2013-14 Annual Campus Report

2013-14 OUTCOMES

The following summarizes outcomes on key institutional metrics:

 

Student Access and Success

  • Oregon State University (OSU) graduated 5,586 students with a total of 5,891 degrees in 2013-14, compared to 5,256 degrees awarded to 5,001 students in 2012-13. The graduating class included 4,702 baccalaureate degrees (versus 4,157 in 2012-13), 848 master’s degrees (versus 746), 196 doctoral degrees (versus 213), and 145 professional degrees (versus 140) in Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. Four hundred and thirty six distance education students received their diplomas through Extended Campus, compared to 332 degrees awarded the previous year. The OSU-Cascades Campus awarded 199 baccalaureate degrees and 63 master’s degrees; comparable figures for 2012-13 were 156 and 54 degrees, respectively.

 

  • The 2014 first-year retention rate remained relatively flat, dropping slightly from 84.2 percent to 83.8 percent. The 6-year graduation rate reached an all-time high of 63.1 percent, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year.

 

  • Performance of OSU students continued to be excellent in professional certification exams:
    • Engineering—99 percent passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (national average 82 percent)
    • Exercise Science—92 percent passed the national athletic training association exam (national average 77 percent)
    • Nutrition—100 percent passed the American Dietetic Association exam (national average 82 percent)
    • Pharmacy— 98 percent first time pass rate on the North American Pharmacist Licensing Examination (national average 95 percent)
    • Veterinary Medicine—100 percent passed the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (national average 95 percent)
    • Accounting— 70 percent pass rate, national average is 60 percent. OSU has the second highest rate in Oregon, and the state of Oregon has the third highest rate in the nation.
    • The acceptance rate for pre-medical students from OSU was over 75 percent, as compared to the national average of 40 percent, with students accepted to a variety of prestigious medical schools.

 

  • OSU enrolled 28,886 students in Fall 2014 on its main campus, an increase of 3.4 percent over Fall 2013. The year-to-year increases in undergraduate and graduate student enrollments were 3.2 and 5.5 percent, respectively. Increases in enrollment from Fall 2013 to Fall 2014 in some other categories include:
    • Resident students – 0.3 percent; nonresident – 8.9 percent
    • U.S. minorities – 9.6 percent
    • International – 12 percent.

 

  • Consistent with enrollment increases, total student FTE increased by 1.5 percent from Fall 2013 to Fall 2014. Enrollment at OSU-Cascades for Fall 2014 was 980, an increase of 4.7 percent over Fall 2013. OSU is now the largest public university in Oregon by headcount and FTE.

 

  • A total of 15,470 students took classes online via Extended Campus during 2013-14, a 14 percent increase from the previous year, and student credit hours increased by 16 percent to 156,927. Summer Session enrollment increased slightly from 2012 to 7,308 students.

 

  • Of the entering Oregon freshmen, 44.1 percent were “high-achievers,” entering with a GPA of 3.75 or higher. This figure compares to 40.3 percent last year. Based on an audit by The Oregonian, 75 of the Portland area high school valedictorians were selected to attend OSU, compared to 58 the previous Fall term. Comparable Fall 2014 numbers for the University of Oregon and Washington, the next two schools attracting the most students in the survey, were 31 and 23, respectively.

 

Research

  • OSU research totaled more than $285 million, compared to $263 million in 2012-13. Most of the revenue growth was due to an 11 percent growth in federal awards, from $154 to $171 million.

 

  • Private sector funding was over $37 million, a 50 percent increase since 2009-2010.

 

  • Technology licensing revenue was $5.94 million compared $7.8 million for last year and though it was down this past year, we see a longer term growth trend with a 120 percent increase since 2009-2010. OSU signed 88 new licenses/option agreements with companies.

 

  • The OSU Advantage Accelerator helped 19 university and community clients advance concepts toward company launch during 2013-14.

 

Outreach and Engagement

  • More than two million Oregonians participated in Extension programs or contacted Extension for information, and more than 110,000 school-aged children engaged in 4-H activities statewide. Program areas receiving emphasis included healthy living, civic engagement and science. Over 14,000 volunteers contributed service to the state. This collaboration with volunteers resulted in a significant public good, a contribution of over 1 million hours of service, the equivalent of about 567 FTE.

 

  • OSU Extension Service provided access to approximately 1,000 research and extension publications to help Oregonians live better and work more effectively. More than 36,000 printed publications were distributed, and over 600,000 publications were downloaded. More than 3,000 questions were answered through a web-based innovative “Ask an Expert” virtual Extension Office.

 

  • With leadership from engaged citizens, Jackson County was the 22nd county to approve a tax service district to support the OSU Extension Service.  The Lane County Extension office re-opened following closure associated with county budget shortfalls. New degree articulation arrangements with Klamath and Tillamook Bay Community Colleges support the state’s 40-40-20 agenda.

 

  • The OSU Open Campus (OOC) expanded its partners to include five of Oregon’s community colleges (Tillamook Bay, Central Oregon, Columbia Gorge, Southwestern Oregon and Klamath). The OOC now has a presence in seven communities: Tillamook, Coos, Curry, Klamath, Crook, Jefferson and Hood River/Wasco. In its fifth year, OOC reached 2,741 learners through courses, presentations, seminars and trainings. An example of this initiative reaching out to communities is the Juntos program. Juntos (“Together”) is designed to empower families to understand educational systems, explore collegiate opportunities, and develop leadership skills through culturally relevant curriculum and coordination. So far in 2014, Juntos has reached over 240 learners in Oregon.

 

  • The Mid-Valley Mid-Coast Partnership, led by President Ray, and including education and community partners from Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Philomath and Lincoln County continued to work on providing teacher training and professional development in math education at all levels.

 

Capital Campaign

  • In January, donors propelled OSU past its $1 billion campaign goal, a full 11 months ahead of schedule. The campaign runs through December 2014, with $1.1 billion raised as of November 30, 2014, from more than 106,000 donors.

 

  • For the fourth consecutive year, gifts to OSU passed the $100 million milestone with annual totals topping $108.4 million in FY 2014.

 

Academic and Administrative Annual Reports

2013-14 annual reports for the academic colleges and administrative support units showcase an incredible number of achievements. I invite you to review these reports at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/provost/annual-report.

 

Strategic Plan Performance Metrics

2013-14 performance metrics are available at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/strategicplan/phase2.

 

2013-14 IN REVIEW

With the adoption of HB 3120 and SB 270, the new OSU Board of Trustees became effective July 1, 2014. The Board has adopted bylaws and approved the University’s mission statement, the tuition rates and fees and operating budget for FY15, and OSU’s legislative funding requests for operating budget and planned capital projects for the FY15-17 biennium to the Higher Education Coordination Commission.

 

With the creation of institutional boards for three of the seven public universities, the need to assure the continued availability of shared services arose as a major concern. A framework developed by the Presidents’ Council formed the basis to continue to provide shared services. OSU is hosting the University Shared Services Enterprise which provides most shared services to the other six universities (the University of Oregon is hosting pension fund services for all seven universities).

 

The OSU Strategic Plan update was completed in spring 2014. Strategic Plan (SP) 3.0 reaffirms the University’s commitment to excellence and expands on prior strategic goals to:

  1. Provide a transformative educational experience for all learners;
  2. Demonstrate leadership in research, scholarship and creativity while enhancing preeminence in the three signature areas of distinction; and
  3. Strengthen OSU’s reach and impact throughout Oregon and beyond.

 

SP 3.0 calls for an amplified focus on increasing and equalizing student retention and graduation rates, developing a more diverse and inclusive community, advancing internationalization, increasing translational research, and increasing our reach and impact across the state through statewide programs, the four-year OSU-Cascades campus, the Marine Studies initiative, and partnerships with the K-12 system, community colleges, and other four-year public and private institutions.

 

The creation of SP 3.0 and the completion of the Campaign for OSU mark the beginning of a new focus on strategic fundraising initiatives aimed at sustaining the University’s momentum in private philanthropy. Since the completion of SP 3.0, significant attention has been given to work with campus leaders to identify these new fundraising priorities and develop the case for support. Like the Campaign’s initiatives, these priorities are directly tied to OSU’s Strategic Plan. Alignment between the University’s mission, fundraising priorities, and demonstrated major gift potential has been a key legacy of The Campaign for OSU.

 

The fiscal state of the University continues to be strong. OSU exceeded its enrollment targets in all categories, and graduation targets. The growth of on-campus students in Corvallis was modest, with most of the growth attributed to growth in Extended Campus students. The University started to phase out the plateau for undergraduate tuition, a process that will be completed within the next two years. The Office of Enrollment Management and the Budget Office continue to closely monitor and address the impact of phasing out the plateau on student enrollment and financial needs.

 

The Campaign for OSU exceeded its $1 billion goal, almost 11 months ahead of schedule. The current total of almost $1.1 billion includes more than $180 million for student scholarships and fellowships, $106 million for faculty positions, and $260 million for the construction, renovation, or acquisition of 28 facilities. On October 31, during Homecoming Weekend, the OSU community celebrated the success of the Campaign. Among the events was a gathering of more than 800 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and other supporters for an interactive showcase highlighting how the campaign has forever changed our university and positioned us for even greater achievements in the years to come.

 

OSU faculty are to be commended for securing increased federal funding (an 11 percent increase over the previous fiscal year) from more than a dozen federal agencies at a time when federal agencies’ budgets are relatively stagnant with increasing competition for those resources. At any given time, OSU researchers are conducting more than 1,400 active projects on topics such as aging, robotics, materials, pharmaceuticals, computer software, climate, education, salmon recovery and health risks from pollutants. OSU faculty are developing new crop varieties, investigating the use of unmanned aerial systems in agriculture and forest management, improving the understanding of ocean systems and studying new materials for energy storage.

 

Through the Oregon State University Advantage Accelerator, OSU continues to spin off new companies and to partner with existing ones. During 2013-14, 19 university and community clients have advanced toward launching new companies, including:

  • Beet, developer of a thin-film solar cell that aims to increase energy efficiency and accelerate the adoption of solar electricity;
  • MuTherm, which is advancing a microscale combustion and heat exchanger system for heating air, water and other fluids;
  • Waste2Watergy, a company focused on microbial fuel cells to generate electricity and treat wastewater; and
  • OnBoard Dynamics, whose goal is to commercialize an at-home natural-gas vehicle fueling system being developed at OSU-Cascades campus.

 

The University implemented a six percent salary increase package for unclassified faculty (including professional faculty, instructors, and FRAs) – a three percent cost-of-living salary increase in January 2014 and a three percent merit increase in July 2014. This follows an almost $5 million investment the previous year to address salary compression issues for tenured/tenure track faculty.

 

The University continues to enhance programs for leadership development and work/life balance. The Leadership Academy in the Division of Academic Affairs is designed to foster the next generation of academic leaders at OSU and further the development of current department and school heads and chairs. The Office of Work/Life has been created within the Division of Academic Affairs to provide assistance and support to new hires and candidates to make OSU an employer of choice and a supporter of full and balanced lives. OSU received the Seal of Distinction from the WorldatWork Alliance for Work/Life Progress in 2014.

 

OSU is committed to address the needs of all its employees. A recent Faculty Senate task force asked the university administration to give closer attention to issues of salary, promotional opportunities, and job security for fixed-term faculty. A multi-year strategy will address these concerns. The Professional Faculty Categorization and Compensation Framework developed appropriate ranges of salaries for professional faculty and after national benchmarking, the salaries were adjusted to be in the appropriate range. Salaries for instructors have recently been adjusted to ensure that they meet recently established minimum salary levels. A separate analysis has led to similar salary adjustments for ESL instructors in the INTO OSU Center. Additional work is in progress to develop plans for establishing career ladders for professional faculty and to provide more streamlined paths for promotion of instructors and faculty research assistants.

 

The faculty and the university community continue to be engaged in campus-wide efforts to improve student retention and success. With appropriate exceptions, freshmen are required to live in an on-campus residence for their first year of study. OSU launched implementation of a residential curriculum to educate new students on topics important to their engagement and success, such as stress management, mental health, alcohol use, personal safety, and community living. OSU Housing and Dining Services hired a new assistant director of Living Learning Communities to provide support and leadership to the 10 living learning and/or thematic housing programs currently underway at OSU. Staff has been hired in the University’s four cultural centers to provide mentoring and advising to students, lead community-building programs within the cultural centers, and collaborate with campus colleagues to support student success.

 

Over the past couple of years, there has been a specific focus on the first-year curriculum. All first-year students are required to complete foundational academic skills courses in writing, mathematics and speech during their first year so that they have the academic competencies to be successful as they advance in their academic programs. Several departments and colleges offer first-year experience courses linked to major areas of study that introduce students to study in a particular academic field as well as campus engagement and career opportunities. Many large-enrollment, gateway courses have enacted research-based curricular reforms to improve student engagement and success rates. Examples include a college algebra course that has replaced passive listening in lectures with more time solving math problems under instructor guidance; an introductory psychology course that has implemented new online modules and self-quizzes to reinforce classroom learning; and general chemistry courses that utilize interacting learning techniques to check student understanding in real time using laptops, tablets or clickers. The University has expanded Supplemental Instruction group tutoring sessions and individual academic coaching appointments to serve more key freshmen classes, such as mathematics and physics, and more students overall. Intrusive advising has been introduced for students with a GPA below 2.0.

 

The Leadership Council for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity has provided valuable advice and input to the administration regarding strategies for enhancing and equalizing student success and recruiting faculty from diverse backgrounds. Input from the Council led to structuring the new Provost’s Hiring Initiative designed to recruit up to 40 new faculty through the lens of diversity and student success. The Council’s input, along with recommendation from a previous faculty-based task group, has led to the creation of the Office of the Vice Provost/Dean for Undergraduate Studies. The new office will be staffed during the 2014-15 academic year. The Council also led the design and implementation of a campus climate survey in spring 2014.

 

Continuing to be intentional in introducing new degree programs, two new degree programs were approved in 2013-14 for implementation: a BA/BS in Religious Studies and MS/MEng/PhD in Robotics. These were the first programs approved under the new process that now requires approval from OSU’s Board of Trustees, statewide Provosts Council, and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. Additionally, two new graduate certificates were initiated in Urban Forestry and Wildlife Management, and two existing degrees were renamed to make them consistent with the curriculum focus and marketing needs: BS in General Science to BS in Biohealth Sciences, and MS/PhD in Pharmacy to MS/PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences. All new programs/certificates were approved by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

 

Regarding administrative leadership, Larry Roper decided to return to the faculty after serving as the Vice Provost for Student Affairs since 1995. Susie Brubaker-Cole was appointed to the Vice Provost position after a national search and after successfully serving as the OSU’s Associate Provost for Academic Success and Engagement for the past five years. Other newly hired leaders include Scott Ashford as the Dean of Engineering, Kathy Bickel as the Executive Director of the Alumni Association/Vice President for Alumni Relations, and Clay Simmons as the Chief Compliance Officer.

 

Austin Hall, the new home for the College of Business, and a new residence hall named after the first African American male graduate of OSU, William Tebeau, opened in fall 2014. OSU partners with OHSU and PSU in the new Collaborative Sciences Building, which opened in Portland in summer 2014. The new Cesar Chavez Cultural Center opened in spring 2014, following the Native American Cultural Center, Eena Haws, which opened in fall 2013. The remaining two cultural centers, the Asian & Pacific Cultural Center and the Lonnie B. Harris Cultural Center, are under construction and will open during the 2014-15 academic year. A number of other construction projects, including the new classroom building and Student Experience Center are also expected to be completed during the 2014-15 academic year.

 

The Collaboration Corvallis project with the City of Corvallis resulted in increased policing for the near campus area, stiffer enforcement of the disturbance laws, increased staffing for the student conduct committee on campus to expedite hearings, the implementation of numerous strategies by OSU to improve livability in nearby Corvallis neighborhoods, university support for expanded community transit, expanded attention on reduced alcohol consumption among students, and the creation of differential pricing for parking and enhanced shuttle service on campus. The University will continue to work with City of Corvallis leaders to renew an intergovernmental agreement committing to launch a second phase of Collaboration Corvallis with a new set of agreed upon outcomes.

 

OSU-Cascades has acquired just over 10 acres to start construction of a new academic building and a living/learning center. The start of construction has been delayed by land-use regulations process that is expected to be completed over the next several months. In the meantime, the campus leadership has been working with Central Oregon Community College on interim arrangements for 2014-15 as OSU-Cascades enrolls its first four-year class.

 

President Ray joined presidents and chancellors of 10 other major public universities to establish the University Innovation Alliance to share best practices and try to scale them up and across universities to increase student success, particularly for students who are historically or geographically underrepresented or come from economically disadvantaged families.

 

2014-15 AGENDA

The University will continue to work with OSU Board of Trustees and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to advance our priorities. An important focus in the next few months will be work with these two leadership groups, the Governor’s Office and the Legislature to secure a more favorable budget for higher education and address OSU’s budget needs in targeted areas, including the Statewide Public Service Programs (Agricultural Experiment Station, Forestry Research Laboratory, and OSU Extension Service) and ETIC funding for engineering and computer science.

 

In addition to several ongoing activities for advancing education, research, and engagement and outreach, specific goals for 2014-15 include:

 

  • Strategies for student success: Establish the Office of Vice Provost/Dean of Undergraduate Studies to provide university-wide coordination for programs and initiatives for increasing and equalizing student retention and success. Continue to assess and enhance initiatives related to the live-on campus requirement, advising, and course access and student placement. Increase the number of OSU students engaged in high impact experiential activities. Ensure successful transition of the learning environment from Blackboard to Unizin/Canvas.

 

  • Faculty Hiring and Compensation: Successfully complete the 2014 Provost’s Hiring Initiative. Develop plans for unclassified faculty salary increases for the next two years. Address salary equity and promotion issues for fixed-term ranked faculty.

 

  • Budgets and Infrastructure: Complete an assessment of a hybrid-RCM (resource centered model) for Education and General Fund (E&G) budget allocation with principle goals to align incentives with strategic goals and to clarify responsibilities for cost increases and investments. Meet enrollment goals. Ensure timely completion of various construction projects, including the new classroom building, Student Experience Center, Asian & Pacific Cultural Center, and Lonnie B. Harris Cultural Center. Continue work on the land-use approval process and subsequent construction of education and residential facilities for OSU-Cascades.

 

  • Fundraising: Complete the process for establishing post-campaign fundraising priorities. Ensure that the challenge goals for the Marine Studies Initiative are met.

 

  • Administrative Management: Complete successful hiring of several important leadership positions, including the Vice President for Research, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Vice Provost for International Programs, Vice Provost/Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Vice Provost/Dean of Student Life, Board Secretary and the General Counsel.


  • In collaboration with the Faculty Senate, draft a white paper for discussion at the Fall 2015 OSU Board of Trustees retreat, which develops a business plan to accompany SP 3.0 and which sustains and enhances OSU’s success for the next few years.