PSU Magazine Spring 1992

Benchmarks for Exceptional People is, "A fund amental redefinition of primary and secondary education." PEN brings together the University, school districts, community colleges, private businesses and state govern– ment in the deve lopment of programs for educational information, early childhood education, implementation of the O regon Education Act fo r the 21 st Century (HB 3565) , work force training, and other projects. Implementation of HB 3565 will require significant changes in K-12 cur– riculum, in the preparation of teachers and school administrators, in the way young people train for and enter the work force. PEN approaches all of these issues, utilizing different coalitions for each one, to realize progress toward the strategy of redefining education. If one aspect of a coalition fa ils then the overall strategy may fa lter. The want of a nail, adequate funding fo r teacher training, could cost us a shoe, sufficient trained teachers to imple– ment HB 3565, which could cost us the horse and rider. Another aspect of the Portland Agenda, the Faculty Incentive Gran ts, is keyed entirely to fostering greater col– laboration among institutions and the community, trying to build coalitions and stretch limited resources (see re– lated story). It is this interrelatedness of services that Gov. Roberts is trying to address in using the benchmarks as a key factor in determining which are critica l public services in the face of diminish– ing resources. Portland State, a vigorous proponent of the recognition and development of collaborative efforts, will help shape the process that will frame future benchmarks and strategies for higher education. The process offers an opportuni ty to think carefully about what higher education contributes to O regon and how to measure the progress it has made. It's also an opportunity to focus attention on the importance to the horse and rider of the nails and shoes. D (Clarence Hein '65 is coordinator of Com– munity Programs at PSU and a frequent contributor to PSU Magazine. ) Collaboration through PSU stretches resources Portland State faculty have been able to make giant strides in the development of innovative, collaborative academic, research and service projects thanks to a proposal for Faculty Incentive Grants included in PSU's Portland Agenda. Kenneth Dueker, urban studies faculty . The $18,536 grant will fund develop– ment of a research and education data base on urban natural resources that will serve as the basis for an interdisciplinary curriculum and as a source of informa– tion for citizen involvement. Program sponsors include the PSU Center for Urban Studies, the Audubon Society, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Friends and Advocates of Urban Natural Areas. The grant will leverage $50,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, $20,000 from Metro, and $30,000 from the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. Craig Wollner, history faculty . The $6,666 grant will fund a public symposium on breakthrough and follow-through cultures in high technology manufacturing. The History Department and School of Engineering will work with the Boston Center for Labor Market Studies, a representative of the Oregon high technol– ogy industry, and a member of the Oregon Graduate Institute faculty. Mary Kinnick, education faculty. The $15,700 grant will support creation of a PSU/Community College Research Consortium to address the factors affecting success of students transferring from community colleges and to identify support services which promote success. Faculty of PSU and the community colleges will coRduct the research. Teresa Bulman, geography facu lty. The $8,100 grant will support establishment of the Portland Metropolitan Geography Academy for Teachers to develop new ways for university resources to be applied to teaching geography in the primary and secondary schools. Co-sponsors include the National Geographic Society and the Oregon Geographic Alliance (OGA) . Matching funds have been com– mitted by the OGA and the World Affairs Council. Gerald Blake, urban studies faculty . The $17,372 grant will fund the develop– ment and implementation of a recycling education program for owners and managers of multi-family complexes and solid waste recycling and hauling com– panies. Co-sponsors include the City of Portland and Metro. Thomas Harvey, geography faculty. The $12,285 grant will support develop– ment of a field component in urban geography to train students in real world planning issues. Co-sponsors include the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood As– sociation, the Portland Bureau of Planning, and the Portland Design Com– munity. Erik Bodegom, physics faculty, Richard Young and Mark Utlaut, urban studies faculty. The $17,987 grant will support a consortium between PSU and the University of Portland for the development of an upper division physics lab and serve as a model for regional equipment sharing, knowledge pooling, and sharing of faculty resources. Bernard Burke, history faculty. The $12,000 grant will fund four PSU graduate fellowships in applied history at the Oregon Historical Society. Sandra Rosengrant, foreign languages and literatures facu lty. The $4,691 grant will fund a two-week visit to Portland by Vladimir Sorokin, Moscow city council chair of the Committee on Educational Reform, to discuss education reform measures with PSU education faculty, local school administrators, and Oregon Department of Education staff. D PSU 13