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Portland State University Portland State University Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013 | vol. 67 no. 33
ASPSU outlines new budget
Parents explore resources OUS chancellor quits Leadership vacuum signals change Isaac Hotchkiss Vanguard Staff
Decline in revenue puts pressure on SFC allocations
know that the resource center can help, Hall said. At the center for the first time was engineering doctoral student Nametsegang Boemo-Mokhawa with his wife and their 17-month-old daughter Lesedi. Boemo-Mokhawa saw the announcement for the open house on the resource center’s Facebook page and said that he immediately recognized the importance of bringing his child to the event. “It’s good for kids to interact,” he said. “Particularly ours, because she hasn’t started school yet.” The bright colors, deep-cushioned couches and assortment of cookies inside the common area room seemed guaranteed to please a child’s eye.
On Friday, Oregon University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner gave his notice, signaling that more change is coming for Oregon’s eight public universities. No reason was given in a press release sent out by OUS on Friday. Pernsteiner will continue to serve in his role until March 1 and then will stay on “special assignment” until March 31. He was hired in September of 2005. “It has been a true honor to serve Oregon as chancellor for more than eight years,” Pernsteiner said in the release. Matt Donegan, president of the State Board of Higher Education, said now is the right time for Pernsteiner to leave because of a changing political atmosphere with new requirements and expectations from the governor. “The key is finding the right time,” Donegan said. “In my three-and-ahalf years with the board, the conversation has completely changed.” An interim chancellor has not yet been named. Donegan said the search would begin after Monday’s separation agreement meeting, when it will have 30 days to find someone for the post. “We’ve got plenty of time to name a replacement,” Donegan said.
See Parents on page 3
See chancellor on page 5
Josh Kelety Vanguard Staff
On Wednesday the Associated Students of Portland State University met to discuss the initial draft of the student government’s budget for the fiscal year 2013–14. While the budget and the student fee committee’s annual allocations for university resources have yet to be finalized, it was clear at the meeting that cuts in funding are on the way because of a decrease in revenue from student fees. “Basically, we have to tell everyone, ‘This is a very tight business. I understand you have many things that you would like to do, programs that might be interesting for students, but we might not have the money,’” SFC Chair Nick Rowe said. The SFC allocates operating funds for various student groups and clubs, from the Academic and Student Rec Center to athletics, from student publications to the Women’s Resource Center. These funds come from student fees, which the university collects from enrollment. See ASPSu on page 5
ADAM WICKHAM/VANGUARD STAFf
Student yoko sakurauchi attended a Friday open house at the resource center with her son Tyler.
New resource center welcomes students and their children Mary Breaden Vanguard staff
A young girl wearing a pink tutu and fuchsia boots pranced about a cheery room while a toddler girl in a tiny jean jacket gazed up at her with a big smile. At last week’s open house in the Resource Center for Students with Children on the fourth floor of the Smith Memorial Student Union, parents stepped back a little to gain some breathing room. The purpose of Friday’s event was to welcome student parents with children to this year’s new and still evolving resource center. Last week, the center launched its website,
pdx.edu/students-with-children, complete with information on the center’s resources that include how to find child care and financial assistance. “One of our goals this year is to get the word out and be more visible,” said Nneka Hall, who works at the center. To increase the center’s visibility, several new programs are being launched, such as support groups for parents and the Five-Star Families program, Hall said. This program allows parents who complete five activities (for example, meeting with an academic advisor, borrowing books from the lending library, attending a cultural event on campus) to attend the term’s Kids’ Night Out program for free. All of these programs are an attempt to let students with children
Ka-ching! PSU gets $1 mil for graduating students Turner Lobey Vanguard Staff
© heather quinn-bork
2012 spring graduation ceremony was held at the Portland Rose Garden Arena. PSU has earned a $1 million bonus for upping graduation rates.
Portland State has just received a $1 million merit award from the Oregon University System. Every five years, the State Board of Higher Education sets aside money from the state’s budget specifically aimed for growing its universities. The money is used to provide incentives for schools to work on developing and improving particular areas. The $6.4 million is from the Board of Higher Education’s budget over the 2011–13 biennium and will be divided between Oregon’s universities. The money was awarded based on performance in two areas: the number of degrees an institution awards to Oregonians and the number of degrees awarded to underrepresented minority and rural Oregonians.
In the past, the board had directed universities to focus on increasing enrollment rates and improving retention rates. Now, the goal is to raise the rate of students receiving degrees. There is an extra incentive for graduating more minority and rural students. In the 2011–12 degree year, PSU had 4,889 degree recipients, 818 of whom were underrepresented and/ or rural students. Out of the seven major universities and colleges in the state, PSU graduated the most students in both categories and received the most funding because of it. “We received the award based on the total number of degrees we awarded and the numbers in subgroups who are usually underrepresented,” PSU President Wim Wiewel
See awards on page 5