[Note: President Mary Spilde made the following comments and announcements to the Lane Community College Board of Education at its June 9, 2004, meeting.]

In response to board direction to acknowledge the importance of the college’s major outreach centers by holding a board meeting at each center, I recommend that the board hold its October meeting on a rotating basis at the Cottage Grove and Florence Centers, beginning with Florence on October 13, 2004.

It is hard to believe that another year is winding to an end. Fortunately, we have not been under quite so much pressure this year because of the budget. Faculty and staff have been able to focus more on teaching and learning and all it takes to support student success. That is much more fun that cutting the budget. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the faculty and staff for their continued dedication, hard work and commitment to Lane and our students.

With this last report of the academic year I want to spend some time reporting some very positive things to you.

1. We received some very good news last week. Standard and Poor’s reaffirmed our A+ rating with a stable outlook. At a time when some community colleges have been downgraded and indeed the state has lost ground, Lane was able to maintain our rating. The report cited our cost containment measures and our tuition policy as two important factors in obtaining this rating. I want to thank Marie Matsen for her vigilant work in raising budget issues, especially when none of us wants to hear it! I also want to congratulate the board for making some very hard decisions. This contributed to the rating.

2. The State Board of Education has adopted a resolution supporting continued federal funding the single parent/displaced homemaker programs. The resolution stressed the state board's strong support for the programs and advocated strategies for their continuance and expansion. The resolution has been presented to the governor. In 1999, the federal government decided to eliminate dedicated funding for these programs and yet 14 of the Oregon’s community colleges have maintained their commitment. I am happy to say that Transitions to Success, part of Lane's Women's Program, is one of these programs. It makes a huge difference in bringing students to the college and preparing them for success. The state board stated that the programs are a model for providing exemplary services that are also efficient, coordinated and cost effective.

3. The second draft of the self-study for accreditation has just been released and we are on track for final document to be mailed to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities July 27.

4. You may have noticed our new sculpture in Moskus Courtyard. Master woodcarvers Yoshiki Kawada and Mineo Shimada worked for two weeks with the students of Lee Imonen’s site specific sculpture class to create the large, two-sided mahogany relief panel, “Long Life.” The sculptors are from Inami, Japan, a small town in Toyama Prefecture, an Oregon sister state with a long and rich history of carved wooden sculptures. Sculpture instructor Lee Imonen attended the Inami International Wooden Sculpture Camp 2003 and became so inspired that he coordinated the cultural exchange that resulted in the two artists collaborating with his class. The class began working with the sculptors on a weekend retreat at Siltcoos Station in Florence, where they got to know their international guests, and watched them work while receiving one-on-one instruction. Since the return of the master woodcarvers to Japan, the students have worked diligently to complete the project this term. A dedication ceremony for the sculpture will be held Thursday, June 10, at 4:30 p.m.

Also celebrated will be the acquisition of the previously loaned “Conception of Creation” bronze sculpture sited near the new wood sculpture. The master woodcarvers Yoshiki Kawada and Mineo Shimada, instructor Lee Imonen and students, members of the Moshofsky family of Eugene who donated cedar for the project, representatives of Emerson Hardwoods who offered mahogany at a deep discount, representatives of Zippo Logs, contributors of milling labor for the woodcarving project, and Don Tykeson, who assisted in the purchase of the bronze sculpture, will be in attendance.

5. An independent study just completed by Campbell-Delong Resources states that the small businesses assisted by the Oregon Small Business Development Centers created 3,300 new jobs and $53 million in new wages in the year ending July 2003. OSBDCN is headquartered at Lane.

6. Three of our students were recognized in the League Art and Literary Competitions. Tamara Pinkas our League rep. is here to introduce them.

7. I wanted to mention Alex San Pedro who received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship. You may have seen the article in The Register-Guard. This scholarship for $30,000 each year will enable Alex to attend the prestigious Pratt Institute in New York. We are very proud of Alex and grateful to the foundation for earmarking funds for community college students.

8. You may remember Susan Whitmore who was president of the Associated Students of Lane Community College two years ago. She just graduated form Lewis and Clark College summa cum laude and with departmental honors with a degree in economics. After working for a while she plans to attend graduate school and teach in a small private liberal arts college or a community college. Also, Lawrence Gillespie who was very active in student government and particularly the Black Student Union, stopped by recently. He is two terms away from completing his Masters degree in counseling. It is wonderful to see these student successes and to hear how Lane prepared them well for their four year experience.

I could go on and on about the great work that is going on but I have two more items I would like to mention. First, I want to thank Rebecca Hill for her outstanding leadership this year. She has been an active and involved ASLCC president always advocating for students and working collaboratively with us. Finally, I want to give music faculty Jim Greenwood and Ron Bertucci an opportunity to tell you about our summer musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.”

See you at graduation.