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PSU is growing up

http://www.portlandtribune.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=118729225101816700

Editorial
Get right leader, vision at PSU
The Portland Tribune, Aug 17, 2007

Finding the best president to lead Portland State University isn’t a decision that’s important only to the university community. This also is a crucial matter for the entire Portland metropolitan area and for its aspirations to compete in the national and international marketplace.

PSU is an urban university for all of Oregon, but its name places its priorities in exactly the right order – “Portland” first and “State” second. The destinies of a city that wants to be world-class and a university that desires international recognition are laced together. Neither can achieve its goals without a partnership with the other.

That’s why the choice of a president to replace the recently departed Dan Bernstine is critical. The region’s economic future is in part dependent on the ability of local and state education leaders to find a visionary, energetic and politically savvy president to take PSU to the next level of academic excellence and international esteem.

President must guide strategic plan
As reported in Tuesday’s Portland Tribune, the selection of a president is just one issue confronting those who are mapping PSU’s future. Former city Commissioner Jim Francesconi, who now serves on the State Board of Higher Education, is leading a strategic-initiatives committee made up of university leaders, businesspeople and elected officials to develop an overarching strategy for PSU.

The group already is concentrating on some of the university’s obvious needs: more land, additional student housing, greater unity around a common vision for the university and increased cooperation with other Portland-area institutions to increase the university’s offerings and academic excellence.

This planning effort is to be applauded, but it should not get too far ahead of the presidential selection, which is expected to conclude next March. While PSU’s major needs may be becoming clearer, what will propel the university toward greatness is the combination of a compelling vision and inspired leadership.

When the president is hired, he or she must be the key owner, advocate and external voice for the strategic plan. And the new president must be capable of building support for this vision among education, business and community leaders.

To attract that broad support, the strategic planning process must be about more than facilities – a fact well understood by those serving on the committee. Beyond land, bricks and mortar, the planning process also must:

• Define the university’s mission and further refine what type of university PSU must become.

• Identify the target student groups for PSU. The type of student attending the university will help determine physical needs – and not just the need for space.

• Go beyond the idea of making the university “bigger” – a process that’s already occurring – and get to the question of how to create a uniquely great university. What will that take, and how does the university achieve that? How have other urban universities accomplished this goal?

City, PSU must advance together
Taking PSU to the next level will be good not only for Portland, but also for an entire state that finds its economic center increasingly focused on the metro area.

There’s no doubt, though, that Portland and PSU must strive together for greatness, just as major universities and major cities have done elsewhere.

Recruiting the right president and marrying that person to the right long-range vision can lead to even greater private-sector and legislative support for a university that can have tremendous influence on Oregon’s economic fortunes.
 
I agree with that piece. PSU's destiny is linked with that of the city, and vice-a-versa. I hope PSU gets the kind of leader it deserves - a dynamic visionary who can communicate the institution's needs and potential to anyone with $$$.
 
Some more good news for PSU:

http://media.www.dailyvanguard.com/media/storage/paper941/news/2007/11/02/News/Center.For.Water.Science.Studies.Now.On.Campus-3075133.shtml

Center for water science studies now on campus
Relocated center will give Portland State increased research opportunities

A government center that studies water quality, supply and other water-related issues recently relocated to Portland State, providing further research opportunities for the university.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Oregon Water Science Center moved to its new location at 2130 SW Fifth Ave. in August after almost 20 years in East Portland.

The USGS Water Science Center and PSU have collaborated for a long time--the center gives graduate students research opportunities as well as providing adjunct faculty members for the university. Recent research the center has conducted includes studies on climate change and water-contaminant transport.

The center has been in talks with PSU about moving to campus for almost 10 years, said Terrence Conlon, the chief of general hydrological studies, but the timing had not been right until now. The timing worked out because Portland State had the space, and the center was able to end its lease, he said.

"We've had some students work with us, and some staff that are adjunct faculty, and we've done projects with PSU," Conlon said. "But the physical distance between facilities kind of hindered that collaboration."

Expanding research opportunities are part of the reason the new move will help Portland State, Conlon said.

Working with departments from geology to business administration and providing equipment that PSU does not have access to, including a water-quality lab and a drill rig to study ground water, are just a few examples of the expanded research opportunities, he said.

At least four PSU students are already working closely with the USGS Center, and there will be more, Conlon said. Internship opportunities will be available soon, and in the future, jobs for art students and business students to work on new projects could be offered.

The center is also hosting weekly lectures every Tuesday at noon and will host an official open house in January.

All in all, it is an exciting time for the center and the move should benefit both the water science center and Portland State, Conlon said.

"It just offers great opportunities for both PSU and the USGS, and we are very happy to be on campus," he said.
 
PSU is on a "green" hiring spree:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/12/psu_plans_for_ten_new_faculty.html

PSU plans for ten new faculty in "green" hiring spree
Posted by The Oregonian December 19, 2007 15:30PM
Categories: Breaking News, Portland
PSUPSU provost Roy Koch

Portland State University plans to hire as many as 10 professors with expertise in sustainability as it seeks to deepen the institution's -- and the city's -- reputation as a center for eco-friendly practices and research.

The hires represent the first major additions to the tenured and tenure-track faculty roster in decades. They come courtesy of the state Legislature, which last session increased appropriations to the higher education system, and will be positioned throughout several academic departments.

"This is our first opportunity to make a significant investment in our faculty," said university provost Roy Koch. "We wanted to identify one area, and this seemed like the obvious one."

Sustainability can be a free-wheeling term, sometimes abused by businesses and organizations seeking an edge in a world full of environmental problems. Even academia struggles with a concise definition, but, in general, the discipline assesses the environmental, economic and social impacts of human activity on the long-term survival of the planet. The undisciplined code word for sustainability is often "green." (Click here to read PSU's Sustainability Manifesto)

PSU already is known for programs that grapple with sustainability issues and its Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices. The beefed up faculty would allow the university to spread sustainability studies into more departments and to expand the center's research.

"It's a core strength we want to build on," Koch said.

--Gail Kinsey Hill

Read the full story in Thursday's Oregonian.
 
Hiring green faculty and building on the local reputation for green awareness is a solid plan, and I'm glad the state dedicated money for hiring new faculty. However, I must wonder if some of that money might have been better spent on retaining current faculty through increased salaries and benefits. PSU really lags behind in that area.
 
I agree. However, I think PSU is more committed to fast growth than the long term futures of its personnel. I feel bad for those who have taught there for a long time, because I know they are committed to a school that is less committed to them.
 
Thanks for the thoughts on our struggling faculty. Starting with Bernstine the administration did move sidewise from the faculty, caught up in the "build big, build fast" theme. And yes, it was done at the expense of long-term commitment. For the good of the school? Too soon to tell. I know that for my first thirty years here, faculty salaries seriously lagged behind UO/OSU and national comparators, but we faculty never thought for a moment the administration was doing anything other than the best it could. Over the last ten years that has changed. It's four months into the year and we're still without a contract. This, in one of the best funding years we've been offered by the state!
I offer this as part of the context of PSU athletics, which sinks or swims with the larger university.
 
frinq said:
Thanks for the thoughts on our struggling faculty. Starting with Bernstine the administration did move sidewise from the faculty, caught up in the "build big, build fast" theme. And yes, it was done at the expense of long-term commitment. For the good of the school? Too soon to tell. I know that for my first thirty years here, faculty salaries seriously lagged behind UO/OSU and national comparators, but we faculty never thought for a moment the administration was doing anything other than the best it could. Over the last ten years that has changed. It's four months into the year and we're still without a contract. This, in one of the best funding years we've been offered by the state!
I offer this as part of the context of PSU athletics, which sinks or swims with the larger university.
Click to expand...

So are you a faculty member? If so, I won't ask you where, as I assume you would have disclosed that already if you'd wanted to, but it would be cool to know of at least one current faculty member on this message board.
 
I do think that is an appropriate use of the South Waterfront, although I would set it up as a research park, which is something no Oregon university really has. Other states use research parks as methods of housing collaborative research projects between schools and private firms, and Oregon has yet to catch on to this trend.
 
U of O tied up some of the old grounds between the Willamette and the campus for a research park, and even advertise it as such. How successful it is- don't know for sure. It's probably not that big, while you can imagine how available land and the draw of Duke, UNC, and North Carolina State have helped the Raleigh-Durham area. My stepdaughter (of sorts) worked for a couple years with a research firm, so I know SOMETHING was going on.
 
News: New Master's Degree in Architecture Added to Portland State's Graduate Programs

http://www.pdx.edu/news/20539/

The State Board of Higher Education has approved a new master's degree program in Architecture at Portland State University (PSU). It will be the second graduate degree of its type to be offered in Oregon and is seeking to enter candidacy status for professional accreditation with the National Architectural Accrediting Board in July.

The new Master of Architecture degree will continue the traditions embodied in PSU's undergraduate architecture program as well as supporting the city of Portland's mission to enhance green building and a sustainable urban infrastructure. The new program will encourage hands-on fabrication, design-build experiences, creative making, in-depth thesis investigations and urban architecture. The department plans on adding six new full-time faculty members over the next two years to support graduate studies and enhance the research base.
 
forestgreen said:
News: New Master's Degree in Architecture Added to Portland State's Graduate Programs

http://www.pdx.edu/news/20539/

The State Board of Higher Education has approved a new master's degree program in Architecture at Portland State University (PSU). It will be the second graduate degree of its type to be offered in Oregon and is seeking to enter candidacy status for professional accreditation with the National Architectural Accrediting Board in July.

The new Master of Architecture degree will continue the traditions embodied in PSU's undergraduate architecture program as well as supporting the city of Portland's mission to enhance green building and a sustainable urban infrastructure. The new program will encourage hands-on fabrication, design-build experiences, creative making, in-depth thesis investigations and urban architecture. The department plans on adding six new full-time faculty members over the next two years to support graduate studies and enhance the research base.
Click to expand...

This is good news. I don't recall the details, but I was reading somewhere about the UofO's efforts to keep PSU from getting an approved degree program so that they'd be the only one in the state, and so they'd be able to attract students to their expanded Portland campus.
 
Sounds about right, ManOfVision.

Some more good news concerning old Portland State:

News: Portland State Wins First U.S. National Carter Foundation Partnership Award

http://www.pdx.edu/news/20547/

within this announcement is a really good link to PSU's video/presentation, I recommend watching it:

http://web.pdx.edu/~kawamoto/CarterVideo/CarterVid.html
 
ManOfVision said:
This is good news. I don't recall the details, but I was reading somewhere about the UofO's efforts to keep PSU from getting an approved degree program so that they'd be the only one in the state, and so they'd be able to attract students to their expanded Portland campus.
Click to expand...
Well, at some point the two universities must have decided to join forces. Students from both programs will be able to take classes from both PSU and Oregon.

(Same report, further below)
If the graduate program accomplishes professional accreditation it will join the other 96 accredited programs in the nation and will collaborate and complement the University of Oregon's existing program, the other Master of Architecture in the state, by sharing resources and allowing students in both programs to take classes at each school.

"The business community and students have been asking for this program at Portland State for many years. They will now be rewarded with an advanced degree program in Architecture at Portland State, which will be enhanced with a strategic partnership with the University of Oregon's architecture program," said James Francesconi, member of the State Board of Higher Education. "This is a terrific example of the partnerships being created in higher education in Greater Portland and in Oregon that are propelling our communities into the 21st Century."

“Having more architecture education options in the Portland area has far-reaching benefits for students, the business community, and Portland’s growing reputation in the areas of sustainability and our expanding ‘green collar’ workforce," said Linda Brady, provost for the University of Oregon. "The UO has a national reputation in sustainable architecture. Together, PSU and UO can leverage resources to enhance educational opportunities, research, and sustainable development in greater Portland.”
Click to expand...
 
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