Times change, don't they? At Utah State University, they have in many respects, said USU President George Emert. But Emert was intrigued by the similarities between now and what happened on this campus at the turn of the 20th century.

"I find it interesting, even ironic, that a century ago Utah State University president William Kerr and the faculty dealt with issues much like those we face today," Emert said in a speech last week.Enrollment between 1900 and 1904 almost doubled, and Kerr made entrance requirements more strict, Emert said. Recent years have brought an enrollment boom and tightened entrance requirements at USU. Kerr even had to deal with a switch from quarters to semesters in 1901, as Emert does now.

Emert said looking at the university's past, or at its roots, will help steer it into the future.

"These roots anchor us during these times of almost global free winds of change," he said. "And I think they allow us to focus our vision so that we continue to prepare ourselves for the 21st century."

Emert made his remarks as a part of his annual State of the University Address to faculty members Monday on the USU campus. Much of Emert's speech focused on the dwindling dollars coming to higher education in Utah.

"Given such a robust economic scenario, we have a right to ask why isn't our system of higher education sharing in all of this golden age?" Emert asked.

"The answer, at least partly, is increased competition for a smaller portion of the state's revenue pie," he said. "As a system of higher education we compete with roads, prisons and other state supported programs for funding."

"We're in the pot of flexible money so we're ones that can be squeezed," he added. "With all the competition for what is going to be extraordinarily limited state revenues this coming year, we will have to work hard for even a small increment of increase in those dol-lars."

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Emert also pointed to a public mistrust of higher education and alluded to an over-reliance on government funding. He called on those in attendance to be active in addressing the university's challenges.

"We must seek new sources of revenue to support our mission. We must create new partnerships on campus and off campus. We certainly must participate fully in the legislative process, and we must restore public trust in what we do in higher education."

Brian Pitcher, dean of USU's College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, said Emert's assessment of the university's challenges was correct.

"I thought it was a good overview of the issues," Pitcher said. "Where we are going to be challenged is where are we going to find the solutions."

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