USU expands land grant mission under outgoing presidency

USU expands land grant mission under outgoing presidency

(Kristin Murphy/Deseret News)


10 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LOGAN — Stan Albrecht's journey from growing up as a ranch kid in Fremont, Utah, to the conclusion of an 11-year presidency at Utah State University is the kind that few have experienced.

But it's a two-way road that Albrecht has traveled many times in the past decade, bringing the influence of the university to rural communities akin to the tiny town of his youth.

That influence is part of the vision for land grant institutions to meet the needs of the state, a vision that began with 19th century federal legislation that has expanded under Albrecht's leadership further beyond USU's trademark agricultural focus.

"The land grant university means access, means opportunity, and we've tried to really put that into what we've done here," Albrecht said. "We've reached out, both through our distance ed program and our regional campus system, and have created the kind of access and opportunity that was in the initial concept to a much broader range of students."

When Albrecht became USU's 15th president in 2005, less than one-third of the university's students were enrolled from outside the main campus. Now more than half of USU's 28,000 students participate from a regional campus or online.

USU's connective reach has extended from its hub in Logan to nearly every corner of the state, allowing students the flexibility of earning a college degree while working and living in Vernal, Price, Moab, Blanding and more than two dozen other rural places.

Albrecht announced his retirement from the university's helm in February, agreeing to stay on until a new president is chosen by the Utah State Board of Regents this fall.

It's the end of more than a decade of institutional growth, academic transformation, and economic ups and downs. But looking back, the impact on students across the state remains the most meaningful part of his tenure, Albrecht said.

"I take a lot of personal satisfaction as someone who is a first-generation student coming from a small rural town in Utah to see others have those opportunities," he said.

Fulfilling a mission

Land grant colleges were established by Congress through the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, which were signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Those colleges were initially set up as teaching institutions to create opportunities for the children of the working class, including agricultural families, Albrecht said.

Research and outreach components were later added to the model to meet the needs of a growing country and economy, as well as those of local industries.

"What we've tried to do at Utah State University is make sure that we're true to that, while at the same time, extend it into a very different world than was the case in 1862," Albrecht said.

People hang out on the quad in front of the Agricultural Sciences building at Utah State University in Logan on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
People hang out on the quad in front of the Agricultural Sciences building at Utah State University in Logan on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

But not everyone caught the vision, and it took some convincing for some in Utah's higher education system, according to USU Provost Noelle Cockett.

"In some sense, before Stan, we were considered 'the ag school' — we did agriculture," Cockett said. "He defined the land grant in what I think is the true meaning of the land grant, which is we are the state's institution of higher learning. That's completely different than 'the ag school.'

"We're all proud now of being a land grant," she said. "We love our role."

While USU's regional campus presence has more than doubled during Albrecht's tenure, the land grant mission also drives growth in local research. Between 2006 and 2014, research funding for USU increased by 77 percent to $220 million.

Much of USU's research is tied to Utah issues, such as water conservation, sage grouse, clinical education services and others. Utah's water lab, as well as the state climate center, are both housed at USU.

USU's land grant status also gives it a unique relationship with the Utah Legislature. Lawmakers often turn to the university for research that can inform policy decisions, according to USU director of government relations Neil Abercrombie.

"I think it impacts legislative relationships really starting first with our practical real-world research," Abercrombie said. "That's something that President Albrecht has pushed really hard, not just doing research, but connecting it with the lives of Utahns."

USU's relationship with the Legislature has grown through other institutional transformations over the past decade, including enrollment increases, expanded capital needs, USU athletics joining the Mountain West Conference and academic shifts to meet the needs of Utah's economy.

Logan Republican Sen. Lyle Hillyard, co-chairman of the Executive Appropriations Committee, attributes much of that relationship to Albrecht's leadership.

"As far as the Legislature's concerned, I don't know that there's any other person who's developed the rapport that he has with legislators," Hillyard said. "When he comes and when he speaks, people listen. He's going to be a hard person to replace."

Academic evolution

USU's contribution to meet the needs of Utahns is perhaps most readily felt by the almost 30,000 students now enrolled, and the companies that employ them after graduation. During Albrecht's tenure, enrollment has gone up by more than 5,000 students, and undergraduate degrees awarded each year has increased by almost 1,000 diplomas.

Funding for scholarships and grants has more than tripled since Albrecht took office, reaching $45.7 million last year.

But keeping up with a rapidly evolving economic landscape requires higher education leaders to accommodate a range of academic transformations.

"If we don't, we don't survive," Albrecht said.

Utah State University President Stan Albrecht, who is retiring this year, talks about his time at USU in his office at USU in Logan on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Utah State University President Stan Albrecht, who is retiring this year, talks about his time at USU in his office at USU in Logan on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

USU and other institutions use a program review team of faculty members who evaluate how each academic program aligns with what graduates encounter in the job market.

Since 2011, USU has eliminated 55 academic programs that institution leaders say are no longer relevant to workforce needs.

Among them, for example, was a high school geography education degree. USU leaders said they hope to focus, instead, on including a broader scope of physical science disciplines into similar degrees.

Most often, though, that process doesn't involve eliminating or creating whole programs, but changing current programs to better meet the needs of Utah's workforce.

"We're constantly trying to say, 'Where's the economy going? What are the needs of the economy,' and developing programs to address those, while at the same time, we eliminate programs that are no longer needed," Albrecht said.

'Spooked'

As much as USU has grown the past 11 years, more growth and transformation is still to come. Higher education leaders estimate Utah will see another 50,000 students enter college by 2024, with even higher numbers coming through Utah's K-12 school pipeline.

It's a time that makes transitioning to a new institutional leader somewhat tricky, Cockett said.

"I think we're spooked a little," she said. "Who's going to keep us on this trajectory, this path? I think there's kind of a nervousness. … I hope we can continue to rise to this status of land grant."

But there's also a measure of "excitement" among faculty and administrators, she said.

USU is well into the search process for a new president. Presidential search committee meetings were held at several regional campuses last week, with more meetings scheduled for Tuesday. Final candidate interviews are expected to happen in September.

Albrecht said he hopes the search process yields a candidate who understands the significant roles that research, athletics and a land grant model play for USU.

"My hope is that we've left a solid enough foundation that it will make it easy to build on," he said. "It's really important to me that the conversation be about the future, not the past."

He has agreed to stay at the university until a new president is chosen. What happens after that, he said, is up to the next leader.

"I've been around universities long enough to know that the last thing a university needs is an old president mucking around in a new president's business. I've seen that happen, and it's not a good thing," he said. "So I kind of need to get out of Dodge for a while and let a new president get started."

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahEducation
Morgan Jacobsen

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast