The center’s location inside the Student Health Services Building offers students privacy and confidentiality, as it’s a place many already visit for a variety of other medical needs. It also places them in close proximity of trained sexual assault nurses if needed. There are three such nurses on the Student Health Services staff who work closely with community medical providers.

“The idea is that most of the Student Health Services building is already confidential,” said Rob Reff, director of the Alcohol, Drug and Violence Prevention Center and part of the team that oversees the center, in a statement. “You can be going to [the Student Health Services building] for all sorts of reasons.”

OSU already offered a wide variety of resources for students who experienced sexual violence, but the campus didn’t have a central location where students could go to get all their needs met. The advocacy center also gives faculty and staff members a specific location to refer students who have disclosed a past assault.

“It is critical that we provide a single, central resource that is networked to the various offices and support functions,” said Susie Brubaker-Cole, OSU vice provost for Student Affairs, in a statement. “This will help faculty and staff make referrals and will help survivors feel supported in choosing what resources they need in the short or long term.”

The advocacy center has a full-time advocate who will provide administrative and support services with help from the Sexual Assault Support Services office within the Counseling and Psychological Services department. Reff said in a statement that providing an advocate for survivors is crucial because advocates work solely in the interest of the students, helping connect them with necessary resources such as counseling, housing, law enforcement, medical services or simply someone who will listen.

While the center is primarily for students, OSU faculty and staff survivors can receive support, stabilization and referrals from the OSU Advocacy Center as well. A resource room will also be open to anyone on campus, providing books, movies, articles and other media with information about sexual violence.

Earlier this month, OSU hired Michelle Bangen as the new assistant director for violence prevention. She previously worked at Ohio State University, where she led a nationally recognized bystander intervention program called Buckeyes Got Your Back. Her first approach at OSU will be to work with the fraternity community on implementing a version of the Ohio State bystander intervention program at OSU.
 

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The $232 million complex, located in Portland, opened for all programs in the fall of 2014. It consists of both the 12-story Skourtes Tower on the north and a five-story south wing connected by an atrium. It features lecture halls, classroom labs, specialty research centers, OHSU School of Dentistry facilities and offices for health professionals and educators from multiple institutions. Approximately 3,000 students use the building per day to study medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, chemistry and biology.

Last year, the building achieved LEED Platinum certification, making it one of only two buildings in the country comprising more than 500,000 square feet to achieve this rating. Its sustainable features include green roofs, stormwater collection for non-potable water uses, energy-efficient lighting and climate control. It also incorporates a large amount of daylight thanks to the plethora of windows placed throughout the building.

Thanks to all these features, the complex was also named a 2015 Top Ten Green Project by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE), earned a 2015 Innovation Award from the AIA Technology in Architectural Practice group and won a 2015 Excellence in Architecture Merit Award from the Society of College and University Planners, in association with AIA Committee on Architecture for Education.

“CLSB demonstrates that even a large building with a complex program can achieve high performance,” noted the AIA/COTE award jurors. “This building has a remarkable 67 percent of its occupants able to use public transit, cycling, or walking to access the site, and it houses 400 bike parking spaces. The façade thoughtfully handles solar control and daylight harvesting.”

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The future Oregon Forest Science Complex will include both new construction and renovation of existing space, showcasing innovative uses of wood in building design. It will also allow the College of Forestry to conduct research that will help meet the world’s growing demand for energy efficient, tall buildings made from sustainable building products, according to a statement by OSU.

“We are excited about leading a new national effort to advance the science and technology necessary to primarily use wood in the construction of 5- to 20-story buildings,” said Thomas Maness, dean of the OSU College of Forestry. “Developing these new, competitively priced, environmentally friendly products will not only increase the value of Oregon’s natural resources, but also grow jobs in our rural communities, with substantial benefits for our state.”

OSU is already a recognized leader in the development of adhesives and manufacturing techniques for engineered wood products. The Oregon Forest Science Complex, which is slated to include a new Advanced Wood Products Laboratory, will boost these applied research efforts. The laboratory, envisioned as a 25,000-square-foot space, will include computer controlled and robotic manufacturing systems, plus a pilot plant designed as a learning laboratory for students.

Peavy Hall, the College of Forestry’s main academic building, will also undergo a renovation, transforming it into a real life example of the possibilities offered by advanced wood products.

“In addition to concerns about sustainability, there is a lot of interest in engineered wood construction because these spaces are beautiful, very inviting and healthy places to live and work,” Maness said. “We want to show what you can do, and create a place that will be inspiring to our students as well as industry representatives.”

Enrollment at the School of Forestry, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels, has been steadily increasing in recent years, nearly doubling in the past decade to approximately 1,000 students. Bolstered by the new Oregon Forest Science Complex, the university hopes to push enrollment to 2,000 to meet high demand for qualified forestry professionals.

“Sometimes people think that forestry was important for Oregon’s past but don’t realize that it remains critical to our economy today, and may become even more important in the future,” said OSU President Ed Ray in a statement. “We are very proud of OSU’s contributions to the sector and are eager to build on this rich heritage, carrying out our mission as a 21st century land grant university.”

The university hopes to raise $30 million for construction costs related to the complex, after which it will also seek matching bonds from the state. Bonding for the project was included in the governor’s capital budget for consideration in the current legislative session.

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The opening of the International Learning Center in 2011, however, quickly resulted in an overflow of traffic through the Arnold Center and demonstrated a need for a renovation in order to accommodate the increased flow of people and development of the institution.

The $4 million renovation included redesigning the servery section of the dining center, now called the Southside Station @ Arnold, to fuse global cuisine and the Pacific Northwest for a shared experience suitable for international and domestic patrons, according to Richard Turnbull, Associate Director of University Housing and Dining Services.

The project team included Nancy Kalter-Dills and Akiko K. Hrovat from EDG Interior Architecture + Design in San Rafael, Calif., Michael Shea and Andrew Burke from Portland, Ore.-based Soderstrom Architects Ltd., and foodservice consultants Steve Marshall and Mark Walsh from The Marshall Associates. Andersen Construction Company from Portland, with Ken Lewis as the project manager, oversaw the project’s construction.

The updated design features new lighting and a more efficient design suitable for increased traffic and more efficient operations. Additional elements include locally manufactured quartz countertops, flame-resistant fiber tape insulation that allows pans to be isolated from the countertops and large acoustic tiles in the ceiling to enhance the space’s aesthetics and design.

The most notable feature of the Southside Station’s design is the overall efficiency introduced to the space. Nearly 70 percent of food production happens at the serving stations, and well-equipped workspaces allow staff to maximize their efficiency and minimize the amount of space necessary for production. Ample space in the back of the Southside Station allows staff to receive deliveries, store food and prepare food efficiently. The exhaust fans and hood systems in the back area were evaluated and updated to fit current codes.

The project team also took into account the varying tastes of the diverse student body with a wider selection of global cuisines. Individual stations serve a variety of food choices, including sushi, global cuisines, grilled selections, a deli, pizza and breakfast items.

The project was not LEED certified, but does comply with LEED Silver certifications, as required by the university for all campus projects. One element of this requirement is evident in the Southside Station’s center for recycling and composting, which provides the opportunity to separate trash and recyclables at the end of meals.

The enhanced design produced outstanding results as the annual customer count more than doubled from 145,000 to 300,000, and the sales for the year increased from $5.6 million to $7.3 million.
 

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