PSU Magazine Winter 1989

PSU MAGAZINE: A committee from PSU's Citizen Advisory Board wrote to the commission suggesting two alternative structures for higher education in the area: merge all four OSSHE universities (PSU, VO, OSU, OHSU and Oregon Graduate Institute) into a single state university with its president/administration in Portland; or, merge all state-funded higher education institutions in Portland (PSU, OHSU, OGI) with the corresponding development of a multi-purpose higher education facility in Washington county, run by the new, merged institution. Why do you support this proposal? KOEHN: One proposal makes sense because it would form one comprehensive research in– stitution serving the metropolitan area. It would also give us a strong impact on gaining research dollars. We would have a very strong engineering school. (It) also would cut costs from havino three different administrations 0 . running three separate uni versities, which I think is a waste of taxpayer dollars. WESTWOOD: The (proposal) gives us some really good alternati ves , one of them being the unification of the institutions in the met– ropolitan area. Heading in that direction, mak– in o Portland metro education a strong force m th: state, is what we really need to do, rather than making Portland into a colonial enclave of the down-state institutions. That just isn't going to work . YOST: I'd like to preface this by saying I think it's premature to talk about spec ific sol– utions, but in that they are being advanced by others and are on the table, it's necessary to talk about them at this poi nt. A 'single univer– sity system' would have the potential of break– ing the barriers between the institut.ions, hope– full y, and allowing for more mobility of prog– rams and faculty and students, so that, over time, the programs that really have a market place in Portland would end up here . And then under a ' single university system,' whil~ there'd be pride in each one of the in– stitutions, it would reduce to some degree the turf battle that goes on now, which is damag– ing to the state and to the potential develop– ment of the state. PSU MAGAZINE: What was your initial reaction to the Oregon Chapter of the American Electronic Association's recent proposals for change? KOEHN: It 's very much self-serving for them. I do give them credit for doing a lot of work for this, and they got a lot of publicity on it. I also think it serves only one sector - albeit an important sector - of our economic environment. But I feel also that it would short-change some other areas. They're going to push this thing. It's not something we should take lightly, because they 're going to be doino more work on it, and obviously they 're ;etting the ear of a lot of people .in Salem and elsewhere (including) the pohtI– cians. WESTWOOD: I was aghast to think that people would seriously believe that higher education in the metro area is going to be improved by putting the controls over it ~n Eugene and Corvallis. To think that people m Eugene and Corvallis - people with the best interests of higher education at heart , surely would run down their own campuses with li– mited funding by sending those limited funds off to the Portland area, is just incredible. It 's not human nature . Also , the people in Eugene and Corvallis don't understand the metropoli– tan, urban area like someone who is li ving here and whose main interests are here. It would really eviscerate undergraduate higher education in the metropolitan area . The liberal arts , which are not seriously addressed in the A.E .A. proposal, would suffer badly, and it 's just not a workable solution. YOST: My initial reaction was one of terror. It seems to me that the worst thing that could happen to us is that we find ourselves in .a situation without a major uni versity in this metropolitan area, being served from outside. That's the reverse of what needs to happen. The metropolitan area, the largest engine that dri ves the economy of the State of Oregon, needs to develop strength , not weakness. I might say that the favor they did us is in creat– ing such an uproar is it got the community's attention. This is important if we're going to get more than a band-aid solution to t~e prob– lem. We need the attention of the entire state and community in seeking a meaningful solu– tion to this problem. PSU MAGAZINE: What do you see is PSU's contribution to the future develop– ment of the Portland metropolitan area, and to the State of Oregon as well? KOEHN: It's crucial that (PSU) continues to grow, as far as the programs it 's offering. The types of programs that are offered through PSU and the successes of PSU haven't gotten the appropriate publicity. The various schools within the University are extremely strong, and one of the major benefits that PSU gives to the business community in the metropolitan area - that includes high-tech - is some– thing we can't take away. You could imagine what would happen if the University of Washington, for example, was based in Yakima. How successful would they be? And I compare that to having the University taken away from Portland and based in the valley. How successful can it be to the metropolitan area? WESTWOOD: I hope the Governor's Com– mission will give PSU the boost that it's been needing for many, many years, to make PSU clearly and expressly the nucleus of higher ed . for the Portland metropol itan area. We are the flagship , and we should be identified as such. I think the Governor's Commission wi ll see that that is the clearest, simplest and most elegant way to approach the problem: make Portland State the nucleus, the center of higher ed . in this area, and let Portland State, at long last, come into the sunshine. YOST: It seems to me that (PSU) has to an– chor higher education, even if there are other locations and campuses that build up in the metropolitan area. I see (PSU) as a nucleus around which we need to add and magnify and rotate programs, so that the population in this knowledge-based economy has the sup– pon , access to continuing education, research and development , and all of the things that go with success in today's economy. (Cliff Johnson is news bureau manager in the PSU News & Information Office.) PSU 19