President's Report - November 2014

It's been quite month with the 50th anniversary, the Harvest Dinner, global conversations, and the accreditation site visit, all in addition to our usual course of business. I'm proud of everyone for stepping up and making each of these occasions as successful as possible.

Lane's 50th anniversary celebrations were wonderful, from the reception in Florence to our main campus event on the 15th. It was affirming to see the level of participation and enjoy the good stories and to make new memories. Everyone seemed so glad to be part of Lane Community College. We enjoyed great support from donors, the community, and our elected officials. There was a ton of publicity and I interviewed with The Register-Guard, KUGN, KEZI, KVAL, and KNND, and Open for Business. The 50th bling all over the community has been a hit, even at this last weekend's OSAA meet. Many people worked long and tirelessly to make it all happen but I want to give a special shout out to Marketing and Public Relations, Government and Community Relations, the Foundation, the Center for Meeting and Learning, and ASLCC for collaborating to accomplish this.

We had possibly our best ever Harvest Dinner and Auction on October 29, raising $360,000 by last count. Thanks to the Foundation, Culinary and Hospitality Management staff and students, and the Center for Meeting and Learning for another fabulous event.

I also wanted to mention that we did receive a $400,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust for the CLASS project. We are at $2 million for the CLASS project, so we are on track with that.

On October 16, we had a staff meeting to talk about accreditation, student loan defaults, and legislative relations. There was plenty of audience participation. Tomorrow we will have our first Global Conversation on the Future of Higher Education.

Thanks to Vice President Brian Kelly officially for launching LaneStarter, our all-staff effort to launch more entrepreneurial ideas to help our budget from a revenue creation approach, not just a cost cutting approach.

Our seven-year accreditation site visit was very informative. Our guests were pleased with all of the arrangements, especially the food, and how accessible and open the process was. Many thanks to Executive Dean of Transfer Maurice Hamington for his leadership. We received 8 commendations and 9 recommendations, which are:

COMMENDATIONS:
1. The Board of Education, Administration, Faculty, Staff and Students of Lane Community College are commended for creating a learning culture that supports and encourages student success.
2. The Board of Education is commended for their systematic review of college policies and for their strong stewardship of the organization as demonstrated through policy development in alignment with institutional core themes and strategic directions.
3. Lane Community College is to be commended for their authentic, transparent and honest engagement in the accreditation process and for demonstrating a high level of integrity.
4. Lane Community College is commended for innovative, creative work that results in national recognition as a college of distinction in areas such as Achieving the Dream, Sustainability, and college leadership.
5. Lane Community College is commended for completion of the Downtown Campus, related partnerships, and effective management leading to moving this operation to a self-support status.
6. The library is commended for their work creating a comprehensive collection and cooperative agreements for lending materials in a manner that strongly supports the learning and research needs of the institution.
7. The Financial Aid department is commended for diligently and thoughtfully addressing issues concerning the college's cohort default rate.
8. Staff of Student's First programs such as the Women's Center, Multicultural Center, Veterans Center, Tutoring, and the Workforce office are to be commended for their commitment to the populations served and strong collaboration to leverage available resources.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. In order to ensure and document mission fulfillment, it is recommended that the college complete planning processes that are purposeful, systematic, integrated and comprehensive.
2. In order to ensure a widely understood and effective system of governance that supports mission fulfillment, it is recommended that Lane Community College review and clearly define the authority, roles, responsibilities and communication methods associated with its adopted decision-making structure.
3. In order to clearly state, document and evaluate mission fulfillment, it is recommended that Lane Community College fully develop an institutional effectiveness model that forms the basis for its accomplishment of the objectives of its core themes and ensures organizational adaptation and sustainability.
4. In order to ensure programs offered reflect appropriate content and vigor, it is recommended that Lane Community College engage faculty in developing a periodic and systematic process for assessing student learning at the college, program, and course level.
5. In order to ensure quality and relevancy of its program and service offerings, it is recommended that Lane Community College's administration, faculty and staff engage in establishing and implementing comprehensive program and services review processes that are informed by data and connected to its planning and institutional effectiveness process.
6. In order to reflect non-discrimination in practice and to realize accomplishment of its core themes, core values and strategic directions, it is recommended that Lane Community College fully implement the Board of Education policy related to diversity and inclusion.
7. In order to ensure policies and procedures related to student complaints are clearly stated, readily available, and administered in a clear and consistent manner, it is recommended that Lane Community College review its existing processes for and document its responses to formal complaints.
8. In order to ensure adequate performance of work duties and effective employee development, it is recommended that Lane Community College staff be evaluated in a consistent and systematic manner.
9. In order to ensure the library at Lane Community College is able to fully and adequately engage in planning for services, provide information resources, and support institutional learning outcomes, it is recommended that permanent library leadership be identified.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the process.

Our Titan Women's Soccer Team won its seventh straight game on October 22, clinching the NWAC Southern Region Championship. Congratulations to First Year Head Coach Erica Jensen and our student-athletes on this great accomplishment. The Titans Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams won their respective Southern Region Cross Country Championship titles on Oct. 25. Congratulations to men's coach Mike Blackmore and women's coach Grady O'Connor. We hosted the OSAA State High School Cross Country Championships once again on Saturday. This massive event puts Lane on the map for many people in our state. Special thanks to Coach Grady O'Connor, Athletics Director Greg Sheley and Division Dean Chris Hawken, and to our teams from Grounds, Public Safety, Custodial, and all of the volunteers. Next year's event will be on Halloween.

Enrollment reports from the third week of the term show registrations down 15.2 percent, and total unduplicated headcount down 12.1 percent.

I'd like to congratulate Mark Gregory as our new director of the OSBDCN. You'll recall that we host that program at Lane for the state.

Kudos to Foundation Director Wendy Jett for being named a 20-under-40 Rising Business Star. These awards are sponsored by Blue Chip and its partners to recognize young leaders who show exceptional potential. The awards will be announced in The Register-Guard's December issue of Blue Chip magazine, and at a reception at the Hilton on December 2 at 5:30 p.m.

I would like to commend college employees and the Safety Committee for practicing and promoting safe workplace practices. Their collective safety efforts have resulted in a $150,000 dividend refund from SAIF for the college.

Titan Court is still at 93% occupancy as we've had a few move out, and a few move in. However, we have a new master lease request from the UO for 12 more students starting in January. The current demographic breakdown of residents is 74% Lane students and 26% UO students. Among those, 38% are international students including 59% from Lane and 41% from the UO.

Senator Ron Wyden and State Treasurer Ted Wheeler held a meeting with community members at the Downtown Center on October 17 to discuss the issue of retirement security. About 30 people attended the invite-only event. I would like to thank Lane students Ilene Colman and Marianna Glenday for attending and sharing their personal experiences of returning to college later in life.

The Main-McVay Stakeholder Advisory Committee continues to explore the possible future expansion of EmX from Thurston to LCC. To date, the group has been identifying priority needs to meet and which modes to use in future transportation projects. Over the next 2-4 months, the committee will be making final recommendations to the City of Springfield and LTD. Contact Brett if you would like more details.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on "gainful employment" programs, which encompass all Title-IV eligible non-degree programs at community colleges. The regulations will go into effect on July 1, 2015, subject to an expected legal challenge.

We have the OCCA conference in Sunriver on November 5 and 6.

The board has a busy schedule ahead with a retreat on November 15 and 16, and then the Community Conversations on strategic planning. The Conversations are set for Monday, November 17, in the Center for Meeting and Learning; Wednesday, November 19, in Veneta at Elmira High School; and Tuesday, December 2, at the LCC Cottage Grove Center. Each will be from 6-7:30 p.m.

On November 6 you might want to catch our Dance Program's presentation of "The Bali Study Abroad Program: Beyond Touristic Culture" in the Longhouse, starting at 4:30 p.m.. Admission is free. This will be a video presentation of the experience our own Balinese dance company, Tirta Tari, directed by Bonnie Simoa, had when they traveled to Bali at the invitation of the Indonesian government to perform at the prestigious Bali Arts Festival. The dancers stayed for two additional weeks studying different forms of traditional Balinese dance and exploring Balinese culture. In addition to the video, there will be a Balinese dance performance, followed by presentations from the dancers and a Q&A session.

I attended the Fall Music Gala on October 30 and was, as always, so impressed with the talent we have teaching here at Lane. There were performances by our Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Gospel Choir, and Chamber Orchestra.

Lane will have holiday closures on November 11 for Veterans Day, and November 27 through 30 for Thanksgiving.