[Vision2020] BYU-Idaho Enrollment
Jerry Weitz
gweitz at moscow.com
Mon Oct 2 21:34:20 PDT 2006
Bill, Naylor Farms is not the type of growth I have ever pushed. What I am
talking about is a Stanford Research Park....Schweitzer type companies. In
this week's Kiplinger Report under trends, the letter reports a 30%
increase (from 25 years ago) of young people moving to and remaining in
urban areas. There are rural areas that are fighting back to keep their
youth and/or recruit youth to their regions by offering strong tax
incentives and in some cases, free land for businesses these youth are
starting. Incidently, there are more upstart high tech companies in the US
than ever in our history. Moscow is not an area that focuses on retaining
our youth since job creation is not on the radar screen. In one editorial,
I suggested that the county buy Naylor farms and turn it into a
business/ed research park. I talked with Sid Eder and Paul Kimmell about
this concept.
Would you agree such a business/ed park could reverse UI's decline? MIT has
less enrollment than UI and its graduates/faculty have spun off over 4,000
companies and these companies collectively employ 1.1Million
Folks. Route 128 in Boston in bristling with firms that are examples of
bus/ed. Micron, for example, donated $5 million to BSU for two Phd
programs in engineering. Micron used to donate to UI and I was told by an
engineering prof that Micron-UI donations have dryed up, however Schweitzer
donates heavily to both WSU and UI. Gone are the days of extractive
industries. I do not think it would take too many companies to reverse the
town's outlook. I do not believe our area will become an urban
center. Research shows that in 1910, with the students are factored out,
there was more population on the Palouse (Whitman and Latah Counties) than
in year 2000. I am not afraid of growth, however there has been almost no
planning. When you visited Walla Walla, did you feel the optimism and
experience a very nicely laid out community? When I went to college in
the mid 60's, Walla Walla was still complaining about not being the capitol
of WN and had a no-can-do-it attitude. When one extractive industry
(timber) declined, Walla Walla refocused and came up with the wine
industry. WWCommuniy College just started about when I graduated and has
matured nicely. Whitman and Walla Walla College, the two privates, work
together. The public k-12 is very progressive. Safe highways are lobbied
for and Walla Walla has over a square mile of business park. Their chamber
is very organized and its web page is excellent. Walla Walla is a city of
the arts.
So what I am saying, we could do the same and by doing the same, I believe
UI's fortunes will be enhanced and Moscow will benefit.
Jerry
At 03:20 PM 10/1/06, Bill London wrote:
>Jerry:
>A question: Naylor Farms, in their pitch for a county permit for the
>operation of their mining operation north of Moscow, promised growth,
>economic development, jobs, and economic diversification -- in short,
>everything you have said that you support. Do you believe that the Latah
>County Commissioners were wrong to deny Naylor Farms the option of
>developing their land in that manner?
>BL
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jerry Weitz" <gweitz at moscow.com>
>To: "Tom Trail" <ttrail at moscow.com>; <vision2020 at mail-gw.fsr.net>
>Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 11:16 PM
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] BYU-Idaho Enrollment
>
>
> > UI needs a boost with a business/ed research park similar to say Chapel
> > Hill, N.C.. WSU/Pullman/IU/Moscow are the assets. As Ed Schweitzer
> > said, we live in a sea of land and a declining population. Schweitzer
> > Engineering has a challenge in recruitment and expansion due to the lack
>of
> > housing and population. Schweitzer has said that his company in not in
>the
> > real estate business, yet had to develop over 90 acres for housing. The
>no
> > growth folks are hurting the UI, our area's potential, and Schweitzer.
> >
> > The UI is down 737 students state wide, with a decline of 628 at the
> > Moscow campus. BSU is up 277 to 18,876 (BSU has increased enrollment 9
>out
> > of the last 10 years). BYU/Idaho is up 1220 students. Within five years,
> > at present growth rates, BYU/Idaho will see 20,000 students and within 10
> > years 30,000. Recall, BYU/Idaho with President Kim Clark, the immediate
> > former dean of Harvard Business School, has three imperitives: 1) Vastly
> > increase enrollment, 2) vastly improve educational quality, and 3) keep
> > relative educational costs down. Note that BYU/Provo turns away
> > qualifiedsutdents-- about as many that apply.. I would guess: one of the
> > church's motives for expansion. BYU/Provo is a high educational quality
> > school. UI will most likely benefit at the graduate level due to BYU/Idaho
> > enrollment increases and mostly likely will see a decline in LDS kids at
> > the undergraduate level.
> >
> > ISU has lost about10% this year ( a decline of over 1200 ). UI officials
> > anticipated that its Twin Falls campus would suffer large declines and
>made
> > the right move to transfer out. Presently, UI's commendable response is
> > to place a lot of effort into recruitment and quality, however all Idaho
> > Public Universities will following suit and the competition will be
> > strong. The result may be little net gain.
> >
> > There will be a push by UI to have a strong presence in CDA. Presently,
> > for example, CDA has been begging UI for a MBA program in their
> > area. Money is the issue.. Gonzaga has filled the MBA role so far and is
> > expensive. The MBA needs to be tailored for the working professional.
> >
> > Here is the challange: If the community keeps up with its petty politics,
> > such as stopping safe highways, serving an eviction notice to the
> > Alternative High School, not dealing with water and other
> > infrastructure..schools, losing its commerical base to the Pullman
> > corridor, then the UI will have to accept declines in status, funding, and
> > enrollment. It will be like Ohio University vs Ohio State University in
> > dealing with BSU. All of higher ed will now have to compete with k-12 if
> > the economy softens due to the sales tax shift.
> > Boise will get a community college and should.. adding more competition
>for
> > the ed dollar.
> >
> > Yet, there exists a tremendous potential here on the Palouse for a robust
> > economy and thriving Universities. Think of the possiblities in
> > alternative energy, global warming solutions (after all the ozone layer
>has
> > almost been restored), agriculture, water, etc. and the spin off's.
>Think
> > of how much value Schweitzer Engineering has added to humankind and this
> > area. Think of how the UI's reputation would be enhanced..the MIT of the
> > west. The Palouse Universities have the potential of being defining 21th
> > Century institutions. The community must embrace growth and change (the
> > only constant).
> >
> > Now Tom, what are you going to do and what postion are you going to
> > take? Jerry
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > At 04:12 PM 9/26/06, Tom Trail wrote:
> > >Visionaires:
> > >
> > >One should keep an eye on the enrollment trends in S.E. Idaho. The
> > >enrollment at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg is over 15,000, and experts predict
> > >that within a few years it will overtake BSU and thus become the largest
> > >institution of higher learning in Idaho. The 9% drop in enrollment at
> > >ISU may be partially attributed competition with BYU-Idaho.
> > >
> > >Rep. Tom Trail
> > >--
> > >Dr. Tom Trail
> > >International Trails
> > >1375 Mt. View Rd.
> > >Moscow, Id. 83843
> > >Tel: (208) 882-6077
> > >Fax: (208) 882-0896
> > >e mail ttrail at moscow.com
> > >
> > >=======================================================
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> > >=======================================================
> >
> >
> > =======================================================
> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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> > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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> >
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