$10 million grant secures College of NR
Thanks to a $10 million donation from the Quinney Foundation, affiliates from the College of Natural Resources can rest assured that their college will be adequately funded for years to come.
“(The Quinney Foundation) really went to the max and came with a commitment of a $10 million additional gift to the College of Natural Resources,” said USU President Stan Albrecht. “That will allow us to set aside conversations about the college not continuing as a separate college. The College of Natural Resources will continue to be an important part of the stable colleges at Utah State University.”
Although many of the college’s programs have recently been re-accredited, the donation comes at a time when monetary cuts to certain programs have caused a struggle to stay alive.
Beginning in 1989, S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney have helped 225 undergraduate students and 70 graduate or doctoral students complete programs by issuing either full or partial Quinney Fellowships. S.J. and Jessie Quinney are USU alumni and natives of Cache Valley.
“I think that a lot of students wouldn’t have been affected because it is such a small college,” said ASUSU President Erik Mikkelsen, “but it would have taken a toll on the university as a whole, as would any budget cut. I’m happy we were able to get that gift so (the college) could stick around. It’s a good asset to the university and it has a lot of good programs.”
Nancy Mesner, associate dean of the CNR, said the donation, which came from the Quinney Foundation, will be distributed over a period of 20 years. Certain details of the agreement are still being worked out, she said.
“The gift is part of a long tradition of support for CNR by the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney Foundation and the Quinney family,” Mesner said.
Mesner said contributions have ranged from supporting research in the college, to library and building projects.
The CNR has received in total more than $25 million in donations from the Quinney Foundation, Albrecht said.
CNR Dean Nat Frazer said a lot of the grant money received will be used to forward student research projects designed to improve the environment.
“We wouldn’t be able to do any of our research without these grants, said undergraduate student Erin Jones. “The tests that we have to run and the equipment that we need is all very expensive.”
Jones said he is currently involved with an experiment to test the effects of an increased mercury level on brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake. He said this has a significant effect on the multi-million dollar shrimping industry as well as bird migration.
Environmental research isn’t cheap, he said.
“We have a boat,” he said, “We need gas money to haul us to and from the site. Running just a single half-liter sample for (mercury tests) is maybe $150 dollars, and we sent off around 24 samples last time. You wouldn’t think it’s expensive, but when you start doing the math on what you are going to need to do an effective experiment, the cost adds up so quickly.”
Jones said most students probably don’t realize how much of money comes from donors.
“There are people that understand the importance of education to future generations, and I hope that someday I can give back to the university to help other students to follow in my footsteps,” he said.
Prior to receiving the grant, there were also discussions about combining the college with other programs.
“We’re not going to be combined with another college,” Frazer said. “There was talk about maybe combining us with Ag, maybe combining us with Science, and that’s not going to happen. The president has decided against that.
“The main focus is to continue our strength in our academic programs. We’ve just, in the past few years, had our forestry program re-accredited, for 10 (more) years. Our range program was re-accredited for 10 years,” added. “Our other two departments — the environment and society department and the watershed sciences department — will have their reviews going on over the next year. I expect them to emerge just as well.”
– kevin.mitchell@aggiemail.usu.edu