Board Report - January, 2007

Report from Lane Community College President Mary Spilde
To the Lane Community College Board of Education
January 10, 2007

Good evening and welcome back. Happy New Year to everyone.

I appreciate the discussion we had in the work session. You can see that we have a difficult road ahead of us if we are not able to persuade legislators to increase the allocation for community colleges. On that note, last week we partnered with Chemeketa, Oregon Coast and Linn-Benton to host legislators to talk about our budget. Jay Bozievich, Sonya Christian, Steve Candee, Bob Baldwin and Happi Mathews attended. Terri Beyer was there as well as Nancy Nathanson and Bruce Hanna, both of whom were unable to attend the session we had in November. The program was primarily hearing from students, and I think it went well.

We are scheduling meetings with Representative Hanna and Representative Nathanson to lay out Lane’s budget scenario. Both of them are on the Joint Ways and Means committee, so it will be very important that they understand our situation. I also talked with Representative Chris Edwards and Representative Mary Nolan, who is the chair of the Joint Ways and Means committee, on Thursday. I am glad that you will be discussing the board’s role in the legislative session later this evening.

On Thursday, I attended the Oregon Business Council Summit in Portland. It was an opportunity to talk with legislators and business leaders as well as hear from the governor.

I want to give a very brief report on my trip to Egypt, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It was very interesting, and I definitely think there is a great deal of potential for us to partner. They have a high level of need for career and technical training and are very interested in using American curriculum and meeting our standards. I think it’s important to understand that if we move forward with this venture, it is primarily a business venture. It is not about internationalizing the campus, sending people there or bringing students here. Rather, we have expertise that can add value to what they need to do, and they are willing to pay us for that expertise. It can create a revenue stream for the college that over time will help support our programs and services. I have reached the conclusion that we must be thinking in terms of entrepreneurial ventures that bring in revenue to support the college. While keeping our mission in mind, we need to approach ventures like this for what they are: business opportunities. As long as we can agree on that, this has a great deal of potential. If we don’t want to go down that road, now is the time to pull out. Unfortunately, I don’t see us being able to survive on public money, and if we don’t look for entrepreneurial options we are resigning ourselves to more of the same budget cutting that we have been doing and will do again this year. So I’d like the board to think about this and to have a discussion so that we are all clear on our direction.

I must say that our potential partners in the middle east are experienced, have integrity and know the people that we need to connect with for this venture to be successful. I found everyone very knowledgeable, kind and generous and very open to a partnership with an American community college.

I want to celebrate the receipt of a $1.9 million Department of Labor grant to expand the Dental Hygiene program to other communities using distance delivery and clinical experiences. This is a great example of building on our strengths, being cost-effective and meeting statewide workforce needs.

Last month I mentioned that I had picked up the three sculptures from Mr. Don Pollock. Sadly, he passed away just ten days after I visited him.

Today I attended a memorial service for Doreen Margolin. Doreen served as the chair of the Portland Community College Board of Education. She was diagnosed with cancer in December and passed away on Monday. She will be sorely missed.

Last month I talked about the controversy regarding the gates. There was an extensive e-mail conversation, and we will be responding to the concerns raised. However, I want to be clear that we are moving forward with securing the campus, and we will balance that with providing access for those who need to be on campus between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. and on holidays.

The college has received several notes from people in the community who were disheartened that our local option levy didn’t pass. Some have even sent checks in support of the college to take the place of the taxes they would have paid.

I want to invite you to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration on January 15. There has been some controversy surrounding the keynote speaker’s beliefs, but the focus for the event is the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- a topic on which the speaker is qualified to talk about.

The Baseball/Soccer Spring Spectacular will be held this Friday in the Center for Meeting and Learning.