Portland State University

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Portland State University
Motto Doctrina urbi serviat (Latin: Let Knowledge Serve the City)
Established 1946
Type Public
President Daniel O. Bernstine
Staff 2,248 [1]
Undergraduates 17,378 [2]
Postgraduates 6,108 [3]
Location Portland, Oregon, USA
Campus Urban
Colors Forest green and white            
Mascot Vikings
Website www.pdx.edu
Portland State University
Portland State University

Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon. It has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon including the largest business and graduate schools. It is also the only public university in the state that is located in a major metropolitan city. Portland State is part of the Oregon University System.

The current President is Daniel Bernstine, the former Dean of the Law School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Contents

[edit] History

The University was established as the Vanport Extension Center in 1946 to satisfy the demand for higher education in Portland for returning World War II veterans. (It became known as "the college that wouldn't die" because it refused to close after the Vanport Flood of 1948.) In 1952 the Center moved to downtown Portland and occupied the vacated buildings of Lincoln High School on SW Broadway street. In 1955, the Center changed its name to Portland State College to mark its maturation into a four-year degree-granting institution.

Portland State University's growth for the next couple of decades was constricted under the ruling that no public university or college in Oregon could duplicate the programs offered by another, with grandfathered exclusions for the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. Nevertheless, graduate programs were added in 1961 and doctoral programs were added in 1968. The institution was granted university status by the Oregon State System of Higher Education in 1969. In 1994 PSU did away with the traditional undergraduate distribution system and adopted a new interdisciplinary general education program known as University Studies. This program has been controversial both on and off campus, but it is one of the programs at Portland State that has garnered national attention. U.S. News & World Report has on multiple occasions listed University Studies as a "Program to Look For". In 2003 Portland State was approved to award degrees in Black Studies. That same year the university opened a center housed in a new building to support Native American students. The racial make-up of Portland State students is over 90% white even as Portland State promotes a more racially diverse student body. In 2004 Dr. Fariborz Maseeh donated, through The Masseeh Foundation, $8 million to the College of Engineering and Computer Science. This was the largest single donation to the University at the time. The college was renamed the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science.

In May 2004, Portland State announced a joint offering with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to establish the nation's first biomedical informatics program. [4]

In early 2005, State Representative Mitch Greenlick along with co-sponsors introduced legislation in the Oregon House of Representatives that would have merged Portland State and OHSU. The legislation was met with resistance as it was opposed by the presidents of both universities. Consequently, the bill died.

In May 2006, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer helped Portland State University celebrate the grand opening of a new engineering building, the "Northwest Center for Engineering, Science and Technology". The new engineering building is a key element of the university's increased emphasis on engineering, science and technology, enhancing interaction and learning within the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science in order to serve more students, increase research funding, attract top-rate faculty and expand industry collaborations. The 130,000 square-foot facility includes classrooms, offices and 41 research and teaching labs with an environmentally sustainable design.

In March 2007, Representative Greenlick introduced HB 3034 [5], a proposal which would remove Portland State from the Oregon University System and merge its governance with OHSU into a Portland Metropolitan Universities Board. A legislative hearing was held on March 19 where representatives from PSU and OHSU opposed the proposal. [6]

[edit] Academics

Portland State is currently the largest school in the Oregon University System and is its fastest growing. The university is ranked among the "Best in the West" and as a "College With a Conscience" by the Princeton Review. Portland State has progressively added more PhD programs as it evolves from its historic roots as a liberal arts undergraduate college towards a more broad based national research university. Recently added PhDs are Mathematics, Biology, Computer Science, Applied Psychology, Technology Management and Sociology.

In the 2004-05 academic year, Portland State awarded 2931 bachelor degrees, 1510 master degrees and 55 Doctorates for a total of 4496 degrees.

U.S. News & World Report currently ranks Portland State University in the fourth tier in 2007 as a national research university as it progresses from a regional to national entity.[1]

PSU is home to many colleges and programs that offer undergraduate, graduate, and certificate degrees. Below are the current offerings, as well as links to selected departmental websites.

Colleges and schools
General education
Extended learning
International Programs
Cultural programs


[edit] Student life

Portland State differs from the other universities in Oregon partially because as an urban institution it attracts a student body older than other rural universities. In the 2006-2007 school year, it was reported that the average age of an attending student was 25-years-old. A significant percentage of Portland State's classes are offered at night and Saturdays. Indeed, some programs only offer classes at night. PSU also delayed the development of its campus for decades after its founding. The institution sold land in a neighboring block soon after its move to downtown Portland, and delayed the construction of student housing until the early 1970s.

While the mean age of students is near the mid twenties, increasing traditional enrollment is bringing the average student age down. Ambitious mixed-use building projects (commercial, educational, residential) in the city are purposed to attract younger students. These establishments preserve downtown shops and businesses while transforming Portland State University from a "commuter campus" to a mix between a commuter and a traditional campus. Recently completed residential projects include the Stephen Epler Hall and The Broadway. Further steps toward increasing housing capacity — and university control over its own housing — are being taken with plans for further construction, and with Portland State U taking over management of the residence halls it currently owns. Optional residential and social opportunities exist with a small but active Greek System.

In March of 2007, Portland State University took over the managing of the on-campus housing at Portland State University. College Housing Northwest, who has previously managed the on-campus housing buildings (including The Broadway, Stephen Epler Hall, West Hall, King Albert, St. Helens, Montgomery Court, and Ondine) for over 30 years, will still maintain its off-campus housing (including Goose Hollow, The Palidian, The Cambrian, and Clay).

The student government at PSU is the Associated Students of Portland State University. In addition to a student body President and Vice President, there is a Student Fee Committee, a 25-member Student Senate chaired by the Vice President, and a Judicial Board which rules on ASPSU constitutional questions. There are also a number of university committees that have student members appointed by the ASPSU President. [7]

The student newspaper at Portland State is the Daily Vanguard, a fully student-run newspaper established in 1946. The student run radio station is KPSU. "The Portland Review" is a literary magazine of poetry, fiction and art published by PSU's Student Publications Board. Additional student newspapers at PSU are The Rearguard, an alternative-monthly newspaper, and The Spectator. In 2006, The Full Monty, an underground student newspaper based in the Montgomery Residence Hall, focusing on diverse and alternative perspectives, began circulation.

The 1.3 million volume Branford Price Millar Library is located in the center of campus, and has a microcomputer lab with both PC's and Mac's. The Branford Prince Millar Library is a repository for federal documents.

Portland State University is served on Third, Fourth, and Broadway Avenues by TriMet bus lines, by the Portland Streetcar at three stops throughout campus, and by Oregon Health & Science University and Portland Community College Shuttles on SW Harrison Street at SW Broadway.

The PSU Art and Architecture Tram has recently created a wiki to encourage students and faculty participation as well as solicit funding for the group.

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Portland State Vikings

Portland State is a member of the Big Sky Conference (joining in 1996), Pac-10 Conference in wrestling and the Pacific Coast Softball Conference. PSU competes at the NCAA Division I level in basketball, women's volleyball, golf and soccer, wrestling, tennis, softball, indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Football competes at the Division I AA level under newly hired Head Coach Jerry Glanville.

Prior to joining Division I, the school won NCAA National Division II Championships in women's volleyball and wrestling. The school has also placed second twice in football and once in women's basketball at the Division II level.

Portland State's colors are forest green, black, and white, and its mascot is the Viking personified as "Victor E. Viking". Purple was originally a school color but was dropped in favor of green and white.

Among the two more notable former Portland State athletes are Freeman Williams and Neil Lomax. Freeman Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in 1977 and 1978. Neil Lomax was a record setting quarterback who went on to star for the then St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL. Football's the "Run & Shoot" offense was first implemented at the college level at PSU by then coach Darryl "Mouse" Davis. Davis' quarterback protoges were Lomax and June Jones.

Home games for football are held off-campus at PGE Park, and home games for basketball are held on-campus at the Peter W. Stott Center.

On February 28, 2007 Portland State University hired former NFL coach Jerry Glanville as the Head Coach of the Vikings football team.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Awards

In 2006, Portland State was declared to be the nation's first Salmon Safe University by the nonprofit organization Salmon Safe. The award was given to recognize campus-wide efforts toward environmental sustainability by treating storm water runoff before it reaches the local watershed.[3]

[edit] Trivia

  • Portland State's entry in the 1965 General Electric College Bowl Team won the nationally televised quiz show that pitted teams of college whiz kids from across the country against each other. The team knocked off its competitors for five consecutive weeks, retiring as champions, and setting a new record for total points scored. The University's Smith Memorial Student Union was named after team member Michael J. Smith, who competed in the tournament while suffering from cystic fibrosis and died in 1968. [12]
  • In 1971, Phil Knight was supplementing his modest income from his fledgling Nike, Inc. (then Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc.), by teaching an accounting class at Portland State University. There he met Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student, who was working on a drawing assignment in the hallway. Knight offered to pay her a couple of dollars an hour if she would design a shoe stripe. The Nike "swoosh" was the result of her efforts.[13]

[edit] Gallery

PSU College of Urban & Public Affairs

Portland Street Car at PSU Urban Plaza Station

[edit] References

  1. ^ America's Best Colleges 2007. America's Best Colleges. U.S. News & World Report (2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-01.
  2. ^ Entertainment Weekly, 1994: The Power of Love
  3. ^ PSU first 'salmon safe' university. Daily Vanguard. Retrieved on September 8, 2006.

[edit] External Links


Oregon University System
Oregon State University • University of Oregon • Portland State University • Oregon Institute of Technology • Western Oregon University • Southern Oregon University • Eastern Oregon University • Oregon Health & Science University (affiliate)


Big Sky Conference
Eastern Washington • Idaho State • Montana • Montana State • Northern Arizona • Northern Colorado • Portland State • Sacramento State • Weber State
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