PSU Magazine Spring 1995

Eye on welfare reform An unusual tate welfare program that requires people to relinquish food stamps and other welfare benefits for jobs is receiving a five-year, $2. l million evaluation by a team of PSU researcher . Faculty and students from the Regional Research Institute (RRI), a research arm of PSU' Graduate School of Social Work, will evaluate Oregon JOBS Plus program. wage or better, and take home at least as much money as they would if they were rece iving public ass istance. In addition, each participant has a co-worker who serves as a mentor to help provide career and other long-term guidance. With the summer solstice As the sun reaches its zenith this June, so do classes in PSU's Summer Session. Beginning in June and continuing through July and August students can partake in an archaeological dig, jam with legendary jazz musicians, visit a chateau in France, discuss politics with a past prime minister ofNew Zealand, or engage in theater sports in Cannon Beach. Begun in November 1995, JOBS Plus randomly se lects public ass istance recipients for placement into subsidized, private-sector jobs in lieu of being given food stamps and other welfare compensation. T he jobs last six months. If a participant hasn't been given a fu ll-time, un ubsidized job by the end of six months, that person has another three month to continue his or her existing job with time off to look for an unsubsidized job. "Oregon has designed a program that's simi lar to those on the table at the federal level," says William Feyerherm, RRI director. "Through this evaluation, Oregon is in a position to contribute critical and timely information to the discu sion of federal welfare reform." Summer Session features flexible schedu ling-a new class starts almost every day. Many classes meet for eight weeks (June 19-August 11); however, there are also weekend courses, field trips, an overseas program, the Haystack program in Cannon Beach, on-campus lecture series, and many more options. As conditions of the JOBS Plus program, participants earn minimum The re earchers will track about 1,000 JOBS Plus program participants, comparing the program's effect iveness with 1,000 persons who enter a tota lly separate, federal-and-state welfare-to– work program called JOBS. JOBS emphasizes job training while allowing for continued public ass istance and access to food stamps. Reach your own per onal zenith this summer, and call now to reserve a complimentary copy of the Summer Session 1995 catalog. lt lists all classes, activities, and special programs. Call 725-8500 in Portland o r toll-free 1-800-547-8887, extension 8500. FROM THE PRESIDENT P ortland State University i becoming a very exciting place to learn, to teach, and to do research. Why? Because we are at the cutting edge of one of the most powerful ideas in the history of American higher educa– tion: the development of the social– ly responsible university, one that practices and promotes social responsibility both in the way we in– teract with our local community and in the experiences we offer our students. Right now, two of our major initiatives- the redesigned undergraduate curriculum and the proposed University District plan-present the opportunity for a remarkable symbiosis of student learning, faculty scholarship and teaching, and community involvement all wo rking together toward the preservation of an economically and soc ially viable central city. You've heard about our redesigned curriculum. In both general education and in the disciplinary and interdiscipli– nary majors, our students will be introduced to courses designed to relate content to skills and values, as well as to provide learning experiences that involve collaboration, use 2 PSU Magazine of technology and the application of knowledge to real life problems. The University District alters our relationship with our immediate neighbors, the city, and with the greater metropol– itan area. The plan not only includes the usual planning elements (future academic buildings and use of campus space) but also creates a comprehensive transportation plan, including light rail, and lays out an ambitious plan of mixed-use housing, commercial, and academic space. I do not know of any other university-city plan that serves the needs of both the campus and the neighborhood in such a balanced and responsible way and that utilizes the University as a defining feature of a critical component of a Central City plan. And now, the really exciting part. We aim to develop service learning activities, connecting our academic programs to the implementation of the University District plan. We want to promote implementation of the plan in a manner that models the kind of learning community we believe the city should become. This approach to community development will be unique in the nation, extending the best impulses of university planning to the idea that the city is the campus. It will be the very embodiment of our motto: "Let Knowledge Serve the City." Judith A. Ramaley, President