This September over 40 Oregon State faculty members (many brand new to the OSU community) participated in the first Roads Scholar Tour. The tour, sponsored by the Division of University Outreach and Engagement, College of Agricultural Sciences and the Center for Latino/a Studies and Engagement, made five stops between Corvallis and Portland, and in between an engaging conversation was led by our tour hosts Barbara Holland and Judith Ramaley, both internationally renowned leaders in the area of community engagement.
Author Archives: Dave King
Imagine a Truly 21st Century Public University
I recently gave this presentation at the National Outreach Scholarship Conference, and I will be repeating the presentation at our division’s upcoming strategic conference (Oct. 29-31).
I’m interested in your reactions. What resonates with you? What questions does this evoke? I’ll respond to any questions or comments both here and at the conference on Oct. 30.
Imagine what a truly 21st Century public university will become.
Educational Outreach Road Trip 2012
Recently members of the Educational Outreach team headed out on a three-day visit to OSU sites around the state. The traveling team included me, Tamara Hill-Tanquist (EESC), Jennifer Alexander (EESC), Claire Cross (Summer Session) and Hanna Lounsbury (PNE).
Educational Outreach refers to three units within University Outreach and Engagement:
- Extended Campus (Ecampus and Summer Session)
- Professional and Noncredit Education (PNE)
- Extension and Experiment Station Communications (EESC)
Check out the rest of the photos on my Facebook page.
Future Engagement
When Justin Morrill helped craft the ground-breaking legislation that created the land-grant university system in 1860, he hoped that it would change the face of society. During the next 150 years, Morrill’s vision became the land-grant universities’ competitive advantage in the marketplace of knowledge: university-based knowledge could be extended to people beyond the university to help solve problems and improve lives. To stay competitive, the land grant universities addressed questions such as: Do we provide access to information that makes a difference? And are we maintaining our role as a respected source of relevant, objective, science-based information?
What’s up with MOOCs?
No doubt you’ve seen several stories lately in the news about what some people are calling MOOCs–Massive Online Open Classes–with 160,000 or so students in online open courseware classes being offered by Universities such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, through some commercial spin-off companies. (See below.). The purpose and the business model of the massive courses continue to be unclear. However, the increased profile of these classes and the new enterprises involved in their development raises questions about what it means to Oregon State?
Degree Completion and You in Oregon
In the state of Oregon there are 750,000 people with some college experience (including community college) but no bachelor’s degree. According to the Lumina Foundation, in 2008, nearly 570,000 Oregon residents fit into this category of some college, no degree — representing more than 27 percent of the state’s adult population. (Adding the 186,000 associate’s degree holders gets us to 750,000 with some college and no bachelor’s degree.) (http://www.luminafoundation.org/state_work/oregon/)