Hall announces plans for change at USU
Students, faculty members and leaders of both the community and state of Utah joined together on Friday for a series of events to mark President Kermit L. Hall’s celebration of students in his “non-inauguration.”
“This is not an inauguration. This is a report on the university,” said President Hall in the opening of his State of the University Address.
President Hall – historian, legal scholar and Utah State University’s 14th president – outlined seven goals for the university in his State of the University Address. All seven goals show direct correlation to making a benchmark for USU, as USU has been receiving recognition on the statewide Benchmark Tour over the past months.
President Hall’s goals provide focus for where the university is and where it is heading. He included where the success of the Inaugural Scholarship Fund is heading. With a goal of $240,000, President Hall announced $700,000 had been raised.
Compact planning was the first issue addressed.
It is a way to define and focus the university and establish priorities with Board of Regents’ legislature. It includes ways to market the university, he said.
These seven goals have emerged: 1) Enhancing the university’s reputation for learning, discovery and engagement, 2) enhancing recruitment, retention, graduation and placement of students, 3) building a diverse campus, 4) infusing new energy into graduate education, 5) adopting a new business model that embraces accountability, responsiveness and efficiency, 6) fostering new partnerships and 7) launching a capital campaign.
The academic reputation of USU reflects “what we think of ourselves,” President Hall said.
USU is in the third tier, where it has been for many years according to rankings in the U.S. News and World Report’s annual survey of “America’s Best Colleges and Universities,” he said.
“When we show marked improvement in student retention, graduation rates, faculty resources and alumni giving, we will move higher,” he said in response to the rankings.
The student-to-faculty ratio is 23 to 1, one of highest in Utah. Compared to peer universities, USU is ranked third. Nationally, USU is ranked 16th of all public universities for research expenditures per faculty member, he said.
President Hall said, “We measure what we value and not value what we measure.”
His second goal: Recruiting, retaining and graduating students, he said, was the most important challenge of USU.
Enrollment is currently at 23,000 which will rise to 28,000 in the next 10 years, meaning “the university will grow by roughly 17 to 20 percent.”
USU’s first year retention rate is 66 percent and six-year graduation rate is at 43 percent, he said.
Another low ranking for USU among its peer institutions is USU’s diversity, which brought President Hall to his third goal.
“Eighty-nine countries are represented by students at Utah State University, but this makes up only four percent of our student population,” he said.
Fourth, 17 percent of the current student population are graduate students.
“Graduate education on our campus has become one of the casualties of our 23 to 1 teaching ratio,” he said.
The implemented improvements in graduate studies include a program for waiving the in-state portion of tuition for doctoral students and hiring seven faculty members in engineering and computer science.
Fifth, he dealt with developing a scheme for faculty and staff development. This includes a contraceptive prescription benefit for women as a part of our regular health package.”
Finally, President Hall addressed both business and marketing needs of the university.