PHOTO: A glossy newspaper from Oregon State University "Beaver Nation Corvallis," Fall 2015, with a cover letter to "Corvallis Community Members" from OSU President Ed Ray that sent to every "Postal Customer" in Corvallis via the U.S. Mail, which I received Dec. 8, 2015.
Just days after the local newspaper in Corvallis printed my Thomas Kraemer, "As I See It: OSU's growth is a good problem to have," Gazette-Times, Nov. 30, 2015, p. A7, Oregon State sent via the U.S. Mail, to every resident of Corvallis, a glossy whitepaper touting the improvement in "Corvallis livability" due a reduction in the number of student conduct cases they were having to manage. (See previous post Dealing with OSU growth and student conduct issues affecting Corvallis townies (11/30/15))
As a result, I thought it was fair to submit the following letter to the editor as an update to my previous opinion piece:
Every Corvallis "Postal Customer" recently received in their U.S. mailbox a glossy newspaper (Beaver Nation Corvallis, Fall 2015) featuring a cover letter from Oregon State University President Ed Ray to "Corvallis community members," and on the following page a graph showing the decline in "calls for service," as a measure of improvement for Corvallis "community livability," thanks to efforts led by Carl Yeh, director of OSU's office of student conduct.
Coincidentally, it arrived only a few days after the G-T printed (Nov. 30) my "As I See It: OSU's growth is a good problem to have," which called for leadership from President Ray and his staff in executing a fair and effective student conduct improvement process.
I assume OSU is sincerely using these metrics to help improve the student conduct process, instead of only for the reasons often parodied in "Dilbert" comic strips.
I worry these metrics will be ignored unless goals for them are set by the Board of Trustees of Oregon State University, none of whom live in Corvallis, but who are appointed by the Oregon Governor to hire OSU Presidents and who can be given feedback from Corvallis citizens via contact information found on the OSU Website.
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Don't let OSU ignore metrics," Gazette-Times, Dec. 23, 2015, p. A9)
See the following links and previous posts:
- Thomas Kraemer, "As I See It: OSU's growth is a good problem to have," Gazette-Times, Nov. 30, 2015, p. A7
- Dealing with OSU growth and student conduct issues affecting Corvallis townies (11/30/15)
- Nathan Bruttell, "OSU's Phi Delta Theta fraternity charged, suspended after drunken toga party," gazettetimes.com posted Dec. 11, 2015 says, "The Oregon State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta has been charged with 78 counts of providing alcohol to minors and hosting a party for minors in connection to a toga party at the fraternity last Friday." Yet another example of student conduct issues.
- A Search Google site:gazettetimes.com "Carl Yeh" finds many items including the following:
- James Day, "University hires more staff, initiates new programs to deal with neighborhood livability issues," gazettetimes.com posted September 29, 2013 - "Director Carl Yeh, who came to OSU from the University of Oregon, has been on the job since Sept 1 (2013)"
- James Day, "Student conduct: Livability on the rise," gazettetimes.com posted October 24, 2015 - "OSU growth -- Corvallis campus enrollment surged 20 percent from 19,900 in the 2009-10 school year to 24,383 last fall -- and the attendant concerns led the city, university and community to embark on the Collaboration Corvallis project." (Note that for years the enrollment was capped at 15,000 students by the state legislature.
- Jeff Hess, "As I See It: The human nature behind OSU's ruinous growth," gazettetimes.com posted Dec. 17, 2015 rhetorically asks, "if Ray lived in Corvallis as past OSU presidents did . . .," to which a frequent commenter basically agrees, but quibbles, "(President) McVicar lived in College Hill, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the city (of Corvallis). Byrne lived on Witham Hill, another exclusive area. Risser lived out on Brooklane, another exclusive area." Hess also said, "Rather than accept the corporate argument that faulty legislation is to blame, . . it's become clear that. . this change comes from the president/CEO, Ed Ray, who's made dollars the primary metric by which to steer the university."
- "OUS & OSBHE are closed effective June 30, 2015. The Oregon University System has closed its doors after 83 years of service. It has been our pleasure serving you." ous.edu accessed Dec. 6, 2015 -- the political power over all Oregon state funded universities has been divided up. See article by Kristen Domonell, "Oregon universities split from state system. Public institutions moving toward autonomy," universitybusiness.com January 2014.
- Oregon University System ous.edu link to Oregon State University (OSU) accessed Dec. 15, 2015
- Oregon State University Board of Trustees leadership.oregonstate.edu/trustees accessed Dec. 15, 2015 - "The Board of Trustees of Oregon State University governs Oregon's only university with a statewide presence and helps guide OSU's mission to serve the state and the needs of its citizens in a growing global economy." Includes the following:
- Oregon State University Board of Trustees "About" page accessed Dec. 8, 2015 - "Under ORS 352.076, Oregon State University trustees are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate." Page includes biographies of each Board member. OSU President Edward "Ed" Ray is an Ex Officio member. The page says, "During his 12 years as the 14th president of Oregon State University. Dr. Ray came to OSU in 2003 from Ohio State University, where he served as executive vice president and provost since 1998. He was a member of the economics faculty at Ohio State for more than 30 years. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Queens College (CUNY) in 1966, and a master's and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1969 and 1971, respectively."
- "OSU board meeting moved to Thursday," gazettetimes.com posted December 11, 2015 "meeting of the Oregon State University Board of Trustees Executive and Audit Committee"
- Bennet Hall, "Four women nominated to fill OSU board seat," gazettetimes.com posted Dec. 17, 2015 says, "The committee met via conference call Thursday morning to evaluate a short list of finalists selected by OSU President Ed Ray to fill the vacancy . . .Discussion of the matter focused on the need to ensure a broad diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and skill sets on the board. The current membership includes eight men, five women and one person who does not identify as either gender. Twelve board members are white, one is African American and one is of Asian descent.?"
- University Relations and Marketing, "Beaver Nation, Oregon State University Community Update," Fall 2015 (received Dec. 8, 2015 near the end of fall term classes) - Note: I was unable to find an online copy of the glossy mailer sent to Corvallis voters.
- "Beaver Nation Corvallis - OSU Stories, Features and highlights from across Beaver" poweredbyorange.com/corvallis/ wb page includes a link to OSU news
- OSU President Ed Ray, "A word from Ed Ray," OSU Stories, print edition mailed to U.S. postal customers in Corvallis, poweredbyorange.com posted May 5, 2015
- Carl Yeh, Director of Oregon State University office of studnet conduct His biography says, "As Director, Carl is responsible for the administration of the Student Conduct Code and leadership for promoting standards of behavior for student conduct for both on- and off-campus, and in- and out-of-the classroom. Carl has worked in student affairs since he was an undergraduate at the University of Oregon, where he earned his bachelor's and law degree. When not practicing student affairs, he enjoys bicycling, practicing environmentalism, and cake."
- OSU "Student Conduct and Community Standards" page accessed Dec. 9, 2015
- "Accessibility," oregonstate.edu accessed Dec. 6, 2015
- - note that since I could not find the OSU Beaver Nation whitepaper online, it was not accessible to me
