Albrecht: Share responsibility
As is increasingly evident, Utah, our nation and, indeed, the world, face an economic crisis of almost unprecedented magnitude. Those of us in higher education recognize that we share responsibility with other state-funded programs and agencies to assist in addressing the budgetary shortfalls that result. But it is important at times like this also to recognize the critical role that higher education plays in impacting our economic future. We have to take care that in an effort to ease the pain of what we hope will be a short-term budget crunch, we also don’t put our state’s future in an even more-dire predicament down the road.
The issue becomes clearer as I walk across campus and meet our future face-to-face. On the one hand, it’s not hard to feel a sense of optimism as I interact with the next generation of entrepreneurs, teachers, water managers, space researchers, government leaders and inspirational artists and thinkers. It’s tough to be a pessimist when, at every turn it seems, I run into some undergraduate student who is presenting a paper at a prestigious biochemistry conference, working the cutting edge of cloning research or researching ways to combat Type II diabetes.
On the other hand, I also recognize that we have to be vigilant if we are to continue that path forward. We have to be careful we don’t forget that our hopes for the next generations will only come after an ongoing commitment to this generation. Reaping the rewards of investment takes time.
Success comes at a cost. Utah’s economic viability depends on a highly educated and well trained workforce. Our state’s economy has remained comparatively strong because we have created many new jobs in the high-tech/high-wage sector even as jobs have been lost in other sectors of the economy. A high-quality higher education system is critical to attract and retain companies and grow new industry through research and innovation. We have to continue to invest wisely in the fundamental belief that this “knowledge economy” in which we now live is critical to our long-term future as a state; and we have to recognize higher education’s vital role in that success.
We are proud of the fact that every legislative district in the state has a Utah State University presence in it –either physical, through our satellite campuses, or in the “trained minds” we proudly send into the schools, accounting offices, new business firms, high-tech companies, Extension programs and community leadership positions. Utah State University’s unique land-grant mission allows, even demands, that we play a role in the economic viability and future of every county in our great state.
In this way, an investment in higher education is an investment in every community in our state. This is well-illustrated by a quick examination of new capital projects we are initiating.
• We broke ground last week on a new early childhood education research center. Its occupants? Our internationally renowned National Center for Hearing Assessment, our prestigious Center for Early Childhood Education, a new Language and Literacy Laboratory – the people who will continue to drive education leadership in the next generation.
• We break ground in mid October for a new USTAR building on our Innovation Campus. And under its roof? USU’s Center for Advanced Nutrition, where students work with the nation’s leading scientists researching ways to fight Type II diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and other 20th century plagues.
• We break ground in November at USU’s Uintah campus for a new Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center. The impact on the area, on the state? That building will train students in business, entrepreneurship, accounting, engineering, water management, natural resources, environmental policy. These are students who will study in the Uintah Basin, to work in the Uintah Basin, to change the Uintah Basin and to change our state in the future.
Every day I am inspired by the accomplishments of our students and by the people who are teaching, mentoring and coaching them – and who, sometimes, are just plain-old getting out of their enthusiastic and dynamic paths. Utah’s universities are the training grounds for the next decades’ discoveries and discoverers. We promise every day that we will create leaders – scientific, entrepreneurial, artistic and every twist and turn in between.
At Utah State University, we are in the midst of a resounding higher education success story about which the state should be proud. Utah must keep in mind that our economic stability is only as strong as our continued willingness to invest in it.
Stan L. Albrecht is president of USU