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SOU rolls out new funding plan By Kevin Opsahl Updated: Sep 20, 2022 06:12 PM A A President Rick Bailey would like the university to rely less on tuition, state funding; move to homegrown efforts, from housing to solar power On the eve of the start of fall term, Southern Oregon University President Rick Bailey announced an ambitious, multiyear plan to overhaul how the Ashland institution is funded, saying reliance on state funding and tuition revenue is no longer an option. The details came in the form of a news release titled, “SOU prepares for strategic realignment to solidify financial future.” In it, the university outlined four “planks” it would focus on to receive new funding while cutting down on existing institutional costs. “Is the institution in an emergency situation today? No,” Bailey said in an interview. “But if we do nothing, then the fiscal challenges of our institution will grow dramatically. So there is an urgency for us to make bold moves as soon as we can.” He called many colleges’ and universities’ reliance on state funding and tuition for the last several decades “unsustainable” for SOU. “Without action, our costs will continue to rise above our revenue,” Bailey said. His four “planks” include managing costs, creating faculty incentive to take advantage of more grants, tapping into philanthropic giving and diversifying the streams of the institution’s revenue. Ideas Bailey has to bring in new money to SOU include some tangible projects: adding solar arrays to meet all daytime electrical needs on campus; creating a “business district” to allow SOU and nearby businesses to collaborate; and razing a housing and dining complex to make way for a “senior living facility.” The business district would be housed on existing SOU property on the corner of Ashland and Walker streets. The first floor would contain businesses that would “cater” to students, and up above that would be affordable housing that are “not dorms, but not the Ritz” and might be appealing for faculty members to live in, according to Bailey. While he did not say Tuesday exactly where the senior living community would be, it would come about in the form of a public-private partnership with an entity not yet decided. “It will create a revenue stream unlike anything we’ve ever had, and that’s exciting,” Bailey said, adding residents would be able to take SOU courses for free. On the philanthropic front, which the SOU president noted is shattering records right now, thanks in part to Lithia Motors’ Wednesday announcement of $12 million in programming, Bailey hoped any new donor money would focus on the talent the university could recruit in future years. “We’re also excited that this new wave of philanthropy is really focused on helping to fund talent,” he said. “The exciting part about philanthropy, moving forward, is not just the size of the work that we’re doing, but that it is investing in people.” The other “planks” of Bailey’s plan, grants and managing costs, could be both motivating for faculty but tough on students and staff, stakeholders that Bailey pledged would be part of the decision-making process. Managing costs includes stopping programs or paying less for them, depending on what they are. Bailey didn’t say what programs might be cut, but he did say that a new information system being implemented campuswide will save the school $700,000 a year; further, if SOU makes its own electricity, that could add another $700,000 in savings over the same time period. Grants have long been part of SOU faculty’s lifeblood, but a “reimagining” needs to happen, so there would be a team in place to support grants once they are secured. “Right now, all of that is on the backs of the people who go after that,” Bailey said. The SOU news release stated that Bailey acknowledges as part of his grand financial vision, “changes to SOU academic and support programs will be complicated,” but there will be “full transparency” and campus constituents will be included in discussions. “For anything that we decide to stop doing, there are likely going to be students for whom that one programmatic thing is the main reason they are at SOU,” Bailey said. “So any decision comes with a heavy strategic cost. It means the decisions we’re making are impossible decisions to make. But I do think the alternatives are far worse.” He provided assurances to students about the school’s financial future as they are welcomed back to campus this year. “What I would tell that student is everyone here is united in making sure that that student succeeds,” Bailey said. “All of this work, and our commitment to come together to have these conversations, is because we want to protect that student and everyone that comes after, so we get out of the cycle of using tuition increases over time to solve this fiscal challenge. We are really doing this for students, as challenging as it is.” Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.