Board of Trustees approves 2016-17 budget
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At its meeting on February 19, the Board of Trustees approved the operating and capital budget for the 2016-17 academic year; heard presentations on practitioner-scholars in the Student Affairs Administration program, preparing students for national awards competitions, and the joint JD/M.BA program being developed with Portland State University; and passed resolutions granting emeritus status to retiring faculty and conferring honorary degrees for commencement ceremonies this spring.
The new budget goes into effect June 1, 2016, and provides tuition increases as follows: 4 percent in the College of Arts and Sciences, 3 percent in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and 4.75 percent in the School of Law. The budget also allocates increased funding for financial aid.
Capital projects include updating the design, accessibility, and utility of a chemistry laboratory in Olin, and renovations for Hartzfeld C that will provide a template for updating the other three buildings in the Hartzfeld complex. Work on both projects is scheduled to begin in the summer and to be completed for use in fall 2016.
With the first cohort from the masters degree program in student affairs administration graduating this spring, Graduate School Dean Scott Fletcher and three members of the cohort delivered a presentation on the program’s development of practitioner-scholars. The program develops each student’s professional skills by integrating theory with experience gained through two supervised practica, one at Lewis & Clark and one in the wider community.
Associate Professor of English Karen Gross and Professor of History Jane Hunter discussed the intensive advising and coaching that helps students prepare for national and international academic award competitions. This process may take up to 12 months and has been instrumental in Lewis & Clark’s achieving an exceptional record of finalists and winners in such prestigious awards as the Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, Mitchell, and Goldwater scholarships. Just prior to the Board meeting, notice arrived that Isabel Ball BA ’15 has been designated a Luce Scholar. She is one of only 15 in the nation to be honored this year.
Law School Dean Jennifer Johnson updated the Board on the status of the joint JD/M.BA degree program the school is developing with Portland State University. The program will allow students to earn both degrees concurrently in four years, with the law degree conferred by Lewis & Clark and the business degree by PSU. The program is scheduled to begin in fall 2016.
Dean Johnson was joined by law professors, students, and clients for a presentation on the Business Law program and its Small Business Legal Clinic. The SBLC is observing its 10th anniversary this year, with approximately 90 percent of its funding coming from community resources. Located in downtown Portland, the SBLC provides transactional legal help to low-income small and emerging businesses.
With commencements approaching, the trustees approved honorary degrees for native Oregonian, New York Times columnist, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof, who will address degree recipients in the College of Arts and Sciences; Kevin K. Kumashiro, dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, who will address degree recipients in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling; and U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp JD ’80, who will be honored at Law School commencement ceremonies.
The board passed resolutions granting emeritus status to retiring faculty Peter Christenson, Joann Geddes, Martin Hart-Landsberg, Herschel Snodgrass, and Wendy Woodrich in the College of Arts and Sciences; Greg Smith in the graduate school; and Paula Abrams and Stephen Kanter in the law school.
At the conclusion of the meeting, President Glassner extended an invitation for trustees to join him at Friday evening’s Alumni Honors Banquet.
