President says Utah State is succeeding in ‘academics first’
Besides announcing the donation making the construction of the new recital hall possible, President Kermit L. Hall presented in Wednesday’s State of the University address an important vision of what Utah State University has accomplished in the past year and where it is going in the future.
“We are becoming increasingly a university where promise is reflected in performance,” said Provost Stan Albrecht in his introductory remarks.
After beginning the speech with a few jokes, Hall said that over the past year it has been hard for people across the nation not to think of USU and its many accomplishments.
“Utah State University is working hard to become excellent where it really counts, by putting academics first,” Hall said.
Throughout the speech Hall showed how the university has succeeded by placing academics first. He talked about USU’s second Rhodes Scholar Lara Anderson, and a handful of other national scholarship winners who received awards to study at Purdue, University of Michigan, and in Slovenia and Cairo.
He also talked about the achievements of the team of USU students and faculty advisers who built the Wright Flyer which soared over Brigham City on Dec. 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of powered flight. In addition to this great achievement, at a special program in Washington, D.C. entitled “Posters on the Hill,” 11 of USU’s undergraduate students were invited to exhibit their research projects, more than any other university. Hall also said that during the past 20 years USU has sent more student-designed experiments into space than any other university.
Another way the university is focusing on academics first is by offering a four-year graduation guarantee to incoming freshmen. Hall said currently only a few dozen students are signed up, but the idea is gaining momentum.
In June of 2003 Smart Money magazine reported, “Freshmen [at USU] can now get a contract guaranteeing that if they take a full course load they’ll graduate in four years [or the school picks up the tab for additional semesters].”
Hall said another goal of the university is to increase the preparedness of the incoming freshmen. According to the statistics, this year’s freshman class has an average GPA of 3.6 and an average ACT score of 23.6, making them the best-prepared class on record.
“I had to ratchet up the expectations of my assignments and discussion, as the students were chewing through them with ease,” said geology professor James Evans, of the freshmen in his classes.
Hall also talked about the academic preparedness of the student-athletes at USU in conjunction with USU’s acceptance into the Western Athletic Conference.
“The WAC was interested in us because we had our academic house in order,” Hall said.
USU athletes have an 81 percent graduation rate, tying for 10th place nationally. The GPA’s of student-athletes at USU have also risen considerably in the last three years, Hall said. He also spoke of the USU men’s basketball team at 11-1, its best start in 66 years and the women’s basketball team getting its first win of the season with Christina Zdenek’s 25-foot buzzer-beater to win the game on Saturday.
During his speech, Hall also spoke of the great contributions made by USU faculty and staff. During the past three years approximately 75 new faculty members have been hired at USU, which lowers the student-to-faculty ratio from about 26-to-1 to 23-to-1. This year the faculty and staff will be receiving a long-awaited but still less-than-sufficient 3 percent salary increase, with a 12 percent increase in health benefits. He also spoke of the faculty and advisers who have won numerous awards and made great accomplishments this year.
Hall also talked about the importance of research at USU. He said that during the fiscal year of 2003, USU colleagues won $141 million in research grants and contracts, a record high which eclipses the $123 million that the university received in state funding. He also announced that USU is working on a collaborative research initiative in biotechnology and economic development with the University of Utah. Together the two universities plan to generate more than $400 million in research funding which, considering economic factors, will equal a $2 billion boost to Utah’s economy.
In spite of the increase in research money, tuition still must be raised again this year to meet additional costs, Hall said. He thanked the students for stepping up with second tier tuition which provides money for new faculty, advisers, recreational facilities and library support. The Board of Regents has approved a 4.5 percent statewide tuition increase and the university plans to again ask the students for a 4 percent second tier tuition increase which equals a total increase of 8.5 percent. Hall brought out the point that this number doesn’t seem so dismal when compared to the state average tuition increase of 11.1 percent.
In addition to all this, Hall showed the university’s new commercial which deals with the numerous USU experiments on the space shuttle.
He also talked about the campus building boom including the new library, 502-bed student living center with a 600-car parking garage, and the new recital hall.
Albrecht wrapped up the speech by introducing Kathryn Caine Wanlass and Manon Caine Russel, who donated $6.3 million to provide for the building of the new recital hall. The sisters were recognized with a standing ovation.
-sjeppesen@cc.usu.edu