PSU President Wim Wiewel highlighted his goals to expand the university’s research funding and boost revenues during his Convocation address Wednesday.
Wiewel acknowledged the progress faculty members have made to increase PSU’s externally funded research to $63 million and encouraged them to achieve more.
“We need to hit the $100 million mark and beyond to have the scale and visibility nationally,” he said. “That may mean strengthening faculty in places where we can secure more research funding.”
Wiewel said PSU needs to diversify and expand its revenue base to supplement funding from the state Legislature and mitigate an uncertain outcome from Measure 97, the November ballot initiative that would increase taxes for Oregon’s largest corporations by more than $3 billion a year.
“Portland State must attract nonresident students, continue to press for local revenue through the new College Affordability and Success Coalition partnership with local businesses and increase philanthropy through our $300 million fundraising campaign,” the president said.
The university also needs to continue improving its student retention and graduation rates, said Wiewel, who plans to help implement PSU’s 5-year strategic plan, which addresses all of these goals.
He also highlighted achievements PSU has made.
- U.S. News & World Report has ranked PSU among the top 10 “most innovative” national universities in its Best Colleges 2017 rankings;
- More alumni are working at some of the largest organizations in the Portland area including Intel, Nike, Oregon Health and Science University, City of Portland and Columbia Sportswear;
- Ten new buildings on campus are either completed, under construction or in the late planning stages;
- New partnerships with OHSU to launch the School of Public Health and remodel the Slott Center to include a Sports Medicine Center.
“Our innovative spirit helped us develop into a major institution in Portland and become an essential part of the region’s economy,” Wiewel said.
Sona Andrews, PSU provost and vice president for academic affairs, welcomed new employees to campus, including 70 faculty members. She said 37 faculty were promoted to associate professor with indefinite tenure; five faculty were awarded tenure only; and 67 faculty were promoted to other ranks, including 15 to emeritus.
Meanwhile, eight PSU faculty and staff were honored for their commitment to excellence. The award winners include:
- Daniel Ballhorn, assistant professor of biology at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, received the Junior Faculty Research Excellence Award for his research on the complex interactions between microbes, plants and animals.
- Andrew Fountain, professor of geology at CLAS, received the Senior Faculty Research Excellence Award for his work on understanding the processes controlling the formation and evolution of glaciers with respect to climate change.
- Meg Merrick, professor emeritus, received the Research Faculty Excellence Award for her work on the practice of community geographical information system and blending GIS with other techniques such as PhotoVoice.
- Natan Meir, associate professor of Judiac Studies and chair of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program at CLAS, received the PSU Foundation Philanthropic Cultivation Award for his efforts to secure major gifts to PSU, including gifts from the Schlesinger Family Foundation, Oregon Jewish Community Foundation and many other individual donors.
- Robert Liebman, professor of sociology at CLAS, received the PSU Foundation Philanthropic Leadership Award for being the key faculty lead in the creation of the Judiac Studies program and instrumental on helping it secure philanthropy.
- Dundar Kocaoglu, founding chair and professor of engineering and technology and engineering and computer science at the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, received the George C. Hoffman Award for Faculty Excellence. Kocaoglu was recognized for his 27 years of distinguished service at PSU, including being a pioneer of multiple criteria decision models using hierarchies and creating the Hierarchical Decision Model used to analyze strategic decisions.
- Emily Ford, assistant professor and Urban and Public Affairs librarian, received the Kenneth W. and Elsie W Butler Award for Library Faculty Service, for her efforts to integrate library instruction into both undergraduate and graduate coursework and work with faculty to bring high-quality materials into the library’s collection.
- Becky Sanchez, director of the School of Business Administration’s Undergraduate Programs Office for business administration, received the Mary H. Cumpston Award for Service to Students for her efforts to launch four new mentorship programs focused on increasing student retention, redesign the tuition remission allocation process and help students struggling to make ends meet with completing their degrees.