Student employees must represent themselves

Departments not formally required to give feedback

About 2,800 students are employed at Portland State—in research labs, at Millar Library and in dozens of classrooms and student-run organizations across campus.

Armed campus police?

Discussed conversion controversial among students

The university is engaged in internal discussions about creating an armed campus police force.

While the changes would place Portland State on par with other similarly-sized colleges, critics of the idea say it’s merely about arming officers based on flawed research.

At alert

Less than 50 percent of students notified in the case of an emergency If an apocalypse happened tomorrow, all you would have to do is look around and you’d know…

Rehire one?

A Higher One update

Portland State’s Higher One contract won’t be up for renewal until October 2014, but renewal discussions will start this January.

You may recognize Higher One as the company behind the debit and identity cards issued to all students, and used in the optional free checking account for financial aid disbursals. Higher One is a national third-party financial aid distributor providing service to 830 schools and 6.2 million students.

ASPSU for dummies

A newcomer’s guide to PSU student government Many students’ initial encounters with the Associated Students of Portland State University are at tabling events outside Smith Memorial Student Union, where they…

Pres. Wiewel gets a raise

State board of higher ed approves a $540,000 maximum salary

Wim Wiewel declined the full salary offered to him last year. This year may be different. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education has approved a $15,000 annual increase in PSU president Wim Wiewel’s state-funded salary, the first increase since 2008.

Is Aramark’s food local?

Aramark, the official provider of catering and dining services for PSU since 2007, is contractually obligated to purchase 30 percent of its food from local sources and to increase this percentage by 2 percent each year. But because the company had neglected to send its quarterly reports to the Campus Sustainability Office since September 2011—and because the office had not answered the Vanguard’s request for records from the periods before then—it is hard to say exactly how much local food is being served on campus.

New student fee committee meets

Approves student life director funding

Portland State’s student fee committee met July 17 to discuss the budget for the student life director, a new position within the Associated Students of Portland State University. They also met to train two new committee members, Nhi Vu and Cindy Reyes.

University Station post office to relocate

Student mail unaffected, faculty and staff mail to slow slightly

Portland State students looking for a post office will soon be walking half a mile farther into downtown.

PSU’s local United States Postal Service office, University Station, is moving to Southwest First Avenue and Main Street in Jan. 2013. Now located at 1505 SW Sixth Ave., the office will be moving because a new lease could not be negotiated with the building’s owner, a German trading company.

Record-breaking graduating class demonstrates improvement

PSU aims to increase graduation rates through ‘success initiatives’

Portland State ends another year with the largest graduating class in university history.

Approximately 6,165 PSU students are receiving diplomas from the university in the 2011–12 academic year. Although official numbers will not be available until September, PSU estimates that 4,400 bachelor’s degrees, 1,700 master’s and 65 doctorates will be awarded by the end of this academic year.

PSU president summarizes financial and academic affairs at town hall

PSU president summarizes financial and academic affairs at town hall Wim Wiewel recaps 2011–12 year

On Tuesday, June 5, Portland State President Wim Wiewel held the final town hall meeting for the academic year, summarizing PSU’s academic and financial outlook. Wiewel presented a generally positive outlook, touching on administrative changes and other noteworthy achievements.