SOU transitions to schools rather than divisions

SOU shifts to four academic “schools”

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University’s 46 undergraduate and 10 graduate-level academic programs will be distributed among four “schools” rather than the university’s seven current “divisions” when the 2023-24 academic year begins in September.

The organizational shift will eventually eliminate the cost of three director-level positions and will build greater efficiency into SOU’s administrative structure. It is a cornerstone of the cost management plan adopted this spring by the SOU Board of Trustees.

“This move is resourceful and economical, and it also allows us to encourage synergy among academic programs that are related or share common themes,” said Susan Walsh, SOU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We were very intentional in how we grouped the academic programs for each school, evaluating both current qualities and how we expect each program to grow and evolve.”

An example of that strategic placement of programs is in SOU’s new School of Arts & Communication, where the university’s Theatre, Music and Emerging Media & Digital Arts programs will be joined by its Communication, Media and Cinema department, among other programs. All share components related to performance and production, and placing them under the same school will open avenues of potential collaboration.

The four new academic sections at SOU will be the School of Arts & Communication; the School of Science & Business; the School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities; and the School of Social Sciences. Two administrative sections with academic functions – the Provost’s Office and the University Library & Undergraduate Studies – will operate as stand-alone departments.

Current academic divisions at SOU are the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU; Business, Communication & the Environment; Education, Health & Leadership; Humanities & Culture; Social Sciences; Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics; and Undergraduate Studies.

School of Arts & Communication
The SOU School of Arts & Communication will encompass 11 undergraduate programs and one graduate-level program. The undergrad programs are Art and Art History, Communication, Creative Writing, Digital Cinema, Digital Cinema Production Arts, Emerging Media and Digital Arts, Media Innovation, Music, Music Industry & Production Studies, Shakespeare Studies (offered only as a minor) and Theatre. The school’s graduate-level offering is for the Master of Theatre Studies in Production and Design degree.

David Humphrey, currently director of the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU, has announced that he will retire at the end of December but will serve as the initial director of the new School of Arts & Communication. The search for a new director of the school is underway, and expected to be completed by early fall.

School of Science & Business
The SOU School of Science & Business will be made up of 14 undergraduate programs and two graduate-level programs. The undergrad programs are Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Computer Science, Environmental Science & Policy, eSports Management (offered only as a minor), Financial Mathematics, Innovation & Leadership, Management, Mathematics, Mathematics-Computer Science, Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism Management and Preprofessional Programs in medical fields. The school’s two graduate-level programs are for Master in Management and Master of Business Administration degrees.

Vincent Smith – currently director of the Business, Communication & the Environment Division – will serve as director for the new School of Science & Business beginning Sept. 1. Sherry Ettlich – currently director of the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Division – will serve in a support capacity until the end of the calendar year, when she plans to retire.

School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities
The SOU School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities will include eight undergraduate programs and six graduate programs. The undergrad programs are Early Childhood Development, Education Studies, English, Health & Exercise Science, Outdoor Adventure Leadership, Philosophy (offered only as a minor), Spanish Language & Culture and English for Speakers of Other Languages. The graduate programs are Master of Arts in Spanish Language Teaching, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Teaching with Special Education Endorsement, Master of Arts/Science in Education, Master of Outdoor Adventure & Expedition Leadership and the Principal Administrator and Professional Administrator licenses.

Vance Durrington, currently director of the Education, Health & Leadership Division, will serve as director of the new School of Education, Leadership, Health & Humanities.

School of Social Sciences
The SOU School of Social Sciences will have 13 undergraduate programs and one graduate program. The undergraduate offerings are Criminology & Criminal Justice; Economics, Ethnic & Racial Studies (offered only as a minor); Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies; Healthcare Administration; History; Human Service; International Studies; Native American Studies (offered only as a minor); Power & Politics; Psychology; Social Justice (offered only as a minor); and Sociology & Anthropology. The graduate program is for the Master in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree.

Dustin Walcher, currently director of the Social Sciences Division, will serve as director of the new School of Social Sciences.

One other current division director – Lee Ayers, who heads the Undergraduate Studies Division – is also retiring at the end of December. Ayers and Carrie Forbes will co-direct the University Library & Undergraduate Studies department until Ayers’ retirement. Forbes will then continue as director.

The first element of the four-plank SOU Forward realignment strategy was to resolve structural defects in SOU’s financial base and eliminate what was projected as a $14.6 million deficit by the 2026-27 fiscal year. That job is in progress, after the SOU Board of Trustees approved the cost-management portion of the plan in April, reducing expenses by $3.6 million this year and identifying another $9 million in recurring cost reductions. About 82 full-time positions are being cut through a combination of job vacancies, retirements, voluntary departures, non-renewable contracts and elimination of 24 currently-held positions.

SOU is now moving on to the plan’s three other planks, all of which will prepare the university for strategic growth by diversifying its sources of revenue. SOU will reimagine how it supports faculty and programs seeking funding from external granting agencies and organizations, leverage an ongoing surge in philanthropic support and diversify revenue by pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities – including solar power generation and creation of a senior living facility.

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Early learning consortium receives grant

SOU and early learning consortium awarded $1.75 million grant

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Early Childhood Development program at Southern Oregon University will receive a $1.75 million grant from the Oregon Department of Education’s Early Learning Division to lead and expand a collaborative effort to provide education and support for early-learning professionals in the region.

SOU will become the fiscal agent and lead institution for the Southern Oregon Early Learning Professional Development Consortium – a collaboration between SOU, Rogue Community College, Klamath Community College, Umpqua Community College, Southwestern Oregon Community College and several child-care resource and referral agencies in southern Oregon.

This year’s grant – the largest in the consortium’s nine-year history – will support efforts to provide comprehensive financial and academic assistance to early learning professionals throughout the region. The consortium’s offerings include zero-cost courses, mentorship opportunities and financial assistance.

RCC has served as the fiscal agent and coordinated projects on behalf of the consortium over the past several years, but agreed to pass the leadership role to SOU’s Early Childhood Development team, beginning with the 2023-25 biennium that starts July 1.

“We are dearly and deeply grateful to Eileen Micke-Johnson of RCC, whose unwavering dedication and high-quality leadership has helped this project flourish, year-after-year,” said Younghee Kim, an Education professor at SOU and coordinator of the university’s Early Childhood Development program. “We hope to follow in her footsteps and look forward to consulting with her, in her continuing roles at RCC and beyond.”

Kim will share consortium leadership duties with Kayla Rapet, an instructor, advisor and navigation coach for SOU’s School of Education.

The new round of grant funding will enable the Southern Oregon Early Learning Professional Development Consortium to expand its services and create new and innovative professional development opportunities. New projects that SOU’s ECD team will work to initiate include:

  • Scholarships and other financial assistance for early learning students
  • Micro-credentials in Infant Mental Health and Early Childhood Education, created in partnership with community agencies
  • Hiring a bilingual (Spanish/English) navigation coach for ECD online students who are first-language Spanish speakers
  • A potential Bachelor of Applied Science degree in early childhood education that streamlines pathways for transfer students and aligns with SOU’s newly designed general education courses

The grant is also expected to support peer-mentoring professional development workshops for ECD students, continuation of the ECD Student Leadership Club and expansion of ECD Saturday workshops to advance regional collaborations.

Students in SOU’s ECD program graduate with a solid knowledge base of child development, play-based curriculum and teaching, and best practices for working with young children and their families. They also learn advocacy skills to support the children and families they serve, and the profession of early childhood education.

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President Rick Bailey at SOU Commencement Ceremony

SOU’s 97th Commencement Ceremony

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(Ashland, Ore.) — More than 1,300 degrees were conferred when Southern Oregon University celebrated its 97th Commencement Ceremony at Raider Stadium on Saturday, June 17. The ceremony was also livestreamed on Rogue Valley Community Television.

This year’s SOU Commencement featured three student speakers – graduating seniors Morgan Ulu of American Samoa, Aiki Deguchi of Japan and Blake Jordan, who came to SOU by way of Clovis Community College in California, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and Fresno City College. Each spoke about the insights they have gained during their academic journeys.

SOU President Rick Bailey addressed this year’s graduates and the Commencement audience, and Susan Walsh, the university’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, presided over the ceremony. Recipients of SOU’s 2023 student and faculty awards, and retiring faculty members, were also recognized before graduates were introduced one at a time to receive their diploma covers from President Bailey.

A new SOU tradition – the 2nd annual Commencement Street Fair – was held following the ceremony, south of the stadium near the Lithia Motors Pavilion. It featured global cuisine stations and a beer garden for those over 21.

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Alison Burke presents to United Nations conference

SOU criminology professor presents at United Nations session

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University criminology and criminal justice professor Alison Burke attended a United Nations conference in Vienna, Austria, last month to present her research on restorative justice to an international panel on crime prevention and criminal justice.

Burke was invited to the 32nd session of the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – one of two policymaking bodies within the U.N. that guide international action on drugs and crime. Resolutions and decisions developed by countries’ delegates provide guidance on crime and justice issues to United Nations member states and to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

Burke and two other criminal justice academics from the U.S. – Stephanie Mizrahi, Ph.D., of California State University-Sacramento, and Angela Henderson, Ph.D., of the University of Northern Colorado – were invited to the U.N. session by Phillip Reichel, Ph.D., a representative of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, an American organization. Their presentations were made to a side panel organized by the ACJS.

The three U.S. criminologists discussed “Amplifying Victims’ Voices to Enhance the Functioning of the Criminal Justice System,” and Burke’s particular presentation was “Harmed People Harm People: Seeing the Offender as the Victim Through a Restorative Lens.”

The three were also invited to participate in other commission sessions as observers.

Burke, who has been an SOU faculty member for 15 years, served in a variety of juvenile justice positions before earning her doctorate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2008 and shifting her career to higher education. Her research interests include gender and juvenile justice, and delinquency prevention.

She created and teaches the classes for a Certificate in Restorative Justice at SOU, and also serves as a community restorative justice facilitator for the Emerging Adult Program in Deschutes County.

“I was able to apply outcome data from their EAP program to my (United Nations) presentation on incorporating restorative justice practices and show how restorative justice programs can be immensely effective and applicable worldwide,” Burke said.

“And thanks to students who are interested in learning more about alternatives to incarceration and reframing the punitive nature of the current criminal justice system, I get to teach restorative justice classes full of robust conversations, insightful and inclusive discussions, and true community building within the classroom setting.”

Burke was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to lecture and teach a course on women and crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Mexico and her master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Colorado at Denver. She has also studied at England’s Oxford University.

Her work has appeared in publications including the International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Journal of Active Learning in Higher Education and the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. She has authored the books “Gender and Justice: An Examination of Policy and Practice Regarding Judicial Waiver,” published in 2009 by VDM Publishing; and “Teaching Introduction to Criminology,” published published in 2019 by Cognella Press.

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New solar arrays to be installed at SOU

SOU receives additional $1 million in state support for solar arrays

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University continues to leverage state and federal support for renewable energy projects, with the Oregon Department of Energy announcing last week that the university will be awarded a $1 million grant for the second straight year to build solar arrays on campus. SOU also received a $2 million congressional appropriation in December to help pay for its bid to become the nation’s first public university to produce all of the daytime electricity used on its campus.

The energy department’s Community Renewable Energy Grant Program awarded a total of $12 million to 39 recipients – Tribes, public bodies and consumer-owned utilities – to support planning and construction of renewable energy or energy resilience projects. SOU’s is one of seven projects that were awarded grants in the neighborhood of $1 million each.

“This grant award speaks volumes about our identity as a public university,” President Rick Bailey said. “This is who we are – fiscally innovative, environmentally sensitive and always mindful of our students and their experiences on our campus.

“This grant and other current and future funding opportunities will allow us to reduce our dependence on tuition as a revenue source, and increase accessibility and affordability for students throughout our state and region.”

The most recent ODE grant will help pay for SOU’s first parking lot solar array, which will consist of solar panels on steel structures in a lot adjacent to The Hawk Dining Commons. The structures will provide shading in addition to power generation, and the project will also pay for eight new electric vehicle charging ports – expanding the university’s total number of EV ports to 20.

Last year’s first-round grant in ODE’s Community Renewable Energy Grant Program – along with federal funding and a contribution from the Student Green Fund – will pay for solar installations on The Hawk Dining Commons and the Lithia Motors Pavilion/Student Recreation Center complex, and a battery storage facility to enhance community resilience. The $2 million congressional allocation will help pay for additional solar arrays on SOU’s parking lots and rooftops.

“Our momentum toward energy independence is very exciting and will be a game-changer for our university,” SOU Sustainability Director Becs Walker said. “We plan to be producing all of our own electricity within about 10 years, and ultimately to become a carbon net zero campus . This progress demonstrates our leadership in sustainability and the transition of the energy infrastructure.

Energy self-sufficiency will save SOU at least $700,000 per year in utility costs and President Bailey plans to expand the program from there, with additional solar installations and partnerships to further build energy and community resilience. He achieved that on a smaller scale at Northern New Mexico College, where he served as president before being hired at SOU in January 2022.

The current solar projects will increase SOU’s generating capacity to about 16 percent of the electricity it uses on campus.

The university has nine solar arrays on its Ashland campus with a total output of 455 kilowatts, plus an array at the Higher Education Center in Medford and a pole-mounted array installed by a nonprofit on land leased from SOU. The two new arrays supported by the state grants will increase SOU’s solar capacity by a total of 359 kilowatts.

SOU will continue to implement energy conservation and energy efficiency measures as it increases its solar power production. SOU’s Hawk Dining Commons and McLoughlin Residence Hall each have solar hot water systems installed to augment their natural gas domestic water heating, and the campus has three net-zero buildings – they create as much or more energy than they use. The university is also a partner in the DOE’s Better Climate Challenge, which supports SOU’s 2033 goals to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from a 2018 baseline, and to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent from a 2022 baseline.

Solar energy production is a key part of SOU’s plan to develop new, entrepreneurial revenue streams and reduce dependence on the two traditional funding sources for public higher education nationwide – tuition and state funding. The university has also begun a project to demolish the vacant Cascade housing complex and replace it with a senior living facility that produces partnerships between its residents and the university. Funding for the demolition has been approved by the state and is expected to begin in the next several months.

Other projects that will produce revenue or reduce expenses for SOU include the establishment of a University Business District in southeast Ashland – discussions are underway with the local business community – and replacement of its operational software with the cutting-edge Workday platform, which eventually will save the university about $750,000 per year in recurring costs.

ODE’s Community Renewable Energy Grant Program was created by the 2021 Legislature, which set aside $50 million for projects throughout the state over three years – with $12 million available in the current funding cycle. The program is intended to build energy and community resilience in rural, underserved areas, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to rewire America through the expansion of solar energy generation and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

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The Creativity Conference at SOU is this week

Fifth year of Creativity Conference at SOU to unfold this week

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The fifth annual Creativity Conference at SOU will begin a four-day run on Thursday, May 18, with a lineup of 123 presenters, including seven keynote speakers. The conference is expected to draw many of the world’s top scholars, researchers and practitioners in the field of creativity, along with a wide variety of working professionals looking for ways to bring creativity into their work.

The conference, first held in 2018, will be presented in a hybrid format. Thursday, May 18, will be reserved for remote presenters and those presentations will be livestreamed via the conference app. In-person attendees will have the option of watching the streams for those events in designated rooms on SOU’s campus. In-person presentations will be held Friday, May 19, through Sunday, May 21, in Southern Oregon University’s Stevenson Union, but all of those sessions will also be livestreamed and available to remote attendees. Attendees will also be able to view archived versions of all presentations.

Registration remains open for the event, which begins with an 8:30 a.m. “kickoff” address on May 18 by Mark Runco of SOU, who co-created the conference with Dan DeNeui, SOU’s Associate Provost.

“This conference features internationally renowned speakers and presenters who are prominent in the study of creativity,” DeNeui said. “The material they present will spark imagination and cause attendees to rethink how they approach their work.

“This year we are featuring a keynote address and numerous presentations on the role of artificial intelligence and creativity.”

Individual events at the conference will again be held in any of four formats: 60 minute panel presentations by two or three people; 40- to 50-minute presentations by individuals; 15-minute “boom talk” presentations that quickly get to the “so what” of their topics; and poster presentations. All varieties of presentation formats will all offer time for questions and answers.

This year’s keynote speakers are Arthur I. Miller, emeritus professor of the history and philosophy of science at University College London ; Ivonne Chand O’Neal, founder and principal of the creativity and arts impact research firm Muse Research, LLC; Roger Beaty, and assistant professor of psychology at Penn State University and director of PSU’s Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Lab; Roni Reiter-Palmon, Varner Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and director of the I/O Psychology graduate program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; and Ted Adams, founder of Clover Press, author of graphic novels and member of the SOU Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Mark Runco will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from SOU at the 2023 Creativity Conference. He is past president of the American Psychological Association’s Division 10 and editor of the Journal of Creativity. He is editor emeritus of the Creativity Research Journal and has co-edited three editions of the Encyclopedia of Creativity. His creativity textbook has been translated into over a dozen languages (the 3rd edition is due out any day). Runco was previously the Torrance Professor of Creative Studies at the University of Georgia and is currently director of creativity research and programming at SOU.

The SOU Creativity Conference is an international event that provides cutting-edge information and resources for those who are interested in learning more about the science and application of creativity research. The conference provides an opportunity for creativity researchers to collaborate and broaden their networks.

SOU’s strategic plan specifically emphasizes creativity, innovation and other human skills that augment technical skills and are particularly valued by employers.

Those with questions about the conference may reach out to either Mark Runco at runcom@sou.edu or Dan DeNeui at deneuid@sou.edu.

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Global Innovation Scholars visit by Guanajuato delegation

SOU-Guanajuato collaborations expand with Global Innovation Scholars

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University hosted two professors and nine business students last week from Universidad de Guanajuato, as the two longtime sister campuses continued their Global Innovation Scholars program – a collaboration on multicultural business development that was initiated through the U.S. Department of State.

The nine Guanajuato students, along with 10 SOU students who visited Guanajuato in April, worked last week on development plans for three Rogue Valley businesses or organizations –  Ride My Road, Mt. Ashland and the Ashland Climate Collaborative. The 19 combined students in this year’s exchange program spent the week in Ashland researching and analyzing the businesses, then offered their suggested development plans to the business owners.

SOU President Rick Bailey hosted a welcome reception for the Guanajuato delegation, and the Ashland Amigo Club – which supports the Ashland-Guanajuato Sister City program – hosted a farewell gathering at the Grizzly Peak Winery.

The SOU and UG students did similar work in Guanajuato last month, when they researched and offered development suggestions to three Mexican businesses. The SOU delegation that visited Guanajuato was led by Dee Fretwell, a Business Department instructor and director of the Global Innovation Scholars program at SOU; Jeremy Carlton, a Business Department instructor and chair of the department; and Vincent Smith, a professor and director of the Division of Business, Communication and the Environment.

Fretwell introduced the Global Innovation Scholars program last year, in partnership with UG business professor and SOU alumnus Martin Pantoja – who also led last week’s Guanajuato delegation to Ashland, along with UG professor Lari Arthur Viianto.

“This program is truly unique, in that it brings together students from two communities and cultures to learn from each other while providing valuable insights to business owners,” Fretwell said.

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

The SOU-UG partnership received a $25,000 grant last year from the 100,000 Strong program, which serves more than 500 higher education institutions in 25 Western Hemisphere countries and 49 U.S. states. This year’s program was funded by the SOU Institute for Applied Sustainability – established last fall through a generous gift from Lithia Motors and GreenCars – and through the support of  Barbara Tyler and Tom Curran.

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 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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AHS junior varsity Brain Bowl team

SOU hosts middle and high school Brain Bowl

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The 46th annual Southern Oregon Brain Bowl, a quizbowl tournament organized by Southern Oregon University for area middle and high school teams, is in the books and the winners were Sacred Heart Home School, Cascade Christian and Ashland High in the high school divisions, and Ashland Middle School, Eagle Point and North Middle in the middle school divisions.

Sacred Heart Brain Bowl teamThe Southern Oregon Brain Bowl, which began in 1977 and is based on game show Jeopardy, is a local academic competition between southern Oregon middle schools and high schools. The schools compete in teams through a semi-final round, then championship rounds are held in the studios of Southern Oregon PBS and broadcast to the local viewing audience.

A total of 17 teams representing 14 schools competed in this year’s high school tournament, played with a March 18 opening round and then a final round last Saturday, April 22. The finals for both the varsity and junior varsity levels were held on the SOU campus and aired Sunday on SOPBS.

Ashland High School competed against the Sacred Heart Home School team in this year’s Division A Varsity, with Sacred Heart taking the trophy with a 75-40 final score. Cascade Christian and Eagle Point High School had a close match in Division B Varsity, with Cascade Christian coming out on top, 43-40. Ashland High School won a nail-biter over defending 2022 champion Grants Pass High School in the Junior Varsity Division – the two teams were tied until the final question, and the Ashland High team won, 39-37.

Cascade Christian Brain Bowl teamThe middle school divisions played in a round-robin format for five weeks beginning in January and ending in February. Winners were determined by their win/loss standings, and ties were broken by the winners of head-to-head competitions.

Division A was made up of Ashland, Hedrick, Logos, McLoughlin, St. Mary’s and The Valley School. Ashland and St. Mary’s each finished the tournament with a win-loss record of 4-1, but Ashland won a head-to-head match against, 13-12, in week two.

Division B was made up of Cascade Christian, Eagle Point, Kids Unlimited, Sacred Heart and Siskiyou School. Eagle Point and Siskiyou School each finished with 3-1 win-loss records, but Eagle Point won the two schools’ head-to-head matchup, 30-27, in week four.

Division C was made up of Fleming, Hanby, North, Rogue River, Scenic and South. North and South middle schools were the top finishers, with North running the table for a 5-0 win-loss record, followed by South at 4-1.

SOU Pre-College Youth Programs organized the tournaments, which were sponsored by Lithia 4Kids and open to participants from the Jackson, Josephine and Klamath County school districts. Organizers congratulated all team members and participating schools in both the middle and high school competitions, and thanked the coaches who served as mentors to their students and the SOPBS staff and volunteers who helped host the events.

More program information, pictures and scoreboards are available at the SOU Pre-College Youth Program website.

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SOU Forward realignment plan approved

SOU Board of Trustees approves realignment plan

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to adopt the SOU Forward fiscal realignment plan – a four-plank strategy that balances expenses with revenue and then prepares the university for strategic growth by diversifying its sources of revenue.

The board focused primarily on the plan’s first plank – immediate cost management – while the three planks or elements that are centered on revenue generation will unfold over the next several years.

“University leaders clearly understand SOU’s difficult position and have identified the steps necessary to address the institution’s immediate financial threats,” said Daniel Santos, chair of the SOU Board of Trustees. “What my fellow board members and I find most hopeful is that this plan also lays out a course of action that will enable the university to diversify its revenue and avoid similar threats in the future.”

The cost management measures that trustees adopted will reduce expenses by $3.6 million this year while identifying another $9 million in recurring cost reductions. They address structural flaws in the university’s financial model that otherwise would result in a projected $14.6 million deficit by the 2026-27 fiscal year.

The measures will reduce the SOU workforce by the equivalent of almost 82 full-time positions – about 24 of them resulting in current employees losing their jobs. The remainder will be achieved through a combination of current job vacancies, retirements, voluntary departures and non-renewable contracts. The university is working closely with the 24 current employees whose positions will be lost to identify other opportunities.

Those whose positions are impacted are being given advance notice ranging from 120 days to 15 months, depending on job category.

“Make no mistake, this continues to be a challenging process for all of us at SOU,” President Rick Bailey said. “But we will remain committed to kindness, compassion and unity. We are in this together, and will always be mindful of the ways in which this plan affects all of our students, faculty and staff.

“Ultimately, as challenging as this work is, we are doing it because we are united in our love for students. We owe it to current and future students to take the steps necessary to keep SOU affordable and accessible for generations to come.”

The staffing reductions will touch SOU’s three employee groups almost equally, with 27 faculty positions, 30 classified positions and 25 unclassified positions affected. The timing of reductions will vary over the next year and a half, with most being achieved by June 2024 or soon thereafter.

The realignment process, which began in earnest last October, has aimed for transparency and collaboration, with input from SOU’s shared governance partners – the Associated Students of SOU, Faculty Senate and Staff Assembly – and the unions representing both faculty and classified employees. With each decision, efforts have been made to maintain academic excellence and student experiences.

The structural flaws in SOU’s fiscal model are the result of a longstanding reliance on the combination of state appropriations and tuition revenue to pay for most operations. The proportion of those two funding sources has flipped in recent decades for all of Oregon’s seven public universities – what used to be about a two-thirds share from the state and one-third from tuition is now the exact opposite.

President Bailey has said that SOU can “no longer pull the tuition lever” each time its budget must be balanced. The SOU Forward plan identifies strategies that will build the university’s fiscal resilience and reduce its reliance on state funding and tuition.

Those revenue-generating planks call for the university to reimagine how it supports faculty and programs seeking funding from external granting agencies and organizations, leverage an ongoing surge in philanthropic support for SOU and diversify revenue by pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities that include solar power generation and creation of a senior living facility.

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Food pantry inventory is low, with food drive underway

February Food Drive addresses demands on SOU Food Pantry

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The timing of this month’s February Food Drive couldn’t be better for Southern Oregon University’s Student Food Pantry, which directly benefits from all food and monetary donations generated by the food drive. The on-campus Food Pantry has nearly been emptied by a combination of unprecedented use and high student need.

A total of 943 student visits to the Food Pantry in SOU’s Stevenson Union have been logged, to date, through this academic year’s summer, fall and winter terms. That’s almost double the 479 total visits to the Food Pantry during the previous, full academic year.

“Frankly, without the Food Pantry, I would have to drop out of college,” one student said in a recent, anonymous user survey. “My roommate and I depend on the food pantry to get necessary food, like canned fruits and veggies, that we just wouldn’t be able to afford. We likely would only be able to eat macaroni and ramen without the food pantry – which isn’t enough to truly support the level of work I do, or the studying I need to do for my degree.”

“During the school year, I can’t work enough to pay rent, bills, books, parking, etc., and cover all food costs,” another student said in the Food Pantry’s user survey.

SOU’s February Food Drive – part of the Governor’s State Employee Food Drive – began Feb. 1, continues through the end of the month and will support the Student Food Pantry’s operations throughout the year. ACCESS, the Community Action Agency for Jackson County, brings supplies to the SOU pantry each week, but those donated items are often gone within a day or two.

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

The popular “Fill the Bin” building competition is also back for the 2023 food drive, with the building that collects the largest volume of non-perishable food items by weight receiving bragging rights for the year. Collection bins have been placed on the main floor of all SOU buildings – including community drop-off stations in the box office for the Oregon Center for the Arts at SOU, the Stevenson Union foyer and in Lithia Motors Pavilion – and will be collected and weighed on Friday, March 3.

The goals of this year’s food drive are to generate monetary donations of $6,000 and at least 3,000 pounds of food – the combined equivalent of about 20,000 meals.

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

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

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