Office of the President

From the President – April 15, 2025

Shared Governance at Work!

Dear EOU Community,

We’ve spent much time in the past few months working on budget modeling for next year. I’m extremely grateful to the entire campus for helping us prepare for multiple scenarios as we work through uncertainties in the current state and federal environment. I believe our planning better prepares us to provide excellence for our students and employees in what continues to be an uncertain state and federal funding future.

We’ve engaged in deep shared governance work around our budget and tuition proposals. We are now at the point where we can begin to finalize plans around what we know. The Budget and Planning/Tuition Advisory Committee (that reports to University Council) sent their Tuition, Mandatory Enrollment Fees, and R&B proposal to me, as has ASEOU’s Incidental Student Fee Committee. Changes to the Health Services Fee were presented to Faculty Senate, University Council, and others, and the Room and Board rates were presented to the Tuition Advisory Committee. In addition, we held multiple student forums to gather feedback. I’m proud of our processes that ensure many voices are heard.

At present, we are not engaged in the deep cuts we expected, in part, because many of you continue to budget and spend wisely. I appreciate this realism about our budget. Preliminary FY27 budget information was presented to the Board of Trustees’ Finance & Administration Committee and will be shared during the May EOU Board of Trustees meeting. The same budget information was shared with our Associated Academic Professionals. Though EOU cannot predict the future, we will continue to monitor proposed changes at the state and federal levels so that we remain prepared.

Part of the reason we are on solid footing for next year is because of the excellence within the finance and accounting units at EOU, led by VP LeeAnn Case. This team is receiving accolades outside of the university, too! Please join me in congratulating our fiscal team for earning the Chief Financial Office’s Gold Star Certificate for FY2025 (opens in a new tab) in recognition of their diligent efforts to maintain accurate and complete accounting records, provide year-end information in a timely manner, and support the statewide financial reporting process. Thank you for the outstanding work you do every day!

I hope you will join me in thanking Dr. Saladino for her outstanding representation of Eastern Oregon University, our MSW program, and CSWE through her dedicated service as an accreditation volunteer and site visitor. To learn more about her commitment to and support of the accreditation site visit process, I encourage you to read the second story in this newsletter (story, opens in a new tab). Additionally, EOU completed its CSWE Benchmark 1 site visit on February 24, 2026, under Dr. Saladino’s leadership, and she was praised by site visitors for her organization and knowledge.

We’re also receiving acclaim for an outstanding feature at our university. PMA Consultants, who helped us navigate the rebuilding of EOU’s Grande Staircase, submitted the project for the Excellence in Concrete Awards, and we were notified last week that EOU is a finalist.

Our graduating students are now heavily engaged in thinking about their next steps, and since student success is our #1 priority, I think we can all be proud of some recent student accomplishments:

• The Doctor of Pharmacy program at Washington State University, Spokane Campus, accepted Madi Olsen (Chemistry-Biochemistry major). The summer Neuroscience Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Georgia Tech accepted Tristen Tritt (Chemistry-Biochemistry and Psychology major). Ms. Tritt is one of seven students selected nationally from over 600 applications! Madelynn Sturm will be attending the University of Washington, Pullman, Master’s Program in the Department of History.

• Indy Gauthier and Jacob Sanchez were awarded first place at the Eastern Oregon Innovation Jam for their idea for a digestive supplement. Second place was earned by the team made up of EOU graduate Kellen Grant and current EOU students Adam Smith and Addison Wickliffe, who proposed using an unmanned aircraft system to track livestock.

I am engaging with members of the Oregon delegation to discuss federal funding for higher education, including the Pell, TRIO, and our Prison Education Program. I participated in a range of shared governance activities, including meetings with FS President Bill Grigsby and UC President Jordan Withers, the Faculty Senate, and the three committees of the Board of Trustees. The Coalition of Oregon Public Universities Presidents convened to discuss funding challenges in the state, and I met with BMCC and TVCC Presidents Mark Browning and Dana Young regarding similar issues and to plan for future engagements. The OPM Assessment Committee met to review the changes we have implemented as we adjust to our new contract with Risepoint, and we had a lively discussion about supporting online students.

I also made some time for more fun engagements. I enjoyed participating in the Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament with students, and I learned about Dr. Sandra Nieto’s research at the Faculty Research Colloquium. I enjoyed seeing our junior and senior art students shine at their annual exhibitions at Nightingale Gallery and Art Center East. I had the opportunity to watch our softball and baseball teams as well, though we could have asked for better weather!

Wishing you a glorious week!

Sincerely,