Recap: USU President Noelle Cockett talks about USU’s future during the “State of the University” address
Utah State University President Noelle Cockett delivered the annual “State of the University” address on March 31. Cockett talked about COVID’s effect on USU, tuition increases, financial aid for students and how COVID will influence the university going forward.
“We have survived a worldwide pandemic,” Cockett said. “Not only did we survive it, but we have actually flourished during this last year. We have had success after success after success.”
According to Cockett, in an attempt to study the effects of COVID-19 on higher education, a professor from New York University, business professor Scott Galloway, conducted a study on how various universities responded to the pandemic. USU is one of only 88 universities considered to be “thriving.”
“Utah State was one of those, and the only one in Utah to be considered to thrive during the pandemic and to come out of it stronger than ever,” Cockett said.
In terms of USU’s future, she also addressed the proposed increase in tuition to cover the match required for state legislature salary compensation. USU will be raising tuition for the 2021-2022 school year by $98 per semester for resident students and $314 per semester for non-resident students.
Lizzy Driggs/The Utah Statesman Utah State University President Noelle Cockett prepares for her State of the University address last week.
According to Cockett, one of the reasons USU is considered to be “thriving” is because it offers substantial financial aid to students. In 2019-2020, USU provided $102 million to over 12,000 students. Another 13,000 students received around $90 million from federal loans and grants.
USU was also a recipient of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, act. As a result, the university was able to distribute $10 million to over 11,000 students in the form of grants to help with food, rent or other emergencies. USU’s division of student affairs also utilized their hardship fund to provide just over $290,000 to 514 students, also in the form of grants. Additionally, USU refunded their student fee for the fall semester to the total of $2.9 million, or $150 per student.
“We also anticipate distributing more money in the spring semester, through the summer and fall using the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which we refer affectionately to as CARE 2.0,” Cockett said.
Cockett commended the students, faculty and staff for adjusting so quickly to remote learning in the spring of 2020, as over 5,000 classes and sections had to be converted to remote learning in less than five days.
Additionally, Cockett talked about USU’s success with testing. The institution began aggressive testing in fall of 2020. Since then, USU has taken over 32,000 COVID tests; 29,000 on the Logan campus and approximately 3,000 tests on Eastern, Blanding and Brigham City campuses.
“We absolutely believe that surveillance for COVID, identification of positive cases, was instrumental in handling our infection rates,” she said.
Cockett also addressed what USU’s future will look like moving forward.
Although Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is still considering a removal of the mask mandate on April 10, USU will still require masks on campus.
“Having masks, social distancing, wastewater monitoring, testing and all the myriad of other things we’ve done have allowed us to keep our campuses and centers open,” Cockett said.
She added, USU’s mask mandate will be kept in place, “at least through spring semester.”
Not everyone agrees with the continual mask mandate.
“I’m sick and tired of masks being required,” USU junior Tessa Thornley said. “If a person, as an individual, feels safer wearing a mask, go ahead! But don’t force others, especially those getting the vaccine. I’m tired of the force.”
Other students are just hoping to return to campus soon.
“I think that USU has done a really good job at keeping their students healthy,” USU junior FaithAnn Hynek said. “There have been some things that I don’t really understand, such as not getting a spring break. But I’m sure those are all administrative things and those would be tough decisions to make. I’m just hoping to be able to be on campus more and have more interaction with both faculty and students when we go back.”
Cockett cautioned students that returning to normalcy will not be something that happens all at once, and that some things will be different going forward.
In an interview with the Statesman, Cockett said COVID has made everyone realize that more reading materials, graphics and instructions can be posted online.
“We know people want hands-on experience,” she said. “But the hope is that more reading will be done out of class and instructors will guide more in-class activities, so the application of knowledge will better resonate with people.”
Cockett also told the Statesman that COVID has made them realize not everything requires travel, and some meetings or appointments can happen over Zoom.
During Q & A, Cockett addressed whether vaccines could be available on campus soon. She said it was possible that vaccines might be available on a specific day, with a first-come first-served basis.
On April 1, USU announced a vaccine clinic coming to the Logan Main campus on April 9.
Cockett was also asked if enrollment has dropped because of the pandemic. She said enrollment has dropped about 1% but added “that’s not across the whole university.”
Freshman numbers increased 3-4% for the 2020-2021 school year. The area where USU lost students, Cockett said, was with international students, and to some extent, with continuing students.
“I think our continuing students were a little bit wearied by all of the restrictions that were put on their education,” she said. “They are maybe planning to return when we have more normal experiences.”
There was also a question about employees returning to campus, and whether it was appropriate for campus employees to return if they felt it was safe to do so.
“We would really like you to wait until an announcement comes,” Cockett said. “And again, that’s the county-by-county Utah transmission rate.”
A possible graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 was also discussed during Cockett’s speech. Although smaller convocation events have been announced for the class of 2021 in May, there are currently no set plans for the class of 2020.
According to Cockett, social distancing requirements made it impossible to include the class of 2020 in the May 2021 commencement. Instead, 2020 graduates should anticipate something happening in the fall.
“What we see there is a very, very special week in the fall for a reunion back specifically for our 2020 graduates, with opportunities to have photographs on the A, to be on stage and to have their families here,” she said.
USU will continue to provide COVID testing through the spring, summer and fall semesters.
taylorcripe@gmail.com