Discovering CEU: What is USU getting in the merger?
On July 1, the College of Eastern Utah in Price will become Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah, or USU-CEU. Unlike other regional campuses in the USU education system, USU-CEU will retain its blue and gold colors, its Golden Eagle mascot and its distinct name.
While much has been said about the pending merger between USU and CEU, most Aggies know little or nothing about our incoming sister school. CEU athletic director Dave Paur said this is not uncommon among Utah residents.
“We’re considered not part of Utah,” Paur said. “We’re a coal mining town and more like Colorado.”
CEU was founded in 1937 and is a landmark in the Price community. Interim President Mike King said the college started in the ashes of the depression and Carbon County residents taxed themselves to pay for its construction. Originally, the structure doubled as a high school and many students received 14 years of education within its walls.
For a coal mining town in southeastern Utah, CEU represents a great educational opportunity for the community and the region. King said that while crafting the terms of the merger, it was crucial to preserve the status of a community college. CEU is known for its vocational and trade programs, in which more than 50 percent of students are enrolled.
“We’re not going away,” King said. “It’s still going to be a community college goal as its main function.”
Campus scene
The College of Eastern Utah is a cluster of red brick buildings in Price. Students and visitors are free to park where they like and traffic is nonexistent on the roads around campus. Grassy lawns and walkways stretch between the buildings and the air is interrupted only by the sound of the campus radio playing over loudspeakers. Foot traffic on campus is minimal, with small clusters of students passing sporadically.
There are 3,400 students who attend CEU, King said, and of those only 2,200 are registered in for-credit courses. Tuition varies with the number of credit hours, but the rate for a 12-credit Utah resident is $1,235 per semester, including fees.
The student center is structured around a wide hallway, open to a second floor. The main level includes a ballroom, bookstore and cafeteria where drinks, hot sandwiches, and bacon and eggs breakfasts can be purchased from the Golden Grille.
“This is pretty much where everything happens,” CEU Ambassador Brandon Brinton said.
Just outside the student center is a painted rock known as “The Gibby.” In a tradition familiar to Aggies, Britton said that once a semster, students kiss over the rock to become True Eagles. A water fountain is located near the student center, and Brinton said it is common for students to cool off in the water.
“People play in the fountain, lie in a tube, get a tan,” Brinton said.
Inside the Community Computer Business building, or CBB, is a USU regional center where Eagles can participate in USU distance ed courses. At the regional center, students are seated at a computer, and a large television at the front of the room displays, in real time, a class being taught in Logan. CEU students are able to ask questions and participate via microphone.
Through the regional center, CEU students are able to earn a bachelor’s degree in 17 departments, director Brad Watson said. The center also offers 13 master’s degrees and one doctorate program.
Four residence halls are located on CEU campus, varying from apartment-style units with kitchens and bathrooms to the traditional dormitory with floor bathrooms and cafeteria meal plans. There are no Greek organizations at CEU, and the majority of students who live away from home reside on campus.
“There really isn’t much in the way of off-campus housing,” said Derek Jensen, an ambassador.
Price nightlife isn’t the most diverse, Brinton said. Sporting events are popular among students and Price, he said, has a lot to offer outdoor enthusiasts in the form of trails for hiking, biking and off-roading. A popular place to socialize, he said, is The Desert Wave, a community pool that lies just off campus where both CEU swimming classes and after-hours parties alike are held.
“It’s pretty sweet,” Brinton said.
The Student Activities Center, or SAC, is home to the campus radio station — which transmits at 89.9 FM — as well as the campus testing center, newspaper, wellness center and the Old Ballroom where campus-sponsored events are held. Inside the ballroom is a stage and rock climbing wall and nearly every surface is peppered with the colorful remnants of The Lite Brite, an indoor paint dance held every fall.
Also in the SAC is CEU’s cosmetology department, where community members can visit a full-functioning salon at discount prices. The SAC is CEU’s former student center and has retained its name in the shadow of the newer structure.
“They were going to change the name, but you have to go through legislation,” Jensen said.
CEU’s administrative offices are located in the Reeve’s building, as is the student computer lab and CEU’s largest classroom — a 70-seat space akin to USU engineering classrooms.
Recreational facilities are free for students and are located in the BDAC. The building contains two gyms, racquetball courts, dance studios and saunas.
Making the grade
King said that as a two-year institution offering associates degrees, coursework and classes are represented differently than at a university.
“As a small school we don’t have what you would consider majors,” King said.
While some vocational programs offer completion certificates, CEU students are essentially premajors. Students are entered in a 63-credit program where 33 credits are fulfilled by general education courses, such as math, English and computer literacy. The remaining 30 credits are electives that students can tailor to gain experience in their intended fields of study.
Welding professor Lon Youngberg spoke highly of the vocational courses offered at CEU. His welding students have repeatedly brought home awards from national competitions.
“This program is really strong,” Youngberg said. “We’ve got good numbers, good results and we’re recognized nationally.”
CEU offers a number of courses that are not found at USU. Its criminal justice program includes a full-functioning crime lab, one of only four such college labs in the state, Brinton said.
Richard Walton, who co-directs the criminal justice program, said the lab was originally a branch of the state crime lab but was left for college use after the state pulled out last winter. In the courses offered at CEU, students learn about basic crime scene analysis, including fingerprint and blood spatter analysis and how to catalog and document evidence. Walton draws from his past experience as a deputy sheriff and investigator for the district attorney to construct crime scenes in which students apply their skills.
“We try to show them the reality versus the TV version of it,” Walton said.
Merging and moving forward
Student Services Vice President Brad King said there were two schools of thought leading up to the merger with USU. On one hand were concerns about losing 70 years of institutional heritage, identity and tradition. On the other hand was the idea of a new beginning — a new creature with a new name.
Ultimately it was decided that in place of a more customary regional campus title like USU-Price, the school would be called USU-CEU and would maintain its community college individuality while benefiting from and contributing to the mission of a four-year university.
Many students, like men’s basketball team member Isiah Williams, were unaware that changes were being made.
“I didn’t even know that this all was going on,” he said.
Williams and his teammates recently placed third nationally in the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) tournament. It was the first time they had competed for the title since 1965, Paur said. Only three members of the men’s team will return next year, but Paur was optimistic, especially about 6-foot-7, 230-pound Jonathon Mills.
“He’s a beast, an absolute beast,” Paur said. “He’s left-handed and one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen.”
There was concern from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), in which USU is affiliated, that the schools’ merger would result in CEU’s being a farm school for USU recruiting.
“They have to treat us just like any other college,” Paur said. “We can’t have any money from them and they can’t have any money from us, which is pretty easy because we don’t have any money.”
Still, Paur was hopeful that the success of USU’s sports programs and the inclusion of a USU suffix on CEU’s name, would result in higher recognition for CEU recruiting. CEU currently has four athletic programs: men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and baseball.
Brad King said that an autonomous sports program likely contributed to the final version of the USU-CEU name, as well as the decision for CEU to remain as the blue and gold Eagles, in lieu of the blue and white Aggies.
“I’m sure that makes it more clear,” Brad King said. “We didn’t want to complicate things.”
With the merger, Brad King said the goal is to create a seamless transfer between the two campuses. As of July 1, any student applying to CEU would be applying to USU, and attending a class at either campus would merely be an issue of registering for the appropriate course.
“One of the things we’ve got to integrate more closely is the general education program,” Brad King said.
That integration will include the creation and deletion of specific courses at CEU, and many departments have undergone restructuring to deal with budget cuts and stabilizing the college’s finances.
Youngberg said the vocational departments have already seen some trimming. Two associate degrees were eliminated in December, he said, and Building Construction was reduced to a one-year certificate.
With so many unknowns about the merger with USU, Youngberg said it would be a shame to see CEU’s vocational programs eliminated.
“I don’t think it would be wise to drop that. It’s what forms this community,” he said.
Mike King said there are currently no plans to drop any programs, and added that the merger legislation includes a fiscal exigency, which shields USU from budgetary problems at CEU.
In the final months before the merger takes place, Mike King said he is more optimistic about the affect it will have on both campuses.
“We’ve been talking about it for so long, people are ready to move forward,” Mike King said. “I think for the most part, people are excited.”
Brad King said that returning CEU students will likely not notice differences on campus for a number of years. Over time, he said, it is likely that the USU name will become more prevalent around campus.
Mike King said he would like to see more Aggie Ice Cream on campus and joked that for in at least one area, Price offers something Logan doesn’t.
“We don’t have smog,” he said.
—bc.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu