COLUMN: What I’m thankful for
In respect for the holiday this month, I give my thanks for a few things that make higher education and Utah State University a success.
I am thankful for a system in which the student voice is heard loud and clear, and listened to. Three recent examples ring clear in my mind.
First, at USU last month, President Kermit L. Hall proposed some graduation changes to the University Executive Committee, college deans, Faculty Senate, and of course to the students. Hall met with me first, and then he met with the ASUSU Executive Council to make the proposal and answer questions. The council listened to the proposal and to fellow students.
Student Body officers have unique roles. They must act as representatives of the student body (be the voice of the students), trustees of the university (having more information than most students and making decisions for the betterment of the university as a whole), and they are still human and make choices based on their own opinions (trying the hardest to suppress that area). An ad-hoc committee was formed and with those three roles in mind they wrote a resolution, including two student concerns, to the president.
The resolution stated the support of many graduation changes and then added suggestions of ways to better the president’s proposal from a student standpoint. The resolution and concerns were passed in an Executive Council meeting and sent to the president within a few days of the president’s proposal.
The very next day, the president read over the items sent and set up a meeting with some administrators involved with graduation and me to walk through the resolution and concerns line by line. The outcome will be public this week. This is only the most recent example of the student voice being listened to. I appreciate our administration and in the spirit of the holiday of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to them for being open and honest with students and truly listening.
The second example is with the Utah System of Higher Education. This year has been quite a year to be involved. The Utah Council of Student Body Presidents (UCSP) has attended the monthly Utah State Board of Regents meetings this year, and the presidents have felt a unique role in those meetings. They started attending more of the Regents’ sub-committee meetings.
The meeting I attended was “Student Success.” In one of the meetings, the students were leading the discussion and were being asked all the questions.
Now, understand who makes up this group: Regents appointed by the governor to this board, university presidents and student presidents. If anyone were lacking knowledge of the Higher Education system you would think it would be the students. But in this meeting we became the “experts.” It was an amazing meeting and proved to me this group of administrators listens as well as hears. The next Utah State Board of Regents meeting is this Friday.
At this meeting the Utah Student Association president and vice president will be making a presentation to the Board of Regents and university presidents about funding for higher education and issues based on the increase of tuition. It is going to be tough because the state budget is at a low this year, but we will stress the student standpoint and I know they will listen. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to let the Utah System of Higher Education know I am thankful they listen to students.
The third example is with the Utah State Legislature. These members have a tough job. They have many government-run agencies to please and very little taxpayer money to do it with. Even though I do not understand some of their decisions, I know they truly do listen to the students. Anytime we need to meet with them, they are there. Anytime we have a concern, they are listening. It doesn’t always mean they can remedy the issues we disagree with, but they do the best they can.
The most recent example I have of the Legislature really listening to students was during the special sessions of the Legislature over the summer months.
According to the state budget, “Education programs dominate state spending. The combined appropriation to public education (K-12) and higher education account for 42.9 percent of the state’s total expenditures from all revenue sources. When considering state revenues only, education expenditures account for approximately 64.5 percent of the budget for Fiscal Year 2003.”
So when the budget has a shortfall and the money does not balance, guess where the impact is felt the hardest? That is when money is cut from schools and when schools end up cutting a lot of programs to make up for the lost money. Over the summer, the Legislature had another shortfall even after the shortfall during its regular legislative session (when USU was cut more than $5 million). The new shortfall was more than $120 million, and that all needed to come from the already-allocated budget. The student leaders from all over Utah rallied together along with the university presidents, board of regents, and the public education system. The governor also stepped in to defend Utah’s system of education.
With all of the groups working together, the Legislature went from a proposal to cut all of higher education 9 percent (which would cut USU alone more than $11 million), to a cut less than 1 percent (cutting USU a little more than $800,000). I don’t think I was ever so happy to hear a deficit number as I was to hear that $800,000 cut. The Legislature pulled money from anywhere it could to cover the shortfall in just two days. In the spirit of the holiday, I give thanks to the Utah State Legislature and I know that even in the hard times they are listening to students.
The best for last, I mostly want to thank our students here at USU for the hard work each one puts into the area where he focuses his efforts. I appreciate the reputation students uphold for the university and both in and out of the classroom. It is an honor to represent and work for such an amazing group of students. I know I do not know each and every student – 24,000 students is a large number of people to get to know – but I am constantly meeting and surrounded by so many impressive USU students. I am thankful for all that each student does and for putting trust in me. I also would like to thank this year’s ASUSU Executive Council. They are amazing students who work so hard to do all they can to enhance the quality of student life at Utah State University. In the spirit of the holiday have a Happy Thanksgiving!