USU President's Response to Draft Bill Calling for Merger of CEU with USU

A working draft of a bill that would merge the College of Eastern Utah with Utah State University and change its name to Utah State University College of Eastern Utah Campus is being circulated at the Utah Legislature.

When asked to respond to the draft bill, Utah State University President Stan Albrecht indicated that USU was supportive of the proposed legislation if it can be demonstrated that the action would benefit both institutions and the constituencies they serve.

Albrecht specifically indicated that the merger should benefit students in the CEU service area as well as the greater Carbon community. Among other things, he stated that should the merger occur, Utah State University is committed to:

Expanding educational opportunities for the region, including adding new undergraduate and graduate degrees in areas that would most benefit the communities of Southeastern Utah.
Retaining and enhancing cultural and athletic activities currently offered by CEU.
Maintaining CEU’s open enrollment, community college, and ATC functions.
Maintaining the current tuition structure for lower division course work. Students choosing to matriculate into bachelor or graduate programs would then pay USU tuition for their program or degree.
Maintaining and enhancing all other educational, cultural, and economic functions that CEU provides to the local region.

In terms of potential benefits for Utah State University, Albrecht referred to opportunities to enhance programs the university currently offers in areas like business, education, natural resources, geology, and entrepreneurship that would then be extended to areas of the state that currently have more limited opportunities to participate in these programs.

He also noted new opportunities to expand USU programs in energy resource development and to extend benefits to more rural areas of the state that come from USU’s participation in the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) program that was created in the last legislative session.

The proposed legislation provides for a transition plan that would address questions of governance and administration structure, faculty qualifications and compensation, career and technical education, student support services, program development, funding issues, and other issues relating to the potential merger, Albrecht said.

Feb. 9 , 2008

Contact: John DeVilbiss, 435-797-1358; john.devilbiss@usu.edu