VIP Initiative Focuses on Idaho Go-on Rates The University of Idaho’s 2016-2017 incarnation of its “Vandal Ideas Project” takes on the “Engage” goal of the UI Strategic Plan, asking faculty, staff and students to focus proposals on improving Idaho’s go-on rates. This year’s seven recipients include teams working on a mentorship program with Eastern Idaho high school seniors; the new Idaho Drone League (iDrone) to engage secondary students in experiential STEM-based learning; a TedX-style program for secondary students; a 4-H life readiness curriculum and UI campus experience; support for recent college graduates embedded with low-college-going high schools; a postsecondary readiness program for Idaho Hispanic 8th-10th graders in Jerome; and a new dual-credit transition course called “Discover U” to equip students to succeed in higher education. | | | What Stands in the Way of College? Guest column originally published in Idaho Education News: In March I visited with a group of students at Sandpoint High School. Having read coverage of a student presentation about go-on rates, I wanted to learn about student choices for life after high school firsthand. The visit enhanced my perspective on the progress we’re making and the challenges we still face in changing Idaho’s college-going culture. […] Not all the students I met with want to attend college, but most expressed a belief in higher education as essential for a rewarding career. What stands in their way? Among a variety of factors, a couple stood out: cost and confusion about process. READ MORE | | | Key Academic Programs Bolstered The university’s excellence in key academic areas was bolstered this spring with state support. Funding for a fourth-year curriculum in UI’s computer science partnership with North Idaho College allows students to complete a bachelor’s degree — including internship experience — in Coeur d’Alene. Meanwhile, the State Board of Education approved the College of Law’s new first-year curriculum in Boise, allowing students to complete all three years of a juris doctorate in Boise (a three-year option remains at the Moscow location). The Idaho Legislature also invested in the UI Library, funding two new positions in the first phase of a plan to expand library resources as UI aspires to Carnegie R1 status. | | | Idaho WWAMI Program Improvements The Idaho WWAMI medical school program is growing its presence in Idaho and in Moscow. Now with 40 students per year studying their first 18 months in Idaho, up to 80 students are on campus at one time in Moscow. To accommodate that influx, the University of Idaho is renovating its WWAMI Medical Education Building at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Sweet Avenue, helped by $2.4 million in FY2018 from the Permanent Building Fund and private support. The university is also moving into space at a newly constructed Gritman Medical Center building. The spaces will house up-to-date clinical laboratories, equipment, and an anatomy laboratory. | | | Arena Project to Highlight Idaho Wood Products On May 11, the University of Idaho Alumni Association unanimously approved a $500,000 commitment toward the Idaho Arena on the Moscow campus, bringing the total of donated cash and equivalents over $17 million of the estimated $30 million construction costs with additional in-kind donations whose value is not yet included. Currently in the design phase after state board approval in February, the 4,700-seat arena will house Vandal court sports and provide an additional space for alumni, students and campus organizations to host events. The arena will have state-of-the-art engineered wood design and highlight Idaho’s natural, renewable forest resources, showcasing an important Idaho industry. | | | Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment Makes Progress The Idaho Legislature took up Governor Otter’s budget recommendation with an FY2018 $10 million appropriation in support of the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE). The University of Idaho, leading the initiative, will raise funds with partners for the expected $45 million project. Planned in the Magic Valley near Twin Falls, the center will include a 2,000-cow dairy and food processing facility and focus on environmental solutions, economic development and educational opportunities to ensure the sustainability of livestock and crop agriculture and food processing in Idaho. A recently completed feasibility study analyzed the cost-effectiveness of the center and recommended new construction on purchased land. Site selection is an important next step for the project. | | | UI Research and STEM Education The University of Idaho continues to lead in research, recently surpassing $100 million in annual research expenditures. At the recently opened Integrated Research and Innovation Center (IRIC), a stop for many legislators on the North Idaho Legislative Tour in November, more than 20 interdisciplinary teams are studying the potato cyst nematode, preparing communities for wildfire, conducting archaeological studies of Idaho history and culture, analyzing health care policy analysis, modeling the brain and spinal cord, and much more. The newly established Office of Undergraduate Research at UI coordinates student involvement in research and scholarship, connecting them with faculty, organizing symposia, and offering a competitive grants program. Outstanding STEM-focused experiences include the Engineering Design Expo; in April 2017 more than 275 UI engineering students participated with 40 technical presentations and 60 booth presentations. UI continues to lead Idaho in the percentage of graduates earning STEM degrees, the number of STEM graduates at the bachelor’s level, and the number of STEM doctorates — more than four times the number produced by all other Idaho universities combined. | | | Vandal Athletics Excels Building on the success of a thrilling 61-50 victory over Colorado State University in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, capping a 9-4 season, UI Athletics excelled in spring sports. UI women’s and men’s tennis teams both won Big Sky Conference championships this spring. The women’s third straight conference championship earned them a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The men claimed their second championship in three years on their way to the tournament. In basketball, the women’s and men’s teams each posted 19-win seasons and participated in postseason tournaments. Preparing for the fall 2017 season, a new field in the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center allows the Vandal Women’s Soccer team to play their home schedule in the Kibbie Dome for fall 2017. They kick off their regular season home schedule in that unique venue with an Aug. 25 matchup against Boise State University, meaning two Idaho teams will play the first Division I indoor soccer game. | | | Farm Laborer to Intel Engineer Every summer from age 11 to 18, Selso Gallegos worked as a farm laborer in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. He assumed he would pursue a two-year technical degree for auto mechanics, as many of his peers did. Then he attended the Vandal Challenge leadership conference in 2012 and 2013, sponsored by the university’s Organización de Estudiantes Latino Americanos, which showed him what a UI engineering degree could offer. During his time at UI in the College of Engineering, Gallegos became a STEM tutor for students like himself who are supported by UI’s College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP). He participated in the Alternative Service Break program. He also became involved in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. This May, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. In June, he starts a job at Intel outside Phoenix, improving the way Intel’s semiconductor chips are made. | | | | | |