Institutional Update from Interim President Smith
Old Main is seen at sunset in this 2022 file photo. (Photo Credit: USU/Andrew Diamond)
Editor's note: the following message was sent on October 10, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
I hope the early weeks of the semester have gone well for you. It has been a very busy start to the academic year and a while since I have provided an institutional communication. I appreciate your patience in receiving this update. Following the luminary that marked the arrival of our new first-year students, we have held memorials for two fallen police officers; officially opened the Carolyn and Kem Gardner Learning & Leadership Building; and hosted many scholarly, performance, fundraising, and athletic events. This is beyond our usual busy docket of student instruction, research, and community outreach activities. We can take much pride in what we have delivered and achieved in this short timeframe. Please continue to center the needs of our students and the state of Utah as we work to fulfill our land-grant mission.
Strategic Reinvestment Plan
News headlines pertaining to our strategic reinvestment plan (i.e., HB 265) were misleading – our plan was not rejected. Rather, a motion was approved by the legislative Executive Appropriations Committee to have our plan examined and revised by our new president, with that president bringing the plan to the Utah Board of Higher Education (UBHE) for assessment. This aligns with the motions carried by the UBHE, and subsequently the legislative Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, when I submitted our plan to those bodies. All parties want to be certain that the new president has the opportunity to offer input and ultimately supports the USU plan.
Understandably, in the context of forwarding a motion different from other Utah degree-granting institutions, committee members shared questions and comments. We have a sound basis for what was included in the plan, but we are not beyond reconsidering directions for the plan. Please recall that our plan is to be a living document, allowing us to adjust as we engage our academic community and stakeholders in implementing and refining its components. You may continue to offer your perspective through a Qualtrics survey. The implementation process will likely uncover challenges and opportunities that require attention. Moreover, we should remember that we regularly invest in initiatives and new directions outside of this process with performance monies, college-level investments, and so forth. The directions for reinvestment outlined in this plan, which addresses 10% of our instructional budget, constitute just a part of our broader institutional efforts and momentum.
As a final point, be assured that we will not backtrack on strategic reallocation decisions that have already been put into motion. For example, we will not be undoing our college mergers, other structural moves, or disinvestments. Where your teams have been given a green light to move ahead on planning and implementation activities, please move ahead. These are activities that offer institutional value and need to proceed regardless of their inclusion or not in the final strategic reallocation plan. Again, there are various methods we use institutionally to move forward helpful ideas.
Institutional Neutrality
We also will not backtrack on our commitments to institutional neutrality and free speech. Be assured, I received and read the emails sent by those of you in favor of and against offering a space for the recent Turning Point USA event on campus. I have received similar notes for other events we host on our campus. Please be reminded that one of our key responsibilities as a public institution of higher learning is to maintain an open marketplace of ideas. Offering a platform (or not) based on prejudgment, whether from a political, religious, identity, or other personally held vantage, undermines our pursuit of knowledge. It opens the door to partisan leveraging of higher education in ways that undermine the pursuit of knowledge and erode our democratic principles. Because our commitments to institutional neutrality and free speech are essential to our long-term institutional and societal wellbeing, we shall continue to invite speech rather than censor it.
Leadership Changes
There are a variety of other items I could discuss in this update, but in the interest of brevity (cough), I will direct you to Utah State Today for our latest news. I will close by briefly sharing information on departures and arrivals from our administrative team. I hope you will join me in thanking Kerri Davidson as she moves on to a new opportunity. She has served admirably as chief of staff and VP of institutional affairs in the president’s office. I am ever grateful to her for helping USU navigate the presidential transition last winter and for building a strong support team in our office.
I also invite you to join me in welcoming new members of the team who are filling vacant roles. Kris Winter joins us as senior vice president of undergraduate affairs, Cameron Walker joins us as vice president and director of athletics, and Courtney White joins us (this week) as special advisor to the president, addressing strategic initiatives and supporting me in the development and implementation of institutional priorities. These highly accomplished leaders see the tremendous success and promise of USU and come to us with a deep commitment to advancing the student experience and our broader institutional mission. I am eager to work with them on pursuing the long-term impact and wellbeing of USU.
As always, I am grateful to you for embracing and animating our important mission, particularly with the current challenges to delivering higher education. Please continue to model excellence in all that you do and know that your efforts are noticed and appreciated by many. Your work makes a difference to the students and community members we serve. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Alan L. Smith
Interim President
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