[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter for May 2, 2008

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is the UI Friday Letter for May 2, 2008.

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University of Idaho
Office of the President
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3151
Phone: 208-885-6365
Fax: 208-885-6558

The Friday Letter
A Newsletter for University of Idaho Alumni and Friends
May 2, 2008

Dear Friends,

This week in my annual State of the University address, I reported on the 
New Era at the University of Idaho, one characterized by strength, pride 
and progress, along with resilient, ambitious, and aspirational.  I am 
humbled and encouraged by the stunning work ethic and dedication to 
learning, living and leading that our community possesses. These qualities 
have made possible the recognition our University enjoys today for high-
quality academics, research and creative activity; the unparalleled 
student life experience we offer; and our record of alumni achievement.  

"Challenged" is an appropriate description for our University today, too. 
With change always comes challenge, and in my address I acknowledged the 
present challenges that our community is facing together:  increased 
costs, new budgeting requirements, strategic planning, tough internal 
analysis of our graduate and research programs, and fundraising demands. 
Yet we are strong academically, strong financially, strong in research and 
strong with respect to our students. We educate, foster creativity, 
encourage excellence and reward service - and in the end, we create 
leaders for society.

Our immediate priorities continue to address people, programs and place. 
We continue to implement our Strategic Action Plan with an emphasis on 
ensuring a positive, productive culture and climate for our students and 
employees - one that is dynamic and vital, and that functions efficiently 
and effectively. We are on track to meet our six-year goal for improving 
employee compensation. In the next weeks, we will begin important work on 
our graduate education and research programs by identifying ways to foster 
program strengths and encourage multidisciplinary opportunities. Private 
support is a critical element to our future success. We will continue to 
build our fundraising activities to generate vital financial support for 
our students, faculty, programs and facilities.

A great university is a dynamic institution that embraces the push of need 
and the pull of opportunity. That certainly describes the University of 
Idaho, and need and opportunity will guide us as we address our critical 
priorities. We commit to engage in innovative thinking and consider 
unconventional actions to achieve our goals. We must continue to act on 
our vision and aspire to be student-centered in all we do, to be 
nationally competitive and to focus on the emerging needs of the next 
century.
	
A video download of the State of the University address is available at:

www.president.uidaho.edu/presentations.

Tim White	
President

Here's the latest news from the University of Idaho:

Approximately 118 students are eligible for graduation from the University 
of Idaho Coeur d'Alene on Monday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony takes 
place at the Schuler Auditorium in Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. 
The commencement address will be given by Paul Anderson, who retired this 
year as Avista Utilities' Coeur d'Alene area manager. A President's 
Medallion will be given to educator and health care advocate Lidwina 
Dirne. She led a community effort to provide health care assistance to 
those in need that resulted in The Lake City Health Care, which opened in 
1989. The facility has been renamed the Dirne Community Health Center in 
her honor. Earlier this week, commencement ceremonies were held at 
University of Idaho Boise and University of Idaho Idaho Falls. Moscow 
campus and College of Law commencement is May 10. For more information, go 
to:

www.uidaho.edu/commencement

The University of Idaho placed 46th out of more than 500 schools that 
competed in this year's William Lowell Putnam Competition. The premier 
undergraduate mathematics competition takes three students from each 
competing school and pits their Putnam exam scores against one another to 
see which school fares the best. Idaho students in the competition were 
Jason Fitch, a double major in mechanical engineering and mathematics; 
Jonathan Gaffney, mathematics major and student body president; and Bryan 
Wilson, mathematics major and Goldwater scholar.

Fred Gleave, a longtime resident of Spokane, Wash., left an estate of more 
than $2 million for scholarships at the University of Idaho. Although Fred 
was unable to attend college, he was a firm believer in both the value of 
higher education and the University of Idaho. A native of Potlatch, he was 
a life-long acquaintance of Malcolm Renfrew's, a retired emeritus faculty 
member and department head, and out of this friendship grew Fred's 
allegiance to Idaho. Fred had a long and distinguished career as director 
of public relations with Washington Water Power, now Avista Corporation. 
In the early '90s, following the death of his wife, Janice, Fred created 
the Fred and Janice Gleave Scholarship Endowment. Fred died in June 2006, 
and the entire portion of his estate coming to the University of Idaho was 
distributed to this fund. For more information on creating an endowment, 
contact Ed McBride, senior director of development at (208) 885-9026 or 
mcbride at uidaho.edu.

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Came a tribe from the north brave and bold . . .

"Here We Have Idaho"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/HWHI.mp3

"I-D-A-H-O Idaho Idaho Go Go Go"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Vandals.mp3

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