PSU Magazine Winter 1987

group of people who have just been waiting to be given the opportunity to get involved," he said. Mary Lou Webb, director of alumni affairs and staff person for the Alumni Board, agrees. "They are leaders and managers them– selves. They know how to get things done." Already, members of the alumni programs committee are working on expanding the ABC card bene– fits, developing personal and pro– fessional development workshops and bringing alumni and students together in supportive and instruc– tive ways. In the spring, the pro– grams committee will announce the availability of a new VISA card for alumni and others in the PSU community. The alumni recognition commit– tee is designing an ongoing pro– gram to acknowledge the accom– plishments of PSU alumni, including the annual "Distinguished Alumni" award. Homecoming, reunions and possible spring activi– ties in conjunction with the Port– land community are being planned by the special events committee. Other committees are reaching out to the community in the areas of governmental relations and student recruitment. Also in the works, said Webb, are alumni chapters. Local, national and international groups of PSU grads will be organized not o~ly as social outlets but to get alumm involved in University recruitment, fund-raising and continuing educa– tion efforts. "I would like to see alumni play– ing a very strong role in all facets of University life," said Webb. "This is an opportunity for alumni to build a lifelong relationship with the University." "It's important to be involved with a school that has given something to you and to which you can give something back," said DeChaine. "It's a giving and a getting." PSU Volunteer callers raise over $35,000 Alumni volunteers and student callers contacted over 2,000 PSU alumni during Phase I of the Volun– teer Phonathon, according to cam– paign co-chairpersons John Eccles '68, andjanet Pierce '75. The 15-night phonathon, held in October and November, raised $35,033. Phase II will occur in February and March. A Student Phonathon is also planned for this winter when 21,000 PSU alumni will be contacted and asked to support programs at Portland State. As of November 18, 1987, a total of $155,296 in annual gifts and pledges have been received from 1,910 PSU alumni, friends, and businesses. The 1987-88 fund raising goal is $450,000. "Volunteer and financial support is vital to Portland State," says Eccles. "If you want to get involved with the Uni– versity, please contact Floyd Harmon in the University Development office at (503) 464-4478. We have a lot offun and really make a difference in the future of PSU." Business ethics studied A gift from the Chiles Foundation has created a Sponsored Professorship in Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility at Portland State. Steven Brenner, former Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the School of Business Administration, will occupy the new research and teaching position. Brenner taught a graduate course this fall in Government Regulation and Social Responsibility of Business, and launched a research study of "Fortune 500" firms and how their managers view their interaction with government. Another study about to begin will involve Portland-area busi– ness leaders who have experienced ethical problems in their work envir– onments. A nationwide study that Brenner and Earl Molander, Associate Professor of Business Administration, PSU MAGAZINE PAGE9 conducted ten years ago showed that nearly two-thirds of American business managers reported facing ethical dilemmas at work. The Chiles Foundation has contrib– uted first-year funding toward an anticipated three-year commitment to this new professorship. Future of PSU athletics The future of intercollegiate athlet– ics at Portland State University was a topic of frequent discussion and debate on campus this fall. President Natale Sicuro appointed an ad hoc committee chaired by local marketing executive Fred Delk.in to research the question following revelations about significant deficits in athletic budgets at PSU. The Delk.in Committee, composed of members of the University Advisory Board and the Viking Athletic Associa– tion, with university faculty and stu– dent representation, recommended an upgrading of PSU's program to NCAA Division I (with football at Division IAA). The committee indicated that operating at the Division II level (where PSU currently operates) makes it all but impossible to attract sufficient revenue, but that a successful Division I football program could produce suf– ficient income to support a major athletic program. The University Faculty Senate and the student senate also discussed the athletics question. The faculty body characterized a move to Division I athletics as, "A misapplication of uni– versity priorities," and in a late November referendum, students voted not to endorse a move to Division I. After studying the Delk.in committee report the University Advisory Board passed a resolution supporting the committee's decision, giving President Sicuro its recommendation that PSU athletics be upgraded to Division I level. Sicuro was to make his recom– mendation to the State Board of Higher Education for action on Dec. 18.