(Ashland, Ore.) —The Southern Oregon University Office of International Programs is now an officially designated Passport Acceptance Facility (PAF).
That designation, which comes from the U.S. Department of State, means that individuals applying for a first time passport, those whose current passport was issued more than 15 years ago or were younger than 15 years of age when it was issued, and anyone who has undergone a name or gender change can now apply. As an additional service and added convenience, community members renewing or applying for new passports can have their passport photos taken at the PAF in the Office of International Programs.
The PAF at SOU is open to the public. “We’re very pleased to have this designation and to offer this convenience to SOU and local community members,” said Virginia Roberson, director of SOU’s Office of International Programs.
The facility is located in Room 322 inside the Stevenson Union on SOU’s main Ashland campus. It is open Monday-Thursday from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
Before contacting the PAF at SOU by phone or in person, the Office of International Programs requests that applicants first visit the U.S. Department of State’s official website, travel.state.gov, and click on “How to Apply for a Passport” for information on passport forms and fees. For general inquiries, applicants may call the main phone number of the Office of International Programs at 541-552-6336.

-SOU-
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.
About the SOU Office of International Programs
The Office of International Programs (OIP) offers a variety of services including international student recruitment and admissions, international student, scholar and visitor services and study away. The OIP also manages SOU’s Intensive English Program.

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University will confer degrees on approximately 1,000 new graduates at its 89^th Commencement ceremony Saturday at Raider Stadium on the University’s main campus in Ashland. The processional will begin at 8:45 a.m. with the ceremony following immediately thereafter.
Featured speakers at this year’s ceremony include SOU President Dr. Roy Saigo and Bill Thorndike, who is speaking on behalf of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. Thorndike is also Chair of the SOU Board of Trustees, which will assume governing authority of the University on July 1.
This year’s Commencement address will be given by University of Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich. Helfrich, who had a decorated career as a student athlete at SOU before his successful coaching career, graduated from SOU with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1996.
Patricia Halleran, who is graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in anthropology and certificates in both Native American studies and applied anthropology has been selected as the student speaker and Vance Beach will speak on behalf of the SOU Alumni Association. Beach earned a Bachelor of Science in communication from SOU in 2011 and a master’s degree in management in 2014.
SOU students Sabrina Podsobinksi and Hayden Teachout will receive the Dankook Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Students. This award commemorates more than thirty years of friendship between SOU and Dankook University in Seoul, South Korea. Each year at Commencement, SOU honors its outstanding female and male graduates with this award. The criteria used to select the Dankook Award recipients are: demonstration of scholarship, contributions to campus life by playing a leadership role, and evidence of citizenship and character.
Podsobinski will graduate with a double major in communication and psychology and a 4.0 GPA. After graduation, she plans to continue her studies in organizational psychology and business. Teachout will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in emerging media and digital art. He was a member of SOU’s cross country and track teams while maintaining a 3.99 GPA.
Margartet Newcomb and Jennifer Clark will be honored during the ceremony with the Universidad de Guanajuato Award for Outstanding Graduate Students. Newcomb graduates with a Master of Art in French language teaching and a 3.9 GPA, Clark with a Master of Science in education and a 4.0 GPA.
Gates to Raider Stadium open at 7 a.m. the morning of Commencement, and seating is available on a first come, first served basis. Free parking is available in all parking lots on the SOU campus throughout the day. The ceremony will be broadcast live on RVTV and archived for later viewing.
More information on SOU Commencement ceremony is available online at www.sou.edu/commencement.
-SOU-
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.

(Ashland, Ore.) — Students in Southern Oregon University’s Business Administration program recently ranked No. 7 in the Overall Score category in an international business strategy simulation game. “The Business Strategy Game” is a Web-based business simulation game where groups of students form and run simulated companies. Participating teams make a wide range of decisions, including production, quality assurance, product mix, pricing, marketing strategies, human resource, financing, plant capacities, and international trade. While competition is local, the teams’ performances in Overall Score, Return on Equity, Stock Price, and Price-to-Earnings Ratio are pitted against the other teams worldwide.
In the past year, almost 3,200 teams from nearly 600 colleges and universities in 52 different countries participated in the Business Strategy Game. “To reach No. 7 out of more than 3,000 teams competing for global ranking at any given time illustrates the caliber of our students in understanding and applying their business acumen to a simulated situation,” said Dr. René Ordoñez, SOU business professor. “This is a very detailed simulation that gives students real-world business decision-making scenarios, where they apply the concepts and competencies they have acquired through the program.”
“This is not the first time one of our teams made it to the Global Top 100 lists. Each term, we have a handful of teams that make it to the list. The MBA program has an unbroken streak of making the list since 2007 when the program was re-instated,” Professor Ordonez added.
In a recent email to Professors Ordoñez, Joan McBee, and John Kinard, who all teach the undergraduate course in which the game is played, the authors of the Business Strategy Game lauded the team and instructors for their efforts. “You should be quite proud of your students for such an excellent performance—a performance that reflects quite well on you and the caliber of instruction that students are receiving in your course,” it read.
SOU’s Business Strategy Game team is comprised of students in the School of Business’ BA 427: Business Policy course, a required core in the Business program. Participation in the game is required for completion of the University’s MBA program.
The students that comprise the team that achieved the No. 7 international ranking are Chauntell Arwood, Andrew Bemiller, Hector Aleman, and Irina Bakun.
-SOU-
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.

(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University is pleased to announce that Janet Fratella has joined the University as vice president of development and executive director of the SOU Foundation.
Fratella, who most recently served as chief of staff for the Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, has more than two decades of work in the field of university advancement. She has held numerous development-related positions throughout her career, including vice president of alumni and donor relations for the OHSU Foundation as well as director of donor relations and director of outreach projects for the University of Oregon.

“This is a great opportunity. Southern Oregon University has a long tradition of support from residents in the Rogue Valley, and it is positioned to achieve equal support from SOU alumni throughout the country,” Fratella said. “There are many positive things taking place on the SOU campus, and I look forward to connecting with all our constituents to share and to learn about their experiences with our campus.”
Fratella holds Master of Public Administration, Public Policy and Management and Master of Science, Educational Policy and Management degrees from University of Oregon as well as a Bachelor of Science in Communication with a minor in English from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is a member of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
“A lot of great work has been done over the years at the SOU Foundation to build a base of supporters who believe in the future of the university,” she said. “I hope to build on that work to further strengthen the University and continue to support our students and faculty.”
 
-SOU-
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100% of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.

(Ashland, Ore.) – The Music program of the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University presents the SOU Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. Paul French, and SOU Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr. Martin Majkut, performing “Freedom Come: Music by African and African-American Composers” on Sunday, June 7 at 3:00 p.m. in the SOU Music Recital Hall.
This concert features both the “folk” and “art” traditions of African and African-American music, showcasing the high level of artistry in both genres. African folk songs are represented by “Kpanlongo,” a choral dance piece. The choirs perform African-American folk spirituals such as “Calvary” by Steven Sametz and “Sit Down Servant” by Stracey Gibbs, the newest sensation on the spiritual scene. “Horizons,” written for the South African tour of the English men’s choir King’s Singers, and “African Sanctus” by David Fanshawe, which superimposes traditional African rhythms over the Sanctus text from the Catholic Mass, are selections noted for their African choral art music tradition. Two pieces by African-American composer, Adolphus Hailstork, round out the concert by offering some of the best choral art music ever written, in any era.
“This is a fantastic time in choral music. There is more great music being composed now, than at any time in history,” said Dr. Paul French, director of choral and vocal studies at SOU. “I am so excited to offer this music to our community. Most of this music will be new to the audience. Even familiar spiritual texts will be offered in newly composed versions. I find the two Hailstork compositions to be absolutely stunning.”
Dr. Paul French is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers. He has extensive professional experience as singer, conductor and educator. Ensembles under his direction have performed to acclaim at prestigious six-state conventions such as the American Choral Directors Association Northwest Convention (1994, 2002), the American Guild of Organists Northwest Convention (1997), and the Oregon Music Educators National Conference (2002, 2007). In recent years, French has devoted special attention to the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music, and his performance of the Bach “Mass in b minor” was described as “beautiful and inspiring” by internationally known soprano, Julianne Baird. In 2012, iconic composer Morten Lauridsen praised French and the SOU Chamber choir as “brilliant and superb…in the top rank of university chamber choirs in the United States.”
Dr. Martin Majkut is the Music Director of the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra since 2010. He conducts in North America and Europe, dividing his time between symphonic music and opera, and received doctorates from institutions on both continents. He served as the Resident Conductor of the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and the Arizona Opera Studio Artist in Conducting. Recent guest-conducting engagements include Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2014 as well as at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., the same year. He will be conducting the Slovak Sinfonietta and the Academy of Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava in 2015.
Jodi French accompanies both choirs. As a professional accompanist, she has performed with the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Rogue Valley Symphony and with virtually every other musical organization in southern Oregon.
Tickets are $10 for regular admission, $5 for senior citizens and free to full-time students. The Performing Arts Box Office is located in the Music Recital Hall lobby. Box office hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and two hours prior to each performance. Tickets can be purchased with a credit card over the phone by calling 541-552-6348 or online at oca.sou.edu/box-office. Contact the box office for discounts offered to SOU alumni, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute participants and SNAP/Oregon Trail cardholders.
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University provides outstanding student experiences, valued degrees, and successful graduates. SOU is known for excellence in faculty, intellectual creativity and rigor, quality and innovation in connected learning programs, and the educational benefits of its unique geographic location. SOU was the first university in Oregon—and one of the first in the nation—to offset 100 percent of its energy use with clean, renewable power, and it is the first university in the nation to balance 100 percent of its water consumption. Visit sou.edu.
-SOU-