Link to video on YouTube.

See the full story by KEZI reporter Heather Turner.

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Aug. 17, 2012] — Wilson Elementary School students will notice some improvements when they return to school Sept. 5.

That’s because Oregon State University Housing and Dining Services employees spent hours Thursday working on various maintenance projects at the school. For example, four employees spent most of the morning packing up books and clearing shelves in the school’s library.

Jeff Brew, Wilson’s principal, said school officials wanted the library to have a more open and welcoming feel. He said it also is scheduled for painting at a later date.

“I think all of us remember our elementary school days and the fun we had,” OSU Housing and Dining Services employee Kathyrn Magura said as she helped clear shelves in a room adjacent to the library. “So it’s great to be helping a local school.”

In addition to reorganizing the library, the OSU Housing and Dining Services employees were involved in several other projects at the school, including:

• Relocating nine heavy framed mosaic artworks, some of which date to the 1980s, to another location in the building.

• Installing toilets in several bathrooms.

• Hanging three Smartboards in classrooms.

• Removing diseased trees from the front of the school. (New trees will be planted in late September).

• Removal of the school logo in the gym to make way for a new logo.

The Wilson project was the latest community service project performed by OSU Housing and Dining Services employees. Steven Haney, assistant director of OSU Housing and Dining Services, said the group aims to do a community service project about every two months.

Before Thursday’s project, the last OSU Housing and Dining Services community project was removing ivy from trees at Avery Park in late May. The project at Wilson was the first time the group had volunteered at a local school.

“Not only are these projects a way for us to give back to the community,” Haney said. “But it also helps us team-build because we have to communicate and work together to get a lot done.”

Read the full article by reporter Raju Woodward.

Requirement is part of effort to improve student retention, success

[Albany Democrat-Herald, Aug. 18, 2012} — CORVALLIS — Starting in the fall of 2013, freshmen at Oregon State University will be required to live on campus.

The university is describing the change as an integral part of its recently revised First Year Experience program for new students, which is intended to help students succeed academically and improve retention.

“If you look at top universities in the country in terms of academic success and student retention, almost all of them require students to live on campus their first year,” said Susie Brubaker-Cole, associate provost for academic success at OSU. “The learning and community-building that occur in campus residences are focal points of the first-year experience.”

For the 2012-13 academic year, a standard double room in one of the less-expensive residence halls costs $7,129.80 for the year, according to rates posted on the OSU website.

A task force of OSU faculty, staff and students has been working on ways to help students thrive academically and personally during their first year. It concurs with what many national studies have found: The best way to ensure that students return for their sophomore year is to help them “connect” to campus in a meaningful way, said Brubaker-Cole, co-chair of the task force.

“What we’re seeking is a ‘high-touch’ experience for students during that first year when it becomes critical for them to interact in meaningful ways with other students, with faculty and with campus programs,” she said. “A lot of this happens in the classroom, but much of it is an extension of classroom learning that reaches into life on campus and the experiences you have as a member of campus communities.”

Tom Scheuermann, director of University Housing and Dining Services at OSU, says his office has assessed its overall on-campus housing capacity and will have adequate space for the live-on-campus requirement. In addition to the International Living-Learning Center that opened last year and houses 320 students, OSU’s on-campus capacity will get a boost from a new residence hall that is in design with a planned opening of fall 2014.

Scheuermann said on-campus capacity this fall should be about 4,300 spaces, which will grow by another 300 in 2014 with the new hall. And some floors in Finley Hall that will be off-line in the coming academic year, or used for office space, will reopen in fall of 2013.

In recent years, about 80 percent of the new-to-OSU freshmen have lived on campus.

There will be some exceptions granted to the new requirement, OSU officials say, though specifics have yet to be determined.

See the original article from the Albany Democrat-Herald website.

[KVAL News,. Aug. 16, 2012] — CORVALLIS, Ore. — Freshman will be required to live in the dorms at Oregon State University as part of a plan that officials said will enroll more returning sophomores. The move is a part of the First Year Experience program at the university, put together by a task force of OSU students, faculty and staff.

The program is aimed at increasing the current freshman retention rates through getting students more involved with the student body and better connected with their piers. OSU currently has a freshman-to-sophomore rate of just over 80%.

The FYE program concluded that the best way to accomplish these goals is to have a policy that puts each freshman in an on-campus dormitory.

Co-chair of the FYE committee and  associate provost for academic success at OSU Susie Brubaker-Cole said that students return to the university if they have a connection with the campus their first year.

“A lot of this (connection) happens in the classroom, but much of it is an extension of classroom learning that reaches into life on campus and the experiences you have as a member of the campus community.” Brubaker-Cole said.

The students enrolling as freshman in the Fall of 2013 will be required to live on campus for their first academic year.

Brubaker-Cole pointed out that the schools with the top retention rates all have this policy in place.

The director of University Housing and Dining services at OSU said that they will have adequate space for all incoming freshman to live on campus. They have a new dormitory building in the works that is scheduled to house students as soon as Fall term 2014.

Officials said that the new rule can be waived in some instances, the specifics of which have yet to be determined.

Read the original article on the KVAL website.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (KMTR) – All future freshmen OSU Beavers will likely have to live in the university’s dorms, thanks to a new policy on campus.
Starting fall term of 2013, OSU will require most incoming OSU freshmen to live in the on campus dorms. The rule is part of several new initiatives that OSU hopes will help keep students in school and make them more successful.

Campus leaders are still working out the smaller details and exceptions to the rule, however the requirement will mostly apply to all “true freshmen” or the students coming out of high school to enroll in OSU classes.

OSU met with student groups and others before approving the rule. University President Ed Ray says he’s wanted to a policy like this since he arrived in Corvallis nearly a decade ago.

Right now, about 80% of the OSU freshmen class lives in on campus dormitories.  The university says those students typically perform better academically and stay in college longer.

OSU says with this attendance rule, new student summer connection courses and new campus touring programs, the combination should help get more people leaving OSU with a degree.

“It’s about providing the strongest learning experience we can for our students. Some of that learning happens in classrooms, but much of that classroom learning extends beyond the classroom and in the living and learning environment. So we’re committed to creating the deepest possible learning for our students and we think that students living in residences is one way to enhance that,” says Susie Brubaker-Cole, Associate Provost of Academic Success and Engagement for Oregon State University.

As far as space, OSU says it has enough rooms and dining options to house all of its freshmen class and more. A new dorm is being built on campus as well, at 14th Street and Washington Avenue, which is currently a gravel parking lot.

OSU is hoping that by October 2012, the “exceptions” part of the mandatory first year dorm living policy will be worked out. It’s still unclear if students will be able to skip the dorms to live at home instead.

— Chris McGee, KMTR News

OSU News and Communications (Aug. 16, 2012).

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will revise its First Year Experience program for new students over the next several years in an effort to help students succeed academically and improve retention.

A task force of OSU faculty, staff and students has been working on ways to help students thrive academically and personally during the first year. It concurs with what many national studies have found: The best way to ensure that students return for their sophomore year is to help them “connect” to campus in a meaningful way, said Susie Brubaker-Cole, associate provost for academic success at OSU and co-chair of the task force.

“What we’re seeking is a ‘high-touch’ experience for students during that first year when it becomes critical for them to interact in meaningful ways with other students, with faculty and with campus programs,” Brubaker-Cole said. “A lot of this happens in the classroom, but much of it is an extension of classroom learning that reaches into life on campus and the experiences you have as a member of campus communities.”

As an integral part of OSU’s initiative, first-year students will be required to live on campus for their first academic year beginning fall term of 2013.

“If you look at top universities in the country in terms of academic success and student retention, almost all of them require students to live on campus their first year,” Brubaker-Cole said. “The learning and community-building that occur in campus residences are focal points of the first-year experience.”

Tom Scheuermann, director of University Housing and Dining Services at OSU, says his office has assessed its overall on-campus housing capacity and will have adequate space for the live-on-campus requirement. In addition to the International Living-Learning Center that opened last year and houses 320 students, OSU’s on-campus capacity will get a boost from a new residence hall that is in design with a planned opening of fall 2014.

Scheuermann said on-campus capacity this fall (2012) should be about 4,300 spaces, which will grow by another 300 in 2014 with the new hall. And some floors in Finley Hall that will be off-line in the coming academic year, or used for office space, will reopen in fall of 2013.

In recent years, about 80 percent of the new-to-OSU freshmen have lived on campus.

There will be some exceptions granted to the new requirement, OSU officials say, though specifics have yet to be determined.

Brubaker-Cole and her colleagues are focused on the importance of boosting OSU’s First Year Experience efforts to broaden student success and deepen student learning. OSU’s retention rate for freshman-to-sophomore year is 81.4 percent, which “is actually good when compared overall nationally,” she said, “but it hasn’t improved over the past few years in ways that fulfill our aspirations.”

“We want more of our students to flourish here, earn their degrees, and benefit from the career paths that a college education brings,” Brubaker-Cole said.

OSU’s retention rate is comparable to its institutional peers, according to Brubaker-Cole, but not as good as some of its aspirational peers.

“It is important to actively build programs and support services that foster broad student success, and we know that the stakes are high for our students, their families and Oregon communities,” she said. “An Oregon state employment projection showed that by 2016, nearly 74 percent of high-wage job openings in Oregon will require a bachelor’s degree. We also know that college degree-holders are more active in civic life and are more likely to vote.”

Mark Hoffman, co-chair of the task force and associate dean of OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences, said the university is also working on ways to better connect students to campus resources, including the library, academic advisers, faculty mentors, Counseling and Psychological Services, and other resources.

“There are summer bridge programs to help students get their feet wet before they become full-time students,” Hoffman said, “and then we have U-Engage classes for first year students to help them learn how to navigate on campus and connect to all of the things it offers. Our next step is to evaluate all of the orientation programs and see what is working and how we can better coordinate the university’s efforts.”

Brubaker-Cole said students typically drop out for a variety of reasons, including homesickness, academic difficulties, finances, and psychological pressures. Friendships, mentoring relations with faculty members, connecting to programs that motivate and inspire, and campus support services can help offset the pressures that compel some students to not return after their first year.

“Retention is an issue that almost all universities around the country face,” Brubaker-Cole said, “and fostering a deep sense of belonging for all students in the university community is the critical foundation for college success.”

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Aug. 16, 2012] — The first set of recommendations stemming from an effort to improve collaboration between the city of Corvallis and Oregon State University has been released. But they were upstaged Wednesday by an announcement from OSU President Ed Ray.

Ray used his appearance at a Corvallis Economic Development Commission meeting to reveal that starting in 2013, true freshmen at OSU will be required to live on campus. The rule generally would apply to students attending college for the first time, after high school.

The Collaboration Corvallis Steering Committee, meanwhile, forwarded seven recommendations to the City Council and Ray, mainly dealing with traffic and parking issues (see information box at right).

Ray’s announcement, though, drew the most attention.

“I’ve wanted this as soon as I got here,” said Ray, who will be welcoming his ninth freshman class when school opens next month.

“We talked to all of the parties involved, including student groups,” said Ray. “It’s all to the good.”

Ray said students who live on campus during their freshman year tend to perform better academically and stay in college longer.

“Plus, there is the traffic component,” he said. “We need to do our part to balance crowding and congestion.”

Other measures to ease traffic issues and other concerns in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus include a new 300-bed residence hall that will open in 2014 and street realignment projects to make traffic flow smoother.

“We are making a lot of changes as a university, just as the city is,” said Ray. “We have to be smart. We have to mitigate issues. We have to benefit from the opportunity we have and not harm the neighbors.”

Read the full-article by Jim Day.

[Daily Journal of Commerce, Aug. 13, 2012] — Oregon State University officials expect to have a new residence hall open by fall 2014.

The new dorm will cost $29 million to build and will accommodate approximately 300 students. Tenancy will cost between $9,500 and $10,000 per school year.

…

Dan Larson, the associate director of University Housing and Dining Services, said workers will break ground on the residence hall on the east side of campus (on the corner of Southwest Washington Avenue and 13th Street) early next year.

A name has not been chosen yet for the 85,000-square-foot facility. Larson said most of the accommodations will be three-bedroom suites with a shared bathroom. Additional community bathrooms and showers will be available on each floor.

Other amenities will include a large kitchen and study area on each floor and a free laundry room. The new hall will be near the McNary dining and service centers.

University officials opened their previous new residence hall last fall; the $52 million International Living-Learning Center houses OSU’s international programs along with 320 international and domestic students.

In all, Oregon State University operates 14 residence halls, four cooperative housing facilities, three dining centers and 107 family housing apartments for 4,318 OSU students who live on campus.

Read the full article by reporter Tom Henderson …

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, 07/16/2012] — They came, ready to ride.

Thousands of Cycle Oregon participants gathered on the Memorial Union quad at Oregon State University campus Friday to check in and prepare to ride the mid-valley this weekend.

Now in its 25th year, Cycle Oregon hosts both week-long and weekend rides, but this is the first weekend ride that will be based out of Corvallis.

All parties involved in setting up the three-day event and providing weekend accommodations for the estimated 2,000 participants mentioned that Corvallis — whose name is Latin for “heart of the valley” — is an ideal location for weekend bicycling.

…

“It’s going really well,” Snyder said. “People are really accommodating.”

Read the Full Article — Joce DeWitt