You may know that I’m a lifelong runner. I enjoy the challenge of a long-distance run and have completed 14 marathons. With distance running it’s all about pacing and endurance.
My first 100 Days as Portland State’s President, however, has felt more like a full-on sprint.
In my first 100 days I have met with more than 50 current or former elected officials and participated in 11 media interviews. I have represented PSU in meetings or special events with more than a dozen community organizations and met most of the other higher education leaders in the state. I have shaken hands with scores of business leaders, successful alumni and donors to the PSU Foundation. And I’ve met with each member of our Board of Trustees, both individually and collectively, to understand our shared goals for the year for PSU.
I pitched our visionary proposal to build a new auditorium to serve our great city and was honored to participate in the Governor’s Central City Task Force — five meetings and counting!
I shared PSU’s excellent track record of educating behavioral health professionals with federal officials and attended listening tour sessions with six of our amazing schools, colleges and programs, with more sessions coming up later this month. We kicked off a strategic planning process that will see us ending the year with a dynamic plan for navigating the future.
I celebrated the opening of our new cultural resource centers serving DREAMers and our Middle East, North Africa, South Asia (MENASA) student populations — bringing our total cultural resource centers tally to seven centers serving many hundreds of students. We also won a $2 million federal grant to support Asian American and Pacific Islander students — the first federal funding for PSU as a Minority Serving Institution.
I hired PSU’s first ever Executive Director of Tribal Relations, Modesta Minthorn, and look forward to gathering with many of our Indigenous community members at the 20th anniversary of the Native American Student & Community Center (See you there!).
We joined a nationwide effort to promote financial aid transparency, and earned a top ranking for student Social mobility.
In addition, we completed the search for the Dean of Public Health, advanced the searches for the School of Business and the Library, and launched searches for three permanent deans for the College of Urban and Public Affairs, the College of Education, and the School of Social Work.
We celebrated PSU reaching an all-time high in research activity and cheered new and ongoing awards in my first 100 days totalling close to $20 million, including the competitive Strategy Development Grant on smart energy storage from the U.S. Economic Development Administration that furthers our leadership in regional smart grid development.
And just last week, we announced a $1.3 million gift from Daimler Truck North America to support scholarships, graduate research assistantships, and professorships in the School of Business and the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science.
I’ve gotten to know some of our amazing student athletes, taking in football games and volleyball matches and deadlifting more than my bodyweight in a certain viral video.
The best part has been meeting as many students, staff and faculty as possible along the way. You are the ones who make all these things happen through your talent, energy, and dedication to our mission.
It’s been a lot and it’s been wonderful. I have learned an immense amount about what makes this university special and what we still need to work on.
PSU is bursting at the seams with innovative programs and yet we face an ominous budget shortfall. We have talented and energetic employees throughout the university and yet our clunky and outdated systems often hamstring our efforts to respond to new opportunities. These are problems that need urgent attention.
But at every turn of my first 100 days, my pride in PSU has grown. I’m so proud of the work we do, and I love learning about and sharing the stories of our students and our alumni. We are making a difference, both in this community and far beyond it.
PSU is truly an anchor institution: We are a powerhouse for education and the arts in this region. We are woven into the fabric of this city. We are an innovative hub of research, much of it trained on addressing Oregon’s current and future challenges. And our students — our wonderful, creative and passionate students — will take their education out into the community and make lasting change.
It’s an honor to be serving as Portland State’s 11th president. Thank you for all you do for PSU.