President Linda Schott and husband Tom Fuhrmark at Chamber celebration

SOU recognized for “business-like” operations by Medford Chamber

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Southern Oregon University was recognized for its “entrepreneurial and business-like” operations during last weekend’s centennial celebration of the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County.

SOU and the Jackson County Library District each received Spirit of Enterprise Awards during the Chamber’s Excellence in Business awards ceremony on Friday night at the Collier Center for the Performing Arts in Medford.

Those were the fourth and fifth Spirit of Enterprise awards ever presented by the Medford Chamber, and the first since 2017. The awards are intended to recognize efficient operations of government agencies.

“The recipient of this award helps to create a pro-job, pro-growth business environment and culture in our community,” said Lydia Salvey, the Chamber’s vice president for communications and programs. “Innovative programs and strategic plans to boost economic growth are recognized by this award.”

SOU President Linda Schott and Lyn Hennion, chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, accepted the award and congratulated the Medford Chamber on its 100 years of service to the region.

A total of 12 awards were presented on Friday night to individuals, business and other entities. The celebration continued on Saturday night with the Chamber’s 100th Anniversary Party at the Inn at the Commons in Medford.

“For a century now, the Chamber and our community leaders have come together to recognize the talents and achievements of prominent companies and outstanding individuals who have not only progressed in business, but have also succeeded in setting a great example of community involvement and advocacy,” Salvey said.

Annual Golf Shootout produces record amount for SOU athletic scholarships

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Last Thursday’s 29th annual Lithia/Raider Club Golf Shootout raised a record $480,000 to help SOU student-athletes.

The tournament, held annually at Medford’s Rogue Valley Country Club, also produced a record number of “Major Executive Sponsors” that each contributed $12,500 to the event.

This year’s major sponsors were Lithia Motors, The Partners Group, JP Morgan Chase, ExxonMobil, US Bank, Assurant, Chrysler Capital, Genova Burns, American Credit Acceptance, CarFax, Launch Consulting, Axalta, TD Auto Finance, Enterprise, Edmunds.com, Wells Fargo, Cox Automotive, Ally, MaxDigital, Cars.com, AutoPoint, PermaPlate, ADESA, Northwest BG, CDK and Toyota Financial.

Tournament results are available at https://bit.ly/RaiderClubGolfSOU.

The Lithia/Raider Club Golf Shootout has raised a total of more than $3 million in scholarships since 2011.

Donations can be made year-around through the SOU Foundation to support intercollegiate athletics at the university. More than 400 students represent SOU by competing in a total of 13 men’s and women’s sports.

SOU Computer Science Building

SOU-led team receives NSF grant to develop “computational thinking” model

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University has been awarded a two-year, $299,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop the “computational thinking” skills of kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students in the Ashland and Phoenix-Talent school districts.

The grant is part of the NSF’s Computer Science for All program, which is intended to extend computer science and computational thinking opportunities to all K-12 students in the U.S. Curriculum developed by SOU-led researchers, in partnership with teachers in the two school districts, will be intended for use in schools nationwide.

“It’s critical for students to learn computational thinking skills during their early years of elementary school,” said lead researcher Eva Skuratowicz, director of the Southern Oregon University Research Center (SOURCE). “That gives them the confidence to continue their learning in fields such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).”

Computational thinking is the articulation of problems and solutions in logical, computer-like ways. Those skills enable people to decompose problems, identify patterns and design answers.

“CT solutions have evolved from general problem-solving skills because of advances in technology that have changed both the nature of problems that need to be solved and our ability to solve them,” said Maggie Vanderberg, an associate professor of computer science at SOU and research team member for the NSF project.

The two-year project, “Empowering K-5 Teachers in Southern Oregon Through CT,” will begin in October. For the first year, researchers and a small group of educators will work side-by-side to develop and assess CT classroom strategies. During the second year, a total of 16 local teachers – two each from the Phoenix-Talent School District’s Orchard Hill, Phoenix and Talent elementary schools, and the Ashland School District’s Bellview, John Muir, Helman, Walker and Willow Wind elementary schools – will be chosen to collaborate on the project.

Skuratowicz and her research team were awarded the highly competitive NSF grant on their third attempt. Their proposal has been developed over the past four years in collaboration with the two local school districts.

“It is a great honor for SOU to be chosen by the National Science Foundation to lead this important and far-reaching project,” said SOU Provost Susan Walsh, the university’s chief academic officer. “This is a tribute not only to the tenacity of the research team, but to the sense of collaboration that drives our university.”

Eping Hung, a computing teacher at Ashland’s Willow Wind Elementary School, has helped to develop the grant project, along with Gladys Krause from Virginia’s William and Mary College and Joseph Wilson from the American Institutes for Research.

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