Register Gaurd
June 20th, 2014
PORTLAND — The state Board of Higher Education on Friday appointed Roy Saigo as interim president of Southern Oregon University, the Ashland-based school that’s cutting academic programs because of budget woes.
Saigo, 73, was president of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota from 2000-2007, and has more recently been a consultant. He’s being touted as a turnaround expert by Oregon University System officials. Besides implementing a retrenchment plan that reduces the scope of the university, Saigo will oversee SOU as it and the other six public universities gain independence from the Board of Higher Education by establishing their own governing boards.
Saigo replaces Mary Cullinan, who resigned to become president at Eastern Washington University. In March, 63 percent of the Southern Oregon faculty voted that they were not confident in Cullinan’s leadership. The vote came weeks after faculty members accepted a labor contract that did not include cost-of-living raises.