Higher education in Oregon, the state’s “single greatest source of hope,” is in trouble, and the last thing the state can afford to do is nothing, University President Richard Lariviere said to Eugene citizens Thursday.
Addressing the League of Women Voters of Lane County, Lariviere spoke forcefully about his passion for education and addressed the problems and potential solutions for higher education in Oregon.
In his speech, Lariviere touched on much of the same message he presented in his keynote speech at the University commencement in September. He likened education to Humphrey Bogart’s famous line in The Maltese Falcon — “the stuff that dreams are made of” — and said he is now “an evangelist” for such dreams.
“Education has been the focal point of all meaningful change in my life,” he said.
Lariviere said students must follow their passion when choosing a major, whether or not it is “pragmatic.” He said following one’s passion is “a way to achieve a meaningful life.”
However, he lamented the lack of funding for higher education in Oregon and in the Oregon University System, which he called a “cumbersome system that needs to be fixed.”
As an example, Lariviere pointed out that Oregon spends $5.5 billion on K-12 education, which is broken into six budgeted line items. By contrast, he noted that higher education receives only $650 million but is bogged down with 6,300 budgeted line items.
Lariviere also said the current system makes it difficult to anticipate budgets and other numbers.
“We just learned in October what our budget for the entire academic year was going to be,” Lariviere said. But he said the special legislative session in February made even that uncertain.
In response, Lariviere called for “a new model — a model that enables the University to operate for the benefit of the people of Oregon.”
The topic was spurred by former University President Dave Frohnmayer, who proposed changing the OUS system in a report delivered to the OUS on Wednesday.
During the speech, Lariviere floated his own idea, similar to Frohnmayer’s, to restructure the OUS system.
First, he suggested using the capital the University receives from the OUS to buy a large bond and use the yields from the bond to set up a public endowment.
Second, he proposed that each of the seven public institutions in the OUS have their own board of governance, which would directly control things like tuition and admissions.
Third, he said the system must remain “vigorously transparent and accountable to the people of Oregon.
During the question and answer session, Lariviere made it clear that he was “absolutely not” interested in privatizing the University or withdrawing completely from state support.
Lariviere also made it clear that it was too early to take a definitive stance on Frohnmayer’s proposal. However, he agreed the situation must change.”The status quo is not an option,” he said. “It’s time to lead, not follow, the rest of the nation.”
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Lariviere addresses problems, potential solutions to higher ed funding
Daily Emerald
November 19, 2009
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