Two appointed to SOU Board of Trustees

Former SOU administrator and consultant appointed to Board of Trustees

/in , ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Liz Shelby, who retired from Southern Oregon University after serving as director of government relations and chief of staff, and lobbyist and government relations consultant Iris Maria Chávez have both been appointed by Gov. Kate Brown and confirmed today by the Oregon Senate to serve on the university’s Board of Trustees. They will begin their service to the board on Sept. 28.

Shelby appointed to Board of TrusteesShelby will complete the partial four-year term to which retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice Virginia Linder was appointed in February, but was unable to serve. Chávez will complete the unexpired four-year term of Lyn Hennion, who served on the board since its inception in 2015 and was appointed to a new term in June.

“I am honored and excited to join the Board of Trustees of Southern Oregon University,” said Shelby, who served for 25 years at SOU before her retirement in 2017. “With my background and commitment to public higher education in Oregon, I am eager to help guide the sustainability and diversity of SOU during this important time in the university’s history.”

Chavez appointed to Board of TrusteesChávez is the managing partner of Equity Action Partners of Portland, and has more than 15 years of experience working in government affairs, community engagement and communications for advocacy organizations and think tanks, advancing state and federal policy to improve community outcomes and increase government accountability. She has built issue-advocacy campaigns with a variety of advocacy and civil rights organizations across the country, leading to bipartisan legislation to provide investments in education, public safety, social justice and child welfare.

“I’m excited to join my new colleagues on the board at Southern Oregon University,” Chávez said. “I look forward to supporting the strategies and vision that will ensure the continued success of the university and our students.”

Chávez serves as the board chair for the Partnership for Safety & Justice and is a board member for the Latino Network Action Fund. She has built coalitions with – and advocated on behalf of – organizations including the Education Trust, League of United Latin American Citizens, Chalkboard Project, Children’s Institute, Partnership for Safety & Justice, Sponsors, Inc., and the Oregon Coalition of Community Charter Schools.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in history, sociology and African Diaspora Studies from Tulane University and her master’s degree in social policy from the University of Chicago.

Shelby served six SOU presidents as director of government relations and three as chief of staff before her retirement five years ago. She was involved in several significant transitions for the university, including its name change from Southern Oregon State College in 1997 and the shift to an independent board of trustees in 2015.

She previously served 16 years as director of the federal Small Business Development Center in the SOU School of Business, helping local entrepreneurs with business plans and working with existing business owners to develop strategies that increase profitability.

Shelby, a two-time alumna,  earned her bachelor’s degree in business and her master’s degree in business administration at SOU. She is the board chair for the Resolve Center for Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice and is vice president of the Jefferson Public Radio Foundation’s board of directors. She previously served on the board of Rogue Credit Union for 14 years.

“The SOU Board of Trustees is very happy to welcome Iris and Liz to the board,” said Daniel Santos, the board chair. “Their expertise and broad range of experiences will help all of us to guide the university and advance its mission for the next 150 years. We are also tremendously grateful for Lyn Hennion’s lengthy and insightful service and leadership on the SOU Board; we wish her the very best.”

-SOU-

President Bailey lays out financial strategy to solidify SOU's operations

SOU prepares for strategic realignment to solidify financial future

/in , ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey announced to employees today an emerging plan to address an outdated financial model that has left SOU and many other public higher education institutions relying too heavily on tuition revenue to balance their budgets. According to Bailey, the work over the next several months will be to strategically realign the university for future growth.

“We are drawing a line in the sand on using tuition increases to meet rising costs,” President Bailey said. “We are all committed to the innovations that will keep more and more from being put on the backs of our students.”

The president called for teamwork in managing costs with steps that will reduce recurring, annual expenses, as well as programmatic realignments that enable SOU to sharpen its focus and better prepare students for success and service to their communities.

“Our university has operated for most of its 150 years on a financial model that’s very common in public higher education: near-exclusive reliance on a combination of state funding and tuition revenue,” Bailey said. “That model was effective until about 30 years ago, when the balance between those two funding sources began to flip – what used to be about a two-thirds share from the state and one-third from tuition is now the exact opposite.

“Our leadership and budgeting teams have looked long and hard at our structural issues, and are confident that SOU’s financial foundation can be successfully re-engineered, but it will take several years to get there,” Bailey said. “Our new, bottom-line fiscal formula must be one in which revenue is greater than or equal to costs for the long-term. While that sounds fairly straightforward, it isn’t always followed.”

Bailey said there are four “planks” to re-engineer the university’s fiscal operations: managing costs, vigorously going after grants, leveraging SOU’s growing philanthropic capacity and diversifying the university’s revenue streams.

In his announcement, Bailey offered two examples of how the university has already begun to address recurring costs: a three-year shift to a new core information system that will improve service and save $700,000 per year; and the goal of making SOU the first public university in the nation to make all of its own electricity on its campus, saving another $700,000 to $800,000 per year. The university’s shift to the Workday information system began last month, and SOU has applied for both state and federal funding for the next steps toward powering the entire campus with its own solar arrays.

Bailey acknowledged that changes to SOU academic and support programs will be complicated but he promised transparency and intends to include student, faculty and staff governance groups in the analysis process, along with the unions that represent faculty members and classified employees.

“Our guiding principles throughout this process will be to act with integrity, transparency, compassion and humility; to focus on the best interests of our students and the long-term vision of SOU; and to view each step through the lens of JEDI – justice, equity, diversity and inclusion,” he said.

Bailey cited recent examples of how SOU efforts in the areas of grant procurement and philanthropy are already on the upswing. Recent grants from the National Science Foundation will pay for cutting edge research equipment in the university’s Chemistry and Physics Department, and will allow researchers in the Computer Science Department to work with local elementary teachers to develop their students’ computational thinking skills. And SOU just last week announced a $12-million philanthropic commitment from Lithia Motors and GreenCars that will support the university’s sustainability and accessibility efforts. That gift announcement came just months after the estate of late wrestling coach Bob Riehm made a $3 million donation, which at the time was easily the largest-ever single gift to the university.

The SOU president said that his vision for diversifying revenue to the university, beyond the traditional sources from tuition and state funding, will start with four ideas: expanding solar production as mentioned above; razing the Cascades Complex and building an innovative senior living facility that creates synergy between its residents and students; establishing a University Business District that produces partnerships between SOU and neighboring businesses; and creating a training center to help other organizations transition their core information systems to the Workday platform.

“There are undoubtedly more ideas that we have yet to imagine, but these are the handful that we are actively pursuing for now – and we are confident in each of them,” Bailey said “If just one or two of them pan out, they will be game-changers. If all of them cross the finish line, they will be transformational for the university. Ultimately, I am confident that SOU will reimagine what public higher education looks like, build a fiscally sustainable institution for our students, faculty and staff, and become a role model for the rest of the country – and we will do it together.”

-SOU-

Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer and SOU President Rick Bailey

Lithia & GreenCars pledge historic commitment, set SOU’s philanthropic bedrock

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University and Medford-based Lithia Motors have announced a philanthropic partnership that will serve as the bedrock of future innovations at SOU. Lithia’s commitment exceeds $12 million and is the largest-ever single gift to the university.

The contributions from Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD) create the Lithia & GreenCars Momentum Fund, which will be used “to propel the university forward by investing in people and programs to implement the university’s and the company’s shared vision of sustainability and diversity.” The fund will also become a catalyst to invite other companies and individuals to participate in making a significant difference in both social and environmental change.

The Lithia & GreenCars Momentum Fund will support:

  • SOU’s Lithia & GreenCars Scholarship Program, $5 million – Composed of student financial aid awards and a leadership development program designed to recruit and retain first-generation and/or minoritized populations traditionally underrepresented in higher education.
  • Institute for Applied Sustainability, $4 million – Anchored by four distinguished faculty members and two administrators, the mission of the institute will be to identify and implement initiatives that move the university toward a sustainable campus. Institute members will collaborate with executives from Lithia to develop projects and programs, such as the creation of a national sustainability conference, an academic credential in corporate sustainability and a national sustainability demonstration site.
  • The Lithia & GreenCars President’s Fund, $ 1million – The fund will support the university president’s efforts to develop new ways of solving complex problems and support innovation and entrepreneurship.

In addition, Lithia & GreenCars will “electrify” SOU by providing electric vehicles to the university and installing charging stations across campus.

Finally, the company will continue to support the Lithia & GreenCars/Raider Golf Tournament, building upon the many years of SOU athletic programs successes.  Proceeds from the annual tournament provide scholarships to student-athletes.

“A gift of this magnitude and scope has the potential to increase our national profile,” SOU President Rick Bailey said. “This is a game-changer on two important values that our organizations share: sustainability and diversity. Lithia leaders have generously supported our university for many years, and this commitment creates momentum and a national platform to focus energy on two of the most important issues of our time.”

Lithia Motors was founded in Ashland in 1946. Sid DeBoer took the company public in 1968. Today, Lithia is one of Oregon’s two Fortune 200 companies and is now led by President and CEO Bryan DeBoer, an SOU alumnus. The company operates nearly 300 automotive dealerships across North America and recently became the largest new vehicle retailer in the world.

“The Lithia & GreenCars Momentum Fund provides critical financial support in our dual drive to promote higher education and corporate sustainability within our local communities,” Bryan DeBoer said. “These academic scholarships champion students from diverse and underserved backgrounds, and the Institute for Applied Sustainability will advance our commitment to sustainable best practices and the shift toward electrification in the auto industry.”

Institute for Applied Sustainability members

Vincent Smith, Ph.D., is a professor of environmental science and policy, director of the Institute for Applied Sustainability, and director of the Division of Business, Communication and Environment. Smith’s research explores the complex, coupled human-environment systems that shape the world in which we live. He actively partners with communities to understand socio-environmental problems and then apply that research in decision-making contexts. His work spans several traditional disciplinary boundaries including human ecology, environmental sociology, landscape ecology, agroecology and human geography.

Bret Anderson, Ph.D., is an associate professor of economics whose research interests range from providing targeted quantitative analyses to exploring more conceptual inquiries of place-based economics. Following the Almeda Fire, Anderson and several committed community members created the Local Innovation Lab in partnership with the university to provide community-based, college-to-career mentorship to empower future entrepreneurs and leaders.

Christopher Lucas, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Communication, Media and Cinema Program. His research has focused on cultural policy and the relationship between digital technologies and society, especially in the film and media industries. As a documentary filmmaker, he has produced and written for a number of award-winning documentaries on themes of sustainability and the environment, including work on fossil fuel infrastructure, environmental justice and water quality.

Pavlina McGrady, Ph.D., is an associate professor of business and coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Management degree program. McGrady’s research focuses on sustainable tourism, exploring tourism businesses’ and local residents’ perceptions on tourism impacts, management and policies, to identify strategies for sustainable destination management. Her research also examines the barriers and predictors of corporate sustainability in the United States, as well as the role of leadership in a business’s journey toward sustainability.

Jessica Piekielek, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist with research and teaching interests in conservation, environmentalism, sustainability, and border and migration studies. She has fieldwork experience in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America. Piekielek is a professor of anthropology and chairs the Sociology and Anthropology program.

Rebecca Walker is the university’s Director of Sustainability. She joined the university in 2019 after 15 years with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, a public agency of the Scottish government that focuses on the sustainability of Scotland’s natural resources and services. Walker recently steered the university to its first-ever “Gold” rating for campus-wide sustainability achievements, as measured by an evaluation system developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and used to grade colleges and universities worldwide.

Scale of the Lithia & GreenCars Gifts
This new commitment from Lithia continues and expands upon a long tradition of support for SOU from LAD and its founding family. The company contributed $1 million for the construction of Lithia Motors Pavilion and another $1 million to fund scholarships for student-athletes in 2017. The 96,000-square-foot pavilion serves as the athletics home and indoor sports venue for SOU, and its construction earned a LEED Gold rating for sustainability.

Philanthropy is on a significant upswing at SOU, which early this year received a $3 million donation from the estate of legendary SOU wrestling coach Bob Riehm – at that time, another record-setting gift for the university. The gift from Riehm, who passed away in 2020, endowed the men’s wrestling head coach position at SOU and scholarships for the team’s student-athletes.

About Lithia & GreenCars (LAD)
LAD is a growth company focused on profitably consolidating the largest retail sector in North America through providing personal transportation solutions wherever, whenever and however consumers desire.

SOU's Hala Schepmann leads National Science Foundation grant project

SOU awarded National Science Foundation grant for cutting-edge equipment

/in ,

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University’s nationally-accredited Department of Chemistry has been awarded a prestigious, $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The NSF funding – part of the agency’s “Major Research Instrumentation Grant”’ program – provides for the acquisition of a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The instrument will advance research and research training activities at SOU, and expand students’ use of modern scientific equipment in undergraduate chemistry courses already known for their hands-on instrumentation approach.

Anna Oliveri, National Science Foundation grant team  Samuel David, National Science Foundation grant teamThe new spectrometer, similar to an MRI scanner but used to determine the molecular identity of chemical species, will provide ready access to advanced NMR techniques and its low-aluminum probe will allow on-site analysis of aluminum-containing compounds. The new spectrometer is expected to be available by spring 2023.

“This instrument will increase the breadth and depth of research in the areas of aqueous aluminum chemistry, synthesis of important industrial and medicinal organic compounds, and structural identification of bioactive natural products,” said professor Hala Schepmann, the chair of SOU’s Department of Chemistry and Physics. “It is a state-of-the-art instrument that will support faculty and student research as well as our ongoing efforts to provide upward social mobility to historically underrepresented students by offering a relevant and rigorous curriculum, extensive hands-on instrument training and numerous opportunities to participate in faculty-mentored research and research communication activities.

“SOU values real-world opportunities for its students, and the availability of advanced instrumentation for chemical research puts us on par with the top undergraduate programs in the U.S.”

Schepmann led the NSF grant application process as principal investigator, and was joined by SOU Chemistry Department faculty members Anna Oliveri and Samual David as co-principal investigators. She also credited several SOU administrators and staff members with supporting the successful funding request.

This is Schepmann’s second NSF grant (2019, $1M) in the past three years and the NMR project is the second NSF grant announced this fall with SOU faculty members in leadership roles. A three-year, $1 million grant through the NSF’s Computer Science for All program will help local kindergarten-through-fifth-grade teachers develop the “computational thinking” skills of their students.

“These are exactly the kinds of funding opportunities that we are actively encouraging our faculty members to pursue,” said SOU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Susan Walsh. “They expand our abilities to serve our students and communities in exciting, relevant ways.”

NMR spectrometers enable scientists to study the physical, chemical and biological properties of both organic and inorganic compounds. The new instrument will be used at SOU to advance aluminum chemistry, organic chemistry and natural products research investigations. It will also support the Chemistry Department’s long-held incorporation of NMR instruction throughout its curriculum, beginning with a dedicated Organic Spectroscopy course and laboratory taken by STEM majors in their sophomore year.

The National Science Foundation said in approving the SOU grant request that NMR spectroscopy “is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules.” The grant is supported by both the NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation program and its Chemistry Research Instrumentation program.

“Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research,” the NSF said. “This instrument enhances the educational, research, and teaching efforts of students at all levels in the department.”

-SOU-