President’s Letter — Fall 2016

Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends,

Is a college degree worth the time and money a student invests? For me, attending and graduating from EOU has proven more valuable than I had imagined as a newly-enrolled Mountaineer 27 years ago. More broadly, The Economist magazine recently ranked EOU the best Oregon public university and second best of all Oregon universities in value, based upon relative alumni salaries.

There is a growing national conversation questioning the value of higher education, and it appears Oregon residents are asking a similar question. Recently, focus groups from a number of communities across the state shared concerns about affordability due to rising tuition, perceived erosion of academic quality, and a lack of career preparation upon degree attainment. It is valid to question the value of one’s investment in a college degree and, though I firmly believe an EOU education is worth the cost, I see opportunity for this institution to improve on our value proposition.

A study conducted by Gallup has found six elements of emotional support and experiential learning in college that are correlated with long-term career and life success. Graduates that experienced:
(1) a professor who made them excited about learning
(2) faculty and staff who cared about them as a person
(3) a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals and dreams
(4) completion of a long-term project
(5) a job or internship where learning was applied
(6) involvement in extracurricular activities, are significantly more likely to agree that college prepared them for life after college.

I personally received each of these elements during my time at EOU. Not all of our graduates experience all six…yet. This year, as we work to refine our strategy for EOU and create systems that allow for student success through consistent access to these six elements, I look forward to working with alumni and Mountaineer friends. Together, it’s possible.