A Message to All CR Students

I am writing to say that we in the CR Department are doing everything in our power to bring our courses, programs, and other activities back to normal.  The various institutions on campus, including the Office of Campus Security, the Emergency Response Team, the CARE Team, the CLAS Dean's Office, and the Center for Student Health and Counseling have taken this incident involving Henry Liu quite seriously.  In addition, the FBI, AFT, and the Portland Police have also played important roles in the broader response to this serious campus safety issue.  It is important to state that no criminal offense has occurred, and this wide response has been triggered by verbal threats that may only amount to aggressive venting.  Everyone involved in the response is mindful of two key facts: no criminal act has taken place, but threats--backed up by the ownership of weapons--must be responded to with every urgency and precaution that can be mobilized.  I assure you that all of this has been done, and the situation continues to be monitored carefully.  Stan and I, who were the CR faculty members threatened, are doing fine, and we are grateful for the outpouring of concern from CR students, as well as faculty, and staff throughout the University.  If you have any questions or concerns about this matter, please call me on my cell phone: 503-675-0982.

Looking toward the coming academic year

In the coming academic year, I expect a number of changes at PSU that will affect our department. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (of which we are a part) will have a new dean in January, 2012. A dean can have a profound affect on the way departments function, so it should be interesting to experience the changes. We will also have a new budgetary system that will likely calibrate department revenue with student credit hours (SCH) generated. We are proposing an undergraduate major and minor, so additional SCH should follow, expanding our ability to pay for more graduate assistants, scholarships, and faculty members. We shall see...

Welcome to PSU's CR Department Chair's Blog

I thought that it would be helpful if I wrote a blog to keep students and faculty members up to date on department activities and plans. Please subscribe to this blog.