Alumni & Friends

From The President...

Dear Alumni and Friends,

SUU is a wonderful place to be, as a student and an employee, and, of course, as a visiting alumnus or friend. We'd love to have you back anytime. But until then, let me bring you up-to-date on what's happening on our bustling, exciting campus.

Acceptance and approval of the report titled "President's Assessment and Recommendations for Prioritization of Programs and Services" is a culmination of two years of extensive review and analysis of programs and services at the University. The document, accessible at www.suu.edu/ad/provost/pdf/reprioritization_report.pdf, contains nine major institutional recommendations to continue developing the high quality of SUU. Many positive outcomes of this endeavor are already being realized including: streamlining of curriculum resulting in the elimination of 138 courses, and the elimination, consolidation and relocation of some majors, minors, and emphases, and continuing improvement in the effective and efficient use of resources.

A direct result of Prioritization is the creation of a new School of Applied Science and Technology, an expansion of the former applied technology division. The mission of this school is to provide career-educational opportunities for students whose interests are essentially applications-oriented. A key role of the school will be to interface with the Utah College of Applied Technology, the newest member of the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). Faculty and programs in the new school will be reassigned from four current departments.

And while on the subject of enhancing academic development, SUU is conducting a national search for a new provost, who will serve as the chief academic officer of the University. We hope to have our new provost in office by July 1, 2002.

One of the major responsibilities the provost deals with is Accreditation. A phrase we hear often in the business world today is "quality assurance," and one of the key forms of quality assurance in higher education is Accreditation. SUU is now preparing for its general 10-year accreditation review for the fall of 2003. A diligent committee, chaired by Dr. Earl Mulderink, has been working since last spring on this review. We are also pursuing some selective program accreditations of the highest order. Among these are the National Council on Accreditation for Teacher Education and the Association for Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business.

Indeed, our foremost need in terms of facilities is a new Teacher Education Building, a request we continue to pursue during the 2002 legislative session. Our teacher education program is currently located in the 104-year old Old Main building. a new facility is necessary, not only for sufficient space, but also to provide savvy, technological learning resources necessary to prepare 21st Century teachers. SUU educates the second largest number of teachers in the USHE. There is considerable talk about a possible capital facilities bond this year spurred by the very low interest rates and the need to jumpstart the economy.

In the same light as Prioritization and Accreditation, the Institution just recently established a new Vision & Goals statement, and within this document, one of our main objectives is to increase our Recruitment and Retention. We hope to reach an enrollment of 9,000 by 2011. Underlying all of our efforts, remains one of the foundations of our Mission (www.suu.edu/pub/policies/pp21) at SUU; that is ,"to provide students a personalized learning environment to foster meaningful experiences involving the mind, heart and hands." I believe that as we stay true to our students with this commitment, recruitment and retention will be strengthened.

Finally, Mari and I joined a band of happy travelers last fall on an alumni trip to Illinois to cheer for our football squad. We had a wonderful time. Alumni - here, there, everywhere - please take advantage of this open and sincere invitation to join us on these fun-filled, memory-making trips. When we come to your area, let's get together!

Here's to a continuing happy new year for you and yours and SUU.

Most sincerely,