Annual Campus Report 2008-2009

2008-2009 OUTCOMES

The following is the summary of outcomes on key institutional metrics:

  1. OSU graduated 4,073 students with a total of 4,253 degrees. The graduating class included 3,300 baccalaureate degrees, 648 master’s degrees, 178 doctoral degrees, and 127 professional degrees in Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. Colleges awarding the largest number of degrees were Liberal Arts, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, Science, and Business. Additionally, the OSU-Cascades Campus awarded 125 baccalaureate degrees and 37 master’s degrees. Comparable figures for 2007-2008 for OSU and OSU-Cascades were 4,228 and 157 degrees, respectively.
  2. OSU was awarded $252 million in total extramural research funding, a $20 million increase over 2007-2008, and an almost $100 million increase in the last six years. The competitive grants and contracts were distributed as follows: Division of Arts and Sciences, $28.7 million; Division of Earth Systems Science, $86.6 million; Division of Health Sciences, $25.1 million; Division of Business and Engineering, $24.8 million; and Centers and Institutes that cut across multiple divisions, $21.6 million.
  3. The Office of Technology Transfer generated $2.7 million in licensing receipts for the University in 2008-2009, of which $1.5 million was distributed to OSU units and inventors. There were 50 invention disclosures and recent innovation efforts include four start-up companies during the 2008-2009 academic year. The OSU Venture Fund was implemented and about $750,000 was awarded for translational research, startups and student support.
  4. OSU’s division of Outreach and Engagement continued to provide educational and outreach programs to Oregonians through the OSU Extension Service and Extended Campus (ECampus). Over 2.3 million Oregonians were engaged at some level with the OSU Extension Service. In addition, close to 20,000 volunteers assisted with the Extension outreach programs. The Oregon 4-H Youth Development Program reached over 146,000 young people, or more than 1 in 5 youth in Oregon’s K-12 population, through a network of approximately 5,000 adult and youth volunteers. Students seeking degrees through ECampus online programs continued to grow, from 865 in 2007-2008 to 1,102 in 2008-2009. Approximately 180 students graduated via our online programs, the largest student group since the inception of ECampus.
  5. Countering trends in many nonprofit sectors, The Campaign for OSU continued to move forward with great momentum during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Despite the economic downturn, 2008-2009 was the second most successful fundraising year in University history. Donors contributed $82 million during 2008-2009, bringing the campaign total to $513 million toward the $625 million goal. Among the year’s highlights were 16 gifts of $1 million or more, and launching two new education buildings, the Linus Pauling Science Center and the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. OSU’s composite endowment stood at $327 million on June 30, 2009.
  6. Oregon State University enrolled 21,969 students in fall 2009, an increase of 8.1% over fall 2008. Increases in resident, non-resident and international enrollments from fall 2008 to fall 2009 were 5.4%, 17.7% and 13.4%, respectively. Year-to-year increase in undergraduate, graduate and first professional students was 8.4%, 7.5% and 4%, respectively. Consistent with enrollment increase, total student FTE increased by 7.9% and student credit hours by 8% from fall 2008 to fall 2009. Enrollment at OSU-Cascades in fall 2009 is 611, an increase of 19.8% over the previous year.
  7. Accreditation was reaffirmed by the respective professional accreditation agencies for the following programs: PharmD by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, and all teacher education programs at the main campus and OSU-Cascades by Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the state agency responsible for teacher education, and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The NCAA Athletics Certification review of OSU’s athletics programs started with a detailed Self Study in spring 2009. A decision regarding certification status is expected in spring 2010.
  8. Performance of OSU students continued to be excellent in professional certification exams:
    • Engineering—96% on Fundamentals of Engineering exam (national average 80%)
    • Exercise Science—67% on national athletic training association exam (national average 52%)
    • Nutrition—87% on American Dietetics Association exam (national average 80%)
    • Pharmacy—five-year pass rate of 99%, placing us in the top 10% in the country
    • Veterinary Medicine—94% on North American Veterinary Licensure exams (national average 93%)
    • Accounting—36% on Unified Certified Public Accounting exam (national average 30%)

    Pre-medical students from OSU had another exceptional year, with an over 70% acceptance rate, with very high acceptance rate to OHSU, and to schools across the country, including Cornell, UCLA, USC, Emory, Pittsburgh, University of Washington, Ohio State and Boston University.

The university and college metrics are posted at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/strategic-plan/.

REVIEW OF THE 2008-2009 AGENDA

In my 2007-2008 campus report, I shared the year’s agenda that included specific activities focused on an update of the University’s Strategic Plan, launch of the INTO OSU initiative, completion of the integrated marketing communications plan, and NCAA review. In addition, I had outlined a number of continuing activities, including continuing redirection of base budget funds to Liberal Arts, Science, Business, and Health and Human Sciences; continuing implementation of the faculty salary compensation package; renovating university classroom and research facilities; implementing targeted activities for improving student engagement and success; continuing with the business re-engineering process; better aligning the community and diversity agenda across the University; ensuring continued success in the capital campaign; completing strategic plans for the OSU-Cascades Campus and the Division of Outreach and Engagement; and continuing development of OSU’s role in the Portland Initiative of the State Board of Higher Education and other state-level signature programs. The activities outlined in the 2007-2008 agenda are discussed below, organized around the three over-arching goals of the Strategic Plan.

Goal 1: Outstanding Academic Programs

As noted earlier, OSU had another exceptional year in total extramural research funding, with new grants and contracts totaling $252 million. Six federal agencies supported OSU research in 2008-2009 at levels of $10 million or more, led by the National Science Foundation with cumulative awards totaling nearly $39 million. Other top agencies included the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Commerce and Energy and Health and Human Services.

Oregon research efforts attracted important national centers to Oregon in 2008-2009, including:

  • Superfund Basic research Program, a $12.4 million grant funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, to study health risks from air pollution coming from Asia.
  • Center for Inverse Design, a $3 million grant funded by the Department of Energy, to identify advanced materials to make solar power less costly.
  • Institute for Computational Sustainability, a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Cornell University and PNNL, to focus on computational methods for balancing environmental, economic and societal needs for a sustainable future.
  • Ocean Observatories Initiative, in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, to develop a network of real-time observing networks that will be connected to the internet, thereby allowing worldwide access. OSU’s portion of this NSF-funded project is approximately $14 million.
  • Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a $6.2 million dollar grant funded by the Department of Energy, to test wave energy technology on the Oregon Coast. This is one of two national marine renewable energy centers in the country.

OSU continues to draw the best and brightest students from Oregon high schools to its degree programs. The proportion of high school graduates who achieved a GPA of 3.75 or higher and enrolled at OSU in fall 2008 was 34%. Thirty-eight percent of Oregon’s high schools sent at least one student ranked first in his or her graduating class to OSU. The enrollment rates for students of color continued its steady increase to 15.8% in fall 2008, and to 16.1% in fall 2009.

The University Honors College (UHC) conferred 105 Honors Baccalaureate degrees to 89 students from eight academic colleges. During fall 2008, there were 535 students enrolled in the UHC, including 183 new students. Nearly 90% of high school students offered admission to the UHC graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. The average high school GPA and average SAT of incoming students was 3.96 and 1981, respectively, compared to 3.47 and 1572 for general cohort of first-year students entering the university. The first-year retention rates and six-year graduation rates for the UHC students are 91% and 84%, compared to 81% and 62% for the overall student population.

Funding totaling $1.8 million was provided for the six strategic initiatives for the final year of the five year commitment. The six strategic initiatives are computational and genome biology, ecosystem informatics, healthy aging, rural studies, subsurface biosphere, and water and watersheds. The most important outcomes of the University’s investment was the increase in faculty capacity in the six interdisciplinary areas represented by the initiatives, innovation in curriculum and outreach programs, and leveraging of resources through partnerships and external grant funding. The 2008-2009 reports for the six initiatives are posted at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/strategic-plan/strategic-initiatives.

The work to enhance the research infrastructure continued with increased enhancements to mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and laboratory animal facilities. Renovations to Kearney Hall were completed to support increased teaching and research needs in engineering. The University launched two new educational facilities, the Linus Paul Science Center and the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families.

The first OUS inter-institutional core facility partnership, the Oregon Proteomics Consortium, was established, and OSU continued its active participation in OUS signature areas and life sciences and sustainability infrastructure projects.

The success of OSU’s teaching, research and outreach programs is made possible by the excellent work of its faculty members, many of whom were recognized nationally and internationally during the academic year. The recognitions are listed in college reports posted at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/provost/annual-report, and are exemplified by Professor Jane Lubchenco’s appointment as the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of NOAA.

The OSU Strategic Plan—Phase II, completed in spring 2009, reaffirmed OSU’s vision to be a Top 10 land-grant university. Building on the work of the past five years, the Plan identified three signature areas of distinction: Advancing the science of sustainable earth ecosystems, improving human health and wellness, and promoting economic growth and social progress. The intent of the signature areas is to further interdisciplinary collaborations, position OSU more competitively in attracting extramural grants and private development resources, create the greatest possible opportunity to have a positive impact on Oregon’s economic and social growth, and provide a stronger assertion of institutional identity nationally and internationally.

Goal 2: Teaching and Learning Environment

The budget rebasing process was continued to support the core teaching mission of the University, with an additional allocation of $1.25 million to the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science, Business, and Health and Human Sciences, bringing the total to $5 million of the committed $7.5 million.

OSU signed the formal business agreement with INTO University Partnerships in October 2008, and the first intake of undergraduate pathway students occurred in September 2009. The graduate pathway program in Business is scheduled to start in January 2010 with students from undergraduate and graduate pathway programs transitioning to full-time degree programs in fall 2010.

The first ever campus-wide undergraduate research symposium with some 75 student presenters was held in April 2009. Over 460 students participated in study abroad programs, with first students to Ghana, Poland and Belgium. We also developed study abroad programs with new partner universities in Scandinavia, Taiwan, Morocco and Germany. Eleven students graduated with an International Degree (ID), structured as a double degree with a primary academic degree, and 24 new students are enrolled in the ID.

Improving student success remains a critical goal in the Strategic Plan—Phase II. Under the Office of Academic Engagement and Success, the focus on improving student retention and success has been narrowed to the following activities: (1) improve access and success in key foundational courses, (2) deliver cost-effective summer bridge experience to increase college readiness, (3) expand opportunities for first-year engagement through a small course experience for new students, and (4) support students with difficulty through an integrated early warning system and by addressing increasingly complex student mental health needs. Efforts in 2008-2009 centered on the first two activities, including eliminating the backlog in foundational courses and hosting the first summer bridge program, the Summer Scholars program, for non-athlete students in summer 2009. Work to improve first-year student engagement continued in many academic units. A Faculty Senate Task Force continued its efforts to revise the Baccalaureate core, with the work expected to be completed during the 2009-1010 academic year.

The Bridge to Success Program provided financial support to over 3,100 students, with 1,500 students also receiving support for books and supplies. Over 350 new scholarship and fellowship funds have been created at OSU since the start of the capital campaign, including an additional $15 million raised in 2008-2009 in scholarships and fellowships, bringing the campaign total for this area to $82 million toward the goal of $100 million.

Along with research infrastructure, deferred maintenance resources were used to continue the classroom renovation program, with several large classrooms in Weniger Hall renovated over the year.

In partnership with academic units, the OSU Extended Campus developed 130 new online courses and delivered 62,500 student credit hours. Approximately 70% of ECampus students are women and many use extended education to balance family and career commitments.

The Division of Outreach and Engagement developed the Oregon Open Campus concept and started two pilot implementations in Crook and Tillamook counties. In partnership with the Association of Oregon Counties, community colleges, K-12 school districts, and local businesses, the initiative is designed to address local learning and workforce needs.

The OSU-Cascades Campus completed the update of its Strategic Plan. The campus’ two key priorities over the next two years are to grow enrollment by at least 10% annually and add new degree programs, including a Business option in Hospitality, Energy Engineering Management, and a double degree in Sustainability.

Goal 3: Resources

The University ended the fiscal year with an Education and General (E&G) fund balance of $24 million, 8.2% of the initial E&G budget. Corresponding numbers for the Statewide Public Services (SWPS) were $4 million and 4.7%.

A 6% faculty compensation package was implemented in January 2009 to continue to continue to bring faculty salaries to competitive levels. This follows a 4% increase in the first year of the biennium.

As noted earlier, an additional $1.25 million was provided to the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science, Business, and Health and Human Sciences, as part of rebasing their budgets, and $1.8 million was provided in support of the six initiatives.

During year two of the 3-year process to re-engineer its business services, the University started implementation of three additional business centers for Colleges of Business and Engineering; Colleges of Education, Liberal Arts and Science, and the University Honors College; and first of two business centers to serve administrative and support units. The first business center involving the Colleges of Health and Human Sciences, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine became operational in August 2008.

As noted earlier, $82 million raised in the 2009 fiscal year was the second best fundraising total in OSU’s history. Corporate and foundation giving accounted for 37% of the 2008-2009 giving and planned giving for an additional 34%. A total of $513 million has now been raised toward the campaign goal of $625 million. This includes 91 gifts of over a $1 million; one of every five OSU alumni making a gift to the campaign, and an 11% increase in gifts from OSU faculty and staff in annual giving.

The OSU Extension Service expanded local funding security through new tax service districts in Clackamas, Douglas and Linn counties. The major challenge during the 2009-2011 biennium is to address revenue shortfall in State support for higher education. For 2009-2010, this translates to a $5.4 million reduction in the Education and General Fund and a $5.9 million reduction in the Statewide Public Support Program budget. President Ed Ray commissioned an Advisory Council on Budgets and Strategic Priorities in winter 2009 to recommend areas where costs can be reduced while best positioning the University for the future. Based on the Council’s recommendations and subsequent campus-wide discussions, the President approved a number of guidelines to create a much-needed framework to make cost reduction decisions. The cost reduction activities will be a critical part of the University’s agenda for the next 18 months.

Other Major Activities

A number of key leadership positions were filled during the 2008-2009 academic year: Larry Rodgers as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Sonny Ramaswamy as Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Becky Johnson as Vice President for OSU-Cascades Campus, Becky Warner as Vice Provost for Academic Programs and International programs; Steve Brandt as Director of Oregon Sea Grant Program, and Phil Mote as Director of Oregon Climate Change Research Institute.

Through work with Lipmann Hearne, the University completed development of an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plan. Implementation of the IMC will be a focus during the current biennium. The division of University Advancement initiated Powered by Orange campaign to increase visibility in the Portland market and enhance community with OSU alumni.

The University Budget Committee, University Space Committee and the University IT Committee worked on developing policy guidelines to address a number of important issues. The reports from these committees are posted at http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/provost/university-committee.

Summary of 2008-2009 Outcomes

As you will note from the preceding description of activities and initiatives, the OSU community continues to do remarkably well, leveraging limited state resources to the fullest. And this report does not include much of the work done in academic and support units! The University’s success in providing education to 22,000 students, its growing research enterprise, its creative and scholarship work, its engagement and outreach activities, and its private fundraising success is only made possible by the dedication, commitment, and hard work of its faculty and staff, unit and college/division administrators, the University’s collaborative culture, and its successful partnerships with the OSU Foundation and the Alumni Association and our alumni and supporters.

The economic environment in the State and the nation has created a difficult fiscal situation for higher education in Oregon and for OSU. The University has started the process of streamlining its support operations, reducing its administrative functions and focusing its academic programs to deal with budget reductions, while ensuring as best as possible to minimize impact on students and enable the creative work of its faculty. Providing this balance in the current environment will be the focus of the 2009-2010 agenda, as outlined below.

2009-2010 AGENDA

In describing our 2008-2009 activities and outcomes, I have outlined continued or additional work in many areas. This includes: continued redirection of base budget funds to Liberal Arts, Science, Business, and Health and Human Sciences; completing the business re-engineering process; implementing targeted activities for improving student engagement and success; continued efforts to increase non-resident enrollments, including ensuring success of the INTO OSU initiative; better aligning the community and diversity agenda across the University; renovating university classroom and research facilities; implementing the integrated marketing plan; and ensuring continued success in the capital campaign.

The greatest challenge in 2009-2010 will be to create a more focused, a more flattened, and a more strategic University that is fiscally sustainable and positioned for future opportunities and growth. The budget balancing plan will encompass the entire University operations, including the Statewide Public Service (SWPS) programs. The approach will include short-term, transitional strategies, including streamlining administrative services, reducing redundancies in systems and processes, and reducing scope of courses, and longer-term transformational changes, including changes in degree programs, structural changes to academic units and administration, and reconfiguring appropriate services and programs in the SWPS programs.

Finally, preparation will start for University accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities in spring 2011, with the goal of completing the Self-Study by the end of 2010 calendar year.