Philanthropic support soaring at SOU

Philanthropic giving increasing significantly at SOU

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Philanthropic support of SOU has soared over the past five years, the result of an intensive effort to transition the university toward a future of sustainable financial operations and improved student access.

New gifts and pledges grew nearly 125% over that period, according to Janet Fratella, vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the SOU Foundation.

“In 2022, we received the two largest gifts in our history, and we are on pace to continue setting new records as we embark on the university’s inaugural comprehensive campaign,” Fratella said.

Philanthropy has become a pivotal piece of revenue for public universities across the country over the past 30 years.

“As funding from the state has declined, the need for private gifts has increased and this added revenue over the long-term helps offset a continuing need to increase tuition, year after year,” Fratella said.

Investments from the university and its foundation over the past several years have provided the needed infrastructure to increase giving in new and significant ways.

“Philanthropy  is one of the new financial bedrocks of SOU, along with the strategic realignment of our operations and programs, targeted grant applications and entrepreneurial opportunities to create new revenue streams,” President Rick Bailey said.

The university received a $3 million estate gift in early 2022 from legendary wrestling coach Bob Riehm, who passed away in November 2020. A third of the gift endowed the men’s wrestling head coach position and two-thirds will be used to fund scholarships for the team’s student-athletes.

Riehm coached the school’s wrestling program for 25 years beginning in 1969, winning three national championships and mentoring 100 NAIA All-Americans. He compiled a 270-71-2 career record and has been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the SOU Sports Hall of Fame.

Bailey, Fratella and others announced in September what is easily the single largest gift in the university’s 150-year history – a whopping $12 million over 10 years from Lithia Motors, a Medford-based Fortune 200 company. The gift created 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.”

According to Bailey, the Lithia commitment will likely become a catalyst for other companies and individuals to participate in making a significant difference in both social and environmental change.

“A gift of this magnitude and scope has the potential to increase our national profile,” President Bailey said.

The Momentum Fund establishes a $5 million scholarship and leadership development program designed to recruit and retain first-generation and/or minoritized populations traditionally underrepresented in higher education. The first cohort of scholars will be named in 2023.

Another $4 million from the Momentum Fund will be used to establish the Institute for Applied Sustainability, which will be anchored by four distinguished faculty members and two administrators – all of whom bring sustainability expertise into their work, academic research or teaching. The institute will be led by Vince Smith, Ph.D., professor of environmental science and policy and director of the Division of Business, Communication and Environment. Members include Pavilina McGrady, Ph.D., associate professor of business; Bret Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor of economics; Christopher Lucas, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Communication, Media and Cinema Program; Jessica Piekielek, Ph.D., professor of anthropology; and Rebecca Walker, the university’s sustainability director.

The institute’s mission will be to identify and implement initiatives that move the university toward sustainability in campus operations and leadership. Its 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 Momentum Fund also provides $1 million to support the university president’s efforts to develop  new ways of solving complex problems, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition to the Momentum Fund, Lithia & GreenCars have pledged to “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 many years of SOU athletic programs success. Proceeds from the annual tournament – which has raised more than $600,000 in each of the past two years – are used to provide scholarships to student-athletes.

“As we continue to engage more and more of our alumni and donors in the life of the university and demonstrate the impact of giving, we will see continued support and success,” Fratella said.

Food drive begins Feb. 1

State Employee Food Drive begins next week

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The annual Governor’s State Employee Food Drive, also known as the February Food Drive, is a monthlong effort that begins Feb. 1, and all food and money received at SOU will directly address hunger at the university by supporting the Student Food Pantry’s operations throughout the year.

Donations in any amount or quantity will be welcomed – whether by accepting the “Governor’s Challenge” to donate $12 per month and a total of $144 for the year, contributing a different amount or leaving canned or packaged food in well-marked collection bins that will be placed on the main floor of each SOU building.

Anyone can make a one-time monetary donation online, and employees have the additional option of signing up for a monthly payroll deduction. Visit giving.sou.edu/food-pantry and donate by Feb. 28 to participate in the February Food Drive.

The popular “Fill the Bin” building competition is also back for the 2023 food drive, with the building that collects the largest volume of non-perishable food items by weight receiving bragging rights for the year. Collection bins will be placed in buildings beginning Feb. 3, and will be collected and weighed on Friday, March 3.

Items in highest demand at the Student Food Pantry include hearty soups, instant oatmeal, microwaveable/instant meals, nut butters, pasta, pasta sauce, canned beans, cereal, non-dairy milk and snack bars.

Questions about the food drive or the Student Food Pantry can be directed to foodpantry@sou.edu or visit the February Food Drive website at www.sou.edu/fooddrive for more information.

Mark Tveskov's new book looks at the archaeology of war

New book on archaeology of war from SOU professor

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SOU anthropology professor Mark Tveskov has a new book about the archaeology of war and battlefields, and how war and conflict are remembered and commemorated. The volume includes a chapter on Tveskov’s research on the archaeology of the Rogue River War and a discussion of the experiences of African Americans and the Indigenous Metis people of Canada during that war.

“Conflict Archaeology, Historical Memory and the Experience of War: Beyond the Battlefield” is an edited volume from Tveskov and Ashley Ann Bissonnette, an assistant professor of public health at Eastern Connecticut State University. It was published by University Press of Florida.

Essays from a variety of contributors go beyond forensic analyses of sites of conflict “to consider the historical memory, commemoration and social experience of war,” according to the publisher’s website. The writings challenge prevailing accounts of wars throughout the “settler colonialism” of North America.

Conflicts that are examined include the battle of Chikasha, King Philip’s War, the 1694 battle at Guadalupe Mesa, the Dakota-U.S. War of 1862 and a World War II battle on the Pacific Ocean island of Saipan. The Schenectady Massacre of 1690 and colonial posts staffed by Black soldiers also are analyzed.

“This book is a collection of studies that considers a question of the day: How does a society remember, critique, commemorate, and find significance in events, artifacts and places of conflict and war?” Tveskov and Bissonnette write in its introductory chapter.

Tveskov – who teaches in SOU’s Sociology and Anthropology Department – has focused his current research on the Rogue River War of the early 1850s, shell middens on the Oregon Coast and the African American logging community of Maxville in northeastern Oregon. He has conducted research in Iceland, New England, Southern California and Alaska.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Connecticut, and his doctorate at the University of Oregon. He is a member of the governor’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation.

Tveskov and Bissonnette, his co-editor for the new book, both grew up in New England and received archaeological training at the University of Connecticut.

Klamath Outdoor Science School hires SOU graduate

Recent SOU grad hired at outdoor school

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Natalie DiNenno, a fall 2022 graduate of SOU’s Master of Science in Environmental Education Program, has accepted a position as executive director of Klamath Outdoor Science School (KOSS.)

KOSS has a camp in Sun Pass State Forest, near Ft. Klamath and Jackson Kimball State Park, and provides outdoor school, summer camps and a wide range of other outdoor education programs throughout southern Oregon. Natalie will continue to reside in Ashland.

After growing up and attending college on the East Coast, Natalie made her way to the Northwest to pursue graduate studies at SOU.

“I was immediately captivated by the beauty of southern Oregon and the supportive network of environmental educators in this region,” Natalie says.

Students in SOU’s Master of Science in Environmental Education Program work to design an environmental education program and then implement it as their capstone project in the annual Fall in the Field outdoor classes for the region’s third- through eighth-grade students. The MSEE program is intended to prepare graduates for teaching and leadership positions at nature centers, museums, schools, government agencies and other organizations.

Natalie grew up outside of Philadelphia and received bachelor’s degrees in environmental studies and sociology from Williams College in Massachusetts. She has worked as a naturalist, camp counselor and administrator, and visited the Pacific Northwest for the first time while attending the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies program.

She enjoys writing, making music or turning over rocks in streams to marvel at benthic macroinvertebrates in her spare time. She is passionate about providing immersive, place-based, experiential education for all students, of all ages and backgrounds.

Natalie is already busy in her new job with KOSS, scheduling fifth- and sixth-grade classes for spring and fall outdoor school, all grades for day camps and planning a wide range of summer programs. She is also hiring instructors and support staff for those camps.

For more information on KOSS’s programs and open positions, see the KOSS website. Natalie can be reached directly at 541-850-8218 or by emailing natalie.dinenno@klamathoutdoorschool.org.

Professional counselors are available to students through the My SSP platform

Partnership offers SOU students real-time access to counselors

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University has begun winter term with a new partnership to provide real-time, 24-hour-per-day access to professional counselors who can support students through anything from mental health crises to everyday concerns.

The university has joined a growing list of educational institutions to work with the human resources firm LifeWorks to offer counseling and other resources through the company’s My Student Support Program (My SSP). Counselors are available for on-demand, no-appointment sessions by phone or chat – either online or on the My SSP mobile app – or by appointment for ongoing, short-term counseling. My SSP will complement SOU’s existing, on-campus services for student health and wellness, and is offered at no charge for SOU students.

“We recognize that the higher education setting, even at a welcoming and supportive campus such as ours, has stress points that can be difficult to work through alone,” said Anna D’Amato, executive director of the SOU Student Health & Wellness Center. “This partnership with LifeWorks to provide the full slate of My SSP services is a tremendous value to our students and the university. Students’ overall health and wellbeing – physical, mental and emotional – is our top priority, and this new tool will help us provide important services that cannot be fully offered through our own, limited staff.”

Students can access the new services through the free My SSP app, the website (https://myssp.app/ca/home) or by phone at 1 (866) 743-7732 (or at 001 (416) 380-6578 for those outside the U.S. or Canada).

The LifeWorks counselors are specifically trained to deal with challenges often faced by students, such as adapting to new challenges, academic success, stress and worry of daily life, relationship concerns, and sadness, loneliness and uncertainty. Multilingual counselors are available for sessions in English, Spanish, French, Mandarin and Cantonese – and in other languages, if available, by appointment.

The My SSP partnership also gives SOU students access – through the app, website and telephone – to a variety of articles, videos, tools and other resources.

My SSP offers guidance for faculty or staff members, or student leaders, on how to best manage difficult student situations and on facilitating “assisted referrals” for students of concern. Those who have frontline connections with students are encouraged to let them know it’s OK to ask for help, to recommend registering on the free My SSP app, and to call in themselves for advice on engaging students of concern.

LifeWorks, a leading provider of technology-enabled HR services, was launched in 1966 as W.F. Morneau & Associates, and now serves about 24,000 client organizations in 162 countries. Its international and domestic student support programs serve more than 2 million students at a variety of colleges and universities, with a worldwide network of more than 35,000 counselors – including at least 18,000 in the U.S.

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New exchange program links SOU and Universidad Católica del Uraguay

SOU adds first exchange partner in Southern Hemisphere

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Southern Oregon University in Ashland and the Universidad Católica del Uruguay (Catholic University of Uraguay) in Montevideo are launching a new student exchange partnership in 2023 that will be SOU’s first such arrangement in South America and the Southern Hemisphere.

Bilateral exchange programs, like the one developed between SOU and UCU, function as affordable study-abroad opportunities for participants. Exchange students pay their usual tuition and fee rates at their home university, while spending a semester or year abroad at the partner institution. SOU students keep their financial aid package intact while on exchange, creating opportunities for students of limited financial means to pursue international experiences.

Students on SOU’s Ashland campus will also benefit from the addition of Uruguayan students in the classroom. Exchange students visiting Ashland bring their unique perspectives, histories and cultures to enliven classroom discussions, group projects and creative showcases. UCU offers majors including business, communication, computer science, economics, nutrition, performing arts, psychology, recreation, sociology and visual arts, and exchange students are welcomed from across all fields of study.

SOU students applying to study at UCU in Montevideo will need to have at least a B1-level of Spanish language proficiency, and expect to immerse themselves in Spanish language through their coursework in Uruguay. Students may take courses such as Spanish language, Uruguayan Culture, Latin American and Uruguayan Thinking, or a service-learning course in addition to classes alongside UCU students in their areas of study.

“Uruguay is highly regarded internationally for its stances on environmental stewardship, sustainability, human rights, and democracy. It ranks highly as a safe destination for LGBT travelers,” says Ariel Bloomer, SOU’s Education Abroad advisor. “I’m excited about the diversity this location brings to our existing exchange portfolio, and what that means for cultural exchange opportunities on our campus.”

For SOU students interested in the exchange opportunity in Uruguay, or in other exchange destinations, the application deadline for fall exchanges is Feb. 15. All partners can be explored on the Office of International Programs page on Inside SOU, or at the upcoming Study Abroad Fair from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 25 in the Stevenson Union, Room 323. Students can contact the Office of International Programs at studyaway@sou.edu.

Story by Ariel Bloomer, SOU Education Abroad advisor