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News Release BOISE STATE NEWS / July 16, 2008 Kustra Named to National Commission to Address Public University Role in Global Competitiveness The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) announced today in Washington, D.C., the formation of the AASCU Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness and named Boise State University President Bob Kustra as one of the 12 presidents and chancellors on the national committee. This fall Kustra begins his sixth year as the president of Boise State, the largest institution of higher learning in Idaho and the state’s only metropolitan university. Boise State has more than 19,500 students, 2,400 faculty and staff and 190 fields of study with undergraduate and graduate programs in seven colleges. He leads the university in a formative time of profound growth in student enrollment, new facility construction, fundraising and research initiatives. The AASCU Commission will work to assess and project the impact of global economic, political and technological changes on America’s public universities. The commission, chaired by Bruce Shepard, former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor and President-designate of Western Washington University, will recommend to presidents and chancellors initiatives that will strengthen the success of their institutions in ensuring graduates are globally competitive. “Global competition affects our nation’s economic, political, social and environmental landscape. And the reality is we are just beginning to understand the significant challenge this presents for America,” said Constantine W. Curris, president of AASCU. Economic realities born of the free flow of capital and labor across national borders, the pre-eminence of multinational corporations, and the rapid expansion of international trade have created a new, and at times difficult, environment for American business, labor and higher education. Recurrent data suggest that at most educational levels, the performance of American students no longer matches or exceeds other advanced nations. “The Commission’s objective is to answer the question ‘how should public colleges and universities respond to global competitiveness to ensure that both our students and our country can meet the challenges as well as seize the opportunities presented by globalization?’” Curris said. The Commission’s members are Kustra, President Susan C. Aldridge, University of Maryland University College; President Donald Betz, Northeastern State University (Okla.); President Robert A. Corrigan, San Francisco State University (Calif.); President Helen Giles-Gee, Keene State College (N.H.); Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr., Troy University (Ala.); President Dorothy Leland, Georgia College & State University; President Michael T. Nietzel, Missouri State University; President P. Kay Norton, University of Northern Colorado; President Denise M. Trauth, Texas State University-San Marcos; Chancellor Jorge Ivan Velez-Arocho, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez; and President Leslie E. Wong, Northern Michigan University. The Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness will convene their first meeting at AASCU’s Summer Council of Presidents on July 19. -30- Media Contact: Frank Zang, University Communications, (208) 426-5391, frankzang@boisestate.edu; Jennifer Herrera, AASCU, (202) 478-4665, herreraj@aascu.org Boise State University is emerging as a metropolitan research university of distinction. This transformation is being powered by the university’s first comprehensive campaign to support its people, places and programs. That’s why the campaign to raise $175 million in private support is called Destination Distinction.
Last reviewed on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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