This content was published: July 26, 2018. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC President Mark Mitsui meets with State Sen. Burdick about policy, PCC programs
Photos and story by James Hill
PCC President Mark Mitsui received an influential visitor on Wednesday, July 26.
The Majority Leader of the Oregon Senate, Ginny Burdick, stopped by his office on the Sylvania Campus to discuss policy, PCC successes and programs, and future issues that could affect the community college. State Sen. Burdick, who represents District 18 (portions of Tigard, Southwest Portland and Northwest Portland), was updated by Mitsui on the college’s efforts to plan affordable housing solutions, closing the opportunity gap for students, career tech education initiatives, gun safety, and more.
The president did touch on the budget being proposed for the state’s 17 community colleges of $787 million for the next biennium. Within this budget there is $70 million for CTE training that would double the number of annual graduates and another $70 million that would expand student success efforts.
“One of the things we are really focused on is partnering with our employers to create more opportunity for students,” said Mitsui, who added that the college has more than 1,600 employer partners. “We are leveraging those partnerships for students as much as we can but we still are not able to completely bridge the skills gap (without additional state funding).”
State Sen. Burdick was especially interested in PCC working with Higher Education Coordinating Commission to establish an emergency nursing program to help the 140 stranded students from the closure of ITT Tech graduate.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »