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Reno leaves good memories at SOU Mail Tribune/Bob Pennell Steve Reno will be leaving the president�s office at Southern Oregon University at the end of this month to take a chancellorship in New Hampshire. Reno will be remembered for his openness with students, his ability to build consensus among disparate groups and his signature bow tie. He�ll take his personable style of leadership to New Hampshire By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � When Steve Reno steps down as president of Southern Oregon University this month, many people will remember him as the man who led the school�s transition from college to university and spearheaded the campaign to build an $11.4 million Center for the Visual Arts. Student body president Scott Young will remember Reno as the guy in the bow tie who approached him on the campus lawn during the first few days of his freshman year. "He walked up to me and asked how my classes were going," Young says. "I was really shocked that a university president would be so open to talking to students." That�s just the kind of university president he is. It�s not uncommon to see Reno talking with students at the Stevenson Union coffee counter, cheering at a campus ball game or teaching a course in world religions. "He keeps one foot in the classroom all along, so he�s on the firing line with the kids," says Robert MacLellan, president of the SOU Foundation board. "I think that�s admirable." After 11 years at SOU, six as president, the 55-year-old Reno is graduating to a new position as chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire. The move will put the Reno family � Steve, Kit and their teenage children, Matt and Katy � closer to their extended family on the East Coast. It also will put Reno at the center of a nearly two-year contract dispute with professors at the University of New Hampshire, in a state that ranks 50th in the nation for aid to higher education. Reno�s supporters say he�s up to the challenge. As Oregon�s universities faced state budget cuts in recent years, Reno met with legislators and Oregon University System officials to fight for funds. "Steve has been very effective at articulating the importance of the smaller liberal arts and science colleges to the state of Oregon," says Provost Sara Hopkins-Powell, who will serve as interim president. "He was helpful in the last legislative session making a case for the small schools to be successful in the new budget model." On campus, Reno helped launch innovative curriculum programs, such as the freshman colloquium and the three-year bachelor�s degree. Known for his careful consensus-building, Reno says he can�t take all the credit for the new programs; they were campus projects. That, Reno says, is why they will continue long after he�s gone. "I don�t expect they�re going to go away because Steve Reno goes away," he says. "They�re part of Southern." There are parts of Southern that Reno does plan to take with him to New Hampshire: the Raider footballs, signed by players, that he�s kept in his office beside family photos. The "corporate casual" dress policy that says the bow tie can stay home during the summer. And a strong sense of responsibility for the university he�s helped grow. "I will continue to look out for opportunities for it," Reno says. "From New Hampshire, I will offer advice when asked. I may even offer advice when I feel it�s necessary." Southern Oregon University would have expected no less. It�s just the kind of president he was. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA