PSU Magazine Winter 1992

PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO DONORS A YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENT A critical lesson from today's increasingly complex and interdependent world is that traditional ways of doing things may no longer be valid. Just as manufacturing and service industries, commercial and retail businesses are changing their approaches to fulfilling their missions, so must higher education. Basic to this new way of looking at higher education is the knowledge that a university must be an integral part of its community. To be successful today, that is, to serve growing public needs with limited resources, we must be involved directly in the life of the community and work cooperatively with other in– stitutions that serve the region. No higher education institution, operating independently, can successfully respond to the ever changing and expanding scope of educational and public service needs we see today. This commitment to collaboration is reflected in the Portland State University Mission Statement: "The mission of Portland State University is to enhance the intellectual, social, cultural and economic qualitie-s of urban life by providing access throughout the life span to a quality liberal education for undergraduates and an appropriate array of professional and graduate programs especially relevant to the metropolitan area. The University will actively promote development of a network of educational institu– tions that will serve the community and will conduct research and community service to support a high– quality educational environment and reflect issues important to the metropolitan region." Among the most critical of these partnerships are those represented by the 6,200 donors listed on these pages. Your generous investment in Portland State makes much of the work of the University possible. At my inauguration (October, 1990) I listed several major goals. Among them were these: 'i Strengthen regional programs in engineering and computer science; ·~ Establish a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research; establish the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies; expand partnerships with the community; 'i Encourage recruitment and support for minority students, faculty and staff; and, 'i Create an environment to support the individuality and talents of each of us, fostering a climate of cooperation and learning. Thanks to the commitment, cooperation, and support from both inside the University and from the outside community, there has been significant progress toward these goals. This report of activities from 1990-91 illustrates some of this progress and the ways in which these university-community partnerships are making Portland State a better University, and Portland a better community. ~~~=~·~/ President TWO