PSU Magazine Fall 1990

Council; and Michael Kennedy, vice pres i– dent and regional manager, CH2M Hill , and member of the PSU C ivil Engineering Advisory Counc il. Mackenzie summarized the position paper, noting that "a consensus has developed that the public and private sectors in Oregon must sign ificantly increase funding for eng ineering ed ucation and research programs in order to attract new industry and to ass ist its firms to be competitive nationall y and internationall y. " This premi se has been made, says MacKenzie, in a number o f reports to the Commission, including PSU' s Plan for the 90s, the Oregon Council for the American Electronics Association, Portl and Advisory Committee for Engineering Educati on, Committee on the Future of Science and Engineering, and the Engineering and Computer Science pos ition paper of the PSU School of Engineering and App lied Science Advisory Council. MacKenzie further urged the Commis– sion to study closely the public policy issues surrounding the Oregon Joint Graduate Schools of Engineering proposal. Among these are: • The need for greater cooperati on and integration among metropolitan area education and research institutions. • Portland State University ' s central role in metropolitan area hi gher education. • Efficient use of the ex isting ed ucatio n and research infrastructure. • Assurance of broad accessibility to pub– lic education and research programs. • Effic ient investment of public funds. • Future needs for engi neering education and research. In add ition, he said the value of a $27 million engineering center would be enhanced by combining it with the engineering fac ilities envi sioned for the PSU campus. "Construction of a single, multi-purpose facility located at Portl and State would respond both to the needs of PSU's engineering programs and to the research needs hi ghlighted by the Chancellor's task force," said Mackenzie. In summarizing the PSU Advisory Councils ' position, MacKenzie said, "We support the consortia! approach, with Portland State Uni vers ity as the lead institution in the metropolitan area." Pooling resources Several engi neering assoc iati ons and indu stry representati ves also testified at the August 23 meeting of the Comm iss ion: Portland Advisory Committee For Engineering Ed ucation, American Society of Mechan ical Engi neers, American Electronics Association, and Institute for Science, Engineering and Public Po li cy. In general, the speakers supported the task force ' s idea of building on existing resources and pooling them to strengthen the state ' s engineering education. " It is the onl y way we can become the world-c lass engineering center we want to be," sa id Dwight Sangrey, pres ident of Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, who is also an advisor to the Commi ssion. "What we hope to create is a virtual School of Engineering for Oregon - a single entity that best impacts the end-users, the students." All of the speakers emphas ized the need for substantial new private and public funding to accomplish this goal; however, some critic ized the narrow focus of the initial fundin g for e lectronic engi neering and computer science, to the excl usion of other eng ineeri ng fi elds. It was pointed out that a majority of practic ing engi neers are located near the central c ity, not in Washington County, and that the demand for graduates in the disciplines of mechanical and civ il engineering is expected to increase dramatical Iy. Deans lend support Chik Erzurumlu, dean of Engineering at Portland State and a member of the chancellor's eng ineering task force that developed the proposal for the joint eng ineering school, emphas ized the strong history of cooperat ion between the Oregon state school s over the last decade. He noted how the task force proposal encourages and relies upon that synergy to attain its goal. "We cannot accomplish this undertaking, however, simpl y through integrating and cooperating. There must be appropriate administrative support and fundin g to make it happen," he sa id. Donning hi s hat as a PSU dean of Engineering, Erzurumlu pointed out the urgent need at PSU for an adeq uate fac ility to house its cu rrent engi neering programs. Some 1,500 engineeri ng majors and 200 graduate students now study eng ineering at seven separate locations on campus. John Owen , vice chancellor and dean of Eng ineering at Oregon State Uni versi ty, echoed Erzurumlu ' s sentiments about the env ironment of cooperation among in stitutions. He noted the recent recruitment to Oregon of outstanding faculty in eng ineering has been a joint accomp li shment of all the engineering schools. He cautioned, however, that the state does not have enough top-level faculty in engineering and the number of graduates in engineering and sc ience is 50- to I00-percent short of the State's needs. The next best step In a letter to the Commi ss ion, Fred A. Stickel , president and pubIisher of The Oregonian Publisher Company and a member of PSU's President 's Advisory Board, echoed many of the themes ou tlined by the Macke nzie group . He commended the Commi ss ion for its decision to hold the special hearing, "opening these proposals to public discussion fo r the first time. " C iting a recurring theme of the PSU eng ineering position paper, Stickel said, "The Governor 's Commission work to this point has highlighted the need for greater levels of in stitutional cooperation, with an enhanced PSU at the core. Major new funding initiatives, wherever poss ible, should strengthen thi s key public institution... before introduc ing new levels of administrative bureaucracy and complex ity." The governor's commi ss ion fi nal report , due this fall , will deal with the broad future of post-secondary education in the metropolitan area, a topic much wider than the immediate needs of Oregon's high tech industries. However, the issues raised in the current debate over the future investment in eng ineering education and research are certain to color the commission ' s response not only to the engineering questions, but to the broad question of higher education ' s future as well.D PSU19