State of the University Address Highlights Successes Years in the Making

LOGAN, Utah — Utah State University President Noelle E. Cockett highlighted successes that have been years in the making during the 2022 State of the University address on Monday, March 21.

“We have had an amazing year,” President Cockett said. “In spite of the challenges we have faced because of COVID, we have persevered; we have come through with incredible resilience and we have had many, many successes.”

President Cockett began by highlighting USU’s increased degree completion rate. While enrollment has been steady at USU over the last decade, the number of degrees awarded has seen an increase each year, climbing 26.5% higher in 2021 as compared to the class of 2012. She sees these numbers not just as degrees awarded but as dreams fulfilled.

“Each one of those awards is a person,” President Cockett said. “It’s a student who had a dream of getting a credential from Utah State University, and through all of our collective works, they have been able to go along with that credential in hand. We hope they can continue on in their life and achieve the next dreams that they envision for themselves, their families and their communities.”

After years of quality undergraduate and graduate research, USU was classified as a Carnegie R1 institution (“very high research activity”) in late 2021. USU became one of 146 institutions in the nation to receive this classification, showing the university is a nationwide leader in research. Since 2016, President Cockett noted a 62% increase in research expenditures, totaling $316 million during 2021. Notable research funding mentioned in her remarks included the $1 billion, 10-year contract awarded to the Space Dynamics Laboratory by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, a five-year, $26 million grant to ASPIRE from the National Science Foundation, and two grants awarded to the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence.

“We believe in and do undergraduate research at USU,” she said. “We have a long history of this, starting decades ago. We think the combination of our R1 status, plus our strong efforts in undergraduate research, will continue our success for years to come.”

2021 was also a record funding year for the university. USU received more than $100 million in private donations from more than 7,300 donors. This is the most funding ever received in a single year and showed a 19% increase in donors from the previous year. Included in these donations were a $41 million donation for the Bastian Agriculture Center, a $7 million donation to name the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water and Air, and a $6 million donation to create endowments in the LAEP and Accounting programs.

President Cockett also provided details of the recently announced College of Veterinary Medicine. This college will address the shortage of veterinarians in Utah and will expand USU’s research capacity and technology capabilities in the biology and life sciences. The college will admit 80 students per year once it is fully operational. Its first four-year cohort will begin fall 2024, and a new building for the college will open in fall 2025.

“This college will do a lot of great things,” President Cockett said. “Utah is 42nd in the nation in number of veterinarians per capita. A large part of our program will focus on animal agriculture. This will give Utah the four medical professional schools: Medical, Dental, Law and now Veterinary Medicine.”

Those who have questions about President Cockett's State of the University Address may submit them via email to president@usu.edu.