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Lemonade from Lemons: Gaining Strength from Financial Crisis

By Mary Cullinan

In August 2006, I moved west to start my dream position as president of Southern Oregon University (SOU). I was eager to become the leader of a public university, set in the glorious Rogue Valley, with a strong focus on undergraduate education and the liberal arts.

I came to the position with significant experience in higher education. However, my experience couldn't fully prepare me for the bad news that faced the institution at the beginning of my first fall term. I knew Oregon had not supported its public universities over the previous decade, and I knew that enrollment at SOU had fallen once tuition had been raised to meet the gap created by decreased public funding. I had dealt with budget cuts in California and enrollment shortfalls in Texas. I felt ready to deal with a bad situation in Oregon. . . .

Excerpted from the spring 2009 issue of The Presidency. To subscribe to the magazine, please call (301) 632-6757, or order online through ACE's bookstore.