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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Creativity Conference at SOU Ashland set to begin

Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University set to begin May 15

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The 7th annual Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University will offer something for everyone in four days of presentations, May 15 through 18. The conference delivers a wealth of information for those who study the science of creativity, seek to leverage research on creative thinking or simply consider themselves to be creative.

The Creativity Conference at SOU features a lineup of more than 100 presenters, with both in-person and virtual events that allow for exhibits, performances and presentations – and attendees – from a variety of countries. It draws many of the world’s leading scholars, researchers and practitioners from the field of creativity, including this year’s five keynote and invited speakers.

“This annual conference brings together internationally renowned speakers, researchers and artists who are leaders in creativity research and application,” said SOU Associate Provost Daniel DeNeui, co-executive director of the conference. “This is an opportunity to learn and imagine, and also to network and build relationships that could have a meaningful impact on the world.”

Participants will be able to join in several applied workshops that feature hands-on activities for developing and using creativity in the workplace. Previous presentations have included “Fostering Creativity Through Virtual Environments” and “Attitudes toward creative people and innovators.”

All sessions – remote and in-person – will be accessible via livestream, ensuring inclusivity and engagement. Archived presentations will be available for viewing post-event.

The 2025 conference will feature in-person sessions all day Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17. A full day of remote sessions will be featured on Sunday, May 18. The in-person featured speakers will include:

  • Denis Dumas, Ph.D., who will be presenting his research on the creativity and psychology of stage and screen actors;
  • International scholar Todd Lubart, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the Université Paris Descartes, who will offer a 75-year retrospective on creativity research;
  • Laura McBain – designer, educator and managing director of the Stanford d.school – who will address how human-centered design can be used to shape more preferable futures;
  • International scholar Tuuli Mattelmäki, associate professor in design at Aalto University in Finland, who will present research on how creative practices stimulate eco-social change; and
  • Ivonne Chand O’Neal, Ph.D. – the founder and principal of creativity and arts impact research firm MUSE Research, LLC – who will discuss culturally responsive storytelling in opera, and its impact on artistic creativity.

Attendees can expect a range of formats, including 60-minute panel discussions, 40- to 50-minute individual presentations, 15-minute “boom talk” sessions that deliver concise insights and engaging poster presentations. Opportunities for interactive dialogue and exchange will be offered in each format.

The Creativity Conference at SOU welcomes sponsorships from individuals and organizations. For more information or to register for this year’s conference, visit soucreativityconference.com. Conference co-executive director Daniel DeNeui can be reached at creativity@sou.edu.

About the Creativity Conference and Southern Oregon University
The Creativity Conference, sponsored by Southern Oregon University, is located in beautiful Ashland, Oregon. Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a burgeoning wine industry and an array of outdoor recreational opportunities, providing the perfect backdrop for creativity and innovation.

Southern Oregon University is a medium-sized campus that provides comprehensive educational opportunities with a strong focus on student success and intellectual creativity. Located in vibrant Ashland, Oregon, SOU remains committed to diversity and inclusion for all students on its environmentally sustainable campus. Connected learning programs taught by a host of exceptional faculty provide quality, innovative experiences for students. Visit sou.edu.

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Tacit knowledge grant awarded to SOU Ashland's Boscoe

SOU’s Boscoe awarded second “tacit knowledge” grant

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Bernadette Boscoe, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at Southern Oregon University, has been awarded a second grant to fund her study of tacit knowledge in research settings – gathering, storing and retrieving the unspoken practices of academic teams that sometimes are lost when a project is disrupted or ends.

The latest grant, from the National Science Foundation, totals about $164,000 over two years, beginning July 1.

Boscoe received a $250,000 grant last fall from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to help fund her creation of a Large Language Model (LLM) of artificial intelligence to archive the protocols of scientific groups researching environmental science at SOU, astronomy at UCLA and violin acoustics at Cornell University. The tacit knowledge archive, if successfully developed, would benefit researchers in those and other academic disciplines by preventing the loss of unstated practices in research labs when participants leave the projects.

Research funded by the NSF grant is closely related to that funded by the Sloan grant, but is focused more on what Boscoe calls “the technical tool-building side” and looks exclusively at astronomy research.

“The Sloan grant is more (about) using three research group spokes and doing an investigation of the tacit knowledge capture,” Boscoe said. “The NSF grant doesn’t look at that – it is more about how we can improve astronomy workflows and tools.”

Boscoe is using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), an AI framework that pairs an LLM with an information retrieval system to improve accuracy and relevance of resulting data. She is working with SOU computer science graduate Chandler Campbell to build the project’s RAG-LLM tool, called AquiLLM – named after the constellation Aquila.

“Research groups often face challenges managing and accessing work such as paper drafts, research experiments, plots, and meeting notes, especially as these resources grow over time and researchers transition in and out of projects,” an NSF abstract on the project said.

“This project benefits research groups by offering a way to use natural language to ask questions about their data, yielding links to relevant documents.”

Boscoe is a computer and information scientist who builds and researches infrastructures and tools to help domain scientists do their work. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from the Pratt Institute in New York, an associate degree in computer science from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in mathematics from California State University-Northridge and a Ph.D. in information science from UCLA.

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SOU Ashland Board of Trustees member Micelle Fuentes

SOU student joins Board of Trustees

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University student Michelle Fuentes, a Criminal Justice and Sociology major from Central Point, has been appointed by Gov. Tina Kotek and confirmed Wednesday by the Oregon Senate to serve on the university’s Board of Trustees.

Fuentes, whose two-year term begins July 1, will succeed Garima Sharma as one of two undergraduate student members of the 17-member board.

She is a nontraditional student – a mother of two – and is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Criminology & Criminal Justice. She is the recipient of a Ford Foundation Scholarship, is a Policy Council member for HeadStart and has served in a variety of leadership roles, on- and off-campus.

Fuentes has served as a detention specialist for the Jackson County Juvenile Services Department, coordinator of SOU’s Pirates to Raiders pathway program for Latino/a/x youth, instructor for Academia Latina and Juntos en Familia programs in SOU Youth Programs, summer school assistant at Phoenix High School, teacher’s assistant at the Southern Oregon Education Service District’s Espial Child Environment, receptionist at Asante heath system and after-school aid at Kids Unlimited. She is serving a policy and advocacy internship with the nonprofit Our Children Oregon and will begin work April 21 as a family coordinator for state Department of Human Services.

“As I continue my own education, I will take what I have learned from my students, my own experience growing up and the mentors that have helped me along, and prepare myself to better support my community,” Fuentes said.

She is the second undergraduate member of the SOU board to be appointed and then confirmed this year by the Oregon Senate, following Ryan Goodrich in February.

“Student members provide a unique and valuable perspective on the Board of Trustees,” said Sheila Clough, the board’s chair. “Michelle is an incredibly accomplished student with an obvious commitment to public service. We look forward to welcoming her onto SOU’s governing board.”

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Taran Cross is bound for Oxford after receiving bachelor's degrees at SOU Ashland

Unorthodox path: recent SOU graduate bound for Oxford

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Achieving success wasn’t the issue for Taran Cross. He had risen to the position of vice president with a Medford-based healthcare technology company, despite dropping out of college soon after he began back in 2007. But he had unfinished business and higher ambitions.

“I dreamed of going to Oxford as a kid and, around 2018, I started having these profound feelings of regret that I hadn’t been the sort of person who could accomplish those dreams,” Cross said. “I felt like the opportunities of my life had passed me by and, despite having a successful career, that I had squandered my potential.

“Applying to SOU was my way of rejecting that negative thinking. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the failures of my past define me, and live the rest of my life with regret. If I wanted to go to Oxford, I was the only person who could stop me.”

Cross applied for and was accepted into SOU’s Innovation and Leadership Program for working professionals in January 2021, and graduated last spring with a pair of bachelor’s degrees – in Innovation and Leadership, and in History. And as for that dream of attending Oxford University? Well, soon after earning his bachelor’s degrees he applied for admission into a master’s degree program in history at Oxford – and learned recently that he has been accepted.

“I didn’t often tell people that was my goal while at SOU because, even to me, it seemed far-fetched,” Cross said. “It honestly felt almost silly to articulate. How could a former college dropout be accepted to the best university in the world?

“However, the loftiness of the goal drove me to put everything I had into every class I attended, because I knew that the cards were stacked against me. I think success often requires both luck and just enough delusion to believe something is possible without being oblivious to the difficulties that lie ahead.”

The first missteps, and moving forward
Cross acknowledges that his academic pathway, like those of many students in the multidisciplinary Innovation and Leadership Program, was “a bit unorthodox.” The SOU program offers an accelerated bachelor’s degree – completed either in-person or fully online – for working professionals hoping to develop skills in academic areas such as organizational leadership, project management, systems thinking, communication, emerging media and data management.

Cross first enrolled in college following his high school graduation in 2007, but dropped out early in 2008. “Roughly 15 years passed and while I regretted failing in college, I didn’t really have a strong desire to go back until around 2018 or 2019,” he said.

Meanwhile, he learned on the fly and developed a career. He took a short-term job at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival shortly after leaving college, then several months later began the first in a succession of technology-related positions – first at a computer forensic services firm, then back at OSF and then at a Medford computer support and services business. He began as an applications support specialist in 2014 at PLEXIS Healthcare Systems, and by March 2019 he had risen to vice president of client and information services at the Medford-based company.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more. He was nagged by his failed attempt at college, had a growing commitment to self-improvement and felt that there must be a more meaningful role for him. So he took the first step toward a return to college, registering in fall 2020 for a single, lower-division class in SOU’s History Department to measure his merit as a student.

“I didn’t anticipate how much I would love that class or the process of examining historical sources,” Cross said. “Professor (Sean) McEnroe’s love of history is genuinely infectious, and I quickly realized that this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life – and that SOU was the place to train me how to do it.”

He began looking into the best avenue for working on his degree while continuing in his position at PLEXIS, and discovered the university’s INL program. He set up a call with Moneeka Settles, the program’s coordinator, and realized immediately that it was his best route toward academic success and improvement as a business leader.

“She ended up inviting me to join her Organizational Communication class, which started about an hour later (after the call),” Cross said. “I felt once again I had stumbled into the perfect place.”

Two degrees, and much more
The Innovation and Leadership Program provided the academic pathway that Cross needed as a working professional, but it was his love of history that motivated him. Even as he was working his way up the corporate ladder, Cross was captivated by history – particularly the biographies of presidents and other historical figures who have exercised power. At the time, he visualized himself communicating that type of “popular history” to the general public.

“However, SOU exposed me to the variety of historical fields and their corresponding methods,” Cross said. “It was in classes like professor McEnroe’s ‘Global History of Slavery’ that I started gravitating toward subaltern (lower status) studies.

“It was one of those really life-changing classes that shifted my perspective and interests. I now fully intend to make the study of slavery my life’s work, looking for what Jenny Sharpe (author of ‘Ghosts Of Slavery: A Literary Archaeology of Black Women’s Lives’) calls ‘the stories that are being withheld’ in the historical narrative.”

Cross also gained appreciation for historiography – what he calls “the history of the study of history” – and his capstone project taught him to search archives and manuscripts to find “little pieces of forgotten history” that add texture to a larger tapestry.

“I discovered this new interest in Professor (Hannah) Archambault’s classes, where she does a phenomenal job getting students into historiography,” Cross said. “One of the main things I find exciting about pursuing history as a career is participating in these debates and making a serious contribution to the historiography.”

Those pursuits of historical knowledge were complemented by courses Cross took in the Innovation and Leadership Program, which focused on skills such as effective communication, organizational understanding and emotional intelligence.

“I think Moneeka (Settles) has done a remarkable job creating a program that is not only accessible to returning students, which is no simple task, but provides the exact kind of training every individual needs to be successful in the modern workforce,” he said.

In the end, the former college dropout graduated summa cum laude – with highest honors – in last June’s SOU Commencement ceremony, with bachelor’s degrees in Innovation and Leadership, and History.

“He did very well in both programs, studied abroad for a semester, and after graduating, applied to graduate school,” Settles said. “His acceptance at Oxford is unprecedented.”

Graduate studies in the UK
Cross’s study abroad program in 2023 was at University of Nottingham, about 100 miles north of Oxford. He expects that experience to be helpful in his transition to life and studies at Oxford University, where he will begin his master’s degree program in October at Oxford’s Corpus Christi College, studying British and European history of 1700 to 1850.

But just getting his foot in the door of the English-speaking world’s oldest university was a “practically indescribable” accomplishment. Cross felt he “left everything out on the field” when he applied to the Oxford program, but he still was uncertain how it would play out. Then the acceptance email arrived.

“I was actually in a work meeting when the email came in, and had to excuse myself to leap around my office in joy and legitimately cry with happiness,” he said. “I was so emotional, both because this is such an unbelievable opportunity and because I proved to myself that I am capable of accomplishing my dreams.”

His ultimate plan is to earn his master’s degree from Oxford, then apply to the university’s doctoral program in history, before finding a position focused on research and writing about British colonialism in the Caribbean – particularly around slavery and the experiences of the African community.

The entire Oxford experience promises to be the second-most exciting of the year for Cross.

“I’m getting married later this summer to my loving and supportive partner, Hayley Dixon, who will be joining me in Oxford along with our wonderful, goofball dog, Gus,” he said.

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Distinguished Teaching Award recipient Alena Ruggerio at SOU Ashland

SOU’s Ruggerio receives Distinguished Teaching Award

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Alena Ruggerio,  a professor of communication at Southern Oregon University, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award by the Western States Communication Association (WSCA), one of the leading academic organizations in the field of communication studies.

The WSCA Distinguished Teaching Award is presented annually and honors educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching, innovative instruction and a sustained impact on student learning and engagement. Ruggerio was recognized at the association’s annual conference for more than two decades of transformative instruction, mentorship and leadership in inclusive education.

“For her exceptional contributions to communication education, her scholarly advancement of inclusive pedagogy, and her unwavering commitment to teaching for liberation, mutual humanity and engaged citizenship, we are honored to present the WSCA Distinguished Teaching Award to Dr. Alena Ruggerio,” award presenter Ashley Givens, Associate Dean of Communication & Performing Arts at Salt Lake Community College, said in the official announcement.

Known across the SOU campus for her signature closing, the “Ruggerio Benediction” — “Go forth and use wisely every heartbeat” — Ruggerio encourages her students to dedicate their energy to meaningful communication. “The goal is to encourage my students to put the heartbeats they’ve chosen to spend with me to wise use in communicating for liberation, communicating our mutual humanity and communicating citizenship,” Ruggerio said.

Ruggerio’s teaching portfolio spans foundational and advanced courses in public speaking, persuasion, political communication, gender studies and more. She is celebrated for employing student-centered learning practices, including “Question of the Day” discussions, and learning contracts that empower students to shape their educational journeys. Her creative teaching practices include sensory-based chapter facilitation and community-centered speech competitions, which tie academic theory to social impact.

In addition to her teaching, Ruggerio contributes extensively to the field of communication education. She has published influential course syllabi and co-facilitated university-wide initiatives in antiracism and curriculum decolonization. Her work integrates feminist rhetorical theory and international perspectives, including leading study abroad programs in Spain and Greece.

“Alena embodies the ideal of a teacher-scholar-mentor,” said Andrew Kenneth Gay, dean of the School of Arts & Communication at SOU. “Her classrooms are not just sites of knowledge transmission but spaces of transformation. She challenges students to think critically, care deeply and act courageously. We are incredibly proud of her and grateful for the profound impact she has on our university community.”

Ruggerio has previously received SOU’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Distinguished Service Award, as well as national recognition from AHA International. She is the editor of “Media Depictions of Brides, Wives and Mothers,” and co-author of “Feminism in Practice: Communication Strategies for Making Change.”

The Western States Communication Association represents scholars, educators and practitioners across a wide range of communication fields, including public speaking, interpersonal communication, health and environmental communication, and studies of identity and difference. Founded at a speech and debate tournament, WSCA continues to evolve in step with the discipline, recognizing outstanding contributions to research, service and teaching in the Western region of the U.S.

For more information, please contact Michele Fulkerson, office specialist for SOU’s Department of Communication, Media & Cinema, at (541) 552-6669 or fulkersom@sou.edu.

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Crew Experience mentor Gary Lundgren at SOU Ashland

Acclaimed Ashland director and screenwriter leads SOU students’ “Crew Experience”

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Ashland-based writer-director Gary Lundgren will guide student filmmakers at Southern Oregon University in bringing “An Extraordinary Year” to life this spring, when he mentors those in the Digital Cinema Department’s innovative “Crew Experience” course.

“Crew Experience,” launched in 2022, has given SOU’s Digital Cinema students a chance each year to work on and complete a full-fledged film project. The course allows students to assume professional film crew positions under the guidance of professional mentors in the production of a short film.

They will be mentored this year by Lundgren, an Ashland-based director and screenwriter, while bringing his new short film project “An Extraordinary Year” to the big screen. The class is being guided by Megan Isser, an experienced producer and instructor in SOU’s Communication, Media and Cinema department. Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors Chris Butler and Barret O’Brien, past collaborators with Lundgren, have joined the film’s cast.

“I’m so excited to work with this impressive faculty to mentor film students,” Lundgren said. “I’d love to help demystify the filmmaking process. As an aspiring filmmaker in L.A., I learned the most from being on set or in edit bays watching filmmakers make decisions.

“The fact that SOU is allocating resources to give their students an opportunity like this while they’re still in school feels exciting and unprecedented. In 10 weeks, we will cover the entire process, from script to screen and complete a short film together.”

“I am beyond thrilled to be working side-by-side with Gary and I’m so excited for our students to learn from him and from each other,” Isser said. “I have worked with many directors in my filmmaking career, and it is rare to find someone who is not only as wildly talented as Gary, but who is also willing to take the time to mentor future professionals. And the cherry on top is that we’re all going to walk away with a fantastic film.”

The Digital Cinema program was recognized by MovieMaker Magazine in 2024 as a “Top 30 Film Program in North America,” in large part due to innovative course offerings like “The Crew Experience.”

The SOU Digital Cinema program sets itself apart as a hub for creative innovation and experiential learning. With the guidance of industry professionals such as Lundgren, students hone their craft and make meaningful contributions to the world of cinema.

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Global Innovation Scholars from SOU and UG in Guanajuato

Global Innovation Scholars unite to serve U.S. and Mexican businesses

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Nine students and two faculty members from Southern Oregon University have been working for most of the past week with their Mexican counterparts at Universidad de Guanajuato on the annual Global Innovation Scholars program – a multicultural business development initiative to help organizations and businesses in both Guanajuato and Ashland while providing students with experience in international collaboration.

“Southern Oregon University’s 56-year relationship with the University of Guanajuato is a testament to the wonders that can come from a foundational bond built on love, admiration and mutual respect,” SOU President Rick Bailey said. “We have demonstrated that we can move mountains when we come together, united in purpose, to serve others and to help make our world a better place.”

Students from SOU and UG in Global Innovation Scholars programThe 18 combined students from the two universities spent the past week researching and analyzing three Guanajuato businesses before concluding the visit by offering suggested development plans to the business owners. The students will reunite for a week in Ashland beginning on April 26, to provide the same services to three Rogue Valley businesses or organizations.

The 20-week Global Innovation Scholars program includes international, online coursework for participating students during each year’s winter and spring terms, in addition to the opportunity for immersive social and cultural experiences. The SOU and Guanajuato delegations met last week with various leaders of the Mexican university and with the region’s political leaders. Students typically spend a total of more than 250 hours on their projects, including the two site visits.

Global Innovation Scholars was developed by the two universities’ business schools as part of the “100,000 Strong in the Americas” program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassies and the nonprofit organization Partners for the Americas.

“I believe that economic prosperity and peace are best built hand-in-hand across all borders,” Vincent Smith, dean of SOU’s School of Science and Business, said in his opening remarks for the gathering last week. “Our students are a symbol of hope.

“They are working together to build economic prosperity and community in both Mexico and the United States of America,” Smith said. “They symbolize not only the importance of international trade, but of international friendship. They are a reminder that real strength comes from building friendships, not walls. They remind us that we are better together.”

A key point of discussion during this year’s Global Innovation Scholars session in Mexico was the new U.S. tariffs and growing trade war. Guanajuato’s primary economy is the export of automobiles and automobile parts.

SOU and UG have initiated a variety of exchange and cooperative projects since they became sister universities in 1969. The link between the two schools has led more than 1,000 students, faculty members and others to participate in exchanges – and has resulted in more than 80 marriages that have tied people from Ashland and Guanajuato over three generations.

“The opportunity to do the Global Innovations Scholar program has made a tremendous difference in my skills in teamwork and my international worldview,” said Tiana Gilliland, president of the Associated Students of Southern Oregon University and one of the business students in this year’s program.

“I have had the opportunity to work closely with several other scholars to make a real difference in businesses that are striving to make a difference in their community,” Gilliland said.

Another student leader – Garima Sharma, a student member of the SOU Board of Trustees – said she has learned much about the power of connection and making a change in the world through her involvement with the Global Innovation Scholars program.

“I have learned that building relationships with students from both Southern Oregon University and Universidad de Guanajuato is a privilege which not many have,” Sharma said. “I have … gained a deeper understanding of our shared goals and how we can use our differences to create innovative solutions.”

The current Global Innovation Scholars project grew out of a previous partnership between the two schools – the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program – which brought together classes of upper-division business students to work on the development of international business relationships.

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Raider Education Day and keynote speaker Jay Schroder come to SOU Ashland

Raider Education Day for new and prospective teachers

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Author, teacher and consultant Jay Schroder will deliver a keynote address, highlighting the third annual Raider Educator Day – an event on Saturday, April 5, that will allow new and prospective teachers to gain insights into the field. The forum, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rogue River Room of SOU’s Stevenson Union, is hosted by Southern Oregon University’s School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities.

The annual Raider Education Day provides an opportunity for prospective and current students, and recent alumni, to connect with seasoned education professionals and explore career opportunities.

Schroder has taught high school English and social studies for 24 years. He’s the creator of the “Teach from Your Best Self” professional learning programs and the author of the book “Teach from Your Best Self: A Teacher’s Guide to Thriving in the Classroom.” Schroder is an affiliate faculty member at SOU, a teacher consultant for the Oregon Writing Project and a certified instructor of social emotional learning and character development.

Schroder currently works for the Southern Oregon Regional Educator Network (SOREN), supporting schools and educators throughout the region. He offers professional learning experiences that help educators increase resiliency, avoid burnout and thrive in the challenges of education.

“Jay Schroder is a tremendous resource for our region and for those who have chosen careers as teachers,” said Dustin Walcher, dean of SOU’s School of Social Sciences and interim dean of the School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities. “Raider Educator Day gives newcomers to the field of education a chance to learn from our most respected educators.”

Schroder has received High School Teacher of Excellence Awards from both the Oregon Council of Teachers of English and the National Council of Teachers of English. Schroder has also trained for more than 25 years in the martial arts, and holds a sixth-degree black belt in karate. He was recently inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Other presenters at the event include South Umpqua School District Superintendent Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns, principal at Ashland’s Walker Elementary, who are co-authors of the book “Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students.” Bare and Burns will lead a breakout session on tools and strategies for communicating and building relationships with students that enable learning while avoiding power struggles.

Raider Education Day each year includes sessions and mock interviews with superintendents, administrators, hiring managers and teachers from local school districts – many of whom are SOU alumni. School of Education faculty members and student leaders also participate.

The day is intended to provide valuable career and pathway advice to attendees. Topics include teacher preparation programs, scholarships and insights into the evolving landscape of the education field.

Raider Educator Day is open at no charge to all who are interested. The schedule and sign-up information are available online. More information about the event is available from Mary Patridge, student success coordinator for the School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities, by email or by phone at (541) 552-7154.

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Southern Oregon firefighters at LA wildfires

SOU student applies classroom experience to work on LA wildfires

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Bryan Cohee was juggling his usual responsibilities back in January – as a husband, father, battalion chief with Jackson County Fire District 3 and undergraduate student in Southern Oregon University’s Innovation and Leadership Program. A phone call resulted in yet another role, and both opportunities and challenges for Cohee: it was an offer to serve as co-leader for a deployment of southern Oregon firefighters to help battle the historic Los Angeles wildfires.

Participation was voluntary, but the nature of the assignment required a quick decision.

At LA wildfire, Bryan Cohee (left) and the co-leader of southern Oregon deployment

At LA wildfire, Bryan Cohee (left) and his co-leader on the southern Oregon deployment

“With three kids at home and a wife who has her own career and is also a student, there is never an entirely ‘convenient’ time,” Cohee said.

“We had about four hours to prepare for this instance; this gave me ample time to have a conversation with my wife and get most of my affairs in order,” he said. “Deployment opportunities typically only happen once or twice a year, so I want to take advantage of all the experiences I can to sharpen my skills for our local events.”

But there were balancing acts beyond those on the domestic front. Cohee is on what he calls his “third crack” at a bachelor’s degree. He lacked focus during his first attempt following high school, then about 15 years later was doing well with his second attempt until a kitchen remodel caused him to take a term off – which turned into seven years.

He didn’t want to jeopardize his current standing as a senior in SOU’s Innovation and Leadership Program, a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree completion program for working professionals. His winter term schedule includes Psychology 438, Group Dynamics – a five-week, accelerated course with one class session per week – and accepting the deployment would cause Cohee to miss one or two of the classes, depending on how long the firefighters remained in Los Angeles.

He immediately contacted SOU senior instructor Erica Knotts, who teaches the Group Dynamics course.

“I often encourage students to bring their own initiatives into the learning space,” Knotts said. “In Bryan’s case, he was actually the one who made the connection between Group Dynamics and his experience fighting fires. Once he shared the parallels he was experiencing, I worked with him to shape an assignment so he could apply course concepts to his real-world experience in a meaningful way.”

Cohee and Knotts collaborated on a plan – he would go about his deployment with group dynamics in mind, noting learning moments and other situations worth discussing with his classmates. For example, trust and accountability became issues because Cohee had worked with some but not all of the personnel from the five southern Oregon departments that sent members on the deployment, and effective firefighting is dependent on the confidence that comes from close working relationships.

Oregon apparatus at LA wildfires“The Group Dynamics material allowed me a deeper understanding of the root of the difficulties, which will lead to a change in how I will address similar situations moving forward,” Cohee said.

Other conditions on his absence from the class included keeping up with materials from the sessions he would miss, and during his deployment he was assigned to a group to work with on a final presentation for the class. He also wrote a four-page summary of his experiences, and the dynamics among those on the task force of about 15 firefighters that he helped to manage.

“Once we knew Bryan would be out, I let the class and his group members know where he was so they could show their support,” Knotts said. “He was also able to briefly Zoom into one of the sessions, which gave everyone a chance to check in with him.

“The INL program is incredibly supportive, and when he returned, there were plenty of conversations about his experience and the cohort felt ‘whole’ again.”

SOU’s Innovation & Leadership Program offers an accelerated bachelor’s degree for working professionals hoping to develop skills in academic areas including organizational leadership, project management, systems thinking, communication, emerging media, and data management. The degree can be completed either in-person or fully online.

Cohee and a coworker from Fire District 3 – which includes Central Point, Gold Hill, White City and Eagle Point – are the fourth and fifth members of that department to attend the SOU program.

“There’s no buyer’s remorse; it’s been a fantastic fit from a convenience and application standpoint,” Cohee said. “The content, facilitation and convenience make it a natural fit for police and fire agencies.”

Knotts said the INL program worked as it was designed in Cohee’s case – it incorporated and drew from practical experience to enhance the classroom experience.

“Hands-on learning and real-world application make education more meaningful, and as an instructor I personally try to create those opportunities whenever possible,” Knotts said. “Of course, normally we have more time to plan and structure these kinds of experiences – but sometimes unexpected opportunities arise, even in challenging and devastating situations like these fires.”

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