SOU-French Dinner

SOU to host 23rd annual French Dinner

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University French Club will serve its 23rd annual French Dinner – a five-course meal for students, employees and community members – on Thursday, Feb. 28.

The dinner, in the Stevenson Union’s Rogue River Room, is intended to promote French culture on campus and in the community. The dinner is organized by the university’s French Club, with the help of student union staff, French and other international students, and – for the first time – SOU athletes.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and orders will be taken at 7 p.m.

Tickets – $9 for students and university employees, and $13 for other community members – can be purchased at the Stevenson Union information booth on campus or at Paddington Station in downtown Ashland. Whole tables of eight can be reserved by contacting Marianne Golding, an SOU foreign languages professor and faculty advisor to the French Club, at golding@sou.edu.

The dinner will begin with soup, followed by a palate cleanser, quiche, salad and cheese, French bread, dessert and coffee or tea. Vegetarian options are available for the soup and quiche courses.

Wine donated by prestigious Oregon wineries can be purchased at $3 per glass for those who are 21 and older.

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SOU subscribes to AWARE audio wayfinding app

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(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU has partnered with the vendor Sensible Innovations to provide an audio wayfinding app for students, employees and visitors with sight impairments – and other users who like the convenience of audible navigation assistance.

The AWARE Audible Wayfinding app, which provides route directions to buildings and frequently visited locations on the SOU campus, can be downloaded for free from the App Store. The app was developed to help the visually impaired, but is also useful for new students or employees, visitors who are unfamiliar with campus, and others.

AWARE uses programmable “iBeacons” that are placed at various locations on campus as waypoints for users finding their way to both outdoor and indoor destinations at SOU. The beacons connect with smartphones and other mobile devices through Bluetooth Low Energy technology.

More than 200 beacons are currently in place at SOU, in often-used locations such as the Stevenson Union’s Rogue River Room, the Higher Education Center in Medford and at accessibility features such as elevators, building entrances and restrooms. The next phase of implementing the audio wayfinding service will add beacons to new and remodeled buildings including the Lithia Motors Pavilion, Student Recreation Center and Theater Building, and will bring the total to about 300.

Users of the AWARE app can choose whether to read directions or hear them, using the accessibility features on their mobile devices.

Rasha Said – a former actuarial and financial analyst with a background in mathematics and computer science – founded Illinois-based Sensible Innovations as a new standard for visually-impaired services. She is the mother of a visually-impaired child.

The audio wayfinding app is expected to be particularly helpful for universities and transit systems, but the nine initial venues posted on the Sensible Solutions website suggest a wider spectrum – ranging from the Chicago Lighthouse to the Vision Forward Foundation in Wisconsin. Wright State University in Ohio is also listed among the company’s clients.

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SOU launches virtual campus tour

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University today launched a virtual campus tour that will give prospective students and others, anywhere in the world, an opportunity view the SOU campus in an immersive, online experience.

The virtual tour is expected to be an effective tool in recruiting students, and also will be helpful for those learning their way around campus or who want to see the facilities offered by various SOU departments.

The SOU tour includes 18 tour stops, each of which has an initial 360-degree photo, in which viewers can scroll side-to-side and up-and-down, similar to Google Street View. Each tour stop also includes secondary 360-degree photos, positional media (such as videos superimposed on screens that are part of the original photo) and supplemental media (other videos and photos).

An audio tour guide escorts viewers around campus, with scripts provided by staff members from the site of each tour stop. The tour can also be viewed with virtual reality goggles, for a fully immersive experience. SOU’s admissions staff are expected to take a couple pairs of goggles with them on recruiting visits.

SOU’s Marketing and Communications, Admissions and Information Technology departments have been working on the project for the past several months with the vendor YouVisit, which has produced similar virtual tours for about 600 other colleges and universities. A photographer from YouVisit was on campus in November and shot dozens of photos as SOU’s trees showed their autumn color.

Tour stops include Raider Way, Hannon Library, the Science Building, Theater Building, Jefferson Public Radio, the Music Building, Stevenson Union, Third Eye Theater, Churchill Hall, Center for Visual Arts, Digital Media Center, Raider Village, The Hawk, Student Recreation Center, Lithia Motors Pavilion and Raider Stadium, along with the Ashland watershed trails and Lithia Park.

A link to the virtual tour has been placed near the top of the SOU home page.

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SOU campus encouraged to prepare for overdose life-saving

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Rescue kits that have been placed at 18 locations on the SOU campus will enable friends or passersby save the lives of those who may be experiencing an opioid overdose.

The kits, with nasal spray containers of the rescue medication naloxone, are located primarily in easy-to-find fire extinguisher and AED cabinets throughout campus. Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, can legally be possessed and administered in Oregon. It does not have any narcotic effects, and works by reversing opioid-induced depression of the respiratory and central nervous systems.

The nasal spray is easy to use, but familiarity with the procedures is advised. Self-training tools include an eight-minute video with details on how and when to administer naloxone, and a step-by-step description of the medication’s use.

An average of more than 115 people per day die of opioid overdose in the U.S., and a spike in opioid use and overdoses has been seen in southern Oregon. SOU is taking a proactive approach to the situation because the university has lost students to overdose, and some others on campus are considered to be at risk.

Opioids include drugs such as heroin and methadone, along with prescription pain medications including hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, hydromorphone, morphine, oxymorphone, fentanyl and buprenorphine.

Overdoses requiring lifesaving treatment can occur in a wide variety of settings and circumstances, so everyone is encouraged to prepare as emergency responders.

The naloxone rescue kits at SOU are located in the Education/Psychology Building, Stevenson Union, Taylor Hall, Theater Building, Science Building, Hannon Library, Britt Hall, Cox Hall, Aspen Hall, Madrone Hall, Campbell Center, Greensprings Complex, Shasta Hall, McLoughlin Hall, The Hawk, Lithia Motors Pavilion, Student Recreation Center, and the Facilities, Maintenance and Planning office.

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SOU hires vice president for enrollment management and student affairs

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(Ashland, Ore.) —Neil Woolf – who has led enrollment efforts at higher education institutions in Wisconsin, Washington and Nevada – has been hired as Southern Oregon University’s new vice president for enrollment management and student affairs.

He will start work at SOU on Jan. 9.

Neil Woolf“I am very excited to join the team at Southern Oregon University,” Woolf said. “Under the direction of the Board of Trustees and President (Linda) Schott, I look forward to advancing the mission of the university and assisting students in achieving their success.”

In overseeing both the enrollment and student affairs functions of SOU, Woolf will seek to maintain a steady growth in enrollment through both recruitment efforts and retention of existing students. Programs under his watch include enrollment services, financial aid, the registrar’s office, student life, the university’s student resource centers and organizations, and the Stevenson Union.

Woolf is currently the chief enrollment officer and interim assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management for the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He previously served for five years as associate vice president for enrollment management at Eastern Washington University, and for 12 years in various enrollment management and student affairs positions at Nevada State College, the Nevada System of Higher Education, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Utah.

“I was drawn to SOU because of its exceptional academic and student support programs, its commitment to inclusion and equity, and the beautiful surroundings,” he said. “My family and I can’t wait to start making SOU our home.”

In his current position, Woolf has led implementation of UWO’s strategic enrollment plan, improving recruitment by focusing on approaches including search engine optimization (SEO), communicating with prospective students by text and improved collaboration with other key offices. He was one of three finalists brought to SOU for interviews in late November and early December, and was offered the job after demonstrating his understanding of the university’s challenges and opportunities in maintaining enrollment growth.

“His expertise and successful track records in both enrollment management and student affairs make him the ideal person for our position,” SOU President Linda Schott said. “I look forward to working with him to further the goals of our strategic plan.”

Woolf received his bachelor’s degree in government from Eastern Washington University, his master’s degree in public administration from the University of Utah and his Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

He will succeed Blaine Steensland, who filled the position at SOU in an interim capacity last January through June, and has continued to work remotely and in a part-time role with the university since late summer. He retired in 2014 after 28 years in senior enrollment management and student affairs positions with the Penn State University system.

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Dan Bulkley runs 100 meters at age 100

SOU Hall of Fame coach Dan Bulkley passes away at 101

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Former SOU track and cross country coach Dan Bulkley, an Athletics Hall of Fame member who ran a ceremonial 100-meter dash at Raider Stadium a week after his 100th birthday, died Sunday night at Anna Maria Creekside assisted living in Medford. He was 101.

Bulkley coached track and cross country at SOU from 1950 until his retirement in 1979, with his teams winning several NAIA championships. He also coached tennis and skiing during his career at SOU, and was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989. He became a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1977.

He later became involved in masters track competitions and collected almost 500 medals for his accomplishments over a 30-year period.

Bulkley was also instrumental in the development of skiing at Mt. Ashland, and remained active in the local cross-country skiing community until a few years ago.

He was born in Thailand, where his father was a medical missionary and his mother was a teacher, and he went to school in India. He earned his bachelor’s and masters degrees at a college in Southern California, then taught and coached at the high school level before and after World War II – during which he served in the Office of Strategic Services intelligence agency.

Bulkley is survived by his wife, Marjorie. A memorial service will be planned for next spring, when more family members will be available to attend.

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Southern Oregon’s four higher ed institutions announce consortium

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The presidents of four public colleges and universities in southern Oregon joined forces today to create the Southern Oregon Higher Education Consortium – an alliance aimed at streamlining students’ educational pathways and addressing the region’s specific workforce needs.

A memorandum of understanding signed by the presidents of Klamath Community College, Oregon Institute of Technology, Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University calls upon the consortium members to “promote innovative outreach and educational activities.” It specifically directs the institutions to share information, collaborate on complementary programming and facilities, and work cooperatively on professional training, technology and programming.

“Enhancement of the student pipeline and improvement of degree-completion metrics will be areas of particular emphasis,” the memorandum said.

The new consortium – first envisioned a year ago by the four presidents during a lunch meeting halfway between the Rogue Valley and Klamath Basin – will be announced during signing events at 10 a.m. today at KCC’s Founders Hall in Klamath Falls, and at 2 p.m. at the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center in Medford.

The four presidents will discuss their interests in the collaboration during the Klamath Falls event, and will participate in a panel discussion at the Medford event. Randy Cox, executive director of the Klamath County Economic Development Agency, will speak at the Klamath Falls gathering. John Tapogna, president and partner of ECONorthwest, will discuss his organization’s recent report, “Oregon Talent Assessment,” as part of the Medford announcement.

The consortium is Oregon’s first regional coalition of colleges and universities. It is viewed as a pioneering step toward preparing southern Oregon’s students and workforce for a rapidly changing future.

“Statewide, we expect that most higher wage jobs openings in the next decade will require postsecondary education or training for job candidates to be competitive,” said Ben Cannon, executive director of Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission. “Innovative local partnerships are absolutely critical to fostering meaningful on-ramps to opportunity and economic mobility. We look forward to working with the coalition on our common goals.”

Cannon commended the four presidents for “strategically joining together as a coalition to advance the specific pathways necessary for their regional communities to thrive.”

The consortium is expected to prompt discussion about what kinds of economic growth are needed in southern Oregon, what industries the institutions should help support or attract, and how higher education can best align to meet those needs.

“Together, our united effort can create pipelines for highly skilled graduates to enter the workforce and will attract new businesses that pay living-wage salaries,” said KCC President Roberto Gutierrez. “Southern Oregon will be stronger than ever before.”

The consortium also provides a unified voice for southern Oregon, and will advocate for the region’s priorities in conversations with state and federal lawmakers. Regional grants and other combined resources are likely outcomes of the partnership.

“What excites me most about this consortium is the ability of all four institutions to work together to build a regional college-going culture that will transform our economy, strengthen families, and inspire others to pursue their dreams,” said RCC President Cathy Kemper-Pelle.

The new consortium will be an exercise in the power and flexibility of partnerships. The institutions – which already have shared academic strengths in areas including business, sustainability and healthcare – are open to exploring cooperative programs in various areas that will best serve their region and state.

“Our students, industry and business partners, and our communities all benefit through our collective voice for southern Oregon – a vibrant consortium of action focused on education, workforce and regional economy,” said Oregon Institute of Technology President Nagi Naganathan.

The four colleges and universities have a long history of working together to meet the needs of students and employers. Together, the institutions enrolled 26,600 students in 2017-18, and conferred a total of 3,370 college or university degrees.

“We have done a very good job of working collaboratively in the past,” said SOU President Linda Schott. “We are poised now to use our history of cooperation as the jumping-off point for a future of seamless pathways, interwoven academics and collective strength.”

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OLLI facilities at SOU in line for makeover

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After 25 years, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) facilities at SOU are receiving new life.

OLLI’s program on the SOU campus operates from the Campbell Center – a pair of former World War II barracks with a courtyard between them, just west of the empty Cascade Complex. The old barracks have taken a beating, and for their 25th anniversary as OLLI’s home, the organization has launched a ReNEWall campaign to upgrade the facility with reconfigured classrooms and other refurbishing.

One classroom and the Campbell Center office were already renovated last year, making the classroom a preferred site for OLLI offerings. The addition of better lights, more comfortable chairs, and touchscreen technology helps make everything easier on OLLI’s older students.

Two more of the complex’s five classrooms are in line for remodeling next winter. But nearly $665,000 is needed for construction, technology and furnishings. More than $330,000 has been raised to date, and the balance is expected to be generated through grants and individual contributors. About a quarter of the cost, for infrastructure improvements, will be paid by SOU.

The OLLI facilities have a bit of a history. The barracks were originally part of Camp White, an Army training base and POW camp that transformed the Medford area during World War II. Hundreds of buildings were left behind after the war, and many were relocated all over southern Oregon.

The two that found their way to SOU were named for Phil Campbell, the university’s former facilities director, and have been used for a variety of purposes. The Campbell Center has been used at various times as dorms, married student housing, apartments, faculty housing, Elderhostel classrooms and SOU maintenance offices, and even now it is used during the summer by SOU Youth Programs.

OLLI member and wildlife artist Pam Haunschild is creating a black-and-white mural called the “Giving Garden” to measure fundraising for the Campbell Center’s renovation. The mural will be colored in as gifts are received. It will be hung in the new members’ lounge.

To learn more about the ReNEWall program or to make a contribution, call the OLLI office at (541) 552-6048 or email Lorraine Vail at lvail627@gmail.com.

Story by Bryn Mosier, SOU Marketing and Communications intern

SOU-childcare

Childcare returns to SOU’s former Schneider Children’s Center site

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Daycare will return to the Southern Oregon University Family Housing property at 1361 Quincy St., in Ashland, when Lil’ Rascals Preschool & Childcare Center opens at that location on Jan. 7.

SOU signed a lease agreement this week that will enable Lil’ Rascals – which operated in Ashland for 15 years until its building was sold in 2016 – to move into the space that was vacated this summer when the Schneider Children’s Center closed. Lil’ Rascals will also continue to operate at its current location at 839 E. Main St., in Medford.

“We feel that the Quincy Street location is a wonderful opportunity to fill the void for additional, quality childcare in the Ashland community,” Lil’ Rascals owner Angela Greene said. “We anticipate childcare spots to fill quickly. We encourage interested clients to call our Medford Center and get on the waiting list for Ashland, right away.”

Lil’ Rascals can be reached in Medford at (541) 773-1598. It also plans a sign-up day at the Quincy Street location in Ashland from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15.

SOU sought to find a community partner to lease the property and resume childcare operations at the site after the Schneider Children’s Center closed Aug. 31. The university’s leadership endorsed a working group’s recommendation to end SOU’s affiliation with the children’s center ­– which operated at the location for many years – because its business model was not sustainable.

The center operated as an auxiliary program at SOU, and was ineligible to receive funding from the university. But it did receive support from student fees until the Associated Students of Southern Oregon University voted in 2014 to shift to a smaller subsidy that would directly benefit SOU students in need of childcare.

Students voted a year later to reinstate some general funding to the Schneider center, and the Wilsonville-based Oregon Child Development Coalition stepped in as an operational and financial partner. Changes in the state’s supervision requirements for day care centers later made that arrangement unworkable, and the OCDC was unable to take over the operation when SOU cut its ties this summer.

Greene said Lil’ Rascals will operate its new Ashland facility with at least eight employees, and encouraged SOU students and others to apply. She said the center will also offer a 10 percent childcare discount to SOU students and employees.

Lil’ Rascals will try to accommodate the needs of former Schneider Child Center clients and its own customers from its previous Ashland location, Greene said. The center accepts state subsidies for low-income clients.

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SOU president backs carbon pricing initiative

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University President Linda Schott has joined about 50 other college and university presidents across the country in calling upon elected officials to address climate change and hold polluters accountable by enacting carbon pricing measures.

The “Put A Price On It” campaign is sponsored by Our Climate, a national non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people to advance effective climate policy. The group is tapping higher education leaders to help convince local, state and national decision-makers that greenhouse gas emissions can be effectively reduced through economic penalties.

“Sustainability and environmental responsibility are key parts of our identity at SOU,” President Schott said. “Our vision, mission and values refer to those principles, and one of our guiding ‘strategic directions’ establishes the goals of modeling and promoting sustainability, and integrating it into all that we do.

“This initiative provides us an opportunity to act on our institutional beliefs,” she said. “We are proud to stand up and be counted as a leader in the carbon pricing movement.”

Carbon pricing regulations require those who emit carbon dioxide to either pay a tax or buy permits based on the volume of their emissions. The policies make dirty energy less affordable, and encourage both energy conservation and use of sustainable energy sources.

Portland State University is the only other Oregon institution listed among the initiative’s backers.

SOU is one of 130 U.S. higher education institutions identified by the Our Climate organization as potential strategic partners in the carbon pricing campaign. President Schott signed the Our Climate endorsement letter after researching the campaign and consulting with the university’s sustainability team.

“This is something that fully aligns with SOU’s values and supports the goals outlined in our Climate Action Plan,” said Roxane Beigel-Coryell, the university’s sustainability and recycling coordinator. “Putting a price on carbon holds large greenhouse gas emitters accountable for their contribution to climate change. It provides incentive to implement climate solutions from the top down, instead of putting the responsibility solely on individuals.”

Carbon pricing policies have been implemented in more than 40 countries, provinces, states and other jurisdictions around the world. The World Bank has endorsed the practice as a means of compensating for direct and indirect costs of carbon emissions, ranging from crop loss and flood damage to heat-related medical costs.

“By making carbon-intensive industries pay a fair share of the costs of their pollution, we will have cleaner air and healthier communities, and prevent the most devastating effects of climate change,” said the Our Climate endorsement letter signed by President Schott and other higher education leaders.

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