Author: Jennifer Woodman

The university and the Portland State chapter of the American Association of University Professors returned to the bargaining table on Nov. 16, but little progress was made during the session, which means the union and university will enter mediation on Dec. 14.

The faculty contract, which expired on June 31, has been extended twice, with the current deadline at Nov. 30. The PSU-AAUP union represents approximately 1,200 full-time faculty members.

The Portland Police Bureau is asking the City Council for funding to install video cameras in squad cars.

Several traffic division vehicles are already outfitted with cameras and the bureau is hoping to expand camera installation to include 10 squad cars. As the bureau experiences scrutiny from the community and the Department of Justice, the cameras are viewed by proponents as an opportunity to alleviate concerns about police brutality.

Today, Commissioner Amanda Fritz is hosting a community forum on the state’s upcoming legislative agenda. The purpose of the meeting is to allow citizens to give their input regarding the city, state and federal legislative priorities for the upcoming year.

“The meeting is for people to come and say what they would like to see in the upcoming year,” Fritz said.

Students can attend a lecture given by geoscientist Richard Alley on Nov. 8 from noon to 1 p.m. in the PSU Science Research & Teaching Center Atrium, room 274. This free lecture is called: “Tiptoeing Past Tipping Points: Ice Cores and Abrupt Climate Change.”

Alley is the Evan Pugh professor of geosciences at Penn State University, where he researches glaciology, ice sheet stability, paleoclimatic records from ice cores and climate and sea level changes. He chaired the National Research Council’s Panel on Abrupt Climate Change and served on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Lincoln Hall, home to Portland State’s School of Fine and Performing Arts, emerges from a $31 million transformation as the university’s first platinum-certified LEED building. The renovation took a little more than two years and is nearing completion.

Funding for the deferred maintenance project came from the state legislature and federal economic stimulus packages.

The renovation was part of a massive project to upgrade the building’s seismic codes and mechanical systems, remove hazardous materials and live up to the university’s reputation as a leader in sustainability.

Portland State and the PSU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (PSU-AAUP), which represents approximately 1,200 full-time university faculty members, failed to reach an agreement during negotiations held on Oct. 28.

Yesterday, with the contracts set to expire on Oct. 31, the university “agreed to extend the faculty contract for another month to Nov. 30 to negotiate an agreement,” said Scott Gallagher, PSU director of Ccommunications.

According to Phil Lesch, executive director of PSU-AAUP, the consequence of working without a contract is largely symbolic. The lion’s share of working conditions will remain the same. However, managers could potentially use the end of a contract to make significant changes and employees have no real recourse.

As of January 2012, the Public Employees’ Benefit Board is making changes to benefit plans for state employees, which will impact approximately 3,000 workers at Portland State.

State employees who are members of the PEBB’s health insurance plan are being asked to voluntarily participate in a new program called the Health Engagement Model. According to PEBB, the goal of the model is to encourage members to make healthier choices and “take action in areas where simple steps can reduce health risks.” In addition to the HEM, there will be a $25 per month surcharge for smokers, and a $50 per month surcharge for spouses and other family members who opt out of coverage from their own employer in favor of family coverage provided by the member’s insurance.

Across the nation, more and more students are signing up for online and distance-learning courses: Enrollment increased from 8 to 20 percentbetween 2000 and 2008, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Numbers at PSU paint a similar picture: Last year, out of 24,845 students enrolled, 11,441 were enrolled in at least one online course—46 percent of the student body.

A record-breaking year for donations to PSU brought in $15.7 million, but to some, this is just the beginning. While a 22 percent increase over the previous year is certainly noteworthy, Françoise Aylmer, vice president of University Advancement, sees the increase as a stepping stone toward future gift totals.

The Portland State University Faculty Association (PSUFA) represents approximately 1,200 part-time instructors; each term, close to 700 members teach at PSU. Last fall term, there were 676 adjunct instructors at PSU—a 103.6 percent increase over the number of adjunct faculty in fall 2000.

The number of part-time faculty positions varies from department to department. Schools that heavily utilize adjunct instructors are education, art, business, community health and physical education, according to Brooke Jacobson, president of PSUFA and an adjunct instructor in the communication studies department. More academically oriented departments are not as reliant on part-time instructors, Jacobson said.