Utah State University's Multi-Campus Faculty and Staff Gather in Logan

In keeping with Utah State University’s mission to expand access to higher education opportunities in underserved areas of Utah, a unique gathering of multi-campus professors, instructors and administrators assembled for the first time on the Logan campus Aug. 15, 16 and 17, 2011, to prepare for the new academic year.

According to Ronda Menlove, senior vice provost of Utah State’s Regional Campus and Distance Education system, the retreat was an historic event.

“This is the first time that USU regional campus and Utah State Eastern faculty have met together on the USU Logan campus,” said Menlove. “With our unprecedented growth in the newly merged institution and the challenges of delivering Utah State’s high standards of instruction utilizing technology in non-traditional ways, we decided to bring everyone together this year.” 

Nearly 150 faculty members representing campuses in the Uintah Basin, Tooele, Blanding, Price, Moab and Brigham City heard from university President Stan Albrecht, Provost Raymond Coward, Chancellor Joe Peterson and Senior Vice Provost Menlove among others.

Albrecht reiterated the statement he initially made in 2006: 

“Through Utah State’s Regional Campuses and Distance Education system we are opening doors of opportunity as wide as possible. We are one university, geographically dispersed and maximizing access to students of all ages and situations.”

The Logan retreat was especially important to further the integration of Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah in Price and Blanding, formerly the College of Eastern Utah (CEU), into the multi-campus system.

Travis Peterson is associate vice provost of program development for the regional campuses.

“Being fairly new to Utah State University, it was very impressive to see the magnitude and outreach of USU across the state and throughout the country and world for that matter,” he said. “I definitely gained a better perspective about the great work we are doing.”

While the 2011 faculty retreat was the first of its kind, it won’t be the last.

“With this unprecedented gathering of our regional faculty behind us, we’re positioned to make an even greater contribution toward assisting our students not only begin or complete degrees, but also prepare them for the many job and career opportunities that require higher education.  It’s going to be a great year and I’m already looking forward to our 2012 retreat here in Logan,” said Menlove.

About Utah State University’s Regional Campuses and Distance Education

Utah State University has fulfilled its mission as the state’s land-grant university to deliver higher education in Utah’s rural communities since 1896. Currently, students are served in all of Utah’s 29 counties, every state and 50 foreign countries as well. USU delivers courses online, in traditional classrooms and through interactive video conferencing to multiple locations. For example, students in Vernal may be taught by a professor from Tooele, Brigham City, Logan or Moab. Three-hundred-eighty-five (385) courses are delivered online with 116 new online courses developed by USU faculty since 2008. Two-hundred-thirty (230) classrooms in Utah received interactive video conference courses from USU in fall 2010 and 280 interactive video conferencing rooms in Utah are operated by USU.  One hundred percent of all distance education courses and nearly 50 percent of all USU classes use a web-based support system. Since 2006, Utah State has led in the development of distance education infrastructure with an investment of nearly $4 million. Thirteen (13) new online programs, including deafblindness and agribusiness have been developed since 2006 with 16 interactive broadcast degrees developed over the same period, including criminal justice, accounting, and applied environmental geoscience. 

Enrollment Trends since 2006:  90 percent increase in online delivery; 34 percent student headcount increase in interactive video conferencing; 98 percent increase in interactive video conferencing course delivery.

For more information contact Dr. Robert W. Wagner, associate vice provost, (435) 797-0945, Robert.Wagner@usu.edu.

Related link:

Utah State University Regional Campuses and Distance Education

Writer: Stephen G. Handy, sghandy@comcast.net