U of O South?

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When the economy heads south, it's natural for legislators in Salem to look everywhere they can think of for ways to save money and operate government more efficiently. In fact, it's expected. Voters would be justifiably angry if lawmakers didn't seek out ways to make government do more with less.

But not every idea they latch on to is an inspired one. Some are likely to do more harm than good.

A bill to study consolidating the state's regional colleges and universities with the University of Oregon and Oregon State University is one such misguided effort.

Senate Bill 442 directs the Board of Higher Education to study the pros and cons of merging Eastern Oregon University, Western Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology and Southern Oregon University with the University of Oregon or Oregon State University.

SOU President Mary Cullinan told lawmakers last week that she opposes the idea, as do the presidents of the other three regional institutions. They have good reasons.

Every college campus is different. They have different enrollments, different areas of specialization, different campus cultures. They attract different kinds of students.

A student who thrives at a huge research institution such as U of O may not find a smaller, more intimate campus such as SOU a good fit. Other students want the close contact with faculty and the emphasis on teaching that is found at a smaller school.

OIT is geared toward highly technical fields, and attracts students who are drawn to those disciplines. Its mission is very different from a campus focused on the liberal arts. Eastern Oregon in La Grande serves mostly rural students, while Western in Monmouth emphasizes rigorous academics to compete with several private schools and the two large universities nearby.

But beyond philosophical or cultural differences, merging the big state universities with the small ones could threaten the very existence of the latter over the long term.

The Oregon University System already studied the idea of merging schools. That report, last July, concluded that a merger would be impractical.

Funding for regional universities is hard enough to come by now. If they were merely satellites of U of O and OSU, it would be much easier for higher-education officials to decide they were expendable.

Too much public policy in Oregon is driven by the Willamette Valley corridor from Portland to Eugene. Regional universities help give other parts of the state a distinct cultural identity.

In Southern Oregon, a unique partnership between SOU and Rogue Community College has resulted in increased enrollment and enhanced opportunities for local students.

Senate Bill 442 won't even generate any results until 2010, the deadline for the Board of Higher Education to report back to the Legislature. Lawmakers should save the time and money this study will cost and not start it in the first place.

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