News
Today, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education approved the state tuition increases for the 2012–13 school year. State schools will experience an average increase of 3.8 percent. Portland State will see a tuition increase of 3.4 percent, just below the state average.
During finals week and dead week, June 4-13, the Millar Library will be open 24 hours. During the extended hours, the circulation desk, reference desk and help desk will all be open and available to student use.
As the year comes to a close, the student fee committee is wrapping up activities, documenting final balances for fee-funded areas and finalizing documentation for the transition to a new SFC coming in with the new Associated Students of Portland State University administration. These are tasks ASPSU Vice President and SFC Chair-elect Nick Rowe called “very important to the current and continued smooth functioning of the SFC.”
“The Germans have a saying: If you lose hope, you lose everything,” said Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener, who endured 35 months in five concentration camps during World War II, fighting starvation and losing 123 extended family members.
On May 7, Portland State announced that the Center for Online Learning and the Center for Academic Excellence would merge to create one collaborative center that combines the offerings of each.
Tomorrow, Portland State and City Club of Portland will host the Portland Action Summit: Leadership for the Next Generation in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event includes free food and features guest speakers such as Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith and area youth leaders.
On May 22, TriMet was awarded $745.2 million in federal grants from the Federal Transit Administration to help with the completion of the MAX orange light rail line. Along with the $85 million in federal aid that TriMet received on May 17, the federal government will provide nearly 50 percent of the cost of the $1.49 billion rail line project. According to a fact sheet provided by TriMet Chief Media Relations Officer Mary Fetsch, the grants are a nod toward the beginning of construction.
The Campus Public Safety Office held an open house on Thursday, May 24, in order to raise student awareness about its current location in Shattuck Hall, room 148. Office representatives also wished to inform students about changes that will be taking place to benefit them in terms of safety.
Portland State has a new vision for global education. The university recently released the Strategy for Comprehensive Internationalization, a report that establishes an eight-year framework for how PSU plans to become a more globally focused institution.
The Portland State Writing Center may be undergoing changes during university restructuring. Currently run through the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, it may be moved under the guidance of the Office of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, which currently oversees groups such as the Women’s Resource Center, student housing and the multicultural center. It also oversees enrollment and admissions.
The Smith advisory board met last Monday and unanimously approved a resolution to convert one women’s bathroom to a gender-neutral facility. Located on the fourth floor of the Smith Memorial Student Union next to the Queer Resource Center, the restroom will be the first multi-stall, multi-user gender-neutral bathroom on campus. SMSU staff is still working on the timing for the exact date of the conversion.