Oregon Daily
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 28. 1993
Measure 1 tax revenue
could benefit students
□ Higher education would
benefit indirectly from
implementation of sales tax
By Julie S wen sen
Oregon Daily fmtwjftf
University students may be wondering
why they should vote for a five percent
sales lax when its proceeds would l>e
devoted only for K-12 and community
college education.
Higher education was excluded from
the measure because that option was most
appealing to voters, said Ed Dennis, field
director for the Oregon Student Lobby.
Because only about 20 percent of Orego
nians have a college degree, many people
view higher education almost as a "priv
ilege." but favor K-12 and community col
lege education because they can relate to
it, he said.
Still, without that direct revenue from
the salt's tax. Oregon colleges and univer
sities would still indirectly benefit. As a
sales tax devoted to K. 1<! and t omnium
tv colleges would take a burden off the
state general fund, more money could be
made available for higher education insti
tutions For that reason, the Oregon Stu
dent Lobby wasn't too upset when the
measure excluded higher education. Den
nis said.
"If this were to pass, it would still do
tremendous things for us," he said
One expected benefit is that Universi
ty students would see a lower rate of
tuition increases. University President
Myles Brand said
Hut the extent of Measure 1 s benefits is
uncertain, according to University and
legislative officials
The University’s anticipated gain from
the proposed saies tax is "up in the air.”
said Trent Spradling, budget director for
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Measure 5 cuts may push
University to privatization
□ State education system
asks schools to consider
privatizing in near future
By Doreen Johnson
For the Oregon Daily truerakl
The next four to six years may see the
University make the transformation to a
private institution, as 1990‘s Ballot Mea
sure 5 forces state schools to examine
such a future.
The passage of Measure 5 came on the
heels of 10 years of recession and budget
reductions for the institutions in the Ore
gon vState System of Higher Kducation.
The effects of the tax cut are living phased
in over a period of four years. Without tax
base restructuring, public colleges and
universities will have to accept major
financial changes
Privatizing the University is one of sev
eral possible new directions considered
bv the state system. The result of the
switch could mean the cost of a college
education may shift more to the students
and may change the governing struc ture
of the school.
State Representative Carolyn Oakley. K
Albanv and chairwoman of the House
Education Committee, and Vice Chair
man |im Whitty have asked Oregon to
consider the effec ts of such a transition
University Senior Vice Provost Gerald
Kisslor understands that such a change
Turn to PRIVATE. Page!
Devil in disguise
At¥ HAS* AV/£inv*««J
Five-year-old Sean Maher takes a walk with hla family Wednesday afternoon. Sean
dressed up as a devil and went looking for pumpkins and cats on 19th Street.
Administration faces problem of balancing productivity, funding
j University hopes productivity plan
could offer a new sense of direction
By Rivers Janssen
Oregon Daily f merakl
If University administrators had their way, the sce
nario would go like this: A student begin* her first year
at the University and joins a Freshmen Interest Group,
which guides her through a variety of social and class
room activities. She enjoys the experience and believes
the University provided her with a personal, interactive
education.
Her second year, she goes to academic advising and
is helped closely by faculty counselors. They not only
plan her course load, but also give her a career direction
so she doesn't feel us if she's drifting aimlessly through
school.
Her last two years, she toils at internships, takes sem
inars where she can work closely with a professor doing
research, and labors at a campus lab. In other words, she
begins "intensive applied learning." a favorite Universi
ty phrase to describe students taking the initiative
toward improving their own education.
She is in and out of the University in four years, mak
ing room for someone else.
If every University student were to follow that pattern,
administrators figure student retention would be much
higher. And student retention needs to lie high because
University President Myles Brand is kicking around the
idea of expanding enrollment from about 16,500 to
roughly 16,000 or 19.000.
This would both so flu n the blow of another $10 mil
lion in cuts pur year from 1095-97 by adding the tuition
money of another few thousand students, and help the
state prepare for the estimated 40 percent increase in
Oregon high school graduates by the year 2000 At the
same time, Brand says the University (an’l add any more
faculty or staff because it doesn't have the money.
Welcome to the next crisis in higher education at the
University.
There are several dilemmas that the administration
faces. First, how do you attract more students to a Uni
versity that is offering higher tuition and fewer programs
than it would like?
Second, how do you teach several thousand more stu
dents with the same number of faculty without creating
a robo-oducation environment, where students feel like
statistics rather than people?
Third, how do you retain those students oncu they're
here — particularly the non-residents whose tuition
money contributes heavily to the school's operating bud
gat?
And fourth, how can you maintain the University's
mission as a research institution, as Brand has continu
ally advocated, while you're trying to figure out how to
accommodate these students?
The answer: Nobody knows for sure. The only thing
they do know is something has to be done.
Charley Wright, a math professor at the University,
wrote in a faculty memo that: "Given the facts, we re
forced to depend on increased tuition, especially from
out-of-state students. That means that we have to make
our programs attractive and to offer perceived value for
money, provide solid looming opportunities. and mini
mi/.H tho harriers we set up for students. II we don't, if
we can't attract and keep out-of-state students, then it's
all over."
The University is currently working on a productivi
ty plan to prestint to the state chancellor by March. The
plan is mandated by Chancellor Thomas Hart left's office
for all state colleges and universities as a way to hope
fully resolve some of these questions. And while no one
knows what ideas the planning committee will come up
with, it's hoped that them will be enough concrete ideas
to come up with a few answers.
The chancellor's office gave the committee five areas
to focus on. The first is student self-puced learning pro
jects, specifically related to technology Brand discusses
(he possibility of studunts spending only two hours of a
four credit course in lecture and spending the other two
working with a computer. That way the professor could
lecture more classes without increasing his or her work
load.
Jerry Kissler. senior vice provost for the University,
says that such a program is feasible as long ns students
learn the class material.
"There may lie pockets of opportunity." Kissler said.
"Particular courses could Ire taught differently, and the
technology could be used differently. The challenge is to
make the students learn the same amount of material but
in different ways than going to a lecture for three or four
hours."
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