Portland State Magazine Winter 1991

A Vital Partnership The Governor's Commission on Higher Education in the Portland Metropolitan Area prescribes a collective effort among all institutions and places PSU in a leading role. By John R. Kirkland P ortland State Universi ty is entering a new era---one in which it will play a central role in linking the educational resources of the entire Portland metropolitan area into one "vital partnership." It will do so by expanding collaboration with the other colleges and universities in the area, by developing its mission as an "urban grant" university, and by expanding its library into a regional research library serving all postsecondary institutions in and around Portland. All these were the recommendations of the Governor's Commission of Higher Education in the Portland Metropolitan Area, a blue-ribbon group assigned by Gov . Neil Goldschmidt in May 1989 to analyze the educational needs of the future. The report, titled "Working Together," released Nov. 15, looks at the existing resources, the needs and solutions involved with Portland's higher education system. A Collective Approach The report's title, "Working Together" sums up the Committee' s recommendations. The situation, according to the report, is that the numerous postsecondary institutions in the area-PSU, Lewis and Clark College, Reed College, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland Community College, and others-are not "working together" enough. "There is no common vision for postsecondary education in Greater Portland," the report PSU12 states. Any coordination at all "occurs periodically, sometimes by chance rather than by plan or through structural ties." The committee places much of the solution with Portland State. PSU has been in the process of clarifying its mission as an urban university, recognizing the key role it must play in servi ng the needs of Greater Portland and taking advantage of its location in this urban center. The report restates the need for this mission, saying in effect that PSU can be the hub around which higher education revolves in the area. PSU President Dr. Judith Ramaley said the report affirms this urban-based role-a role she sees expanding in the future with the addition of more programs and degree offerings. "The commission lays out a very ambitious agenda that will play out over several decades. The immediate downpayment that will enable PSU to play a central role has been defined in the chancellor's budget request," she said. "It is unlikely, however, that we wi ll receive any state funds to support urban initiatives in the next biennium because of the devastating effects of Measure 5 on the budget of the Oregon State System." In the comm ission's vis ion, PSU and the 30 other institutes of higher learning in the five-county metro area will operate as a " shared university," coll aborating and cooperating with each other and strengthening the bond each has with the community. This collaborative approach would include creation of a regional research library which, according to Ramaley, should be located at PSU; development of enhanced graduate programs including an Oregon Joint Graduate Schools of Engineering; coordinated recruitment of minority or under-represented faculty, staff and students; integrated academic calendars, common course numbering, and a coordinated program to provide community service to the Portland region. At the center of this plan is Portland State. The "Urban Grant" University One of the main tasks of the commiss ion was to define what Portland State is, and what it shou ld become. First it decided what it isn ' t. Unlike University of California at Berkeley or the University of Washington, PSU cannot be called a "comprehensive" university. Instead, it is an "urban or metropolitan university" with a strong serv ice mission that links it conceptually to the role of the " land grant" university. Land grant institutions were founded hi storically to address the spec ific needs of communities during times of national expansion and changing agricultural technology. "These universities evolved to provide services to people across the states they serve but do not have as their central focus the cultural , artistic, social, economic and environmental needs of major metropolitan areas," the report states. •