—3— Wiewel: Improve, achieve, enhance, expand . . . continued from page 1 facturer is owned by a hedge fund—and nobody can find where that is,” Wiewel said, drawing laughter. It’s left to PSU, which he described as a large university in a not-so-large community, to think about the future of the region—-health care, transportation, government, natural environment. Improve student success—“You can’t provide civic leadership and not take care of home,” Wiewel explained. While he said that PSU does a good job with graduate students and transfers, “we don’t do a particularly good job with freshmen.” The University’s six-year graduation and retention rate is 38 percent, far short of the 50 percent rate of its peer group institutions. The solutions include better academic advising, more course offerings, and “more student housing so we can have more of a student social experience, because we know that an engaged student is more likely to succeed.” Achieve global excellence—If Portland wants to succeed, it has to complete globally, Wiewel said, and that means that Portland State has to complete globally as well. “Excellence also means you have to make choices, because you can’t be excellent in everything,” he explained. “We’ve made some choices— that’s why we focused on sustainability,” which inspired a $25 million challenge grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the largest gift in PSU history. Collaborations with OHSU and teaching students to live and work in a world of ethnic, racial, cultural, and socio-economic diversity are also elements of the “global excellence” theme. Enhance educational opportunity—Soon after he arrived on campus, Wiewel related, he met with Carole Smith, superintendent of Portland Public Schools, to form a task force that will “tell us how we can more strategically focus the collaborations we already have.” PSU and PPS already have dozens of collaborations, but, said Wiewel, they “don’t necessarily focus on the key challenges for PPS to succeed. If they don’t do a good job, we’re left with the residue.” Expand resources and improve effectiveness— Portland State now generates about $40 million annually in external grants and contracts. Wiewel wants that doubled in six to eight years. “That clearly fits in with global excellence and urban engagement—you can’t do those things unless you have the external funding,” he said. Increasing private funding is another target. The economy might make the job more difficult, but the good news, Wiewel said, is that “there is so much untapped potential because there’s been, relatively, so little done.” Creative partnering with other organizations is an efficient way to get things done. He pointed to the Student Recreation Center, due to be completed in 2009. “The city is paying for the first floor because city archives will be stored there; student rec fees are paying for the recreational piece; the Chancellor’s Office is paying for a boardroom; retail (areas) will be paid by leases; and the University is paying for the School of Social Work and some classrooms,” he said. “But you know what? All of that will be ours someday—but don’t tell ’em I said that!” he warned, using a stage whisper and prompting laughs. After the lofty themes comes the nitty-gritty of running a university in a state with a balky economy and a national ranking of 46th in state aid to higher education. “To compensate, does our tuition rank at the top? No, it ranks 26th,” said Wiewel. On top of that, Wiewel pointed out, Portland State added 50 percent more students in the past eight years without a corresponding increase in faculty and staff. “The state did not give us any money for that growth until the current biennium, when they gave us the money for half of them,” he explained. “They said the check is in the mail for the other half. I’m not so sure that check will be coming.” Getting a bigger slice of the pie is not the answer— growing the pie is, Wiewel said. He sees consensus among the business, civic, and political communities to change the fiscal structure of Oregon. “It’s just that they have not been able to make the case to the voters.” The other side of the coin is tuition. “If the state does not give us direct aid, we have no choice but to look at tuition (increases),” he said. “While I’d love to avoid that, that may be what we need to do.” Markyour calendar Dec. 17, 6:00 p.m. Holiday Party Multnomah Athletic Club Jan. 15, 1:00p.m. Tom Palm on Estonia 236 Smith Memorial Student Union Feb. 19, 1:00 p.m. Charlie White chairs panel on RAPS history programs 236 Smith Memorial Student Union
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