OSU-Cascades preparing for new school year

OSU-Cascades is just under a month away from the start of classes on Sept. 20.

The school recently was approved to receive funding to help with campus expansion plans.

Vice President Becky Johnson said Friday that a former pumice mine site directly adjacent to the campus will be developed so that they will be able to put new buildings on it in the future.

“But if we want to grow to 5,000 students and keep more of our Central Oregon students here so that they can contribute to our economy in the long run, I think we have to have some of these other opportunities that are just natural for campuses,” she said.

The goal of 5,000 students is something that officials believe can be obtained if the campus can grow sustainably.

In 2016, the school had an enrollment of 1,215 students.

One of the issues that the school has had to deal with in recent years is the lack of parking options on campus.

They are currently looking for solutions to alleviate those issues.

“The problem is that the parking adjacent to our campus on the city street is free, and you know students are smart, and they will chose free over paying, for the most part,” Johnson said.

“We have been working with the city to try to figure out if there is ways that maybe we could encourage shorter-term parking on this street, or maybe one side of parking on the street, so we are just in talks with the city on that.”

As always, the new school year brings many new students who school officials look forward to meeting.

“I look forward to welcoming them, telling them that I’m going to be there at the end of their four years, and handing them their diploma, and trying to get them really committed to sticking with it,” Johnson said.

School officials say that it is still to early to project enrollment numbers for the upcoming fall term, but they do expect a strong incoming class.

The deadline to apply for the fall term is Sept. 1.