Let Knowledge Serve the City

Presidency, The, Fall 2009 by Wiewel, Wim

In an age when the local department store, bank, and grocery are run by out-of-state or international conglomerates, Portland State University provides an enduring presence and commitment to our surrounding region and beyond. We are physically, academically, civically, and environmentally grounded in the life of our region. In other words, we're here for the long haul.

Although Portland State has been engaging in collaborative partnerships since its founding in 1946, reforms in general education in the mid-'90s made communitybased learning a core value and requirement for all our undergraduates. This "engaged learning" gives students a transformative experience and motivates them to make a positive difference in personal and community life. Our engaged scholarship and research support faculty work that integrates communities' assets and interests with a scholarly agenda of teaching, research, and publication.

If you were to stroll along Portland's public "Park Blocks" at the center of Portland State and ask passing students what the university's motto is, most students would respond immediately with "let knowledge serve the city"-a motto coined by students nearly 15 years ago. Portland State frequently is cited as an institution that has undertaken and institutionalized some of the most comprehensive community-university engagement reforms in the past decade. Student enrollment in formal community-based learning courses for 2007-08 was more than 7,000, involving several hundred faculty and even more community partners. This number does not include hundreds of additional students who independently volunteer or engage with communities through student service, social clubs, or other initiatives.

Locally and internationally, more than 1,000 community agencies, businesses, governmental, and educational organizations have benefited from partnerships with Portland State students and faculty. Our Senior Capstone program alone includes more than 230 community-based research projects that are completed each year. Each project addresses community-identified needs and works to solve-not just study-them. Partnerships through academic courses, research, and other service efforts contribute almost $21 million per year to our community by providing more than 1.3 million volunteer hours.

When the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation selected Portland State for a $25 million challenge grant to help meet the needs of the Portland region, Portland State committed those funds, along with an additional $25 million for a total of $50 million, to sustainability research and education. This will support Oregon's growing sustainability sector as well as spur the economic recovery of our region.

When the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation selected Portland State for a $25 million challenge grant to help meet the needs of the Portland region, Portland State committed those funds, along with an additional $25 million for a total of $50 million, to sustainability research and education. This will support Oregon's growing sustainability sector as well as spur the economic recovery of our region.

Wim Wiewel is president of Portland State University.