Dear PSU Community,
Welcome to the first day of fall term at Portland State University! Whether you are brand new to PSU or someone who feels utterly at home on our campus, there’s always an exciting feeling in the air when leaves start to change on the Park Blocks and we kick off a new academic year.
This is a particularly pivotal year for Portland State because we have just finalized our Future in Focus strategic plan, which will guide how we evolve as a university in the coming years. At the same time, we are facing up to the challenge to become financially sustainable. Our collective will and resiliency will be tested, but our strategic plan illuminates our path to a brighter future. With this plan, we crystalize our values of equitable access to learning, student success, taking care of each other, supporting our region and carefully managing our resources. I invite you to learn more about the plan and how we’ll be implementing it and measuring our progress in the years to come. Visit the Strategic Plan website to get started.
While you’re online, please also check out the new Free Speech at PSU website that centralizes access to policies, procedures, tools and resources pertaining to free speech and free expression on campus in one, easy-to-navigate place. Being informed about how we lift up free speech while also maintaining a welcoming campus environment is just one way you can contribute to a supportive campus climate.
I also want to provide an update on the Committee on Socially Responsible Investments and Partnerships. As promised in my June message, I worked over the summer to refine the charge and consider its membership. Paul Halverson, Dean of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, will chair the committee and we are working to finalize the membership. We have decided not to include board members at this time as they will ultimately receive recommendations from the committee, but there will be opportunities for the entire community to provide input. As war continues in the Middle East and we continue to bear witness to the suffering and loss of life, we will work through this committee to ensure that our investments and partnerships align with our university’s mission and values.
Students, I hope you will partake in welcome events on campus this week and get to know all of the opportunities for connection, learning and fun available at PSU. Hope to see you at Party in the Park and other Viking Days events. Go Viks!
Sincerely,
Ann Cudd
PSU President