The Beaver Caucus

Homecoming Brunch A Success

by

We had a record turnout on Saturday for the Third Annual Beaver Caucus-ASOSU Homecoming Brunch! It was a great event that included students, alumni, faculty, past and present ASOSU officers and Beaver Caucus members. The audience heard remarks from President Ray, ASOSU President Justin Bennett and Vice President Aiden Tariku, Dean of Students Kevin Dougherty and OSUAA Executive Director and Beaver Caucus board member John Valva. It was a great way to kick off Homecoming weekend!

Thanks for spending your Homecoming Saturday with us. We look forward to working with you during the 2019 Oregon legislative session to advocate for issues that are critical to OSU.

Go Beavs!

Investment in Oregon Higher Education

by

During the 2019 Oregon legislative session, the Beaver Caucus will work hard to continue and increase state investments in higher education. Together with Oregon’s other public universities, we will support a strong future for all students, staff, faculty and our state’s economy. All seven public universities will work collectively to make higher education a priority for the legislature.

The seven public universities have sought at least a $120 million increase in operating funds from $737 million, for a total investment of $857 million. This request would ensure that tuition increases would stay below 5% per year each for the next two years. Last August, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) recommended a $186 million increase in operating funds for a total of $923 million. This request is a significant improvement and would enable meaningful investments in student success and access while keeping tuition affordable.

Oregon is better off when we invest in our students. In 2019, the Beaver Caucus is committed to building on the progress made in public support for higher education.

Expansion of OSU-Cascades – Development of Student Success Center

by

During the 2018 Legislative Session, the Oregon State Legislature approved $39 million in bonding needed to construct a second academic building on the OSU-Cascades campus. During the 2017 session the Legislature approved $9.5 million in state bonding to support site preparation of undeveloped campus property where the new academic building will be constructed.

OSU-Cascades continues to face enrollment growth and will need to continue expand its facilities to ensure that it meets the academic, counseling and extracurricular needs of students in the Central Oregon region. This will require new investment in facilities and infrastructure.

In 2019, the Beaver Caucus will be asking the legislature to support $12 million in bonds, matched by $5 million in student fees, for the construction of the OSU-Cascades Student Success Center, which will improve learning outcomes while facilitating student engagement. We will work with the Central Oregon region to ensure that the legislature approves this funding request.

A vibrant university that delivers academic excellence and focuses on student retention and success can be one of the pillars of a strong economy. Investment in OSU-Cascades will make a difference for Central Oregon and our entire state.

Development of the OSU Arts and Education Complex

by

In April 2017, Oregon State University announced plans for a new arts and education complex. The project will provide the university, the greater Corvallis community, and the entire state, a venue for music, theater, digital communications programs and the visual arts. The university is well into the process of securing $35 million in philanthropic funds and is seeking an additional $35 million in state bonds for a total investment of $70 million.

The Arts and Education Complex will be an important part of the university’s portfolio of both performance and outreach spaces. It will bring together programs in the arts, including music, theater, the visual arts, and digital communications arts, creating a thriving center of creativity infused with science and technology. This undertaking will help OSU to fulfill its strategic mission by bringing arts to the people of Oregon through teaching, research, performance and rehearsal spaces; a new visual arts museum; shop and maker space with electronic and computer studio for designing sound, lighting, animation, and video projections and for constructing props, sets, and other scenic items; and mentoring, reception, office and box office spaces.

The Arts and Education Complex will be a new academic facility for OSU educational arts and it will become an outreach portal for the arts, taking visual and performing arts to Oregon youth and residents.

During the 2020 legislative session the Beaver Caucus will be urging the legislature to support $35 million in bonding authority for the OSU Arts and Education Complex. This project will allow OSU to train tomorrow’s visual, technical and performing artists in a state-of-the art facility, leading to a highly skilled workforce that will support Oregon’s vibrant arts sector. Investment in the Arts and Education Complex will make a difference for OSU students and the entire state.

THE BEAVER CAUCUS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES – 2019

by

The Beaver Caucus is committed to supporting Oregon State University, our world-class research institution. We do this by providing a platform to communicate directly to Oregon state policymakers who are making critical decisions impacting OSU’s future. During the 2019 legislative session we will make sure that legislators and the Governor are aware of the positive benefits that have resulted from the state’s investment in higher education, and we will work to ensure that this investment continues in 2019.

Here are some of the issues we will be advocating for during the legislative session:

1) Maintaining Operating Funds

The seven public universities have sought at least a $130 million increase in operating funds from $737 million for a total investment of $867 million. This request would ensure that tuition increases would stay below 5% per year each of the next two years. In August, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) recommended a $186 million increase in operating funds for a total of $923M. This request is obviously a significant improvement and would enable meaningful investments in student success and access while keeping tuition affordable.

2) Development of the OSU Arts and Education Complex

In April 2017, Oregon State University announced plans for a new arts and education complex. The proposal would renew, expand and enhance the existing LaSells Stewart Center in order to provide the university, the greater Corvallis community, and the entire state, a venue for music, theater, digital communications programs and the visual arts. The university is well into the process of securing $35 million in philanthropic funds and is seeking an additional $35 million in state bonds for a total investment of $70 million.

3) Continued Expansion of the OSU-Cascades Campus – Student Success Center

OSU Cascades continues to face enrollment growth and will need to continue expand its facilities to ensure that it meets the academic, counseling and extracurricular needs of students in the Central Oregon region. The university is seeking $12 million in bonds matched by $5 million in student fees – approved in a campus-wide vote – for the construction of the OSU-Cascades Student Success Center, which will improve learning outcomes while facilitating student engagement.

Governor signs funding bill for OSU-Cascades

by

Gov. Kate Brown signs bill for $39 million to go toward a new academic building

Gov. Kate Brown visited Oregon State University-Cascades on Wednesday to sign a bill approving $39 million for a new academic building on the Bend campus.

The state funding, plus a $10 million match from private donors, will pay for a building for classes in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

The building is a step forward in the university’s master plan to add dozens of buildings and streets on what will become a 128-acre campus for 5,000 students.

Brown, who spoke inside Tykeson Hall before signing the bill, said the community should be proud of OSU-Cascades and how it continues to grow with state-of-the-art facilities, cutting-edge technology and, she added, “very nice dorms.”

“The vitality of the Central Oregon economy is very much dependent on our students and making sure they are prepared for the workforce of the future,” Brown said. “OSU-Cascades is making it possible for students who love this place — and there are many of them — to stay right here in this region.”

OSU-Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson and state Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, each spoke at the bill signing, along with OSU-Cascades students Melanie Widmer and Lynnea Fredrickson.

The two students described how they made trips to the state capital in Salem to support the bill.

Knopp, who has advocated for the university funding, said he was discouraged last year after the Legislature approved just $9.5 million of the $69.5 million university officials requested.

But in December, Brown called for $88 million in funding: $39 million for OSU-Cascades, $40 million for a science center at the University of Oregon and $9 million for a new field house at Eastern Oregon University.

The funding bill was passed last session in March.

“Many of you, like me, were disappointed with the outcome of the 2017 session,” Knopp told a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday. “But I got a call from the governor after the session, and she made a commitment that she would work with me and the Central Oregon delegation to get to where we needed to be.”

Before Brown signed the funding bill, she took a short tour of the campus, ending up in the dining hall, where she stopped to speak with students.

Her visits with students were short and sweet, but one encounter was especially humorous. She asked Walead Sultani, a junior studying energy systems engineering, how he liked his studies.

Sultani didn’t miss a beat.

“I cry in the shower sometimes,” he said, which drew a laugh from Brown and her entourage.

“I’m a jokester,” Sultani said afterward.

Another student, Al Alkindi, was in the middle of a multicultural club event in the dining hall when the governor walked by and sparked up a conversation.

Alkindi, who is originally from Oman, said he thought it was great that Brown came to the campus and met with students.

It was his first time meeting a governor.

“I’ve only been here in the states since 2015,” Alkindi said. “I haven’t had the chance.”

Article originally published on The Bend Bulletin

Gov. Brown to highlight apprenticeship program in Bend visit

by

Also sign bill for OSU-Cascades academic building

BEND, Ore. – (Update: Details on governor’s other Bend stop)

Governor Kate Brown will visit Bend Wednesday to highlight a new apprenticeship program that supports the Governor’s Future Ready Oregon initiative, as well as sign legislation to fund OSU-Cascades’ second academic building, her office said Tuesday.

The initiative, announced earlier this year, closes the gap between the skills Oregon’s workers have and the skills Oregon’s growing businesses need to thrive in the economy of the future, the governor’s office said in a statement.

Bend and Central Oregon are one of the fastest-growing job markets in the country. This presents an opportunity for Oregonians seeking work, particularly as Central Oregon’s tech industry takes off.

To address Bend’s growing tech industry demand, the East Cascades Workforce Investment Board has partnered with the Technology Association of Oregon and Apprenti, the nation’s first registered tech apprenticeship program, to provide industry guidance on tech training and job placement for apprentices and businesses in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties.

Governor Brown will meet at Five Talent Inc. with potential participants in the program and those who developed it.

Later in the day, she will also visit the campus of Oregon State University – Cascades to sign HB 5702, which includes $39 million in capital funding for a new academic building. Funding for the project is part of a larger, statewide investment package that includes new facilities on the campuses of Eastern Oregon University and the University of Oregon.

These projects serve high-need, growing communities, and each will feature Oregon manufactured wood products —particularly cross-laminated timber (CLT) — in construction.

The 1:45 p.m. signing will be hosted by OSU-Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson in the Bruckner Courtyard, immediately west of Tykeson Hall on the OSU-Cascades campus on Chandler Avenue.

Speakers will include Brown, Johnson and OSU-Cascades students.

Also expected to attend are members of the Central Oregon legislative delegation, donors whose gifts of over $9 million for the academic building are helping achieve a $10 million philanthropic match for the state funding, and members of the Now4 OSU-Cascades advocacy group and the Beaver Caucus coalition.

Brown will sign House Bill 5702, which includes $39 million in capital funding for the new building, which will be devoted to the study of STEAM subjects – science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

OSU-Cascades has committed to use Oregon manufactured wood products – particularly cross-laminated timber – in the construction of the building.

Article originally published on KTVZ.