Official overall student enrollment at the University of Idaho increased 2.4 percent in fall 2017, bringing total enrollment to 12,072. This fall’s enrollment increase builds on last year’s 3.6 percent growth and is the second consecutive year of increase under President Chuck Staben’s leadership. Overall Idaho resident enrollment is up 3.9 percent to 8,910, and dual credit participation, a key pipeline to higher education, is up 23 percent. International student enrollment increased 7.3 percent. Retention efforts across the university resulted in a first-to-second year retention increase to 82.4 percent, up from 77 percent in 2016, and the highest rate among Idaho public institutions. | | | The University of Idaho’s annual research expenditures for FY17, as reported to the National Science Foundation, increased 7 percent to $109.5 million. That figure represents federal program investment in university research and scholarship and is a new record at U of I, surpassing FY16’s record of $102 million. The University of Idaho remains Idaho’s only R2 “Higher Research Activity” university, according to the Carnegie Classification, a ranking based in part on research expenditures and a key indicator of research enterprise breadth, depth, and impact. “At a time when other universities are seeing declining expenditures in a constrained federal funding environment, this increase highlights the success we’ve had in research and scholarship that makes an impact for Idaho and the world,” said President Chuck Staben. | | | Continued Progress on Enrollment Initiatives With enrollment at the center of the university’s “Engage” and “Transform” Strategic Plan goals, the university continued its progress on key enrollment recruitment and retention initiatives. U of I again followed up State Board of Education outreach in the Direct Admissions program, now in its third consecutive year. The university also supported the state’s Apply Idaho common application program, promoting the project and connecting with applying students to process their admissions. Fall 2017 marked the first cohort of Global Student Success Program students, a partnership with Navitas that brings international students to U of I. The university also expanded its Western Undergraduate Exchange program, a tuition discounting program relaunched last year for Washington and Oregon students, to Alaska students. | | | For the 2017-2018 academic year, the University of Idaho’s Vandal Ideas Project initiative took on the “Engage” Strategic Plan goal. The VIP initiative invites U of I teams to compete for internal funding to implement bold ideas that address Strategic Plan goals focused on areas of need at the university, the state of Idaho and the world. This fall seven programs were received funding to implement programs across Idaho. The “Engage Pre-College Outreach Project” is a three-year project to improve postsecondary readiness among Jerome eighth through 10th graders. The “Becoming Brave and Bold” initiative provides an exclusive dual-credit transition course titled, “Discover U” to prepare students to succeed in higher education. The “I Go” program places recent college graduates in three Boise-area schools to provide advising that leads to college application and attendance. A full list of projects is available here. | | | Students Achieve Excellence in Fall 2017 In Fall 2017, Vandals again set a high bar for excellence. More than 600 students received degrees at winter Commencement, in a wide range of degree paths. In fall 2017 two Vandals, Stephen Hancock and Emma Redfoot, completed a semester as INL graduate fellows, joining an inaugural cadre drawn from ambitious students across the nation. Accounting graduate and football team member Jacob Sannon was one of 25 student-athletes nationwide to earn an 1A Faculty Athletics Representative Academic Excellence Award. International studies and political science major and Honors Program member Zachary Lien was a finalist in the highly competitive Rhodes Scholarship. Vandal students continued to be heavily involved in community service, in research and scholarship, and in student life activities that foster teamwork and leadership. | | | Faculty and Staff Drive U of I Success The University of Idaho’s faculty ranks are drawn from scholars at the leading edges of their disciplines. This semester, professor Lisette Waits was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her contributions to research and teaching in conservation genetics, wildlife and conservation biology, and non-invasive DNA sampling techniques. Waits was also honored with the Jean’ne M. Schreeve NSF EPSCorR Research Excellence Award. Library Associate Dean Ben Hunter was named Idaho Librarian of the Year by the Idaho Library Association. Staff also helped U of I achieved distinction when the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality named U of I a Pollution Prevention (P2) Champion, in recognition of its incorporation of pollution prevention into daily activities — a practice that also generates significant cost savings for the university. | | | Research Delivers Innovation and Discovery The university’s research enterprise focuses on solving problems and addressing critical issues for Idaho, with global relevance. Among other successes, this fall the University of Idaho, its Idaho Falls center and partners at Boise State University and the Center for Advanced Energy Studies secured a $237,898 Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission (IGEM) grant that furthers an industry partnership to develop an aluminum cast with embedded natural boron for cooling used nuclear fuel. A U of I-led team found a way to stimulate formation of new neural connections in the adult brain. A team of CALS researchers won recognition for its innovative water treatment technology with a top-10 finish in the second stage of the $10 million George Barley Water Prize Competition. | | | U of I is in its second year of offering a four-year bachelor’s degree in a partnership program between North Idaho College, the College of Engineering and UI Coeur d’Alene. The computer science degree option reflects the criticality of a computer science-trained workforce to increasingly technology-focused industries emerging in northern Idaho and eastern Washington. This fall the computer science department moved into the Innovation Den in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The Innovation Den is a technology incubator, and is home to over 30 of the region’s innovators and entrepreneurs working on projects as varied as drones to robotics to venture funds and data science startups. The first student is set to receive the Coeur d’Alene-based degree from the College of Engineering this spring. | | | | | |