Goodrich named one of three associate vice chancellors

This archived article was written by: Tadd Mecham

Russell Goodrich, formerly the dean of the professional, career and technical education division, was named as one of three associate vice chancellors. He sees these changes that have come with the merger and his new position as a way to look for creative ways to promote positive changes.
Goodrich grew up on a farm where his father drove for a trucking company and owned an auto mechanics garage. With this upbringing, he was led to do a variety of miscellaneous jobs at a young age. One of these jobs included milking cows, a job that Goodrich said he will never miss.
Later in life he helped manage a small business and worked at a bank. He also taught at Utah State University for a short while, then spent two years teaching at a junior high/high school in Altamont before accepting a position at the College of Eastern Utah.
He has been working at CEU for about two decades, starting as a full-time faculty member. He has taught a number of classes including computer application, programming, office education and business.
He has served as the dean of professional career and technical education division and was nominated for his new position. After being asked if he was interested in the position, he willingly took the invitation to work in this new role.
With his new position, he aims to improve his own communication with the division faculty. Being a strong believer in “management by walking around,” he plans to visit the individual members of the division on a regular basis.
He also plans to do a better job in organizing formal settings and to use other methods to provide better information for members of this division.
There are two aspects Goodrich loves about his job; the first is that he will still get to work with students both as an adviser and in the classroom.
Second, he enjoys having an opportunity to work closely with many talented and dedicated people who do amazing things in their classrooms with students. He believes the faculty members and administrators are wonderful colleagues and dedicated, innovative workers.
The most difficult part of the job for Goodrich is managing a handful of diverse tasks and challenges. It demands a large portion of his time, and is complicated to prioritize and complete what needs to be done without neglecting the other important, less pressing issues.
He would like to see USU-CEU continue providing services to this part of the state for a long time to come. He believes that continuing to provide support and expand the excellent, and nationally recognized, programs that are already in existence at the college is very important.
He believes there are opportunities to develop new programs through the affiliation with USU. It gives the school an opportunity to expand the services to students and to the community with new degrees and better access to already existing degrees.
By effectively working with government, business and community leaders throughout the region, it will define what we do as a “comprehensive community college.” It will also establish the common goals and priorities.
Though all of this change is an exciting concept, there is one area that Goodrich would like to stay exactly the same: the involvement and interaction between students and faculty. He has always been impressed by how engaged and involved the students are in campus life. He also likes that fact that most faculty members know each individual student and takes a personal interest in them.
Goodrich also had a few words for the students, “Thank you for choosing USU-CEU. I believe you have made a wise choice. I love working at USU-CEU and am excited to help you pursue your educational goals. Please feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions about programs we offer or if I can help you achieve your educational goals.”