Fall transitions for Student Media’s 99th year

Cora McClain | Editor-in-Chief

Hey, Western. Here we are again, the start of another year, this one my last.

Going into my fourth year on “The Western Howl,” third year as Editor-in-Chief, and the 99th year since the conception of Student Media at Western, there are a lot of expectations for us at the Howl, as well as for me.

Since it’s my senior year and I will not be able to return next year, it’s my job to find and prepare the next Editor-in-Chief for producing the centennial volume of the Howl.

So, while I am focused on this, I might make a few errors along the way. For instance, this letter.

I’m so sorry for my letter from the Editor not making it into Volume 4, Issue 1. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t room in Issue 1 for this letter, as the issue was overwhelmed with an amazing flood of creativity and passion from the new writing staff.

You should know the drill by now Western: new year, new staff.

I’m so very excited to be working with all of the fresh perspectives from senior integrated English studies major Sarah Austin, junior English studies major Mikayla Coleman, and senior political science major Camille Lenning. I am especially looking forward to sophomore English studies major Mirella Barrera-Betancourt pioneering the new position of staff writer and helping to develop what this position entails.

At the same time, I am very lucky to have some key returning figures to help train and guide our staff through some major transitions. Senior interdisciplinary studies major Rylie Horrall returns as our Managing Editor and currently designs our issues in the absence of a designer. Stephanie Moschella, senior social science major, is once again our Digital Media Manager and taking over as photo editor in the absence of one. Allison Vanderzanden, senior English studies major, takes up a new role as Copy Editor this year.

Overall, this staff looks very strong in creativity and passion, as well as skill and experience. Just looking at Issue 1, I can already tell that this is going to be a great year for the Howl to expand and build after surviving heavy budget cuts, staff reductions and product downsizes.

Speaking of expanding, let’s get back to those transitions I mentioned.

Firstly, I am overjoyed to welcome our new adviser, William McDonald-Newman, to Student Media. Though he’s learning the ropes, he has already proven to be a big help to me and the staff.

Secondly, reading through this issue, it is pretty noticeable that we are expanding back to a 12 page issue. However, this could fluctuate back to eight pretty regularly.

Thirdly, flipping through this issue, it’s obvious that we are printing once again. New weekly issues will be found at newsstands and on tables around campus and Monmouth. Be on the lookout for these issues and don’t be afraid to pick one or two up; after all, they are for you, Western. Find a full list of our on and off campus distribution locations on our Instagram @thewesternhowl and website wou.edu/westernhowl.

Fourthly, we will not have a Sports section again this year, at least not a regular weekly section. Instead, the Howl will feature more special or limited sections; Issue 1 featured a Culture section, and Issue 2, a Homecoming section.

Finally, we are using new emails with our own domain, something we are very excited about. These will be the official Western Howl emails from now on. Please be patient with us while we are figuring out some technical issues with emails bouncing back.

That’s all for the changes we have made so far. If any more come up, Western, you will be the first to know.

Big things are coming, Western, and I am so excited to share them with you.

Contact the author at westernhowleditor@thewesternhowl.com

The Western Howl

Home »

All you need to know about the latest Board of Trustees meeting

Important updates from the second to last Board of Trustees meeting of the school year

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

On April 21, the Board of Trustees completed their second to last meeting. In the meeting, students, staff and faculty presented to the Board on the current state of the university and the important actions that will impact students for the next school year.

Student proposal: Over the course of a few months, students have been developing a detailed proposal for the board. Makana Waikiki ⏤ the current Incidental Fee Committee chair ⏤ led the presentation on borrowed time from shared governance after an April 13 request to be included in the meeting was denied due to the agenda being full. During the presentation, Waikiki presented five main items that will have the opportunity to be discussed in a special forum prior to the Board’s final meeting in June. It should be noted that the presentation is not mentioned anywhere within the meeting docket.

Allocate $1 million from the online course fee not used by the IFC towards the “Freedom Center,” IFC funded programs, replenishing the IFC reserves, additional funding for student athletes and hiring a Director of Equity and Inclusion.
Comprise a committee consisting of one Black Indigenous Person of Color student recommended by ASWOU, one BIPOC student appointed by Black Student Union, one BIPOC student sent by the Multicultural Student Union, one BIPOC faculty member recommendation from the faculty union, one BIPOC staff member appointed by staff union and one administrator appointed by Western’s president.
Allow 30 minutes of public comment on reopening campus for fall term.
Have President Fuller come to the next board meeting with a new policy around hiring faculty and staff positions. All committees should be required to have a student, staff and faculty member that is within the BIPOC community.
Hold a series of public forums in fall 2021 for students, staff and faculty to provide feedback to various organizations on campus.

IFC: Incidental fee recommendation is included in the Tuition and Fee Book and is supported by President Fuller. The Incidental Fee Steering Committee will meet during spring term to review the IFC Bylaws. IFC has voted to change the fee to $355 per term, to be charged to all students at credit one.

Article 15: The Curriculum Committee voted to disapprove the remaining Article 15 items. Dr. Leigh Graziano, Faculty Senate President and Associate Professor of English, anticipates the remaining items to also be disapproved by the Faculty Senate on April 27.

Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility: In collaboration with the University Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee and University Cultural Competency Advisory Committee, the Board’s Executive Governance and Trusteeship Committee released an official statement instead of University Policies or Procedures that communicates operational or transactional procedures. The statement is broken down into three sections: key terms and definitions, the seven priorities and expectations and accountability and steps the university will take to ensure that it is meeting the Board’s expectations.

Reopening update: Currently, a large committee meets every other week to discuss plans for reopening for fall 2021. At this time, the university anticipates holding in person classes and resuming co-curricular activities and group meetings. Western is currently reviewing a paper discussion presented by the Math and Science Faculties evaluating high-efficiency particulate air filters in classrooms. Western will be testing the filters in the coming months, assessing noise and overall effectiveness; funds for the project will come from the America Rescue Plan.

Tuition & Fee Advisory Committee: For the upcoming school year, the committee has recommended a 0% increase to the current tuition ⏤ $184 per credit ⏤ citing a concern pertaining to decreasing enrollment and 546 students who indicated $184 per credit was the maximum they were willing to pay. However, the committee did recommend a $5 increase to the Student Health and Counseling service fee from $145 to $150 a term.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

The Western Howl

Home »

All departments on campus experience employment reductions

Reductions to student and faculty employment have occurred all over campus

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Last April, Oregon’s unemployment numbers skyrocketed from 4% to 14.7% and has since settled to 7.9% as of September, according to deptofnumbers.com

Western has also experienced a spike in unemployment; all departments at Western have had jobs permanently removed, and each funded area has been temporarily limited to the amount of students they are able to hire.

In January 2020, Western’s Board of Trustees discussed potentially removing faculty jobs from campus due to steady decline in revenue.

“It was exacerbated by COVID-19,” said Public Service Librarian Janeanne Rockwell-Kincanon.

Many departments on campus — such as Student Recreation, the Child Development Center and the Hamersly Library — have all experienced employment reductions, totaling approximately 68 unfilled positions with a majority coming from Campus Recreation.

“It’s nowhere near where we would like it to be,” said Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Andy Main, “but one thing I think is important that we’re proud of is that just about every single employee that we were hoping to bring back for this fall we’ve gotten them their hours back or are trying get them back.”

Additionally, due to budget cuts and limited employment for social distancing purposes, the Hamersly Library and Student Recreation have cut their operating hours by more than 66%, while the Child Development Center has reduced the amount of child intake by 50%.

“Because we are operating under an emergency child care license, it requires us to have small stable groups,” said director Tammy Gardner. “We are doing three groups of 10 students. Each group has an assigned teacher and the groups are not allowed to cross paths.”

Currently, the Child Development Center is also receiving partial funding from an Oregon grant called Preschool Promise, Gardner explained. Under the Preschool Promise, it fully pays for 18 students to attend. Qualifying students have to be under 200% of the Federal poverty level and the families who submitted applications were selected by a third party source called the Parenting Hub of Polk and Marion County.

All departments on campus are hopeful that the coming year will provide better funding and increase employment opportunities. The story will be updated as more information is provided.

Correction: In the story above, it was implied that reduced student hires was the cause of limited hours of operation at Hamersly Library. However, this is not the case; student hire reduction was not the cause of limited hours, but the safety of staff and faculty due to social distancing guidelines.

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu

The Western Howl

Letter from the Editor

The Western Howl

All you need to know about the latest Board of Trustees meeting

The Western Howl

All departments on campus experience employment reductions

Tools

Resources