This has been an important week at the University of Idaho. The State Board of Education convened its annual meeting on our Moscow campus. I had the opportunity to present the university’s annual report to the board, a look at progress toward strategic goals. The board also deliberated over tuition and fee setting, ultimately approving our requested 5.6 percent increase in resident undergraduate tuition for the university. The annual report (read and see it here), presents some of the highlights our students, faculty and staff have contributed to in the past year. I pointed out success such as: - Our research enterprise has grown to nearly $112 million in annual expenditures. Exciting projects include our $20 million NSF EPSCoR grant focused on fish genetics and sagebrush; clean energy research and innovation; studies on antibiotic resistance and disease; and scholarship and creative activity across humanities, arts and social sciences.
- We continue to work to make college an expectation among more Idaho students. Process improvements are accompanied by measures to mitigate cost, including our Vandal Promise need-based aid initiative and the state’s Opportunity Scholarship expansion, which we aggressively promoted to students. We’re already seeing an increase in eligible students committing to U of I.
- Student success remains a focus. We have strong first-to-second-year retention rates, graduation rates and career outcomes. We’re continuing to work to improve that leadership position by enhancing advising and by offering high-impact experiences. Check out our stories of student academic success across a range of endeavors during U of I Innovation Month.
- We continue to focus on cultivating a valued and diverse community. That goal has internal and external components. For instance, we’re making strides on market-based compensation for our employees, updating a campuswide diversity plan with concrete objectives, and ensuring we have representation and inclusion for international and multicultural students.
- New facilities are coming online across our statewide footprint. In Moscow we have our ICCU Arena project, our University House, and our WWAMI facility improvements, among other projects. Statewide, we’re working on a new facility at the Nancy M. Cummings Research, Education and Extension Center, are conducting organic agriculture research at a new center in Sandpoint, acquired a long-term lease on the Rinker Rock Creek Ranch and are making strides on the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
That level of excellence does require resources. We have to walk a tightrope between funding our endeavors and maintaining affordability for students. To that end, on Wednesday the board approved an increase in resident undergraduate tuition and fees. This increase helps us maintain the appropriate level of quality across our educational, scholarly and outreach mission. We made our request based on a realistic appraisal of our funding needs, and after extensive consultation with the Associated Students of the University of Idaho (ASUI). For instance, ASUI backed the $15 per semester increase in a facilities fee that supports arena construction. It is never easy to raise costs. But I hope you’ll review our Annual Report and see the excellence that revenue supports. In the end, we’re making a wise investment in the future of this university and its service to students and to the state. | | Go Vandals! Chuck Staben President | | | | U of I Innovation Month celebrates students like Allison Stevens, a graduate student in animal science who is contributing important research while preparing for her future. | | Founder and Curator Boosts the U of I Asian American Comparative Collection The University of Idaho’s Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology began successfully excavating archaeological sites in Idaho and Oregon in the 1980s, uncovering historical artifacts from Asian American pioneers. Priscilla Wegars ’91, a U of I Ph.D. student in history during this time, recognized the need to preserve the findings. She raised the money and built support to found the Asian American Comparative Collection (AACC), now a program more than 30 years old with an established endowment. Wegars, longtime volunteer curator of the AACC, recently donated a rental property to U of I, with proceeds going straight to the AACC Endowment to benefit the research done by U of I students, faculty, staff and other scholars. “I used the archaeological collections, books and other resources at the AACC extensively for my master’s degree research,” said Renae Campbell, now a history Ph.D. candidate. “I would not have been able to complete my thesis without the AACC.” For more information about making a gift of real estate to the University of Idaho, contact Clark Hyvonen, clarkh@uidaho.edu or toll-free at 866-671-7041. | | Ben Hunter Appointed Dean of University of Idaho Libraries Ben Hunter has been named as the next dean of University of Idaho Libraries, effective April 21, 2019. Hunter is currently the interim dean and has worked in U of I Libraries since 2006, serving as an associate dean since 2014. Within the libraries, Hunter has acted as interim head of user and research services, head of technical services, head of cataloging and collections and as a reference librarian. In addition, he has published on library patron satisfaction and library-based digital publishing. Before he came to U of I, Hunter was an Association of Research Libraries Academy Fellow at the University of Washington. The Idaho Library Association named Hunter Idaho Librarian of the Year in 2017 and Library Journal listed him as a “Mover and Shaker” in 2013. He is also a part of the American Library Association Emerging Leaders 2011 cohort. Hunter was president of the Idaho Library Association from 2010-11 and is a member of the American Library Association’s governing council. | | Is Wood the Future of Campus Construction? From April 10 in Education Dive: The University of Idaho has one architectural marvel on its campus with the "Kibbie Dome," a sports arena that dates to the 1970s and whose inside has been likened to a tin can cut in half, thanks to its arched roof of wood-and-steel trusses. Now it's gunning for another, right next door. The proposed 4,200-capacity Idaho Central Credit Union Arena will have a structure that consists primarily of wood, using innovative construction technology that is gradually finding its way into new campus buildings across the U.S. The trend has been driven by an aggressive effort from the wood-products industry to generate demand for the emerging market segment. And it is feeding colleges' desire to show off commitments to sustainability, local industry and innovation. It gained some momentum last month with news of up to $1 million in grant money to help colleges add mass timber buildings to their campuses. Read more. | | | | |