Dear colleagues,
I hope many of you got a chance to recharge during spring break and enjoy the beautiful
sunny days between rain showers. For those of you who did not have spring break, thank
you for working hard to get campus ready for the new quarter to begin. It has been
a quiet week on campus, but I know there has been a lot happening behind the scenes.
Campus Updates
The Board of Education meeting on March 12 was hosted at the HOC facility in Lebanon. It’s always a treat
to get to show off our various campuses allowing for the Board to tour and visit with
the Faculty. At the meeting the Board passed a tuition increase of 4% for the 2025-26
academic year. It’s always difficult to increase tuition, however, as the State continues
to disinvest in higher education, the Board voted in favor of the increase to continue
operating at our current service level. There will also be a change on student fees.
I want to acknowledge the entire HOC crew for their help in hosting the Board, especially
Bev Dunigan, Michelle Hartman and Ashley Willner.
Government Relations Updates
During the long legislative session, March is a busy month with legislative priorities and advocacy work. On March 5, I attended OCCA’s Legislative Summit in Salem along with Board Chair Jeff Davis, SLC Legislative Officers Michelle Kyle and Will Vellinga, and our Government Relations Manager, Linnea Everts. We got to hear from elected officials on their priorities to support community college and we had a keynote from Senator President Rob Wagner. The following day, we had a rapid series of meetings with our Linn and Benton county legislators where our students passionately advocated for support of the Basic Needs bill and increased funding. Our newest Representative is Corvallis’ Sarah Finger McDonald, a previous OSU Advisor and who is a strong believer in the power of community colleges. Visits and new connections with our elected officials are important for us to remain front and center to stress the significance of LBCC for our communities and workforce.
Given the many federal issues in the recent news, it was no surprise when the joint Town Hall with Senator Wyden and newly elected Congresswoman Bynum filled the Activities Center’s gym with standing room only. I got the honor to be the moderator and our Albany Mayor Alex Johnson sat beside me as we heard the many powerful concerns and questions from local citizens of all political persuasions. We will be honored to host Congresswoman Bynum for a return visit in late spring or early fall.
As I shared last week, we are remaining focused on conducting business as usual while we assess the implications of the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. I will make very brief remarks on this during inservice next week, and will also encourage you to attend a future Fireside Chat for a more extended dialogue.
Spring In-Service will take place next Friday, April 4 in the Takena Hall lobby starting at 8:15am with coffee and muffins to enjoy. The hourlong program in the Tripp theater starts at 9:00am. The college will be closed to students to allow all staff to attend. In addition to the annual Spring awards, we will learn from Dr. Donna Beagle who is presenting on Poverty Informed Care. I look forward to hearing from Dr. Beagle about the best ways to support those we serve in our work.
At home, we have enjoyed a quiet spring break while dodging hail and rain. Ella is
preparing for the first full week of South Albany softball games (Go RedHawks!). We
also hope to catch an upcoming LBCC baseball game (Go Beaks!) and a few March Madness
games. Whoever you are rooting for--on or off the field--I hope you have a great ending
to March.
Thanks,
Lisa