BY KIM MOORE
A conversation about higher education with the presidents of the University of Oregon and Clackamas Community College, followed by September’s powerlist.
BY KIM MOORE
Michael Gottfredson
Outgoing president of the University of Oregon
Oregon Business: You recently were appointed an independent governing board. What effect do you expect the new board will have on university operations?
MG: The public board statute in Oregon is the best in the country. It provides a lot of autonomy and authority to the governing board of the higher-education institution. It is no longer a state agency. The governing board can set fees and actually establish the budget; it can borrow money and build projects. The key also is that the trustees of the institution will be advocates for the institution in every sense of the term.
OB: Who are the new members of the independent governing board?
MG: We have members who spent much of their careers in the private sector, such as our chair Chuck Lillis. Ten of our 14 members are alums of the university from various schools. We have one member from a high-level executive decision-making [position] in the public sector — Ross Kari, who was an executive with Freddie Mac. We have a prominent journalist, Ann Curry; we have a faculty member; a classified staff member; we have individuals who run private businesses themselves, such as Andrew Colas of Colas Construction in Portland.
OB: Why such a focus on appointing business sector representatives to the governing board?
MG: We are looking forward to the insights and skills of people from the business sector in managerial issues, in construction issues and in operational efficiencies. We would like advice and insight into how we can be as efficient and effective as possible, so that as much of our revenue as possible can be spent directly on the students and our educational and research programs.
OB: How will the new independent governing board address the problem of escalating tuition fees?
MG: If you look at our expenditures at the University of Oregon over the past seven or eight years, they have not really increased by more than inflation. What has happened is that there has been a shift in who pays the costs to the students and their families. We are very concerned about that. This brings us to other sources of revenue we can generate in addition to student and public dollars. We look forward to our board working with us to develop philanthropic strategies, as well as efficiencies we can generate in our operations.
OB: Where does online education fit into University of Oregon’s strategic plan?
MG: Some classes are completely online here, others are largely so. Nearly every class has some component of what might be thought of as online education. Because of the way information is provided and students learn, there is a big transformation in every discipline about the use of online education — Internet, chat rooms — how students interact with each other and how they interact with the professor. We are ensuring our students are as connected as possible with the online world, and that our faculty takes their educational tools and exports those all over the world.
Dr. Joanne Truesdell
President of Clackamas Community College
Oregon Business: There is a lack of qualified applicants for jobs in skilled trades. What are you doing to address this problem?
JT: We are part of WorkSource Oregon and WorkSource Clackamas — skills training in the workforce area that brings people in and provides them with the courses they need to skill up to meet qualifications. We did five sector strategy round tables with businesses to determine what their needs are two to five years out. And we modify our curriculum to meet those needs. As an example: There are changes that have occurred in manufacturing since the Great Recession around the equipment necessary for our manufacturers to remain competitive given their goals of onshoring instead of offshoring. We needed to be able to get that equipment and create that environment where students can practice and learn on the equipment manufacturers are using.
OB: What employment trends have affected how you teach programs in technical subjects?
JT: The level of sophistication of the equipment means a higher level of sophistication of skills of the employee. When we have a higher level of sophistication of equipment, often that equipment costs much more. So for example, in manufacturing, it might be that a company has to purchase five pieces of equipment that are a quarter of a million dollars apiece. They can’t afford to train the workforce at a basic level of skill, because if that piece goes down, their entire production goes down. That is where we have to come in and be good partners with them to make sure we have that kind of equipment.
OB: Does the business sector have much influence on the types of programs you provide?
JT: We are always paying attention to what is happening with universities and to ensure we have good dual enrollment or good pathways into both our public and private universities. But not every single job in Oregon is going to require a four-year degree. We are the provider for one-year certifications and two-year degrees and industry certifications. To make that effective, we must work with business and industry to ensure that we are being relevant.
OB: Did you establish any new programs or get rid of any to stay relevant in the labor market?
JT: We began a digital-media communications program, which draws from art, computer science, film studies, broadcasting and recording, and brings those together to participate more in the new-media area. We are also creating a program in industrial technology from a renewable energy and resource perspective.
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES RANKED BY FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT | ||||||
RANK | NAME / WEBSITE | ADDRESS / PHONE | PRESIDENT / SENIOR EXEC | FALL FTE / HEADCOUNT | UNDERGRAD / GRADUATE DEGREES | PROGRAMS |
1 | University of Portland | 5000 N. Willamette Blvd., Portland 97203 (503) 943-8000 | Rev. Mark L. Poorman | 3,514 3,967 | 929 212 | Schools of business, education, engineering, nursing, College of Arts & Sciences |
2 | Pacific University | 2043 College Way, Forest Grove, 97116 (503) 352-6151 | Lesley Hallick | 3,302 3,582 | 350 669 | Liberal arts and sciences, optometry, education, pharmacy, clinical counseling/psychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician’s assistant, dental hygiene, exercise science, speech-language pathology, audiology |
3 | Lewis & Clark | 0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Rd. Portland 97219 503-768-7000 | Barry Glassner | 3,258 3,567 | 432 532 | Liberal arts, sciences; professional programs in education, counseling, law; local/global engagement |
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES RANKED BY FALL FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT | ||||||
RANK | NAME / WEBSITE | ADDRESS / PHONE | PRESIDENT / SENIOR EXEC | FALL FTE / HEADCOUNT | UNDERGRAD / GRADUATE DEGREES | PROGRAMS |
1 | Oregon State | 600 Kerr Administration Bldg. Corvallis 97331 541-737-4133 | Edward J. Ray | 24,451 27,925 | 4,157 1,099 | Agricultural science; business; earth, ocean, and atmospheric science; |
2 | University of Oregon | 1226 University of Oregon Eugene 97403 541-346-1000 | Michael R. Gottfredson | 23,230 24,548 | 4,620 1,267 | Green chemistry, natural sciences, creative writing, liberal arts, architecture, fine arts, education, etc. |
3 | Portland State | P.O. Box 751 Portland 97207 503-725-3434 | Wim Wiewel | 20,394 29,452 | 4,363 1,665 | Business administration, education, engineering and computer science, fine/performing arts, etc. |
COMMUNITY COLLEGES RANKED BY FALL FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT | ||||||
RANK | NAME / WEBSITE | ADDRESS / PHONE | PRESIDENT / SENIOR EXEC | FALL FTE / HEADCOUNT | UNDERGRAD / GRADUATE DEGREES | PROGRAMS |
1 | Clark College | 1933 Ft. Vancouver Way Vancouver, WA 98663 360-699-NEXT | Robert K. Knight | 8,907 12,917 | 1,444 N/A | Nursing, dental hygiene, medical radiography |
2 | Portland | P.O. Box 19000 | Jeremy Brown | 8,824 32,474 | 5,000 N/A | Traditional college programs, university transfers, community and continuing education, etc. |
3 | Lane | 4000 E. 30th Ave. Eugene 97405 541-463-3000 | Mary Spilde | 8,608 12,790 | 858 N/A | Professional, technical and college transfer programs; employee skill upgrading, etc. |
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