1,356 to Receive Degrees and Certificates at SOU Commencement June 15

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(Ashland, Ore.) Approximately 1,356 students will receive degrees and certificates at Southern Oregon University’s commencement exercises on Saturday, June 15. The ceremony begins in Raider Stadium at 8:45 a.m. and will be broadcast live on Rogue Valley Community Television, cable channels 9 and 15, and rebroadcast the same day at 6 p.m. on cable channel 9.
SOU will award 983 Bachelor’s and 225 Master’s degrees, plus an additional 101 academic certificates, and 47 nursing degrees for Oregon Health Sciences University students; 64 percent of the graduates are Oregon residents; 63 percent are female and 37 percent are male. The youngest graduate is 19 and the oldest is 69. Jackson County, Oregon is the home of 722 of the recipients. Business Administration is the most popular major for this year’s graduating class, followed by Psychology.
The commencement speaker is George Pernsteiner, Chancellor Emeritus of the Oregon University System. Representing the Oregon University System (OUS) is Kirk Schueler. The student speaker will be Shane Boyd.
George Pernsteiner served as chancellor of the Oregon University System from 2004 until 2013 when he was named chancellor emeritus. As chancellor, he oversaw Oregon’s seven public universities, served as the principal staff for the State Board of Higher Education, and was the link between the universities and Oregon’s state government. He also has been vice chancellor for administrative services for the University of California, Santa Barbara, vice president for finance and administration at Portland State University, and vice provost and chief financial officer for the University of Oregon.
Kirk Schueler was appointed to the State Board of Higher Education in March 2009. Currently, Schueler is the chief administrative officer for the St. Charles Health System, a position to which he was appointed in 2011. Previously, Schueler was the president and a member of the board of Brooks Resources Corporation, a real estate development firm in Bend, Oregon, since 1993. Prior to this, he was an audit manager with KPMG Peat Marwick in Portland from 1987 to 1993.
Shane Boyd is a double major in Sociology and Mathematics, with a minor in Philosophy. He is a Ronald E. McNair Program Scholar who has been accepted into the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program to pursue teaching mathematics at the middle/high level. Boyd holds a 3.53 Grade Point Average; he hopes to eventually pursue a doctorate in a quantitative area of Sociology.
Boyd is a non-traditional student who has taken an unconventional, often challenging path to graduation. He served in the military in Iraq (2004-2006), for which he received military awards. His recently published undergraduate research into the anti-vaccination movement in our region serves as an excellent example of community-based social research.
SOU’s commencement ceremony underscores the university’s commitment to sustainability. Graduates will be wearing robes made from natural wood sourced exclusively from renewable managed forests; the fabric is proven to completely decompose in soil within a year. SOU students have coordinated a program to collect commencement gowns at the end of this ceremony to be reused next year by graduates in need.
Drinking water is available before and during the commencement ceremony at a number of water stations. Biodegradable and compostable drinking cups are located at the stations. The commencement program is printed on recycled paper, and recycling will be encouraged at the end of the ceremony.
SOU officials are expecting a large number of graduates and guests, so those attending the ceremony should plan accordingly.  The gates will open at 7:00 a.m., and guests are advised to arrive early.
Free parking during Commencement is available in all parking lots on the SOU campus. A free shuttle service will run from the Mountain Avenue parking lot to the Mountain Arena approximately every 15 minutes. Please visit the Commencement web site (sou.edu/commencement) for parking and shuttle details in light of nearby construction.
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Award-winning Documentary Developer to Speak at SOU

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(Ashland, Ore.) – Southern Oregon University’s annual campus theme, “Exploring Happiness,” comes to a close Monday, May 13, with “Communicating Happiness.” The presentation features Richard Hutton, developer of many award-winning documentaries and currently the executive director of the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center, which supports media research, teaching and literacy. SOU Associate Professor of Theatre Jackie Apodaca, will moderate the conversation at 7:00 p.m., Monday, May 13 in the Meese Auditorium of the SOU Art Building. Admission is free, and is open to the public. Parking is available in the metered lot off Indiana street adjacent to Cox Hall, along Indiana street, and in a few spaces behind the Schneider Museum of Art. Read more

Southern Oregon Arts and Research 2013, Biggest Yet

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SOU’s Southern Oregon Arts and Research (SOAR) will Feature 277 Poster Presentations, 49 Podium Presentations, 21 Laboratory and Studio Open Houses, 12 Live Performances, 27 Faculty panels, Eight Art Exhibitions, and a Student Film Festival Read more

SOU Department of Performing Arts Presents Tony Kushner’s adaptation of “The Illusion”

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(Ashland, Ore.) – The Theatre Arts program of the Department of Performing Arts at Southern Oregon University presents “The Illusion,” adapted loosely by award-winning playwright Tony Kushner from  the 1936 “L’Illusion Comique” play written by Pierre Corneille. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25 and May 30-June 1 and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2. Read more

A Maypole, a Hanging Tree, a Boundary Marker, Lecture by Daniel Duford,

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Schneider Museum of Art Curator and Artist-In-Residence
Ashland, OR – The Schneider Museum of Art is presenting A Maypole, a Hanging Tree, a Boundary Marker, a lecture by Daniel Duford, on Thursday, May 9, at 5:30 PM in the Meese Auditorium at the Center for the Visual Arts on the Southern Oregon University (SOU) campus. The Museum will be open at 5:00 – a half hour before the lecture on May 9. Read more

SOU Launches the Institute for New Writing/Ashland

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(Ashland, Ore.) – Southern Oregon University (SOU) is offering a special opportunity to aspiring writers this summer – the chance to spend a week with published, creative writers and receive one-on-one training, advice, and criticism. It’s the inaugural offering of the Institute for New Writing/Ashland (INWA), to be held August 12-17 on the SOU campus. The deadline for application to INWA is May 15. Read more

Festive International Week Scheduled at SOU

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(Ashland, Ore.) – International Week 2013 at Southern Oregon University kicks off at noon, Monday, April 29, with the traditional parade through campus by international students in their national outfits. The students walk from the Cascade Housing Complex down Raider Way to the Stevenson Union. A free food fair from around the world follows in the Courtyard. Read more

SOU’s Schneider Museum Receives $36,000 Grant from the Ford Family Foundation

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(Ashland, Ore.) – The Ford Family Foundation’s Visual Arts Program has awarded the Schneider Museum of Art (SMA) a $36,000 grant to implement the Southern Oregon Site (ART) Project.
Working in concert with the Southern Oregon University Art department, the SMA will invite six mid-career Oregon artists to create new work, made in response to ‘site’, which will be shown in six, one-person museum gallery (or outside courtyard) shows between September 2013 and June 2014. Six Oregon writers will be invited to produce one essay each on one of the artists and their new work.
SOU student artists will assist in the installation and/or construction of the work/shows.  Chosen artists will visit Ashland during May and June 2013, and will then return home to develop ideas for this ‘site.’ The SMA and art department see the Southern Oregon Site (ART) Project as a prototype for an annual new works program at SOU.
“The Schneider Museum of Art is grateful for the generous support of the Ford Family Foundation,” says  Schneider Museum of Art Acting Director Erika Leppmann.  “The Southern Oregon Site (ART) Project award is the second grant given to the Schneider Museum of Art by the Ford Family Foundation in the last two years.”
The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford.  Its mission is “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon, with a Scholarship office in Eugene.

Free SOU Screening of Crater Lake Film

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(Ashland, Ore.) – The new film “Crater Lake: Into the Deep” will be screened this Friday, April 26, at 3 p.m. in room 118 of the Science Building at Southern Oregon University. Following the screening, Marsha McCabe, chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources for Crater Lake National Park, will answer questions. Admission is free and open to the public.
“Crater Lake: Into the Deep” is narrated by Peter Coyote and runs 22 minutes. The film explores the many facets of Crater Lake Park, including geology, lake research, history, winter, plant and animal life, park education programs, and the wonder it inspires. The film features state-of-the-art animation of the eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama, as well as spectacular underwater film footage. An original music score and interviews with park staff are also part of the film.
The screening is sponsored by the SOU Department of Biology.
 

Southern Oregon University Featured in "The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition"

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Southern Oregon University (SOU) is one of the 322 most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com). The education services company known for its test prep programs and college rankings, ratings and guidebooks, profiles SOU in the fourth annual edition of its free downloadable book, “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges.”
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