New SOU Ashland program in Ghana funded by Matt and Ella Essieh.

Gift from SOU alumni leads to partnerships in Ghana

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A couple who gained a global perspective and the academic foundation for success from their education at Southern Oregon University are funding a pilot project to provide similar opportunities for others, through a partnership between SOU and a pair of universities in the African country of Ghana.

The program begins this academic year with Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnerships between SOU and PALM University College in Kordiabe, Ghana, and Catholic University of Ghana, in Sunyani. Recently signed memoranda of understanding for those partnerships are preliminary steps toward a shared business course between SOU and one of the Ghanian universities that will include a two-week, reciprocal exchange program during the 2026-27 academic year.

The project is being funded by a grant from the Essieh Family Foundation, a philanthropic entity established by alumni Matt and Emmanuella Essieh, who met as international students at SOU. The Essiehs’ five-year commitment will enable SOU to develop its relationships with the Ghanian universities and complete planning for the pilot project.

“Thanks to my education at SOU, my worldview was greatly expanded,” Matt Essieh said. “With the success I’ve been blessed with, the time has come for me to pay it forward.”

Matt Essieh, who is from Ghana, earned his bachelor’s degree in business in 1982 and his master of business administration degree in 1983, and is the founder and CEO of Beaverton-based EAI Information Systems – a computer software company that helps banks, brokers and insurance companies track and manage their investments. Emmanuella Essieh, who is from Nigeria, earned her bachelor’s degree in business at SOU in 1982, and is the cofounder and president of KMJ Asset Management – a residential property investment and management firm in Portland.

Matt Essieh still has family in Ghana, and his software company has an office in the Ghanian capital of Accra.

The online and in-person exchange program is the first of its kind for students in Ghana; SOU students can participate in a similar hybrid exchange program in business with the Universidad de Guanajuato – the Global Innovation Scholars Program – in Mexico.

“Our partnership with Ghana reflects what’s possible when education transcends borders,” said Dee Fretwell Carreon, the director for SOU’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education, and is also director of the new Ghanian program.

“It’s a powerful reminder that peace and progress begin with collaboration, and that the next generation is ready to lead us there,” she said.

The Essiehs’ project is intended to foster cultural exchange by providing students opportunities to collaborate with peers from around the world, embracing differences while working together to solve hands-on business problems. The interactions between students from SOU and the Ghanian universities could result in changed perspectives and transformative life experiences – particularly for students from rural areas.

“My hope is to give students the experience of collaborating with each other across the world,” Matt Essieh said. “It will give them the opportunity to learn, appreciate and respect each other’s’ cultures.”

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SOU Ashland steps up for special education teacher training

SOU expands special education to meet regional needs

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Southern Oregon University’s School of Education is stepping up at a pivotal time for Oregon’s public schools, as the state faces a critical shortage of licensed special education teachers. Across southern Oregon, districts continue to post unfilled positions, rely on emergency or restricted licenses, and struggle to meet the needs of students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). According to the Oregon Department of Education, hundreds of special education positions remain vacant each year, revealing a pressing demand for fully prepared educators.

SOU is answering that call, as interest in its special education programs has surged. Undergraduate enrollment in the licensure pathway has doubled this year, while the Master of Arts in Teaching in special education continues to grow. That momentum is an indication that students across the region recognize both the urgency and the stability of the special ed career path. Many see it as more than a profession; they see it as a commitment to human connection.

New leadership and deeper expertise
The School of Education this year welcomed Somer Matthews, Ph.D., whose expertise in inclusive instruction and teacher preparation for diverse learners strengthens SOU’s capacity for hands-on, evidence-based training. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and focuses on leadership in inclusive education and severe disabilities. Her addition expands mentorship and course development, ensuring that candidates learn disability as a natural part of human diversity and that every child deserves an inclusive classroom where they are supported and seen.

School districts throughout southern Oregon are actively recruiting for special education-endorsed teachers, without whom the region’s schools struggle to staff resource rooms, co-teaching models and IEP services. SOU’s expanded preparation pipeline helps to close that gap. Graduates of the SOU program are entering classrooms in Ashland, Medford, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls, where every new teacher means that student are receiving the support they need, sooner rather than later.

What graduates gain
SOU’s special education program prepares educators to deliver differentiated instruction for a wide range of learning needs; collaborate with general education teachers to design inclusive environments; apply Universal Design for Learning and evidence-based interventions; serve students with learning disabilities, autism, behavioral challenges and other exceptionalities with empathy and skill; and graduate fully credentialed and job-ready, entering a field where demand is consistently high.

Nearly all graduates secure full-time teaching positions within months, and the SOU program includes many instructional assistants and teachers with emergency licenses completing their credentials while continuing to serve in schools – a model that sustains classrooms while building long-term capacity.

For SOU graduates, a special education endorsement brings immediate job security, competitive pay and lasting relevance. For Oregon communities, it means students with disabilities are supported by teachers trained to meet them where they are. And for the university, it reflects leadership, responsiveness and commitment at a moment when public education urgently needs all three.

SOU is expanding special education teacher preparation with purpose and urgency, as enrollment is growing, faculty expertise is deepening and partnerships with regional districts are strengthening. The School of Education is not simply growing a program; it is preparing the educators who can see and understand every child, not their label.

SOU's Sojka and de Vries co-author book on transgender experiences

SOU faculty members co-author book on transgender experiences

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(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU’s Carey Jean Sojka and Kylan Mattias de Vries – both faculty members in the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program, and both previous recipients of the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award – have co-authored a new book about the identity experiences of transgender people.

The book, “Transgender Intersections: Race and Gender through Identities, Interactions and Systems of Power,” was published last month by Polity Books, an international publisher in the social sciences and humanities – often on topics with general readership and that draw media discussion. The company has offices in Cambridge and Oxford in the U.K., and in Boston and New York in the U.S.

“While transgender lives are at the forefront of contemporary politics, what do we really understand about the complexity of trans experience?” the publisher asks on the new book’s webpage. “Trans people who go through various aspects of gender transition experience shifts not only in their gender, but also with regards to other categories of identity such as race, social class, sexuality, disability and more.

“Centering the stories of trans people and their loved ones, Sojka and de Vries investigate how intersectionality operates at various levels of social meaning – the individual, the interpersonal and the structural – in the experiences of transgender people.”

Reviews of the book say it effectively captures the breadth of trans experiences and social connections through the stories it shares of transgender people and their loved ones.

“In a time of hostile stereotyping of trans groups by right-wing politicians and media, it is refreshing to meet the reality, clearly presented: complex lives, shaped by the whole spectrum of differences and relations of power across the contemporary USA,” Raewyn Connell of the University of Sydney said in an online review.

Sojka is an associate professor whose research and teaching interests include transgender studies, embodiment, gender, sexuality, race, disability and fat studies. She conducts community trainings on LGBTQ issues in southern Oregon. Sojka earned bachelor’s degrees from Luther College in Women & Gender Studies and Sociology. Her master’s degree in Women’s Studies and doctorate in Sociology are from State University of New York at Albany.

de Vries is a professor with a joint appointment in the GSWS and Sociology & Anthropology programs at SOU. His academic interests include inequalities, transgender studies and social psychology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication at Antioch University Santa Barbara, and a master’s degree and doctorate in Sociology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Sojka received SOU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020, and de Vries received the award in 2017. Sojka and de Vries co-chair SOU’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program.

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SOU Digital Cinema makes MovieMaker list of top film schools

SOU Digital Cinema named to national Top 30

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University’s Digital Cinema program has been ranked among the nation’s Top 30 film schools by MovieMaker Magazine for the second consecutive year – a recognition of SOU’s role in preparing Oregon’s next generation of creative professionals.

MovieMaker cited SOU Digital Cinema’s distinctive blend of hands-on training, industry partnerships and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The program emphasizes practical skill areas such as directing, cinematography, editing, sound and production design. Students gain real-world experience on live-streamed events, commercial shoots and independent feature films, with strong ties to the region’s production community. The program’s innovative, 12-credit “Crew Experience” course serves as an intensive, term-long production boot camp in which students create a short film from concept to completion.

The Digital Cinema program is the only film program on MovieMaker’s list in the Pacific Northwest region (Oregon, Washington, Idaho). The honor comes shortly after the Oregon Legislature approved $40 million in capital construction bonds for SOU to develop a new Creative Industries complex, focused on workforce development in media and entertainment. Planned upgrades include a sound stage, screening room and multimedia production labs. The cross-disciplinary project will help secure Oregon’s position as a national leader in the creative sector.

“We are incredibly proud of our SOU Digital Cinema program, and grateful to MovieMaker Magazine for acknowledging our outstanding team for the second year in a row,” said SOU President Rick Bailey. “This important recognition is a testament to our brilliant students, faculty and staff, and their commitment to opening doors of opportunities throughout the creative industries.”

Housed in SOU’s College of Arts and Humanities, Digital Cinema students also collaborate with Theater, Creative Writing, Emerging Media & Design, Music Industry & Production and other programs. This interdisciplinary approach positions SOU graduates to thrive in today’s interconnected creative industries. Oregon’s creative sector generates about $9.3 billion annually and supports more than 62,000 jobs.

“For many years now, Oregon’s film and media industry has relied on the training and experience that is provided by SOU’s Digital Cinema program,” said Tim Williams, executive director of Oregon Film. “Many of their graduates are now at the heart of our working crews and fueling the growth of our creative economy.”

Sustainability is another cornerstone of SOU’s vision that MovieMaker highlighted in its story. The university is a member of the Green Film School Alliance, and has already reduced energy use in its existing Digital Media Center by 75% with a new LED lighting grid and plans to integrate LEED enhancements and solar power. SOU’s goal is to produce 100% of its electricity by 2035.

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NSF grant on grasshoppers awarded to SOU Ashland biologist

SOU biologist receives NSF grant for grasshopper research

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University biologist Jacob Youngblood has been awarded a three-year, $422,183 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how insects respond to two aspects of climate change – rising air temperatures and declining plant nutrients – potentially improving pest management strategies and forecasts of insect-related damage nationwide.

The study will focus on migratory grasshoppers, which consume as much as 20% of available forage from U.S. rangelands each year for losses estimated at about $393 million.

“This project will investigate how temperature and nutrition jointly affect the most damaging rangeland pest in the United States,” said an abstract of the NSF grant. ”By combining fieldwork, laboratory experiments and computer simulations, the research will improve ecological forecasts and inform pest management strategies that support national food security.”

The project is also expected to provide opportunities for SOU students to participate as paid researchers. The work will be conducted partly by students enrolled in Youngblood’s courses in environmental physiology and biogeography. The NSF-funded project – “How temperature-nutrient interactions affect the physiology and ecology of an insect herbivore” – is scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

“This work has the potential to significantly improve how we manage national rangelands in a changing climate,” Youngblood said. “If we can predict grasshopper outbreaks before they happen, we can act proactively to minimize damage to crops and forage.

“Just as important, the project will train SOU students – many of whom are the first in their families to attend college – in research design, data analysis and science communication, preparing our graduates to tackle scientific challenges in their careers and communities.”

The project will test competing hypotheses for how the combination of temperature conditions and nutrient availability affect the biology of grasshoppers. It will involve a combination of computer simulations, experiments in artificial laboratory environments and field experiments conducted at The Farm at SOU.

“Together, this integrative approach will advance general theory on how organisms forage in multidimensional environments and how those foraging decisions scale up to affect physiology and ecology,” the abstract of the NSF grant project said.

Youngblood, an animal physiologist and ecologist, joined the SOU Biology Department as an assistant professor in 2022. His research interests involve predicting the impacts of climate change on insect populations. He teaches courses on the principles of biology, comparative animal physiology and biogeography.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Clemson University and a doctorate in biology from Arizona State University.

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SOULA receives grant to create historic plastics database

SOU awarded grant to create historic plastics database

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology has been awarded a Preserving Oregon Grant from Oregon Heritage, the state historic preservation office, to create a digital, archaeological database of historic plastics – from buttons to knick-knacks to kitchenware.

The $13,000 grant will help pay for new camera equipment that will be used to create a new digital database in the Southern Oregon Digital Archives at SOU’s Hannon Library. It will also be used to help bring experts to SOU to assist in building the collection, and student workers who will produce digital content for the collection – including photography, research and short videos or animations that demonstrate how to identify historic plastics.

The new website and database are expected to be used by archaeologists and historians nationwide.

“The grant provides funding to upgrade the photography system that Hannon Library has been using for the last 15 years to digitize objects for the Southern Oregon Digital Archives,” said Shana Sandor, the SOU archivist and digital projects specialist who has worked with SOULA on previous collections. “This will benefit not only the plastics collection that the grant was awarded for, but also any future digital collections, creating higher quality images to improve the research value of the collections.”

The SOU Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA) regularly collaborates with various individuals, agencies and organizations to promote public archaeology and heritage stewardship. SOULA has previously completed three Preserving Oregon Grant projects, one other Oregon Heritage project and has worked with the SOU Hannon Library on two previous online research resources – the Jim Rock Historic Can Collection in about 2015 and the Chinese Material Culture Collection in 2018.

The Jim Rock collection had more than 80,000 views this year, and the CMCC had more than 6,000 views. Both are important resources for professional researchers in Oregon and beyond, and provide open-source scholarly content for the public.

The Historic Plastics Database will take advantage of the existing platform and audience to serve a growing interest in the study of historic plastics.

Outside experts expected to contribute to the project include Kimberly Wooten, a California-based archaeologist who teaches workshops and classes on historic plastics. Wooten said the new digital database will give researchers the opportunity to “tackle an archaeological issue in real time.”

“The interest in the history and archaeology of plastics never stops surprising me, and with each class we teach, demand only continues to grow,” Wooten said.

“Plastic really is the artifact of the modern era – people can see their own archaeological footprint in plastic artifacts – and at the same time it’s a reflection of the shape of things that have come before us. I can’t wait to share the online historic plastic database at my next workshop.”

The new archive will help archaeologists and researchers to identify and interpret plastic artifacts, to date sites more accurately and to explore more nuanced questions about how the growing commercialization of plastic items changed daily life with cheap, mass-produced consumer products.

Early celluloid, for instance, mimicked expensive natural materials. Later, when the versatility of synthetic materials was fully embraced, there was an explosion of colorful and creatively-shaped Bakelite jewelry that is now highly sought-after.

The SOULA project was awarded one of 20 grants totaling $300,000 that were announced this week by Oregon Heritage, a division of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Six of the grants were awarded in the “Diamonds in the Rough” category to help restore the historic character of properties. The other 14 grants were in the “Preserving Oregon” category for properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places and for archaeology projects.

More information about the grant program is available on the Oregon Heritage website.

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Outstanding Graduate Student award recipient Matthew Havniear, SOU Ashland

SOU’s Havniear receives Outstanding Graduate Student award

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(Ashland, Ore.) — U.S. Marine Corps veteran, nonprofit leader and graduating MBA student Matthew Havniear will be celebrated as the 2025 recipient of the University of Guanajuato Outstanding Graduate Student Award during the Southern Oregon University commencement ceremony on June 14.

The prestigious annual award honors a graduate student who exemplifies academic excellence and meaningful service to both their university and broader community. It celebrates the long-standing academic partnership between Southern Oregon University and the Universidad de Guanajuato in Mexico, grounded in shared commitments to cross-cultural understanding, leadership and public impact.

Havniear – a full-time graduate student from Talent with a 4.0 GPA – was nominated by SOU’s MBA Program for his noteworthy contributions inside and outside the classroom. He currently serves as Interim Executive Director of both the Jackson County Community Long-Term Recovery Group and the Rogue Valley Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) – two key regional organizations that support disaster recovery, housing and emergency preparedness across southern Oregon.

Havniear has played a central role in advancing wildfire resilience, affordable housing initiatives and inclusive recovery strategies for vulnerable populations through his leadership. He has also co-authored federal grant proposals in collaboration with SOU and other regional leaders, securing vital resources for underserved communities.

He founded Team Overland in 2015 – a volunteer-run nonprofit that provides free therapeutic outdoor adventures for veterans and their families. Since its inception, the organization has positively impacted more than 1,000 participants throughout the region.

“This award is significant to me – not just as a student, but as a father, a veteran and a community member,” Havniear said. “My time at SOU has helped me build stronger systems of support for those most impacted by crisis. I’m proud to be part of a university that values service, cultural inclusion and resilience.”

Havniear completed his degree through SOU’s Online MBA Program, launched in 2017 to meet the needs of working professionals throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The program now serves approximately 150 students nationwide, offering flexible, accelerated terms that allow students to finish their degrees in as few as 16 months.

For those who prefer a traditional classroom experience, SOU also offers its MBA in a face-to-face format on the Ashland campus, maintaining the same academic rigor and applied learning as the online program while fostering in-person engagement.

The University of Guanajuato Outstanding Graduate Student Award stands as a testament to the power of international academic partnerships and the role of transformational leadership in advancing the public good – values that are central to both SOU and the Universidad de Guanajuato.

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SOU Ashland's Calli Pelkey is in top 1% nationwide in MBA test

SOU MBA student places on top percentile in nationwide test

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University student Calli Pelkey, a participant in SOU’s Online MBA Program, has earned a remarkable distinction, placing in the top 1% nationwide on the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Major Field Test for master of business administration programs.

The MBA Major Field Test is a national standardized exam taken by thousands of MBA students across the country. It assesses knowledge and critical thinking in key areas such as accounting, finance, marketing, management and strategic integration. Scoring in the top percentile is an extraordinary academic achievement and a rare honor.

“First and foremost, Calli’s performance is a testament to her hard work, dedication and talent,” said Rene Leo E. Ordonez, Ph.D., professor and coordinator of graduate programs in business at SOU. “Scoring in the top 1% speaks volumes about her capabilities and commitment to excellence. While her success reflects positively on our MBA program, her individual effort and drive truly stand out.”

Pelkey lives in Grants Pass and is enrolled in SOU’s Online MBA Program, which was launched in 2017 to meet the needs of students in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The fully online program has grown significantly and currently serves approximately 150 students from Oregon, Washington and throughout the United States. Designed for flexibility and accessibility, the program operates year-around across five accelerated seven-week terms, allowing students to complete the degree in as few as 16 months.

“The MBA program at SOU provided a challenging yet rewarding journey, where the unwavering support of the faculty and my dedication were key factors in achieving a top 1% score nationwide on the MBA field test,” Pelkey said. “This recognition affirms that hard work and perseverance can lead to significant accomplishments. As I prepare to embark on the (Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program, I am eager to combine my passions for business and healthcare to make a meaningful impact in the future.”

In addition to the online format, SOU offers its MBA program in a traditional, face-to-face format on the Ashland campus. The in-person option provides a more immersive, classroom-based experience for students who prefer direct interaction with faculty and peers, while maintaining the same high standards of academic rigor and applied learning.

Pelkey’s success highlights the strength of SOU’s MBA curriculum and reinforces the university’s commitment to academic excellence and student achievement. The MBA program emphasizes real-world application, innovation and leadership development, preparing graduates to navigate the complexities of today’s global business environment.

Pelkey’s accomplishments have joined a growing list of student success stories that continue to elevate the reputation of SOU’s School of Business, which prepares future leaders in business and beyond.

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Open textbooks at SOU

SOU faculty members take lead role in open textbook project

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Open Oregon Educational Resources, a statewide initiative that promotes textbook affordability for students at Oregon colleges and universities, is releasing four new open textbooks whose authors include four Southern Oregon University faculty members and a student in the Criminology and Criminal Justice program.

“Our goal with these projects is to provide rigorous and scholarly – yet accessible and equity-minded – studies in contemporary criminology and criminal justice for our students,” said lead authors and SOU Criminal Justice faculty members Shanell Sanchez and Jessica Peterson. “By making this material freely accessible online, we remove financial barriers for our students and also provide classroom materials that instructors can fully adopt or modify to supplement their course materials.”

The SOU open textbook project started in September 2021, when Open Oregon Educational Resources received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to develop openly-licensed materials with an equity lens in criminal justice. The project targeted high-enrollment courses in a discipline where high-quality, deliberately inclusive open textbooks were not available.

As two of the project’s lead authors, Sanchez and Peterson served as primary decision-makers about textbook content and course design. Contributing authors including SOU faculty members Kelly Szott and Alison Burke, and undergraduate student Catherine Venegas-Garcia, brought their diverse expertise and experiences to the project. An instructional designer from Open Oregon Educational Resources also helped guide the course design with an emphasis on inclusion and student engagement.

Two of the open textbooks are already publicly available:

  • “Introduction to Criminology: An Equity Lens,” is co-authored by Peterson and Western Oregon University faculty member Taryn VanderPyl, with contributing authors Mauri Matsuda and Curt Sobolewski of Portland State University, Jennifer Moreno of WOU.
  • “Inequality and Interdependence: Social Problems and Social Justice,” is authored by Oregon Coast Community College instructor Kimberly Puttman, with contributing authors Szott of SOU, Patricia Antoine of Chemeketa Community College, independent scholar Kate Burrows, Bethany Grace Howe of the University of Oregon, antiracist educator Nora Karena and Avery Temple.

The other textbooks are expected to be available soon:

  • “Race, Crime and Injustice” authored by SOU’s Sanchez and edited by Peterson, with contributing authors Szott, Venegas-Garcia and WOU’s VanderPyl.
  • “Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System: An Equity Lens,” is co-authored by Roxie Supplee of Central Oregon Community College and Megan Gonzalez of Chemeketa Community College, with co-authors Burke of SOU, Sam Arungwa of Utah State University, Irvin Brown of Chemeketa, Whitney Head-Potter and Eric Wilkes.

“SOU is a leader in creating Criminal Justice open textbooks with an equity lens,” said Holly Gabriel, an open access librarian at SOU’s Hannon Library who assists faculty in locating open course materials and helps coordinate projects from Open Oregon Educational Resources.

“Starting with our faculty writing the ‘Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System’ in 2019, and now with four faculty authors on the current project, SOU is leading the way in creating inclusive open materials for students,” she said. “These textbooks will be shared online with an open license, making them free for people to use across North America and all across the world.”

Open Oregon Educational Resources is a state-funded effort to support the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in the state’s community colleges and universities. It collaborates with various institutions and offers grants and training to support faculty members who develop open textbooks and other Open Educational Resource course materials.

Open textbooks – typically available online – are released under open licenses that allow them to be used at no cost by educators, students and others.

“As an undergraduate student, I have seen the impact that textbook prices have on my peers,” said Venegas-Garcia, the SOU student who served as a contributing author on the project. “Free and low-cost textbooks are important because they allow students to engage with impactful and detailed resources without spending a significant amount of money.”

Another Criminology and Criminal Justice student at SOU, Kayla Gaches, said she hadn’t realized that some of the textbooks she has used in her classes have been Open Educational Resource materials, but she acknowledged their effect on her bottom line.

“Whenever I see that I do not have to purchase a textbook, it is like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders because I can allocate my textbook fund elsewhere, so I truly appreciate that we have this opportunity,” Gaches said.

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SOU Ashland graduate Thilini Dissanyake stars in "Earnest" at OSF

Recent SOU alumna stars in OSF production of “Earnest”

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Sitting in the backseat of her family’s car after a third-grade play, Thilini Dissanayake surprised her mother with a bold declaration: “I wanna be famous.” That moment – following her turn as the Little Red Hen in her class play – sparked a love for acting that would lead Dissanayake to Southern Oregon University and now to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where she stars this season as Cecily in “The Importance of Being Earnest.”

SOU Ashland alumna Thilini Dissanayake as Cecily Cardew and Hao Feng as Algernon Moncrieff in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Photos by Jenny Graham, courtesy of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

“Understandably, (my mom) shot that down – the nomadic and uncertain career of a professional actor was not the future my immigrant parents would have ever dreamed of for me,” Dissanayake said. “Nevertheless, every musical, play, workshop and summer camp I did over the next 10 years made me hungrier.”

By her junior year of high school, Dissanayake had made a decision: “I would never forgive myself if I didn’t at least give it the old college try.”

She arrived at SOU in fall 2019 and graduated in fall 2023 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in Theatre Performance. Though she had options, SOU stood out for its conservatory-style training, professional partnerships and affordability.

“SOU was the only school that offered a competitive, conservatory-style training, distinguished faculty, internships and apprenticeships with a professional equity theater and an education I could afford due to scholarships and in-state tuition,” she said. “It was also important to me to attend an accredited university with other robust programs available rather than just a conservatory, in case I ever decided to change career paths.”

Now at OSF, Dissanayake draws directly on the training she received at SOU. Over two years, she immersed herself in a rigorous curriculum: acting, movement, voice, Shakespeare, clowning, dialects, business of acting and more.

“It’s remarkable how applicable my training has been, working at OSF so far,” she said.

In “Jane Eyre,” her OSF debut, she performed in the outdoor Elizabethan Theatre as Young Jane and Adele.

“My voice and movement training was crucial to creating large choices for my characters and to audibly project in a venue that holds over a thousand people,” she said.

In “The Importance of Being Earnest” – set in the 1890s Malay Peninsula, with a regular slate of performances now through October – Dissanayake plays Cecily, with a custom-built accent that blends RP British, South Indian and Malaysian speech patterns. She credits her ability to shape those nuances to SOU’s coursework in the International Phonetic Alphabet and accents.

“My education at SOU has done a phenomenal job preparing me for professional theater,” she said. “I have worked with several peers my age who have recently graduated from elite undergraduate theater programs such as NYU, Carnegie Mellon and even graduate programs such as Yale and UCSD. I can confidently say that SOU Theater’s BFA in performance offers an equally comparable education to those distinguished programs.”

Desdemona Chiang, director of OSF’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” praised Dissanayake’s skills as an actress.

“Lini was an absolute delight to work with on ‘Earnest,’” Chiang said. “She brought a natural grace and radiance to the role of Cecily, and a strong work ethic to the process. She was dedicated to the role, constantly prepared and eager to explore the work with her scene partners. She was always ready to try, ready to fail, and always in pursuit of something greater, richer and more interesting. I loved her curiosity through the process – she is the kind of actor every director loves to have contributing in the room.”

Dissanayake’s years at SOU were not without challenges – especially during the COVID-era pivot to outdoor instruction.

“My cohort started our BFA in the fall of 2021,” she said. “With social distancing and mask requirements, we spent the first half of our term outside, wearing masks, in tents – yes, tents. “It was ridiculous, but also the best. There was so much grace and positivity because we were all just so grateful to do what we loved in-person again.”

Dissanayake attributes much of her growth to SOU’s dedicated faculty, especially professors Jackie Apodaca, Brendan McMahon and former voice and speech professor Ginger Eckhert.

“I think my time was so impactful in this program because the faculty put so much heart and soul into their students,” she said. “They pushed our strengths, and made us face our weaknesses.

“There was a time with each of these three professors where they pulled me aside while I was struggling and asked, ‘how can I support you?’ When I expressed what I needed, they showed up.”

She singles out Apodaca for her mentorship and advocacy.

“Jackie Apodaca has advocated for me and my peers time and time again,” Dissanayake said. “I cannot thank her enough for the opportunities she has built and provided for her students through (the Ashland New Plays Festival), the OSF Trainee Program and other professional gigs.”

Performing on OSF’s stage today brings Dissanayake full circle.

“The first OSF production I ever saw with my family was their 2012 production of ‘As You Like It’ in the Elizabethan Theater,” she said. “I was so deeply moved to see people who looked like me telling classical stories on that beautiful stage. At 11 years old, I saw a possibility in which the lifestyle I dreamed of was achievable.

“I don’t know if I possess all the words to express the gratitude I feel to be here now,” Dissanayake said. “I know that little Lini would think the world of me, and every day I go to work I hope that there’s a kid out in the audience that thinks, ‘maybe I could do that, too.’”

As she looks to the future, Dissanayake’s dream is simple: to keep doing the work.

“This may not seem like the most grand or ambitious answer, but as I continue to work in professional theater, I’m learning how precious it is to stay booked,” she said. “So long as I continue to be able to make a living telling stories, in whatever capacity that may be, I feel like I’m living the dream.”

Her advice to SOU students? “Be brave, be bold, be humble,” she said. “Your fears and doubts don’t always get smaller, but you can grow bigger to face them. Kindness to yourself and others takes you farthest.”

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