcoming science events that are pertinent now, so I'd like to mention those:
- Sunday, May 17, is the annual Mount Pisgah Arboretum Wildflower and Music Festival, from 10 to 5. Lane science students and our plant science faculty will be there. This is our 36th year of partnering with the Arboretum.
- On Tuesday, May 26, from 5:30 to 7, there will be a "50 Years of Science Teaching and Learning" event including a reception for Science retirees. We will dedicate and name the Geology Stockroom for long time Lane faculty member, Mike Mitchell.
- On Thursday, June 4, Science will host its first Undergraduate Research Day with displays throughout the Science Building. From 12 to 2:20, students will discuss their research.
Science Division Dean Sarah Ulerick wanted to be sure I let you know that the division invites the board to attend these events.
Over the past month we also enjoyed several other events across the college. We had our latest Achieving the Dream site visit on April 14 and 15. It's always good to hear from our peers and coaches that we're on the right track with our student success efforts.
Our Spring Conference on May 1 had excellent participation as we focused on our core learning outcomes to think, engage, create, communicate and apply. The keynote presentation by Dr. Nassim Ebrahimi, who directs outcomes and assessment at Anne Arundel Community College, was thought provoking. There was only one minor setback, for me anyway—I broke my wrist earlier that morning.
Our enrollment is trending a bit better for spring term. As of the 6th week of classes, total registrations are down 13.9% compared to this same time last year.
We honored two outstanding staff in the past month. Barbara Dumbleton of Science was named February Employee of the Month and Sara Fox of Academic and Student Services was our March honoree. Both set the bar for excellence in their departments and professions.
Congratulations to KLCC reporter Jacob Lewin. He won the Edward R. Murrow First Place Regional Award for use of sound in his story about a camp for children affected by AIDS. You can find the story on KLCC's web site.
As I'm sure you have heard by now, the Oregon Supreme Court has reversed many of the PERS reforms passed by the 2013 Legislature. The decision will restore certain cost-of-living adjustments for retirees and will mean higher PERS rates for employers. This will have no direct impact on the 2015-17 budget currently under development, since the ruling doesn't effect changes until 2017. PERS staff is working to estimate what the ruling will specifically mean for employers like Lane, and legislative leaders are trying to determine their next move. Most agree it is unlikely the Legislature will get involved this session. During the last round of PERS reforms, Lane established a board-allocated restricted reserve fund for PERS and continued to be prudent while the 2013 reforms were challenged in court. This PERS reserve fund will help with the vagaries of the PERS system, reforms and unknown variables that will impact us beginning in 2017.
I would like thank all of the staff and students who turned out on April 23 for the Ways and Means public hearing at Springfield City Hall. It was great to see the "sea of blue" in the crowd, and it sounds like community colleges dominated the turnout in all corners of the state.
Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to testify before the HECC (Higher Education Coordinating Commission) about outcomes based funding. I shared my concerns with this funding model and encouraged them to look at the research that has been done. While the HECC has indicated it plans to wait until later this year before it votes on a new funding model for community colleges, we are exploring the possibility of seeking a budget note on the community college budget bill, which would require HECC to wait on any action until it reports back to the Legislature during the 2016 Session.
I would also like to congratulate Financial Aid Helen Faith for helping a federal rule-making panel reach an 11th hour consensus on a proposal that will benefit student loan borrowers nationwide. Helen was part of a negotiated rule-making team in Washington, D.C. who met with federal negotiators over the past three months to discuss changes to the Pay as You Earn income-based repayment plan for federal student loans. They also looked at changes in loan rehabilitation, loan servicing of accounts for U.S. military service members, and loan default rate challenges. The new plan will allow borrowers to lower their monthly payments and qualify for loan forgiveness sooner, regardless of when they took out their loans, and colleges will have more opportunities to challenge or appeal draft and official cohort default rates. Many thanks to Helen.
I hope you all saw my op ed on our budget situation. I wanted to update the community and confirm that we are redesigning Medical Office Assisting, not eliminating it. We will admit one class this fall into MOA as it now stands and simultaneously work with faculty and employers to update the curriculum for the fall of 2016 at the latest.
Thanks to Dawn DeWolf and Rosa Lopez for interviewing for a Career Pathways article in the current issue of Community College Journal.
Lane is featured in the AASHE annual review for our use of a green revolving fund to achieve sustainability goals and identify energy efficiency projects. AASHE is the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Kudos to Anna Scott and Jennifer Hayward for their work on this.
Lane's Jazz Ensemble was named a winner in the 38th Annual DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards. This is a first. DownBeat is one of the oldest music journals so it's quite an honor. Congratulations to Lane jazz director Paul Krueger and his ensemble. You can catch them in their next concert on June 5 in the Ragozzino Hall.
Finally, our recent tornado put us on the national weather map. Thanks to Public Safety for a swift response. We are grateful that no one was hurt.
I just want to say that I was sorry to hear that Tony Baker is retiring as publisher of The Register-Guard. He's done a superb job and has been very supportive of Lane. I am thankful that he will continue on our Foundation board. I will be making plans to meet the incoming publisher, N. Christian Anderson III, formerly with the Oregonian and Orange County Register.