Colleagues,

After 30 years as a faculty member at Portland State and the last seven as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, it is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement at the end of this academic year. The idea of a formal separation from the University after having spent so many years engaged in our work here is a bit unnerving. At the same time, the opportunity to again contribute to both the local and national sustainability discussions and to have a bit more time to enjoy non-academic pursuits is, indeed, exciting. Portland State has grown and developed remarkably in the last three decades and it has been an honor to serve as both a faculty member and administrator during a time of such dynamic and positive change.

This being my last year, I plan to make the most of it. Since I don’t think of myself as “lame” and I am most certainly not a “duck,” I intend to continue my work throughout this year. There are many important projects we need to attend to as we continue to respond to the external forces that challenge us and progress toward achieving our goals and aspirations. Among them are a few of particular significance to us in the short term:

The development of a Strategic Enrollment Management plan (working collaboratively with Vice President Jackie Balzer) to support both our student success initiative and to create additional resources to support that and related initiatives.

The implementation of an expanded set of faculty ranks that will provide a pathway for advancement for all faculty at Portland State and allow for appropriate recognition of professional growth and development. We expect these new OAR’s to be approved by OUS later in the fall.

The continuing development of a new budget allocation process (with Vice President Monica Rimai) that relates much more directly the creation of revenue with the internal budget allocation and aligns the allocation with institutional goals.

With these and many other projects to address, I look forward to another productive and eventful year working with my colleagues in the faculty and administration. One mechanism for that will be a series of informal faculty gatherings focused on the initiatives mentioned above and a few other important projects. I hope you can join me at one or more of these events, based on your interest and availability. More details will be posted in an October Currently.

Sincerely,

Roy Koch