During his annual state of the university address, Oregon State University President Ed Ray warned the Faculty Senate of the tough decisions awaiting them, as the university cuts corners - and possibly even programs - to operate within its budget, all while providing students with excellent experiences in and out of the classroom.

All this, he said Thursday, comes as OSU continues its quest to be a "top-10" land grant institution.

But what exactly does that goal mean, and where is OSU ranked now? That's what Capt. Jimmer Sullivan, Navy ROTC commanding officer, wanted to know.

As part of its strategic plan, OSU officials asked each college to identify the top 10 land grant universities in its area. From these responses, OSU compiled an overall list of top-10 land grant institutions, Ray said.

OSU compares itself to these universities on a variety of criteria, including six-year graduation rates (about 60 percent of OSU students graduate in six years, a figure Ray wants to see increase to 80 percent) and first-year retention rates (about 80 percent of first-year OSU students return for a second year, and Ray wants to see this number jump to 90 percent).

Ray said Provost Sabah Randhawa will release a report later this quarter explaining where OSU is now in comparison to the institutions on its top-10 list.

Ray also discussed "right-sizing" OSU, meaning creating a student enrollment that suits the university's budget. OSU currently has about 19,400 students.

Setting an enrollment target isn't as simple as picking a random number, Ray said. Some degree programs are more expensive than others, and upper-division courses cost more than introductory classes. One has to take a holistic look at enrollment when setting a target, according to Ray.

Following a two-year salary freeze for all state employees during the 2003-05 biennium, OSU gave faculty 2 percent raises last January. Beginning this January, faculty will receive 4 percent merit-based raises, and department heads are wondering where they'll get the money to write these fatter paychecks.

"We must narrow the menu of programs we offer students. We'll be forced to downsize and even eliminate good programs. We all have to make difficult choices," Ray said. "I think we're all overachieving. Something's got to give."

Providing faculty with competitive salaries is crucial to OSU recruiting and retaining top researchers and educators, Ray said.

Robert Iltis, associate professor and chair of the speech communication department, wanted to know Ray's timeline for making these cuts.

Ray responded that he'd prefer budget reallocation happen at the "street level" (faculty, department chairs and deans), rather than come from upper administration.

In addition to juggling finances, Ray is committed to enhancing student engagement. He is creating a University Council for Student Engagement and Experience to help ensure that students get the most out of their time at OSU.

That means encouraging undergrads to participate in research, internships and study abroad programs.

Ray recently returned from a trip oversees, where he signed partnership agreements with 10 Asian institutions, bringing OSU's list of international partners to nearly 150.

OSU also is collaborating with community colleges. OSU has degree partnership programs (often referred to as dual-enrollment programs) with 13 of Oregon's 17 community colleges. Ray hopes partnerships with the remaining four community colleges will be in place by the end of the year.

OSU also has partnerships with two of Hawaii's seven two-year colleges.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.