Oregon State University - Cascades' Energy Systems Laboratory in Bend is leading a research project that will benchmark home natural gas-fueled generators and provide insight on the current state of commercially available generator performance in the U.S.
John Condon, a civil engineer originally from Bend, was recently named facilities and operations manager of Oregon State University - Cascades, overseeing campus operations, facilities maintenance, parking management, security and fleet maintenance. As the campus expands, he will also serve as a construction project manager, overseeing project management, construction management and administration of campus architectural and engineering projects.
Oregon State University - Cascades is now serving 1,172 students, including 980 juniors, seniors and graduate students. This also includes 192 dually-enrolled students preparing to transfer to OSU-Cascades as they take primarily freshmen and sophomore classes at Central Oregon Community College.
More than 40 students who receive veteran education benefits at Oregon State University - Cascades served in the military. In total, 51 students at the branch campus access veteran tuition benefits, including 10 who are accessing dependent benefits.
Of the students who are accessing veteran education benefits:
In a meeting of the Campus Expansion Advisory Committee, Oregon State University - Cascades responded to formal recommendations from a community task force that focused on housing considerations for the future campus. The branch campus adopted 21 of a slate of 25 recommendations.
Oregon State University - Cascades will use a new $305,000 suicide prevention grant to develop programs at the branch campus to support student mental health and to identify and respond to students who are at risk for suicide. The campus was one of 15 universities nationwide to receive a 2014 Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The Bend City Council has adopted a final decision affirming a hearings officer’s decision to approve Oregon State University – Cascades’ site plan application for a four-year undergraduate campus on a 10-acre parcel it owns in southwest Bend.
The recently approved computer science degree at Oregon State University - Cascades has gained its first full-time faculty member, computer scientist Marc Rubin. The designated lead of the degree program, Rubin will help guide the program's vision and growth, including its extension to freshman and sophomore course offerings beginning in 2015.
He will also teach computer science courses, including computer architecture, operating systems, software engineering, algorithms, data mining, web applications, embedded systems, data structures and introductory programming.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks will join the faculty as a Distinguished Visiting Writer in the Low Residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Oregon State University - Cascades this summer. Brooks will join faculty and students during the residency session that takes place from June 9 to June 19, 2014.
Oregon State University - Cascades' research portfolio continued to expand in the fiscal year ending June 30, with more than $2.5 million in grant funding awarded. The research grants will further work in the fields of energy research, teaching, mental health and natural resources.
