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Kustra focuses on academic
support in Spring Address
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President Robert Kustra updated students, faculty, and staff on the state of the university and his vision for it in his Spring Address Wednesday, Jan. 5, in the Jordan Ballroom.
Kustra spoke about BSU being at a "tipping-point" where the decisions made today could determine whether or not BSU will emerge as a prestigious metropolitan research institute.
"This is clearly a very exciting time for the Boise State family," Kustra said. "We seem to be writing a chapter in Boise State history."
Kustra compared BSU to other public metropolitan universities that have become prestigious and projected that in as little as three to five years BSU could move from a classification of a level one master’s university to an intensive doctoral/research university classification by The Carnegie Foundation.
While Kustra says the successes of Bronco football have thrust BSU into the national spotlight, he says, "Our tipping point is so much more than football."
Citing both internal and external approaches, Kustra outlined many initiatives designed to increase academic support for students and increase the role BSU plays in the economic development of the Treasure Valley.
The academic initiatives range from the creation of a graduate residential program to a freshmen book program to increased academic recruiting efforts.
The Graduate Residential Scholars Program will award 20 graduate students an award that includes a two-year graduate assistantship, on-campus lodging, graduate school fees, and a nine-month stipend. Based on current costs, each award will be worth more than $26,000 annually.
For incoming freshmen, Kustra has initiated the Freshmen Book Program where all first-year students will be encouraged to read an assigned book and participate in book discussions during orientation and classes.
Kustra hopes the book program will be one step in helping freshmen succeed and continue their studies at BSU. Currently, BSU retains just 59 percent of its full-time, first year students.
In addition to the book program, a 14-member Task Force on Freshmen Success has been created to study what factors help determine whether first-year students return for a sophomore year.
Kustra also said BSU will place a renewed emphasis on recruiting the best and brightest high school scholars. Two initiatives will target Idaho high school students who have demonstrated excellence in academics with scholarships intended to bring them to BSU.
The Capital Scholars program will offer Idaho high school juniors in the top 10 percent of their class and with ACT scores of over 27 or 1,220 on the SAT $1,000 scholarships to attend BSU.
BSU will also try to recruit some of Idaho’s roughly 80 annual National Merit Scholars by offering them full-fee paying scholarships for four years of undergraduate work in addition to an annual stipend.
Beyond the academic initiatives, Kustra expressed his desire that BSU play a more central role in the economic development of the Treasure Valley. Kustra says there is a wealth of resources at BSU in its students, faculty, and staff but BSU has to be more coordinated in offering its resources.
As the legislative session draws near, Kustra said it is absolutely necessary that Idaho universities sell the importance of public higher education to legislators and citizens alike.
In addition to lobbying the legislature for more funding, Kustra hopes to begin a capital campaign by next fall. Currently, four firms are in consideration for the job that will have one of them helping raise well in excess of $100 million for BSU.
Throughout the address, Kustra reiterated his seriousness about achieving the goal of transforming BSU into a major metropolitan research institute.
"I’m sure skeptics will accuse me of hyperbole…" said Kustra "[but] I am very serious about this, dead serious about this."
Gregory Rutty
News Editor
