PRESIDENT CHUCK STABEN INAUGURATION ADDRESS | SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
Keys
to our
Future
Chuck Staben
Eighteenth President of the University of Idaho
1
The President
Dr. Chuck Staben took office as the 18th
was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford
President of the University of Idaho March 1,
University from 1987–1989 and at Chiron
2014.
Research Laboratories from 1985–1986. He
Originally from Waukegan, Illinois, Dr. Staben received a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1978 and a
was also a graduate research and teaching assistant at the University of California, Berkeley from 1978–1984.
Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of
Dr. Staben’s research focused on fungal
California, Berkeley in 1984.
developmental biology, bioinformatics, and
Starting in August 2008, he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of South Dakota. During his term, the University of South Dakota increased enrollment, retention, and graduation as well as research grants. As Provost, Dr. Staben helped guide the University of South Dakota through state funding declines and helped
fungal genomics. He received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies. He served on National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grant review panels, and recently served on a National Research Council committee that reviewed the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and the Institutional
lead its transition to a new budget model.
Development Award programs for the U.S.
Prior to his tenure at South Dakota, Dr.
Senate. Dr. Staben taught microbiology,
Staben served as the Associate Vice President
genetics, bioinformatics, and introductory
for Research at the University of Kentucky
biology and received numerous awards for
from 2005–2009, acting as Vice President in
teaching.
2007–2008. Prior to that appointment, he
Dr. Chuck Staben and his wife, Dr. Mary Beth
was a professor of biology from 1989–2008
Staben, have three college-aged children.
and served as the chair of the biology
Mary Beth is a practicing physician of internal
department from 2000–2004. Previously, he
medicine.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO PRESIDENT CHUCK STABEN INAUGURATION CELEBRATION ADDRESS September 19, 2014 Thank you very much. Thanks Emma; thanks
I am honored also by the attendance of those
everyone for participating in this ceremony. It is
delegates representing other educational
very moving to me.
institutions and entities who join the University of Idaho in the important work of educating, learning
Thank you Lee, for your vision of a public
from, and informing our citizenry.
university, for the work you have done in Kentucky and nationally, and thanks very
And of course, I also want to thank my family,
personally for helping me to achieve my goal, my
especially Mary Beth and our children—Mac, Cal,
dream of leading a public university-of having the
and Rae. Without their support, and occasionally
opportunity to help change lives and to improve
their criticism, I know that I would not be here.
society. Also Lee, thanks for a lot of good ideas
Thanks especially, Rae, for representing your two
that I’ll probably steal. Some of you may have
brothers, Mac and Cal, who could not be with us
heard some of these already.
today. They had anatomy tests today.
Thank you also to the faculty, staff, students, and
If I could communicate just one message today,
alumni of the University who are joining us in
it would be that WE hold the keys to our future.
person and from our many locations throughout
My talk is titled the Keys to our Future and you’re
this great State of Idaho.
probably looking for some magical statement as to what the key to our future is. I don’t have
Thanks also to those on the stage, for their
magic. I know I have lots of people to help me in
support and for the key leadership roles they play:
constructing the future of Idaho and especially in
Governor Otter, Regents Goesling and Atchely, the
constructing the future of the University of Idaho.
Executive Director of our State Board of Education
We here today have the ability to construct our
Mike Rush, and Mayor Lambert. Thanks very much
University. A University that can best serve our
for your support.
students, our state and ourselves.
Special thanks to Interim Provost and Executive
I’ve spent the last 6 months on campus and
Vice President Katherine Aiken and the rest of
traveling throughout Idaho. This is a great
the University leadership team out there for their
university and a beautiful state. This is a university
service to the university and their generosity in
that is loved by its alumni and valued by the people
helping me transition into the presidency. And once
of our state. I have learned a great deal about our
again, Don thanks very much for your help during
state and our university, but the most important
my transition into this presidency.
thing I have learned is that it’s time to move forward together-and to move forward--boldly.
It’s not that hard to define what we, as citizens,
rally for the University. Thank you all for being
want our future to look like. We want tolerance
here to celebrate today and participating in that
and prosperity in our communities. We want to be
pep rally.
good stewards of our resources-of our land and our water which is so beautiful here in Idaho. We
It IS a beautiful day in fall to celebrate, at 1:25 PM, in
want a rich cultural life. And we want to leave an
our 125th anniversary (that was clever wasn’t it)…
even better life to our children.
where we have been and what we want the next 125 (I will be here a long time, but not quite that long)
It’s also really not hard to define what we want
or, at least, the next 10 years to be. It IS a good day
the University to look like. We want students from
to reflect, and to identify our next steps.
all of Idaho to have ready access to the superb education and the superb experience we offer.
I want to emphasize as a PUBLIC university and
We want a faculty and staff that is intellectually
a land-grant university, we serve several publics-
strong and who find their careers rewarding. We
but primarily we serve the people of IDAHO. It
want to live in a vibrant community. We want
turns out we are the University of IDAHO. We
to help build our wonderful state and we want
can serve Idaho by also serving the United States
our peers to recognize the excellence of our
and the world-bringing the world to us as you see
university.
these flags around us, and helping Idaho to find its place in the world. We construct ourselves, and
Even though we share these visions, sometimes it
in that sense we also serve our faculty, staff, and
is difficult to discern exactly how one builds that
students.
future. Sometimes we get discouraged-we are a state with a small population, limited financial
We honor our past; we are the pride of our alumni.
resources, and a public that has not traditionally
We will achieve our goals, I think, by understanding
attended college in large numbers.
and fulfilling the ideal of the national, public, landgrant research university as it has evolved over the
Sometimes we lose our way as we contemplate
last 200 years.
the choices we face-should we educate students OR should we conduct research? Should we focus
Although Lee introduced this history, I would
on the Moscow campus OR on our statewide
like to review the mission and vision for public
mission? And though we cannot do everything, I
universities, which has changed a great deal over
ask that we embrace our broad mission and think
the last roughly 200 years.
about how large a difference we can all make. Public universities started with the United States’ It’s my job, I know to help us all to find our
Founders, who realized that a participatory
way. So, please don’t be unrealistic about that
democracy needed an educated governing elite
expectation. We will not develop, much less
and maybe just a few schoolteachers…but our
complete, the 10 year plan for our success in one
current vision extends to an educated populace,
day, or even in 7 months. Today is also not the
inclusive of all people. All the people of Idaho, all
day to detail those plans; today IS really a pep
of the people of our nation.
The next big step was development of the Land
So, you probably did not come here today simply to
Grant University in 1862. Via a grant of land, a
review the history and role of American universities.
state could support a university for its people
You want to see who this new President is and you
that would educate students in the practical and
want to hear what the University of Idaho will do
liberal arts, uniting and healing a country torn
next. So, I will give you a few specifics, then close
apart by the Civil War. Remember the Morrill Act
with some personal perspectives.
was passed in 1862. I am astounded by this vision, created at a time when few citizens, even those
The University has done a great job for 125 years.
national legislators, had a high school education
But we can be better.
and the country was in a crisis. To think our leaders believed the best thing we could have would be a
We can serve more students, more effectively.
system of public university education.
The State of Idaho has a clear goal of increasing postsecondary degrees from 40% of our population
The Smith-Lever Act, passed 100 years ago,
to 60%-this is consistent with education rates in
provided the means—extension funding—to bring
economically advanced countries and in our most
the university to all the communities of the state.
advanced states; it is consistent with our national
Though initially focused on agriculture, today’s
goals, it is consistent with the needs expressed by
Uuniversity engages not just in agriculture, but on a
Idaho business leaders.
broad front—in agriculture, in engineering, natural resource management, the arts, health and in many
The University of Idaho should take a leadership
other spheres. I expect us at the University of Idaho
position embracing this goal and therefore grow
to share our broad vision of engagement. We must
enrollments. We must communicate the value of
listen to our communities, work with them on
higher education to families, many of whom will
solutions and help them confront their challenges.
send the first member of their family to college.
In the 1870’s American universities recognized
We must assist those families financially and we
the need to discover new knowledge and to
must be as efficient and effective as possible with
provide advanced degrees so that discovery could
the resources that those families provide and that
continue. During World War II and the Cold War,
our state provides to help us do this job-to keep
the nation enhanced that role by providing grants
education accessible. Within 10 years (and I am not
to universities so they could conduct research of
known for patience), I anticipate a student body
specific value to the nation which continues today.
that is 50% larger than our current student body, and that represents all of the people of Idaho and a
Today public universities are seen as economic
sample of others from across the United States and
drivers, keys to the United States’ continued
the world.
prosperity, and to enhancing social mobility. Public universities improve not just an individual’s life,
We will expect each student to be a partner in
but they also improve our society. One can find
his or her own success, but we will celebrate
inspiration each day when one works at a public
each student who graduates and we will see
university, because you know you are part of
each one who leaves before graduation as a lost
building a stronger democracy.
opportunity. The University of Idaho currently
does a good job, graduating 56% of our students
I want to remind our faculty, we do not conduct
in 6 years-this is about what we expect from the
research because it is an expectation, it is because
academic profile of our incoming students. But I
our research has impact on our students and on our
want to work at a university, and I think that you
world. And of course, as a land-grant, Smith-Lever
want to work at a university, that does a GREAT
institution, we will use our extraordinary extension
job—and outperforms our expectations that our
network to listen to our communities, and to work
students may have, even of themselves.
with them to bring the benefit of our knowledge to the people of Idaho.
I ask each of you to consider how YOU can make the student experience better—being the key to
These are tall orders and I cannot tell you all the
a student’s future is extraordinarily rewarding. I
ways in which we together will accomplish all this.
hear this all the time as I travel the state that the
In fact, I believe we will only accomplish what I have
“University of Idaho is key to students future”
described, which I believe are completely reasonable
and I want to hear that over and over again. It’s a
and important goals for us, by working together.
message of which we should never tire. When I think about the work ahead, I think of a We have a mission broader than education,
very personal experience, with which I would like
of course. We generate knowledge and we
to close.
disseminate knowledge. The standard we should use in evaluating this mission is the impact of
My friends and family know that I spent more
our work-on the world and specifically in Idaho.
than 15 years watching youth swimming because
We—especially our faculty and our graduate
our kids were involved in that. Six-year olds look
students—identify and complete projects of critical
like little tadpoles and they can’t swim even 25
importance to the state and to the nation. In fact,
yards of butterfly. It’s a very difficult stroke. But,
my first knowledge of the University of Idaho was
10 years later, after a lot of practice and growth,
the excellence of its research in bioinformatics,
every swimmer who sticks with it literally thunders
basic research of high impact. So we will do high
across the pool and can swim 200 yards of
impact basic research but we will also do research
butterfly. Admittedly, none are as fast as Michael
that directly impacts the people of Idaho.
Phelps, but what I find amazing and inspiring is that each swimmer is better than he or she, or anyone
We must address these issues of direct impact in
observing a six year old, could ever have imagined
Idaho, and that we have already done—origination
that he or she could be.
of important plant varieties, development of environmentally-responsible forestry practices,
If we strive for excellence, if each day we simply try
understanding the history and culture of an
to be better, 10 years from today, we will be better
internment camp within our state, or-one of
than we could ever have imagined.
the projects under development now-a research facility to support our burgeoning dairy industry.
THANK YOU for the privilege to serve as your president. As always, Go Vandals!
President Chuck Staben Office of the President P.O. Box 443151 Moscow, ID 83844-3151 208-885-6365 president@uidaho.edu www.uidaho.edu/president