Chancellor addresses student’s concerns
Being a student of Utah State University-Eastern, there are many questions about what’s happening with the merger between the two schools, and other questions as well. Chancellor Joe Peterson answered those questions on March 29 when students were allowed to do just that at his Chancellor’s Call.
Students, faculty and staff conversed in the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center Alumni Room at noon to eat pizza and ask what questions they might have had.
This archived article was written by: Mae Goss
Being a student of Utah State University-Eastern, there are many questions about what’s happening with the merger between the two schools, and other questions as well. Chancellor Joe Peterson answered those questions on March 29 when students were allowed to do just that at his Chancellor’s Call.
Students, faculty and staff conversed in the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center Alumni Room at noon to eat pizza and ask what questions they might have had.
To start the meeting, I asked Chancellor Peterson what sorts of changes the students were supposed to notice since the merger with USU. He said that a major change to notice is that the “Speed bump between two-year and four-year colleges will dissipate . . . but it’s going to take a long time to notice it.”
A student asked what one of the main reasons CEU merged with USU were, to which Peterson said, “USU is interested in our [nursing and criminal justice] programs.” Also, CEU got the benefit of five bachelor’s degrees: psychology, education, business, wildlife science and recreation management.
Another question asked was why the testing center is getting so much of a percentage from student fees next year. He said they were increased to make better/extended hours at the center and to become more convenient for the students.
Meagan Roach, a student at USU-Eastern, asked why the dorms were closed over the Spring Break. Peterson said it just cost too much to keep profit margins up and that it had to do with auxiliaries.
It was asked if USU-Eastern is a separate institution with just a fancier name. He said, “We are an institution with a long heritage and that heritage is unique.”
Andrew Higham, a USU-Eastern ambassador, asked, “Will CEU ambassadors be irrelevant?” to which Peterson said, “Our ambassadors will not be disbanded.”
Higham stated that the CEU ambassadors are land-locked with no budget to travel. The chancellor said, “Student fees should not be used for recruiting.”
Roach also stated that time should be dedicated to problems in the dorms. “We should be prime concerns, we pay the fees,” she said. Peterson said, “Our housing is in pretty bad shape in some places . . . but I think it’s pretty well executed. I, particularly, love this place.”
He also asked the students what the students hated about USU-Eastern. Some of those responses were: the communication between this campus and the Logan campus, the financial aid department being slow to process things, the school’s “prospective student” link on the USU-Eastern website is no good and the publicity for campus events has been lacking.
Peterson also asked what they loved. Some of the responses were: small class sizes, meeting international students, it’s easy to get involved, good math department and the nearness of everything on campus.
