PSU Magazine Fall 1996

university, and that university is Portland State," says Joan Johnson of PSU Advocates, an alumni group, in a letter to the PSU community. "To downgrade portions of PSU's programs to satellite status can only succeed in weakening and eventually destroying the University, which is certainly not the answer to Portland's or the state's higher education needs." n response to the criticism, Joseph Cox, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, amended the engi– neering proposal from one which would merge PSU's program with OSU's to one which would study the feasibility of creating a statewide college of engineering, leaving open the question of which school would administer the college. Allowing OSU to take over is just "one concept on the table that will be either validated by our testing or will be replaced by a better idea," he said in a statement released by his office. He also appointed a committee, made up of representatives from PSU, OSU, and Oregon industry to study the proposal and make recommenda– tions to the board later this fall. The engineering proposal is part of a much broader effort to study ways to strengthen higher education in Oregon, so that it better serves the needs of the state. The state board has created 16 other committees to exam– ine such issues as student accessibility, education and business ties, and faculty salaries. Gov. John Kitzhaber, a strong supporter of higher education, appointed his own committees to study ways to strengthen higher education and its links to Oregon's economy. Oregon's business leaders appear to be pleased with the new emphasis on planning. "Now we have a structure for moving forward, one that includes the broad participation of all the people involved, both in education and indus– try," says Don VanLuvanee, president and CEO of Electro Scientific Industries and a member of the Governor's Task Force on Education and the Economy. Dean Dryden, who is on the committee studying the engineering 12 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1996 Engineering program profiles PSU osu Geor ia Tech U of Wash Bud et $7.5m $24m $79.2 m $81.8 m Facul~ 47 127 292 208 rads 174 345 1,257 704 Master rads 79 148 654 310 Ph.D. grads 1 30 120 94 This 1995 data was provided by each school. proposal, also supports the emphasis on strategic planning, although he expressed doubts about the wisdom of merging the engineering programs at Portland State and OSU. he assumption behind the merger, according to Dryden, is that one large school would be more prestigious and would gamer a higher ranking nation– ally and thus attract more funding from business and the state. But no one knows whether or not the increased funding would materialize, he says. "Whether a merger makes sense isn't clear yet," Hively agrees. "What's important is that whatever dollars there are get focused and coordinated to provide the right resources where they're most needed," he says. "We know what we need. We still don't know the best way to get it." The bottom line, says Dryden, is the need for more resources-more faculty, equipment, space and operat– ing funds-for engineering in the metro area. "ls consolidation the only way to get this? I'm not so sure." Dryden offers a dramatic example of another approach to strengthening higher education. Like the Portland metro area, Atlanta is also riding the crest of a booming high-tech economy, he says. But unlike Oregon, Georgia seized the opportunity to boost its colleges. "They took all their lottery money and put it into education. They created 20 endowed chairs, each with a million dollars for salaries, equip– ment and operations, and then chal– lenged industry to match the positions, which it did. And they established a scholarship program that pays all the expenses for attending Georgia's colleges for all high school students graduating in the top 50 percent of their class." As a result, colleges like Georgia Institute of Technology are among the highest rated institutions in the coun– try, as well making a vigorous contribu– tion to local industry and the economy. Clearly, more funding is critical to improving Oregon's higher education, though no one is sure where additional funding is going to come from. ast year's passage of a ballot measure in favor of mandatory prison sentencing means that Oregon will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new prisons, says Craven. "And then there are the problems they're having fund– ing K through 12. All that's going to put a lot of pressure on the state budget." Still, Craven sees "glimmers of hope" for more support for higher education. "I'm modestly encouraged," he says. "For the past six or eight years, we've had nothing but hunkering down in higher education, no discussion except how to manage scarcity and deal with the budget cuts. Now we've finally got some strategic planning. We're looking at what we want higher education to do and how it can be better integrated with Oregon's economy." D (Jack Yost MA '71 , a Portland writer and filmmaker, wrote the article "Shaking Up the Ivory Tower," which appeared in the spring 1996 PSU Magazine.)