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Wednesday, October 5, 2022
A9
Outgoing EOU president looks back
Tom Insko reflects on 7-year
tenure with university
designating Eastern Oregon as
Oregon’s Rural University. The
bill touted the university’s rural
outreach, distance education and
online programs and broad-reach-
ing community engagement efforts.
At the time of the bill’s signing,
EOU served the highest percentage
of students eligible to receive the
federal Pell Grant in Oregon.
“That really put the flag in the
ground in the state, that EOU has
a unique and distinct mission,” he
said of the legislative recognition.
Raised in northern Union
County, the Elgin High School
graduate has a long-standing
passion for rural communities.
Throughout his time as EOU pres-
ident, Insko worked to highlight
the university’s roots and establish
connections with the region’s geo-
graphically dispersed communities.
“I’m thankful that the faculty,
staff and everyone really embraced
that and have developed programs
and systems that exemplify being a
university focused on serving East-
ern Oregon first,” he said.
The Rural Engagement and
Vitality Center is one such pro-
gram that arose during Insko’s ten-
ure. Formed through a partnership
between Wallowa Resources and
EOU, the center provides resources
and internship opportunities for
students, connects faculty with
regional partners and responds to
regional challenges such as work-
force housing.
“We don’t want Eastern Oregon
University to continue to be the
best-kept secret,” he said.
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
LA GRANDE — As his tenure
comes to an end as the 12th president
of Eastern Oregon University, the real-
ity has started to sink in for Tom Insko.
“I love this university,” he said. “I
love our students and I already know
I’ll love our future students.”
Insko was appointed in 2015 after
more than 20 years as an executive at
Boise Cascade. The
EOU graduate and
lifelong La Grande
resident brought his
business experience,
passion for rural
Oregon communi-
ties and desire to
expand opportunities
Insko
through education to
his role as president.
Insko announced on Aug. 1 that
he was leaving his post and has been
named president and chief executive
officer at Collins, a wood products
company based in Wilsonville.
“I fully expected to retire from East-
ern,” he said. “But things happen in
life and the set of circumstances came
together that this opportunity presented
itself to me, and it’s unique and it’s the
right thing for me and my family.”
Under Insko’s leadership, EOU
increased student access to higher edu-
cation and protected affordability by
keeping tuition flat during the pan-
demic in 2021-22. EOU has had some
of the smallest increases in costs of all
public universities in Oregon during
his tenure while increasing its diversity
and growing student retention rates.
Now, the university’s board pre-
pares to launch its search for a new
president — to have one in place by
at least July 1, 2023. Insko said he is
excited to see what talented individuals
the position attracts, and hopes who-
ever takes his place will maintain the
progress he and university leaders set
in motion.
“We are seeing national interest in
how this institution is embracing and
serving students, that all of us are chal-
lenged to serve,” he said. “They’re see-
ing action and results from this little
institution in Eastern Oregon, and I just
see that momentum continuing.”
Unconventional expertise
When Insko stepped into his role
at Eastern seven years ago, the state
was threatening its shutdown. Sev-
eral years of falling enrollment rates
had prompted frequent budget cuts
and staff eliminations — Eastern was
spending more money than it was tak-
ing in.
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Former Eastern Oregon University President Tom Insko high-fives a student in this undated photo.
Insko, with bachelor’s degrees in
mathematics and business econom-
ics and a master’s in business admin-
istration, may have seemed an unlikely
choice for higher academic leadership.
But his expertise fit the bill.
“There’s a national trend now
among university presidents hiring to
look for somebody with good busi-
ness skills,” board chair and interim
co-president Richard Chaves noted. “If
you think about the responsibilities of a
president, a lot of them are right along
those lines.”
University board members noted
in 2015 that Insko’s experience work-
ing with the state Legislature, build-
ing teams and relationships and strong
understanding of finance and bud-
geting were important factors in their
decision to hire him.
Insko worked for Boise Cascade
for 20 years, in positions ranging
from administrative analyst to plant
manager, production manager, senior
financing manager, region manager
and area manager.
He also served as a governor-ap-
pointed member of the Business Ore-
gon Commission and the Northeast
Oregon Regional Solutions Com-
mittee. He serves on the Western
Resources Legal Center board of direc-
tors and is past president of the EOU
Foundation. And between 2012 and
2018, he served on the Oregon State
Board of Forestry. Inkso cited this pol-
icy work as an asset.
“All those experiences contributed
to my development as a leader to be
able to come into EOU and face a very
challenging industry and a dynamic
organization,” he said.
Since the start of Insko’s tenure,
the university has expanded its aca-
demic programs, reorganized its aca-
demic colleges and added two new
deans. Insko also helped secure fund-
ing for the new fieldhouse, the addi-
tion of men’s and women’s wrestling,
lacrosse and baseball programs, and
renovations and upgrades to buildings
across campus.
Insko noted that it is his expertise
in areas outside of academia that have
increased financial stability and helped
EOU’s faculty and staff establish stron-
ger programs.
“I think it was probably one of the
best decisions that EOU has made in
presidential selection for many years,”
Chaves said.
A well-established leadership
team
Insko’s first day on the job coin-
cided with the first meeting of the
university’s new governing board.
Throughout his seven years as presi-
dent, Insko emphasized that he and the
board worked to establish goals and
systems that could be pursued even in
the case of a leadership change.
Vice President for University
Advancement Tim Seydel said that
having a strong leadership team will
make a difference when it comes to
facing the transition from Insko to a
new president.
“I think that the real key component
here and the big difference will be that
we have this local governing board,”
he said.
In 2017, the board of trustees
approved the strategic plan for Eastern
— one geared toward maintaining the
momentum Insko and university lead-
ership established.
“We all know that a lot of times
great strategic plans get written and
then they get dusty up on the shelf,”
Chaves noted. “President Inkso and the
board have done a lot of things to help
ensure that that’s not the case with this
plan.”
The framework, named The
Ascent 2029, highlights six goals to be
achieved by the university’s centennial
year: boost student success, improve
academic quality, increase the univer-
sity’s impact, foster a thriving univer-
sity culture, cultivate partnerships and
establish financial sustainability.
“I was a student here. I’ve bene-
fited from the culture that we have as
a university,” Insko said. “For me, it’s
very personal in wanting to provide
that experience for every student that
comes to Eastern.”
Focus on student belonging and
diversity
Insko’s push to better serve the
Eastern Oregon community highlights
another facet of Eastern’s identity that
needs to be addressed — diversity,
equity and inclusion.
“We recognized that we were not
serving the growing race and ethnic
diversity that we have in our region,”
Insko asserted.
Together with the board and univer-
sity faculty, Insko worked to develop
outreach programs to recruit a more
diverse student population and devel-
oped support systems for low-income,
first-generation and minority students.
“All these underserved populations
have challenges that systems within
academia have kind of locked them out
of,” Insko said.
This June, the EOU Board of Trust-
ees authorized Insko to enter into a
contract with educational consulting
firm EAB Global, Inc., geared toward
closing equity gaps within regional
cohorts of two- and four-year colleges
and universities by 2030.
As part of this “Moon Shot for
Equity” initiative, the university will
receive research, technology and advi-
sory services around change manage-
ment and equity training. It must also
agree to implement research-based
best practices for removing systemic
barriers to success.
Moving forward
As the search begins for his
replacement, Insko wrapped up
his time at Eastern just as new
students and returning students
returned to La Grande for fall
classes. Insko said that although
he is stepping out of the presi-
dent role, he has no plans to dis-
engage with the university or its
constituents.
He emphasized that the push to
better serve rural, Eastern Oregon
students and become an engaged
regional partner was a team effort.
“I’m thankful that the team here,
the faculty, staff, everyone really
embraced that,” he said.
But he’s not concerned about
his personal legacy at Eastern —
he simply hopes the university will
maintain the momentum it devel-
oped over the last seven years.
“Whether I’m ever attached to
that or not, frankly, I don’t care,”
he said. “It’s really about this insti-
tution and who it serves and its
important role in this community
and this region.”
Rural roots
Insko also emphasized that one
of his top priorities during his time
at EOU was fostering the universi-
ty’s rural identity and building con-
nections with the rural communi-
ties it serves.
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