May 2023
Institutional Update
President McIff
Thank you for a wonderful academic year! Together we have experienced many successes which culminated with our exceptional commencement ceremonies. As we gathered to celebrate our students' accomplishments, I felt a great deal of gratitude for them, for you, and for our beloved Snow College.
Participating in the Richfield and Ephraim commencement ceremonies, I thought of the many, many people who worked to make these events successful. Nearly every student service office played a role in hosting guests, ushering, or preparing students. Campus Services had our grounds and facilities looking beautiful. Food Services and Main Event provided delicious food. Our scheduling, SVC, and athletic staff worked through set-up details. The marketing team created a professional, branded image with our visuals, and our IT team made the necessary connections and sound happen. Our police officers ensured our safety, and dozens of others volunteered to help with the hundreds of details needed to pull together college-wide events. Marci Larsen and Heidi Stringham deserve extra recognition for their management of nearly every commencement week detail. They are both incredible and capable professionals who always seem to know exactly what to do.
I also thought about the commencement prep work that took place long before May 4 and 5. Our admissions team skillfully recruited students; our faculty members expertly instructed, coached, and supported students; and our retention and finance teams attentively supported students. Our advancement office has welcomed graduates to the alumni ranks and will continue to nurture the relationships and memories made here. Thinking about this cycle of student success reminded me again how much we need each other.
Working together is what makes us special and is the reason why students complete at higher rates at Snow College than at virtually any other institution in Utah. We all have a role to play in student success. Thank you for performing your role so well.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall and former President Gerald Day delivered inspirational commencement speeches. If you missed either (or just want to listen again), the details are below. I encourage you to watch them and consider their advice to be kind, have courage and vision, and work against the odds. Thanks to Gary and Snow TV for providing this service to our graduates' families who couldn't attend.
- The Ephraim ceremony is available here; Coach Mendenhall begins at the 1:05:20 time mark.
- The Richfield ceremony is available here, President Day begins at the 35:50 time mark.
Enjoy your summer!
Stacee
Finance and Administrative Services
I want to let you know that you have been heard. Over the past few years, we have had a number of finance-related issues and changes. Some of these changes have been very successful and some have been associated with additional difficulties. I apologize for those difficulties and I want you to know that I am committed to addressing those challenges. As our team has assessed the challenges and received feedback from you, we have identified major areas of concern and determined how we’ll be addressing solutions in the future. These areas are communication, pcard activities, transfers, account balances, and rollover.
Communication
To provide a greater level of customer service across campus, the Finance team is rolling out a new website and has identified specific liaisons for each department. These individuals will work on building relationships with their designated departments. Your liaison will be your point of contact and will help you with any finance-related questions. Your liaison will be in contact with your department, but also feel free to reach out to them if you have any questions. This change will be active within two weeks.
Streamlining P-card Activities
The Finance team is committed to helping people see and understand their respective budgets in real-time. One of the first steps that needed to be taken was to identify where we are spending money. This was the driver behind allocating pcard charges. We are more accountable to the state and internally when we can identify how we are spending tax dollars. The next phase of this project is the implementation of Chrome River, which will allow greater flexibility in tracking and allocating pcard charges. We are starting the implementation of this now and will be sure to provide a lot of training in order to minimize the pain of this new software. This will be implemented and deployed by the beginning of Fall 2023.
Transfers
Another pain point that we are aware of is the timeliness of fund transfers. Oftentimes, these transfers can take weeks, months, or longer to process. We recognize this is unacceptable. Part of the challenge with this process is the manual nature of the forms and reviews. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and the Office of Information Technology have begun working on the digitization of forms and workflow. This effort is two-fold; it will minimize the paper and will automate much of the review. Once fully implemented and deployed, this digitization will reduce fund transfers to only a day or two. These forms and workflows are being worked on now and should be deployed by the beginning of Fall 2023.
Account Balances
The visibility of account balances has been a concern. We are currently working on dashboards for each budget holder that will provide a real-time view of your budgets and expenses. You will be able to drill down and see how much has been spent on travel, equipment, food, etc. This will be deployed by December 2023.
Rollovers
Rollover balances have been particularly challenging this year. The timeliness of receiving rollover funds has not met the level of service that we strive for. We had a new chart of accounts and a lot of turnover in the Controller’s office. We understand the frustration and are working to correct that. One solution that we are exploring is holding those funds designated for equipment and software in a central account. This would reduce the time for the distribution of rollover funds since the majority of rollover funds are designated for equipment and software. We are still exploring that change and will not be doing anything differently for this coming fiscal year. Any changes will be vetted with the campus and clearly communicated months prior to the change. To be clear, the only rollover change for the coming year is that you will see the rollover balance much earlier.
Thank you for your patience as we work to correct these issues and improve our services to you. If you have questions, please reach out to a Finance team member. Again, over the next couple of weeks, you will be assigned a specific Finance team member who will be your main point of contact for all finance-related issues. Consistent with the Finance mission statement, we empower institutional stakeholders with accurate financial information driving successful student outcomes. Please let us know how we’re doing and how we can improve. Your designated liaisons and I stand ready to help you and have committed to timely responses to your needs. We will be providing periodic updates for these projects and others that may arise.
Technical Education and Industry Connections
The Outdoor Leadership and Entrepreneurship program wrapped up the semester with three two-night excursions into the San Rafael Swell for each of the three Backpacking course sections. Thanks to Dr. Whitney Ward for creating an experience for Outdoor Leadership and Entrepreneurship students.
The Swell is swell and swell again! (OLE 1535 Backpacking class sections 1, 2, and 3)
Students from the Diesel Technology Program spent two days in Salt Lake City touring and meeting with industry partners, Wheeler Machinery and Utah Transit Authority, and a day at the Utah Diesel Pathways Diesel Day. The Diesel Pathway motto resonates with Snow College Diesel students, “Nothing like the smell of dust, molten metal, and fuel to get you excited about Diesel Tech Pathways.”
Fifteen Business students participate in the DECA International competition held in Orlando, Fl. We were excited when two of our teams made it to the top 10 in this highly competitive event against universities and other colleges. Congratulations to our finalists as well as Snow alumna, Taegan Ure, for winning first place in her event!
Academic Affairs
As we finish up an academic year, it is imperative we take a moment and look back while simultaneously looking forward. With student success as our mission, we must evaluate and reflect while we are planning for the future. Each May, faculty do just that: they reflect on student success at the course and program level as they set goals and strategies for the upcoming year. This work is the very definition of quality care because the goal is continued student success.
Because of work like this throughout campus, Snow has consistently maintained a very high success rate. Those metrics matter. The data we collect is helpful for so many reasons: it gives us guidance in helping students achieve course and program outcomes; it lets us know where are excelling and where we might be able to improve; and it gives us data to tell our story of success in meaningful ways (to students, parents, legislators, board members, entities that recognize success—ASPEN, which listed Snow College in their most recent top 150 colleges list).
While the data is extraordinarily useful, an equally impactful component of assessment is the conversations we have with our peers over quality work and teaching.
Enrollment Management
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Auxiliary Services
FSY will begin the last Monday of May and end the first Saturday of August. We look forward to hosting up to 1300 potential students each week for nine weeks. We appreciate all our auxiliary employees do to make this a great experience. From food and housing to extra food at the bookstore, many people work to make it great. Thanks to those who will have visitors in their buildings and to facilities for the work they do to clean up and assist across campus. Looking forward to a great summer!
Who's New?
Please join us in welcoming the following new employees to the Snow College Team:
| Tiffanie Baker | Academic Advisor (Part-Time) |
| Macady Baxter | Accountant |
| Calli Cahill | Adjunct - English Dept |
| Brock Ogami | Women’s Soccer Coach |
| Jack Larter | Men’s Soccer Coach |
| Stephanie Lambert | Clinical Instructor – Richfield Campus (Part-time) |
Advancement
The alumni office is proud to report that they smashed their honor cord fundraising goal! Thanks to everyone who contributed!
Please join us for Alumni night at the Bees game, Friday June 9th at 6:35pm. There will be games, raffles, and other prizes. Be sure to stay for the fireworks after the game!
We want to know!
Please give your input on the new Snow College Master Plan! (Should take less than 15 minutes. Deadline is May 31.)
What's Happening?
We want to highlight YOU and YOUR students! We know there are amazing things happening at the college, but we don't always hear about those things until they are way past their prime to be considered newsworthy. We are always looking for stories to share either as press releases or news snippets, and we welcome your input. Here are just a few ideas of things that could be considered newsworthy:
- Fieldwork
- Organized student trips
- A student has work published/on exhibit
- You have work published/on exhibit
- Community events your department is hosting/participating
- Educational outreach
- Participation in National events (e.g. NaNoWriMo, Week of the Young Child)
- Heart-warming public-interest stories (Grandpa and grandson graduating together, single mom overcoming obstacles to pursue degree, students going above and beyond to help others, etc.)
Not sure your idea is really newsworthy? That's okay! Send it in -- I promise we won't laugh at you. While not all items will qualify for a press release, it may be perfect for a snippet somewhere on our site, or a possible release in conjunction with another bit of news.
To submit an idea, please visit snow.edu/storytelling. The more details you can give us the better. Submitting them as far in advance as possible is also helpful. (It's not too early to let us know of events you have scheduled for the school year!)
Staff Report
Graduation is always a little bittersweet for Snow College Staff as we say “Congratulations” and “Goodbye” to the students we work with in so many capacities. But in the brief quiet that comes during the week after Commencement, we gathered with faculty for Employee Appreciation Days, and later with each other for our own May Staff Professional Development event.
Staff and faculty enjoyed skating or bingo, snacks, and fun in Ephraim and in Richfield. President Stacee McIff also provided an employee appreciation lunch on both days so we could visit and rest or recreate a little.
On May 10, more than 170 Staff from both campuses gathered to gain new insights to create more welcoming workplaces to support each other and reinforce the need to avoid issues like harassing or abusive behaviors. Other speakers included President Stacee McIff who emphasized the need for friendship and support in our workplace, Registrar Alex Marshall-Snyder who shared wellness tips, and Purchasing Director Mike Jorgensen who spoke about records compliance and public access to college documents.
Staffers received an appreciation gift, a notebook with our motto, “Together we can do Snow much!” If you did not receive your gift, please reach out to Tammy Hales in the Campus Store or Lisa Laird in the Career Center.
At our last staff training of the year, Staff Association President Tammy Hales also introduced incoming leaders for the coming school year. Lisa Laird will become Staff Association President on July 1. Lisa is the Career Center Director and has worked for the college for 12 years advising students, and matching them with employers for career positions and paid internships. She also leads the student employment program.
Nearly 180 staffers voted for the new President Elect from a field of 5 candidates. Tracy Madsen, Campus Services Office Manager, becomes the President Elect. Tracy has worked for the college for 8 years and also worked for several years with our former food service vendor Sacco before that.
Tammy Hales will continue one more year on the Staff Association’s executive board. If you have ideas, projects, or items to discuss, please reach out to any of these three leaders.
Athletics Update
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Richfield Update
An annual goal approved by the Trustees was to develop a “brain trust” in Richfield and come up with strategic goals to elevate the campus. Luckily enough, faculty member, Heidi Johnson is part of the UWLE cohort this year and was also looking for a project. Therefore, President McIff had the insight to suggest that Heidi work with her to pull together a new group to develop and work on these strategic goals for Richfield.
This new Internal Task Force was established with a mix of 10 students, faculty, staff, and administration representation. In correlation, an External Task Force of community champions was being led by the President. The combined goal of both groups is to establish some strategic goals for the Richfield campus, including enrollment numbers, program ideas, recruitment efforts, scholarships, facilities, etc.
At the end of March, the Internal Taskforce devoted their attentions to six areas of strategic focus. In the past few weeks, the taskforce has already accomplished starting a new mountain bike club with plans to add a matching PE course. Additionally, the President has signed a new 2-5-year student housing lease agreement for 65-72 beds near campus that will be managed by Snow College.
The taskforce will continue to meet throughout the summer and will be presenting their goals to the Board of Trustees later this month. Well done taskforce members!
Social Media
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By The Numbers
