President Chuck Staben's inauguration address.

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