Thank you for the opportunity to address these questions today.
I am calling in from Corvallis where I’ve been meeting with the National Science Foundation and advocating for the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology (FAST) engine grant for Oregon’s semiconductor research and development.
But it’s also very important that I take this time to reiterate our vision for PSU and the vital future we are pursuing through our Future in Focus strategic plan.
I understand how difficult it is when we are inundated with change and uncertainty to see the overarching themes and the many opportunities for growth and innovation that lie in front of us. This work is tremendously difficult and I’m grateful for the spirit of partnership and creativity that I have witnessed across PSU.
Like universities across the country, PSU is facing a changed landscape for higher education and struggling to serve our students and grow our enrollment. It is imperative that we review our programs and operations. We are past the point of being able to make small or incremental changes and achieve the financial sustainability we must achieve.
Instead we are pursuing an integrated and growth-oriented strategy that will maximize student success while renewing our programs to meet student and workforce demands and energizing our enrollment and marketing strategies to improve PSU’s public reputation.
The pillars of this strategy include:
- The retention of our students and commitment to their success
- A sustained focus on strengthening the transfer pipeline and improving the transfer experience.
- A program portfolio analysis that enables the investment in high-growth undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Strengthened civic partnerships that result in greater opportunities for students, regional vitality and public impact research opportunities.
- Improved brand visibility and reputation.
Together, these pillars support Portland State as we doggedly pursue the thriving future state that is outlined in the Future in Focus strategic plan —
- Where every student thrives and PSU is a national leader in both social mobility
- Where we are harnessing academic excellence, innovative research and strategic partnerships to address local, regional and global challenges.
- Where we are building upon and celebrating our unique strength afforded to us through our diverse student and faculty population.
- And where we are an employer of choice for the region and across the academic landscape because of how we empower and support our faculty and staff.
That’s the vision of where we are headed, and while it may seem like we are making only incremental changes, they are all part of the strategy that will carry us forward to that future state.
It is imperative that we start with retention. This is a campus-wide effort that can grow our revenue and meet our strategic imperatives to retain, inspire and graduate the students who choose PSU. Retaining and graduating our students is a moral imperative. We must ensure success for those who invest time and money in us — from students to taxpayers.
And we are making progress in this area:
- Our newly implemented standard course grid is designed to reduce scheduling conflicts.
New degree planning software tied to our Ad Astra scheduling software will clarify paths to graduation, improve efficiency in scheduling classes and reduce student delay due to challenges in course availability. - Slate for Student Success will improve the student experience related to registration, financial aid, and advising.
- We are working with the General Education Task Force on a shared goal that our general education program contributes to students’ sense of belonging, offers a clear pathway to a degree, and prepares students for a future career while recognizing the whole student.
- And if you attended the Town Hall on the recommendations for PSU by the National Institute for Student Success, you heard about our plans for implementation of:
- Designing and scaling meta-majors and early learning communities to help students find their right-fit major.
- Strengthening orientation
- Monitoring and addressing waitlists.
- Limiting first year students’ access to 300 and 400-level courses to reduce DFW rates and improve success and completion.
- Expanding access to a summer bridge program for students at academic risk.
- Ensuring that students have access to high quality financial wellness coaching.
- And, working with the PSU Foundation to expand the availability of last-mile grants for students who are close to graduation but have financial challenges.
We are also working with community college partners to ensure that the 55 percent of our undergraduate student body who are transfer students are able to successfully graduate with a four-year degree. Improving the rate of transfer from community college in the region and improving transfer student success are both important strategies for growth.
Over the past three years, an average of 1,193 students annually have transferred from Portland Community College and we recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PCC to work together to
- Support Transfer Student Success.
- Improve public perception of the benefits of higher education in the Portland region.
- Include everyone in the benefits of higher education.
- Model responsible resource stewardship to our shared public in the Portland region by working more closely together to eliminate barriers and improve efficiency.
Now, I know that I don’t have to inform anyone here about PIVOT — many if not all of you are well into your contributions to the Plan for Institutional Vitality and Organizational Transformation.
PIVOT will play a key role in renewing our program portfolio to ensure it is aligned with student demand and career opportunities and is providing clear pathways to degrees and careers. We also need to ensure that we devote resources to promote programs that have growth potential alongside the improvement of our general brand and reputation.
However, we will also take bold steps to fill gaps in the market, such as serving the thousands of Oregon adults who have taken some college but have not earned a degree. We are actively exploring prospects for online completion degrees for this population. In addition we are investigating graduate programs with significant growth opportunities in engineering, health, education, urban planning, and the sciences.
Portland and Portland State rise together. This is one of the stories told by our enrollment trends and it’s why we must work collaboratively with state and local governments and other partners to advance Portland’s economic, social, and cultural resurgence, another of the key strategic imperatives in our Future in Focus strategic plan.
Placemaking work on our campus is a part of this effort. We are exploring new ways to activate our campus and bring more people into the city, support local businesses, and provide more “eyes on the street” to improve public safety. We all have a part to play, both in the activation of our campus and the resurgence of Portland more broadly.
We are also planning for a more vibrant future for the arts and culture sector in Portland. We have secured capital funding from the state — funding that cannot be used for operations — to advance a once in a generation vision for a Performing Arts and Culture Center on our campus. This project is a crucible moment: It’s about investing in a future where Portland State sits at the center of an energized performing arts ecosystem, enlivening our campus and creating unique opportunities for our students.
PSU is also doubling down on our public impact research agenda, which contributes to reputation, student success and the overall vitality of our region and of Oregon. Creativity in this area is necessary as we continue to identify new ways to advance public impact research and address the region’s important social and economic issues.
And we must better tell the PSU story. Our growth is currently impeded by being the “best kept secret” of higher education in Oregon. Our Marketing and Communications efforts are fragmented, under-resourced and structurally misaligned relative to peer institutions.
Our strategy for improving our brand and reputation starts with the experiences of our current students and visitors. The authenticity of our brand and reputation depends on students who tell friends, family, and neighbors that they had a positive experience at PSU and that they were able to attain their goals. Everything we invest into improving our retention and transfer experiences will pay dividends in our improved reputation and community trust.
The connective tissue between these pillars of efforts is the work we are undertaking to use data, careful resource allocation, thorough analysis to make the decisions that will support the future thriving of the university. Our work is not that of unrelated, incremental change but a concerted effort to fundamentally change the way we operate as a university.
What our strategic plan asks us to do is to elevate the best of PSU and we know we must do that in a way that makes judicious use of our resources and ensures we can invest in the bright future we all want to inhabit.
Rest assured that we are leaving no stone unturned, among our donors and in Salem, in our pursuit of financial support. I believe that the decisions we make this year to revitalize our program offerings and better serve Oregon’s students will be inspiring both for those who control the public coffers and for our philanthropic supporters.
Let me close by saying that I know that the sheer volume of change we are undergoing is daunting and that our strategic vision can be difficult to keep in sight. But I remain optimistic for the simple reason that I know we all share the vision for PSU’s future. Our visions may not be identical down to every detail, but we are united in wanting the best for our collective destiny and the destiny of the students we serve.
Thank you for your engagement in this process. I am grateful for your creativity and your partnership and I would be happy to take follow up questions.