Board Report – January 2011

I would like to express my sympathy and support for the families and victims of the January 8 shooting in Tucson. You may have read that the person was a student at Pima Community College and was identified as a student with issues. This week I asked employees to observe a moment of silence on their behalf. The congressional aide who was killed had family who worked at the college. We feel for everyone at Pima. The American Association of Community College has been fielding media questions about practices and policies at two-year colleges.

As you know, the state legislature is meeting this week to swear in officials, elect leadership, fill committee seats, and begin introducing bills. They officially begin session in February. They held a joint assembly Monday for Governor Kitzhaber’s inaugural address which I attended. Representatives Bruce Hanna and Arnie Roblan were elected co-speakers of the House. Committee assignments have been made, with a senator and representative co-chairing each committee. Kitzhaber’s inauguration represented a lot of firsts, including an Oregon governor serving a third term and the legislature beginning to hold annual legislative sessions. The state is facing a $3.5 billion deficit. Governor Kitzhaber intends to redesign state government and the things it funds. We should hear more about that on February 1 when he releases his budget.

We have set Lane Day at the Capital for Wednesday, April 27. This will be an opportunity for students, staff, and board members to go to the Capitol and talk to legislators.

I have been busy co-chairing Governor Kitzhaber’s higher education transition team. The committee consists of the chancellor of a higher education institution, the community colleges workforce development commissioner, the president of Eastern Oregon University, and representatives of the Oregon Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and Service Employees International Union. I had a meeting with the governor this morning and will be doing a little more work, but that should be finalized this week. I don’t know if he will accept our recommendations, but it is not looking good for anyone. Funding for education will be down but probably not as much as human services. It does not look promising.

Kitzhaber will be announcing a program called the National Career Readiness Certificate. The certificate will verify work skills and help employers to identify top job candidates. To get the certificate, job seekers take three tests in math, reading, and locating information. The tests will be given at Lane Community College and WorkSource Lane.

Facilities, Management and Planning accomplished a lot of work over winter break. They completed or made substantial progress on more than 20 bond and maintenance projects. I’d like to thank all of the staff who worked over the break to help complete improvements in Building 5 in time for winter classes.

Work continues on Downtown Campus planning, and we are scheduling the groundbreaking for Friday, March 4 with events at the site, the Library, and in the Atrium building.

We sold $19,355,000 in Recovery Zone Bonds on December 14. The net interest rate is 3.8 percent. The federal government will be contributing $10.1 million in interest subsidy over the life of the bond issue.

I attended Mayor Piercy’s State of the City address last week. She talked about $100 million in investments in downtown renewal. It is notable that more than half of that is Lane’s Downtown Campus.

Our women Titans basketball team ticked off another win for their national home game win record. The Titans have won 81 home games in a row. I’m sure they’ll do it again this Saturday at 4 p.m. when they host Portland.

Earlier today I presented at the Eugene-Springfield Leadership Group, a program that brings together leaders in the community. The program is sponsored by the Eugene and Springfield Chambers of Commerce. Their focus today was on education, and I gave an overview of the role of community colleges and how Lane is preparing students to be the workforce of the 21st century.

Winter term registration is about the same as fall term. Both of these represent a 3.1 percent increase over winter term last year.

For your calendars, please note that this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. community event is Monday, January 17 at the Hult Center. Lane students founded this event and continue to play a key leadership role. ASLCC will present awards during the reception from 4-6 p.m. The main program will feature award-winning slam poets Justin Long-Moton and Jay Davis, both of New York.