Document text
http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: February 1, 2007 Oregon grads find jobs By Alan Panebaker Ashland Daily Tidings Craig Jessen, a 2005 Southern Oregon University graduate, is in the minority. He's one of the 22 percent of 2005 employed graduates from state universities in Oregon who work outside the state, according to a report released Tuesday by the Oregon University System. Jessen, who studied theater arts at Southern Oregon University, headed to New York City after graduation. Now he works for the New Jersey school system mentoring children through puppetry in the classroom. He said he would return to Oregon for graduate school, but none in the state offer a playwriting program he's interested in. Despite his departure, Jessen believes SOU prepared him for the workforce as well as any university could have. "I do feel that it was an excellent theater education," he said. "But I don't think anything can really prepare you for the theater workforce." While Jessen is different from most Oregon graduates in that he left the state to find work, he fits the mold in other respects. According to the OUS survey, 93 percent of state university bachelor's degree recipients in 2005 are now employed or continuing their education. That number is up from the 88 percent of 2003 graduates. The survey of 1,762 graduates also showed 78 percent were working in Oregon, and 72 percent of graduates are making $25,000 a year or more. Ruth Keele, director of performance measurements and outcomes for the Oregon University System, said the study showed generally good news that graduates were staying in state and being productive. "I think in general it underscores the fact that our schools have maintained when the state has decreased its funding," she said. The study also showed two-thirds of Oregon graduates leaving the university with debt. Thirty-five percent of 2005 graduates were first-generation students. Keele said this group is usually more likely to be lower income, acquire student loans and transfer from a community college. She said the study shows the state university system needs to focus on the cost of a university education. "When you look at the financial hurdles, it does tell you that we need to look hard at affordability," Keele said. "We need to make sure students get through in a timely fashion and not rack up more debt that they have to." Rob McCallum, a 2004 SOU graduate, is now a sports writer for the Mount Shasta Herald. He's paying off one student loan and using his communication degree in California. McCallum said he felt like leaving Ashland after graduation, but he was glad he chose the small state school. "The communication department didn't have a ton of resources, but it taught us to be independent and go after internships and jobs on our own," McCallum said. "In some ways being at a small school puts you ahead of where you would be somewhere else." Alicia Branson, a 2006 SOU graduate with a bachelor's in psychology, said she found SOU "fairly useful," and there were some professors in her department who were very helpful in preparing her for post-college life. She said she is taking a break from psychology working at Ashland Eye Care but plans to go to graduate school outside Oregon because she has lived here her entire life. "I feel like it's time to move out," Branson said. At SOU, administrators are taking a different approach to assessing how to prepare students for post-university life. Jonathan Eldridge, vice president of student affairs at SOU, said the university does track its graduates, but it forms its curriculum partly around what sort of employment opportunities there are in the Rogue Valley. For example, data outlining the need for more teachers in the area prompts the university to expand its teaching program. "We don't look to this study as much as we do to other programs," Eldridge said. "But it is validation that what we're teaching in the classroom is relevant." Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or [email protected] . Current Comments: This is a bright future for 2005 Oregon grads? - 7% of graduates unemployed in Oregon. - 15% of graduates unemployed and left Oregon for jobs. - 6% of graduates employed in Oregon below federal poverty guidelines. - ONLY 72% of graduates employed in Oregon at or above poverty levels. Maybe if Eldridge saw that SOU was far worse at job placement than dot-com infomercials then he�d see why plummeting enrollment was shutting down the school. Fed Up - Ashland, OR - February 2nd, 3:41 AM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Debt Relief Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us