JPR at SOU Ashland

JPR reporters honored with journalism awards

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Jefferson Public Radio reporters have been recognized for their journalism with recent honors from both the Edward R. Murrow Awards and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards.

JPR reporter Jane Vaughan won a regional Murrow Award for investigative reporting in the small-market radio division, competing against public and commercial radio stations throughout the Northwest. Her winning story, “Roseburg’s private homeless camps blur business and charity,” takes a close look at a commercial landowner that operates three city-authorized homeless camps.

The regional Murrow awards have been presented since 1971 by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) to recognize outstanding broadcast and online journalism. Regional Murrow winners are automatically entered in the national Edward R. Murrow competition.

JPR reporters were recognized with eight awards – including second place in the General Excellence in Radio category – in the Society of Professional Journalists contest, which recognizes outstanding reporting throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Reporter Justin Higginbottom won the first-place award in the Crime & Law Enforcement Reporting category for his story, “Lions, guns and meth: Inside the takedown of an Oregon roadside zoo,”  about an interagency raid on a game park near Bandon. Higginbottom also was a first-place award in the Feature – Hard News category for his story, “Pineros in Southern Oregon: How Jackson County became a center for guest workers,” about how Jackson County accounts for more than a quarter of all non-logging forestry workers in the country who are in the U.S. on “guest worker” visas.

JPR’s Vanessa Finney won a first-place award in the LGBTQ+ Equity Reporting category for her story, “A place of their own: ‘Outliers and Outlaws’ in Eugene,”  about the University of Oregon’s Eugene Lesbian History Project. Finney also won a third-place award in the Racial Equity Reporting category for “‘Aging While Black’ amplifies experiences of elderly Black Americans,” her piece on a national movement that amplifies the voices and experiences of Black elders and re-examines aging in the context of race.

Reporter Roman Battaglia won a second-place award in the Environment & Natural Disaster category for his story, “A biomass plant stands amidst a climate debate on the Northern California coast,”  about a 40-year-old facility that burns wood waste to produce electricity in the tiny coastal town of Scotia, California. Battaglia won another second-place award in the Technology & Science Reporting category for his story, “In Arcata, anyone can fly planes and fight wildfires without leaving the library,” about the Hall of Simulation at the Cal Poly Humbolt library.

Reporters Mike Green and Natalie Golay won a third-place award in the Technology & Science Reporting category for their story, “Student engineers build custom car for four-year-old,” about engineering students at Henley High School in Klamath falls who designed and built a custom car as part of the national Go Baby Go initiative.

SOU students win poster presentation at symposium for high performance computing

SOU students win best poster at high speed computing symposium

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Three seniors from the SOU Computer Science program won the best poster award at the 2026 Rocky Mountain Advanced Computing Consortium’s HPC Symposium, held May 12 to 14 at Boise State University.

The SOU team – Brayden Stach, Laura Lovrien and Alec Clark – returned with valuable takeaways from the conference and the overall experience. They also won an all-expenses-paid trip to SuperComputing 26, an international conference for high performance computing that will be held Nov. 15 to 20 in Chicago.

“The networking was genuinely great,” the three SOU students said in their report on the Boise symposium. “There was a room with about 15 company booths (IBM, Intel, Amazon and others) open every day.

“We walked around, got some free merch and had real conversations with recruiters and engineers – everyone was really friendly and easy to approach, which made it simple to just walk up and start a conversation.”

The three said some specific examples of advice from recruiters included tailoring your resume to each job posting, including using AI to match the resume to the language in a listing; saying “yes” to extra work and projects early in your career, to gain experience; and making connections that will matter, by showing up and meeting people.

The high performance computing (HPC) symposium included a keynote address about the value of working across disciplines — such as computer scientists collaborating with environmental scientists, psychologists or others to produce results that matter.

The Rocky Mountain Advanced Computing Consortium (RMACC) is a collaborative group of academic and research institutions in the intermountain states whose mission is to enable the effective use of high performance computing – the use of computer clusters or parallel processing to perform complex calculations from massive data sets.

The organization’s annual symposium allows researchers, students and industry professionals to meet and explore how high performance computing is being used in research, AI and other work.

“If you ever get the chance to go to a conference like this, do it,” the SOU students said in their report. “The networking alone is worth it, the people are approachable and you don’t need to be an expert to get value out of it.”

Student worker appreciation at SOU Ashland

Campus community’s student worker appreciation

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The SOU campus thrives thanks to the dedication of more that 400 student workers and the mentorship of 100-plus staff and faculty supervisors. To honor that partnership, the university recently hosted its first campus-wide Student Worker Appreciation Event, bringing together students and supervisors for an evening of celebration, reflection and friendly competition.

A previous version of the event over the past two years focused specifically on PEAK workers, but the sunsetting of that program inspired a new, more inclusive tradition. This year, the horizon expanded to celebrate every student worker who helps keep the campus running.

The highlight of the evening was recognizing the outstanding individuals who represent the very best of our campus workforce.

Student worker of the year
Competition was stiff this year, resulting in a three-way tie for second place. Deep appreciation goes out to the runners-up:

  • Death Morales (Nominated by Sweets Underwood)
  • Ku-Huan Chien (Nominated by Patrick Smith)
  • Jayda Hage (Nominated by Trystan Stephens-Tregarth)

Taking home the top honor of student worker of the year was Eli Samas (nominated by Sweets Underwood). Eli was celebrated for going above and beyond the standard student role, showcasing natural leadership and creating an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere where fellow students feel deeply valued and encouraged to participate.

Supervisor of the year
Exceptional student employment relies heavily on stellar mentorship. Gordon Carrier (nominated by Elliot Glenn) took home a well-deserved second place.

The ultimate supervisor of the year award was presented to Marc Overbeck (nominated by Maisie Bandel-Ramirez). Marc was praised for providing the perfect balance of guidance and independence, giving his student workers a strong foundation to build the confidence needed to spearhead major projects. Marc concluded the evening by sharing a few words of gratitude and reflection on the vital role student workers play.

The launch of the Skill Up: Enhance your Career Skills initiative on Moodle was Central to this year’s student employment experience. All student workers were given access to the professional development hub, allowing them to complete a self-assessment across eight core career-readiness competencies: career and self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork and technology.

Beyond self-assessments, the Skill Up Moodle opened doors to concrete career-building opportunities. Students were encouraged to join the National Society for Leadership and Success, join the Raider Network to connect with alumni, complete job simulations via Forage, engage with the Indeed Job Search Academy and take specialized DiSC or Strengthsfinder assessments.

The impact was clear – attendees shared how the program helped them transition from passive learning to structured self-improvement. Students learned to break down broad professional ambitions into specific, measurable actions, navigate new platforms like Career Launch and realize that critical soft skills require deliberate focus and consistent action over time.

The recent appreciation event wasn’t just about looking back; it was also about building community in real-time. Attendees kicked off the festivities with a “Speed Connection” game, followed by a lively reflection from student speaker Logan Maxwell.

A campus-centric trivia game kept energy high, testing attendees’ knowledge on everything from the physical location of the Career Connections office (SU 310) to identifying the platforms used for off-campus job hunting. The excitement peaked with a live drawing, sending lucky winners home with free access to DiSC and Strengthsfinder assessments.

Student employment is a win-win for the SOU community – campus departments rely heavily on the vital, daily contributions of student workers, and the students gain hands-on, holistic experience that builds essential career-readiness and social consciousness.

SOU Ashland's Scott Kaiser has a new book on Shakespeare

SOU’s Kaiser releases book on Shakespeare’s canon

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Scott Kaiser, who regularly teaches and directs in Southern Oregon University’s Theatre program, has released his 24th book – “Conquering the Canon: A Life in Shakespeare.” The book chronicles his work in the production of all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays.

SOU Ashland's Scott Kaiser and his new book on ShakespeareKaiser served for 18 seasons as the head of voice and text at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, coaching actors in almost 100 productions. He served more than 10 additional years at OSF as director of company development, traveling the U.S. to recruit emerging acting talent and overseeing the festival’s Acting Company Trainee Program – which helped place SOU students in the company’s productions.

His new book draws on Kaiser’s work at OSF – “thousands of rehearsal hours, hundreds of productions and a lifetime of hard-won lessons,” says a summary on Amazon.com, where the 514-page paperback is available.

“Blending behind-the-scenes stories with scholarly insights, ‘Conquering the Canon’ is part memoir, part masterclass, capturing the devotion, skill and stamina required to bring the Bard to life onstage,” the Amazon description says.

Kaiser earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, his master of fine arts degree in the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program and an advanced diploma in voice studies from London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

SOU Ashland's Scott Kaiser has a new book on ShakespeareHis career has included work as an author, playwright, director, teacher and Shakespeare scholar. He has taught classes at SOU in acting, voice and playwriting since 2014, directing eight productions: “Arcadia,” “Hay Fever,” “Three Sisters,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “Anton in Show Business,” “Ghosts,” “Twelfth Night” and his own play, “Shakespeare’s Other Women.”

Kaiser’s previous books include “Harriman’s Ghost,” a novel about a movie star and his ghostwriter; “Tales from the Vomitorium,” a collection of stories about theatre people; “Albert’s Adventures in Willy World,” a satire of the Shakespeare industry; “The Tao of Shakespeare: A Book of Meditations;” and “Notes from the Back Row: A Voice and Text Director’s Journal.”

He has also written several original plays, including “Love’s Labor’s Won” and “Falstaff in Love.”

Kaiser is currently at work on another novel.

Microsoft competition: SOU Ashland sweep

SOU students sweep in Microsoft competition

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Students from Southern Oregon University have earned all of the top 10 placements in the Microsoft Excel category of the Oregon Spring Qualifier round for this year’s Microsoft Office Specialist U.S. National Championship.

Students from SOU School of Business computer applications courses typically take two or three of the top spots in Microsoft’s annual statewide competition, but this is the first time that SOU has swept the category.

“Excel remains one of the most sought-after workplace skills employers want from college graduates,” said David Parker, a Senior Instructor II who coordinated this year’s entrants in the contest. “Here in the School of Business, we are preparing students with practical, marketable skills that help them stand out as they move into internships, jobs and long-term careers.”

Chase Barnes, a business student at SOU, earned first place in the Microsoft Excel (Office 2019) category and has been invited to represent Oregon at the 2026 MOS U.S. National Championship next month in Nashville, Tennessee. SOU’s Shiv Patel finished second in the Excel competition and was followed by Alexa Ibarraran, Stephanie Cortes, Simon Turquety, Kathryn Mack, Alana Albarran, Ryan McGinley, Katlyn Carnes and Zoe Manouvrier.

The clean sweep by SOU in the Spring Qualifier followed another notable effort in Oregon’s Fall Qualifier for the Excel category, when SOU students earned five of the top 10 spots – including the top three. SOU’s Paige Hoene won that competition, followed by Patrick Wooley in second place, Phoebe Knight in third, Zachary High in eighth and Mason Labow in 10th.

Students between the ages of 13 and 22 earn eligibility to compete in one of six competition tracks for the Fall or Spring Qualifiers by submitting a qualified passing score on the MOS Word, Excel or PowerPoint certification exams. First-place students from each competition track are invited to represent their state at the MOS U.S. National Championship. The winner of each track at the national competition will earn a trip to represent the U.S. at this year’s MOS World Championship in Anaheim, California.

“We have seen amazing results from the MOS program at Southern Oregon University as students learn and validate key workforce skills,” Parker said. “The MOS U.S. National Championship further motivates students to get certified, and we are incredibly proud of Chase Barnes for earning the opportunity to represent Oregon at the national level.

“We are also proud of all 10 SOU students who earned top placements in the state. This achievement reflects their hard work, technical skill and commitment to preparing for the modern workforce.”

The Microsoft Office Specialist certification is the only official Microsoft-recognized certification for Microsoft Office globally. The certification helps assess students’ skills and prepares them to apply Microsoft Office knowledge in academic, professional, and real-world settings.

SOU Ashland alumni Tiffany Burns and Erika Bare have new book

Two SOU alumni author second book for educators

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Two alumni of the SOU School of Education’s administrative licensure program and longtime education leaders in southern Oregon have published their second book together – “A School Leader’s Playbook for Tough Conversations.”

Tiffany Burns – a full-time instructor in the School of Education who previously served 12 years as a principal in the Ashland School District – teamed with South Umpqua School District Superintendent Erika Bare on the new book, which was published this month by ConnectEDD Publishing and is available on Amazon.com.

The book offers tools and strategies for “the hardest adult conversations – especially those tense moments with staff, caregivers and colleagues that feel heavy, live rent-free in our heads and keep us up at night,” according to a summary on Amazon.

“You’ll learn how to address poor performance, de-escalate conflict, stay grounded when emotions rise, prepare for high-stakes conversations and coach adults in ways that strengthen both performance and culture,” the description says.

The book includes resources such as frameworks, scenarios, planning tools and “sentence stems” that can be adapted for use in difficult situations.

The new book follows the first by Burns and Bare, “Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students,” which was published by ConnectEDD in March 2023. That book offers approaches that can be used to create “connected relationships” with students, avoid power struggles and use communication as an effective tool.

Burns earned her bachelor’s degree in Theatre, master of arts in Teaching, and master’s of education in Administration and English for Speakers of Other Languages – all at SOU. She also received her administrative licensure certification at SOU. Burns has taught elementary, middle, high school and university students in public, private, bilingual and homeschool settings in Oregon, Alaska and Mexico.

Bare received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Elementary Education & Teaching at the University of Oregon, and her administrative licensure credential at SOU. She has served as a special education teacher at every grade level in both the West Linn School District and the Medford School District. She has served in various administrative roles with the Ashland and Medford School Districts and is currently the South Umpqua superintendent.

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Ziona Christy, an OHSU nursing student at SOU Ashland

Historic Red Cross selection for OHSU nursing student at SOU

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Ziona Christy, a first-year nursing student with Oregon Health & Science University’s program on the Southern Oregon University campus, has been selected as one of only 16 students nationwide for the American Red Cross Collegiate Leadership Program – the first student in OHSU history to receive the honor.

The program will take place over two weeks in Washington, D.C., where she will work at the American Red Cross national headquarters to gain hands-on experience in humanitarian operations and leadership development. Students selected for the Red Cross course each receive $3,000 a scholarship, along with travel and housing for the program.

Christy’s background in emergency medical services, along with experience working with a local youth program, contributed to her selection by the Red Cross. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to service with several years in high-pressure, patient-centered care, and plans to pursue a career in emergency or critical care nursing.

Following the Red Cross program, she will begin organizing blood drives on campus next fall, aiming to engage fellow students in service and leadership opportunities.

OHSU operates its nursing program at SOU independently from SOU’s academic programming. But nursing students on the Ashland campus are otherwise integrated into SOU campus life, with full access to student dining facilities, the Hannon Library, the Student Recreation Center and climbing center, the Outdoor Program and gear rentals, the La Clinica Student Health & Wellness Center and more. Graduates of the OHSU nursing program also take part in SOU commencement ceremonies.

SOU Ashland Computer Science presentation to exclusive AI organization

SOU AI work presented to exclusive organization

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SOU Computer Science faculty member Bernie Boscoe and two of her students presented information to an exclusive organization of artificial intelligence researchers earlier this month on SOU students’ use of computer vision to glean data from camera traps at the future site of a wildlife crossing over Interstate 5 south of Ashland.

The poster presentation was given in Washington D.C., at the second annual meeting of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a National Science Foundation-supported group on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research.

Boscoe and SOU Computer Science students Katherine Nunn and Brayden Stach presented their poster, “Teaching Scalable Wildlife Image Processing with NAIRR Jetstream2 GPUs to Undergraduates.” GPUs – Graphics Processing Units – are electronic circuits used to accelerate image rendering, process video and train artificial intelligence.

“The module allows students to engage with wildlife data from Oregon while learning scalable computational workflows,” Boscoe and her team wrote in an abstract about their presentation.

Their poster included step-by-step guidance that enables other researchers and students to apply the same procedures used to collect data for the Oregon wildlife crossing to their own wildlife images and video datasets.

“By presenting a transparent, modifiable pipeline, the module allows students to experiment, troubleshoot common GPU-related issues and reflect on computational tradeoffs,” the poster abstract said.

Boscoe, an SOU assistant professor of computer science who builds and researches infrastructures and tools to help domain scientists do their work, has been collaborating with SOU associate professor of Environmental Science Karen Mager for more than three years to study wildlife patterns along I-5 and better understand regional needs for wildlife crossings. The data their students generated by using camera traps was a key component of a feasibility study that identified the Mariposa Preserve of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument as the priority site for an overpass.

The wildlife crossing, which has received a total of $37 million in federal and state funding, will span the freeway’s northbound and southbound lanes 1.7 miles north of the Oregon-California state line to help reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions. Construction is expected to begin as early as 2028.

The NAIRR was established by the NSF as a pilot in 2024, and now supports more than 600 research projects and 6,000 students across all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. It is intended to be a national infrastructure to provide critical computing, software, data, models, educational resources and expertise that the research and education communities need to advance AI innovation. Its annual meeting is an invitation-only gathering of researchers, educators, innovators, students and partners.

SOU Ashland's Liz DeFranco receives a lollipop

“Lollipop Moments” celebrate faculty & staff

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SOU’s student government has partnered with President Rick Bailey and the Dean of Students office to demonstrate the power of a sucker. The collaboration – called “Lollipop Moments” – offers students an opportunity to acknowledge the good work and thoughtful deeds of SOU faculty and staff members.

The program is part of President Bailey’s Project Architect initiative to increase enrollment and retention at SOU by encouraging employees to cultivate helpful and caring relationships with students. The actions of faculty and staff members can be recognized by students with the presentation of a lollipop – which can be found at the housing, library or Stevenson Union welcome desks, or at the offices of the Associated Students of SOU or the Dean of Students.

“Lollipop Moments” can be recorded by going online or scanning a QR code found on the backs of the specially-made suckers. Students who are unable to deliver a lollipop in person can fill out a form to have an ASSOU member make the presentation.

The project was launched on February 2, and in just its first week a total of six students made their own Lollipop Moment presentations and another 38 sent their lollipops via ASSOU. Student leaders said that “countless other” lollipops were given but not logged.

A lollipop for SOU Ashland's Robert GrettaRobert Gretta, an assistant professor in SOU’s Theatre Department, scored three lollipops in just the first week of the program.

“Robert helped me gain confidence in my abilities and skills as a stage manager, and as a student in general,” one student said on the online submission form. “I’ve faced a lot of difficulties this year, deciding if theatre was the right path for me or not, but I’ve been able to keep chasing my dream thanks to his help.”

Another student had nothing but praise for Liz DeFranco, an advisor in the Success at Southern TRIO Student Support Services program.

“If I come to Liz with a problem, she will immediately get on to how to answer my questions and get me to the right resources,” said the student – one of two who awarded lollipops to DeFranco. “She’s someone I can talk to and just have listen to whatever is going on. Liz recommended that I apply for a scholarship I would not have heard of otherwise, and I won it. Thanks to Liz, I am able to afford my tuition.”

William Greene, a professor in the School of Education, was credited with helping his students cope with school – and with life.

“His commitment to his craft, students and faculty has genuinely saved lives,” a student said on the submission form. “I speak for multiple people when I say that Dr. Greene has showed up for us when we need it most. As an advisor, professor and mentor, he has continued to provide us with quality support and genuine love.”

And others have been celebrated for more general reasons.

“Tom is a cool dude,” a student said in recognizing Tom Fagerholm, an assistant professor in the Theatre Department.

SOU’s “Lollipop Moments” initiative was inspired by the “Everyday Leadership: The Lollipop Moment” Ted Talk by Canadian speaker, author and educator Drew Dudley, who suggests that leadership can take the form of everyday behaviors that have positive impacts on others. Dudley’s Ted Talk has been viewed more than 6.5 million times.

SOU Ashland's Dennis Slattery

SOU’s Slattery receives community service award

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Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham presented the city’s highest community service honor to Southern Oregon University professor Dennis Slattery during a town hall and state-of-the-city address late last month at Ashland High School’s Mountain Avenue Theatre.

Slattery, an associate professor of business at SOU, a former member of the university’s Board of Trustees and a former Ashland city councilor, received the Alan C. Bates Public Service Award. About 100 people attended the address.

In her remarks, Graham praised Slattery’s long record of civic involvement, noting his work with the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, his four years of service on the SOU Board of Trustees, and his current role as Faculty Senate chair. She also highlighted his involvement in Ashland’s annual Festival of Lights.

“Dennis has a real heart for young people,” Graham said.

Slattery said he was overwhelmed by the recognition, particularly because of his friendship with the late state Sen. Alan Bates, for whom the award is named. He said he first came to Ashland after serving in the Navy, planning to stay for six months, but remained as his involvement in the community grew.

He also recalled childhood hunting trips in Alaska with his father and Indigenous elders, who taught him the importance of stewardship.

“My father and the elders told us the most important job is to leave the campground better than you find it,” Slattery said. “I left my campground — my community — a little better than I found it.”