 |
CASEY CAMPBELL/Gazette-Times
As 2005 ends, OSU President Ed Ray reflects on the biggest successes and challenges of the year and looks ahead to 2006. |
By Mary Ann Albright
Gazette-Times reporter
President Ed Ray looks at 2005 and shares plans for 2006
Academics think in terms of school years, so the beginning of fall semester is as much New Year’s Day as Jan. 1 at Oregon State University.
However, the winter holidays do provide a chance for OSU to reflect on its highs and lows of 2005 and to set priorities for 2006.
University President Ed Ray thinks of the 2004-05 school year as one of staging, laying the groundwork for future construction, fund-raising and policy plans.
While advancing OSU’s reputation for academic excellence and cutting-edge research and technological development, Ray is committed to student success, and balancing educational accessibility and affordability with quality.
“We want our graduates to be able to compete with anybody, anywhere,” Ray said.
Looking back at the closing year, Ray sees many points of pride for OSU.
In the past 18 months, Ray has rounded out his leadership team, appointing Luanne Lawrence as vice president for university advancement, John Cassady as vice president for research, Sabah Randhawa as provost and executive vice president, Mike Goodwin as president and CEO of the OSU Foundation and Terryl Ross as director for community and diversity.
Ray also recently added some prestigious names to OSU’s faculty roster, including Russ Turner. Turner, former director of the Mayo Clinic, now heads up OSU’s Bone Research Laboratory.
OSU made headway this year in preparing to launch its first university-wide capital campaign. Goodwin led a billion-dollar fund-raising effort at Georgetown University before coming to OSU, so Ray believes the endeavor rests in capable hands.
Ray is especially proud of the diversity action plans developed this year, both university-wide and within departments.
“When I first got here, I at least had a sense that as wonderful as Corvallis is, as wonderful as the campus is and so many of the people we’ve met, that’s not necessarily true for everybody, for people from diverse backgrounds — African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and others — so I started an effort to develop what I call diversity action plans.”
These initiatives strive to make the campus a welcoming community for people from all backgrounds, a place that embraces diversity.
With the strategies in place, implementing them is one of Ray’s top priorities for 2006.
OSU also made progress this year in implementing its strategic plan, which focuses on interdisciplinary work in five thematic areas: arts and science, the Earth and its dynamics, entrepreneurship and innovation, healthy aging and environmental sustainability.
Ray wants this momentum to continue into 2006, encouraging collaboration within departments and with outside industries and other universities.
“I don’t see any alternative to collaboration. If we’re going to do our job in higher education, we have to work together, or we can’t compete nationally and globally,” he said.
That means keeping the intense rivalry between the OSU Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks in check.
“You love the rivalry on the (athletic) field, but that’s where it belongs. It doesn’t belong in any serious endeavors where you could collaborate,” Ray said.
The new Kelley Engineering Center, a $45 million, 153,000-square-foot facility that’s on track to become the “greenest” academic engineering building in the nation, was designed specifically to encourage collaboration.
Its grand opening on Oct. 29 marked a highlight in a year of major construction and renovation projects at OSU.
“We made a commitment to Oregon to being in the top 25 engineering colleges, to deliver the talent and the ideas needed for Oregon’s future economy. This building is the single greatest symbol of our progress,” Ron Adams, dean of the College of Engineering, has said.
Other landmark facility projects in 2005 included the Lois Bates Acheson Small Animal Hospital, the Reser Stadium expansion and the renovation of Weatherford Hall, home of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program.
OSU has secured $10 million to renovate its large animal hospital and build an equine diagnostic center, so 2006 will see these efforts get under way.
Despite its successes, OSU also faced obstacles during the past academic year.
Beaver athletes, particularly football players, came under scrutiny after a series of alcohol-fueled brushes with the law, including the theft of a male-oriented ram from the university’s sheep research center, the aftermath of an assault against a National Guardsman at the Headline Cafe and the death of 18-year-old Lance Strickland of Joseph in a dorm room.
Ray doesn’t want the few negative incidents to overshadow the excellent academic performances and personal conduct of the vast majority of OSU’s 450 athletes. The university has, however, tightened its athletic-conduct policies, and adopted a zero-tolerance approach to underage drinking, drug use and other illegal behaviors.
“To me, what’s been really disappointing is we have had a handful of student athletes who made fools of themselves, embarrassed the university, embarrassed their teammates. We want to be proud of our student athletes both on and off the field,” Ray said.
Issues of salary and benefits also challenged OSU this year. Faculty faced changes to their health insurance plans that would have eliminated the Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon option. After much outcry from the Faculty Senate and others, the state Public Employees’ Benefit Board agreed to reinstate Regence.
Competitive compensation still presents a problem at OSU, where faculty and staff earn 10-20 percent less than their peers at other comparable institutions, according to reports from the Oregon University System and OSU’s Faculty Economic Welfare and Retirement Committee.
The salary freeze for all public employees mandated by Gov. Ted Kulongoski for the 2003-05 biennium is now over, and Ray says OSU must increase compensation levels to attract and retain the best employees.
However, raising salaries will require redirecting between $9 million and $10 million in resources to supplement state funding. This means cinching up an already-tight belt. Ray stays optimistic, saying a reduced budget is a chance to prioritize.
“We have a strategic plan, and we have to decide what’s core and what isn’t.”
Making higher education more accessible and affordable continues to be a core priority. OSU currently has double-enrollment programs with 11 community colleges, including Linn-Benton Community College. By this time next year, Ray hopes OSU will have similar arrangements with all 17 of the state’s 2-year colleges.
“It’s about breaking down barriers, focusing on students and student success,” he said.
OSU’s Top 5 for 2005
n Completing the leadership team
n Preparing to launch OSU’s first university-wide capital campaign
n Developing diversity action plans
n Implementing the strategic plan
n Unveiling new and renovated facilities, such as the Kelley Engineering Center, Reser Stadium, the Lois Bates Acheson Small Animal Clinic and Weatherford Hall
|
|
You must be logged
in to comment.
It's free and quick!
|
|
|
 |
RSS 
GT Reader Comments