Draft released detailing CEU future
The draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the affiliation between Utah State University and the College of Eastern Utah was released with provisions of the institution’s name, governance, mission, administrative structure and issues, student issues, public relations and information systems were highlighted.
The Board of Regent’s Task Force, Commissioner William Sederburg, Transition Director Cory Duckworth, and President Stan Albrecht will be in Price at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7 to “roll out” the CEU-USU MOU for the Price campus and community.
This archived article was written by: staff
The draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the affiliation between Utah State University and the College of Eastern Utah was released with provisions of the institution’s name, governance, mission, administrative structure and issues, student issues, public relations and information systems were highlighted.
The Board of Regent’s Task Force, Commissioner William Sederburg, Transition Director Cory Duckworth, and President Stan Albrecht will be in Price at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7 to “roll out” the CEU-USU MOU for the Price campus and community.
The MOU was created by a resolution adopted on July 16, 2009 by the Utah State Board of Regents. “At that time it was determined that ‘the College of Eastern Utah (CEU) should be affiliated with Utah State University (USU) to meet the challenges it faces and to enhance higher education programs for Southeastern Utah residents.’ To this end, the following provisions have been developed through extensive collaboration between representatives from both institutions with oversight from the Utah Commissioner of Higher Education.”
According to the draft, the name will officially be known as Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah. It will be a new comprehensive regional college in the Utah System of Higher Education with campuses in Price and Blanding under the authority and direction of the USU President and USU Board of Trustees.
As a comprehensive regional college within the USU multi-campus system, USU-CEU will be different in status than the other USU regional campuses as it will: (a) be led by a chancellor who reports directly to the president of USU; (b) support a diverse range of student activities, cultural, social, and athletic programs; and (c) provide lower community college tuition rates for lower division and career and technical education programs.
A chancellor will be appointed by the president of USU as the resident chief executive officer and principal academic leader of the college. The chancellor is responsible for the quality of academic programs in teaching, research, and service; student services and student life programs; strategic planning; budgeting; resource development; faculty and staff development; outreach; and alumni relations.
The chancellor will report directly to the president of USU, be a key executive of the university, and serve as a member of the USU President’s Executive Committee and the USU Regional Campus Council. The chancellor will provide leadership to the USU-CEU Regional Advisory Council, the CEU Alumni Association, and the CEU Foundation.
Degrees granted after July 1, 2010 will be USU degrees and will appear as such on the diploma and transcript. Notation will be made on the transcript that the USU degree was awarded through USU-CEU.
All curriculum matters after July 1, 2010 will be determined in accordance with USU policies and procedures.
USU role statements will be developed and approved prior to January 1, 2011 for all CEU faculty members who join the USU faculty on July 1, 2010.
Tenured CEU faculty will retain tenure as they join the USU faculty on July 1, 2010. These individuals will be granted the rank of associate professor with tenure. An individual may request to be considered for the rank of professor by submitting a dossier to be reviewed in accordance with USU policies and procedures.
In addition to the four USU faculty categories – core, librarians, extension, and extension agents – currently in place, USU will develop a fifth category for career-technical faculty (not to include business and nursing faculty who currently fall under CEU’s Division of Professional, Career & Technical Education). This new category will recognize the unique credentials, responsibilities, and expectations of tenured and tenure-track faculty who teach in career-technical fields.
CEU library staff serving in eligible positions and holding appropriate credentials will be considered for library faculty status.
The Northwest Commission on College and Universities (which accredits both institutions) has offered assurance that both accreditations will remain in force while the transition is completed.
All administrative employees on the USU-CEU campuses will report primarily through their immediate supervisors to the chancellor, who serves as the chief administrative officer.
Merging the USU and CEU Banner Information Systems into a single system is a desirable objective.
Employees of USU and USU-CEU will retain their existing separate medical benefit plans during a transition period. These plans will be evaluated during this period to determine when, and if, unification of the plans would be desirable.
Current state appropriated budget line items designated to the CEU campuses will remain separate from USU accounts and dedicated to meeting the missions of the specific campuses to which they are assigned.
USU and USU-CEU will work together to establish priorities for capital development funding needs for all USU campuses.
As a comprehensive regional college in the Utah System of Higher Education, USU-CEU will retain a separate seat at recruiting functions throughout the state. Nevertheless, collective recruiting strategies and activities will be encouraged to achieve optimal results for both USU-CEU and USU.
A marketing plan will be developed to rebrand USU-CEU as a comprehensive regional college affiliated with USU.
A new set of corporate marks will be established to recognize the new name and identity of USU-CEU. Such marks will be designed to recognize the historic identity of CEU in a manner that is consistent with the marks used by the USU family of institutions.
USU-CEU will continue to support its current NJCAA athletics program as separate from USU’s NCAA athletics program, including retention of the CEU school colors and the eagle as a college mascot. There will be no interaction between these two programs that would in any way compromise the athletic certification status of either institution.
USU-CEU will maintain its affiliation with the CEU Alumni Association and the CEU Foundation. The chancellor will provide leadership to these organizations in seeking a wide range of support for the programs and students of USU-CEU. Collaboration or consolidation of the CEU Foundation with the USU Foundation will be analyzed for potential to enhance private support for USU-CEU.
