OSU-Cascades hospitality degree wins board OK

Oregon State University plans to launch the state’s only four-year degree in hospitality management beginning this year at the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. The proposal was approved Friday by the OSU Board of Trustees.

The multi-disciplinary degree will include options for eco-tourism and sustainability, a business minor, and practicum/internship requirements.

In Oregon, hospitality is a $9.2 billion industry that directly generates more than 91,000 jobs and indirectly creates another 41,000 jobs, officials say. In Central Oregon, tourism and hospitality are particularly important and continue to be the region’s largest source of jobs, growing at a rate of nearly 13 percent every year.

“It will create significant higher education opportunities for place-bound Oregonians in an area of the state reliant on the hospitality industry,” said Rebecca Warner, senior vice provost for Academic Affairs at Oregon State.

Warner said the proposed program has received statewide support from the hospitality industry.

Now the proposal will go to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for review and consideration for approval at HECC’s February meeting in Corvallis.

The board on Friday also approved a resolution requesting the State Treasurer to issue bonds previously authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 2013 and 2014 for real estate and expansion of OSU-Cascades, renovation of Strand Agricultural Hall, partial funding for the construction of the Learning Innovation Center (also known as the new classroom building), and partial funding for construction of Johnson Hall – a new $40 million, 60,000-square-foot engineering building.

The board also approved a process to annually determine student tuition and fees. The board will receive a recommendation on tuition and fees from OSU President Edward J. Ray, who first will consult with student government leaders and other students on the Corvallis campus as well as the OSU-Cascades campus.

The board also heard reports from OSU administrators on risk management, long-range facilities planning, state funding for higher education, accreditation, educational goals and ways the university measures academic progress. Members also heard a presentation from OSU College of Liberal Arts Dean Larry Rodgers and liberal arts students on the growth, reorganization and expansion of academic programs and degrees, along with personal overviews of student experiences within the college,

The board also approved the appointment of Debbie Colbert, a former administrator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, as new board secretary. She will assume her new duties on Jan. 26.