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Despite financial challenges, PortlandStateUniversity is growing into a great urban research University by sticking to its values, President Wim Wiewel told students, faculty and staff at an all-campus forum.

Wiewel said in a mid-year campus update on March 16 that the University is making progress toward its strategic goals by remaining committed to excellence, educational opportunity, and service to the Portland metropolitan region.

Wiewel acknowledged the first year and a half of his presidency has been far tougher than anyone anticipated.  Economic upheaval and ongoing national and foreign policy issues may have left many students and faculty members feeling afraid and uncertain, he said.

Yet stress is nothing new at PSU, he said. In spite of a history of challenges such as floods, cramped old buildings, and insufficient funding, the University has continued to grow and educate more Oregonians.

“Amidst all this challenge and change, we are holding to our course and sticking to our goal of becoming a great urban research University that provides educational opportunities for Oregonians and is a leader in sustainable development,” Wiewel said.

The roadmap for achieving that goal is the strategic plan PSU adopted last year, he said.  The University has made progress this year in all five of its key thematic areas: providing civic leadership through partnerships, improving student success, achieving global excellence, enhancing educational opportunity, and expanding resources and improving effectiveness.

Wiewel highlighted gains in each area, including:

·        Flourishing partnerships with local government agencies and new partnerships with Portland General Electric, Intel, Boeing and PCC Structurals;

·        Implementation of the University’s First Steps to Success plan with stricter enforcement of admission standards and deadlines, mandatory orientation and advising, earlier declaration of majors and online placement tests;

·        A 15 percent increase in research funding on top of last year’s 30 percent rise;

·        A Latino/Latina Student Success task force that is identifying ways to recruit and retain more Latino students, faculty and staff; and

·        An increase in donations of 2 to 5 percent despite a harsh economic environment, including the University’s third largest gift ever, $3.9 million from alumnus Fariborz Maseeh to the Math and Statistics Department;

The University also is working on other fronts to strengthen its strategic partnership with OregonHealth & ScienceUniversity, recruit more international students, and expand efforts in the Portland area to improve education from preschool through university.

An important part of improving the student experience and student success is providing good facilities, sending a message that “our students are worthy of high quality space,” Wiewel said.

To that end, the university plans to build a new residence hall with 1,000 more beds. The renovation of Lincoln Hall is on track to be completed this summer with possible later expansion, and Science Building 2 will be finished summer 2011.

In addition, the OregonSustainabilityCenter will begin schematic design this spring, and a business plan is nearly complete for a new Life Sciences building in the South Waterfront district, in partnership with other institutions.

PSU’s new six-story student recreation center, complete with a lap pool, two-court gym, indoor running track and bouldering wall, will celebrate its grand opening April 1.

Wiewel praised the Oregon Legislature for protecting higher education as much as possible this year. However, he said, the state’s economy is not expected to improve quickly, meaning more lean years are ahead.

Given unstable state funding, University committees are looking for ways to develop a new financial model and restructure the governance to gain more flexibility.

“While we have been forced to rely more and more on other sources of funds because of the decline in state funding, we will continue to advocate strongly and as strenuously as we can for state support,” Wiewel said.

PSU isn’t the only university dealing with budget and educational pressures. At a conference of the American Council on Education last week, Wiewel said he heard concerns from university leaders across the country about decreased state funding, increased federal accountability and pressure to increase graduation rates.

“In spite of those challenges, we know we are making a difference every day,” Wiewel said.