Summer 2023

President McIff

Happy summer!

I hope you are enjoying this time of year. For some, summer slows down a bit. For others, activity ramps up during the summer months. As an institution, we stay busy all year! We still have students taking classes online and in person, and we are actively working to recruit new students for the Fall. Soon after our students graduated in May, summer conference programs began. We have hosted artists for the annual Summer Snow program, and dozens of young athletes have shown up for camps. Multiple pageants and conferences have been held in our facilities on both campuses, and each week nearly 1,000 youth are on our Ephraim campus for a privately sponsored religious conference. Thank you to all who are helping with these many fun and engaging activities. When you see summer guests (who are also potential Badgers!) and their families on campus, please greet them and let them experience our signature Snow College personalized care and concern through you. Tell them what you love about Snow, and – most importantly – help them feel welcome on our campuses. What a great opportunity we have to share our wonderful institution with visitors from all across Utah and beyond!

I am excited about all of the progress and good work that is happening on both of our campuses. We have several projects developing, and our leadership team looks forward to sharing more details with you. We will have a Town Hall meeting on July 20 at 12:30 PM, and our annual “welcome back” gathering will be held on August 15 in Ephraim. Please plan to join us that day at 10:00 AM for a college update, some round table discussions, and lunch with your friends and colleagues.

Stacee

Finance and Administrative Services

There are lots of exciting changes and activities going on around campus. Kudos to the Campus Services team and the various construction projects they are working on. IT also transitioned to our new firewall and dramatically reduced the anticipated downtime. Both of those teams are really busy during the summer, so please thank them when you see them.

A big shout-out to Staci Taylor who was recognized by the State Risk Management Department as the “best risk manager in the state.” Staci does a great job and was recognized for all her hard work in keeping employees, students, and visitors safe on our campus and at our events. Please congratulate Staci when you see her!

As the college grows and needs change, we will continue to allocate resources to the highest priorities. After multiple discussions and great consideration, we have determined to shift a few positions to meet high-demand needs. Paul Tew will devote his full-time efforts to information security. Ryan Yorgason will help with library technology and continue his work as a project manager and the digital forms project. You can find them both officed in the Huntsman Library. Data and data analysis is becoming more critical. Micah Strait will focus on institutional data analysis and Beckie Hermansen will report to the Provost and focus on data collection, accreditation, and other external reports. He and Beckie Hermansen are still located on West Campus in the former OIE office suite. They all, along with the entire Administrative Services team, are eager to help employees however they can. I appreciate their flexibility as we respond to and prepare for critical needs.

As promised, I also wanted to provide you an update to the email sent in May.

Things are moving forward and we look forward to rolling many of these exciting changes out. Stay tuned!

Technology for Innovative Livestock Management

The livestock industry is critical to Utah’s rural economy and the foundation of Utah’s agricultural economy. Snow College’s Innovative livestock management project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technology Education. The program and course activities include:

• Geospatial technologies to monitor feed production and grazing
• Precision irrigation
• Managed intensive grazing
• Composted animal waste as fertilizer

The Innovative Livestock Management program is a fully supported CTE pathway for agriculture focused high school student into college. Students in the ILM program are trained in livestock management and technical skills that are based in cost-saving practices of monitoring and managing pasture growth and grazing for regenerative pastures, efficient irrigation, and development of waste management plans including composting as an entrepreneurial opportunity to sustain the livestock business.

Students began the composting process last year, and students in Social Entrepreneurship, a course offered through the Rural Entrepreneurship, GRIT Center (Grassroots Resourceful Innovative and Tenacious) developed the Snowcompost marketing plan. The class was divided into teams each responsible for a different aspect of the process, label design, marketing, and pricing. In November 2022, the first sold 16 bags of compost at the college’s Homecoming football game.

Academic Affairs

I was talking with a student the other day and she was very eager to share her love of Snow College with me. In my time in administration, this has been a common occurrence. The students report, again and again, how impactful their experience has been and then share a deep appreciation for the faculty and staff who have supported them in their journey.

This, I believe, is what is remarkable about Snow College. There are, of course, caring faculty and staff at every institution, but at Snow College that attentiveness is institutional. Students hear about this from recruiters and alum before they ever step foot on campus, but they don’t understand the import and impact until they actually experience it. It truly is what makes us unique.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for this. It matters. When we get a report that we are an Aspen finalist (which we just did) because of our great completion and success numbers, I think of you—every one of you. While the success data spotlights what happens in the classroom specifically, we all know what happens in the classroom is impacted by the entire college experience. Every one of us is a part of that experience; each one of us makes a unique and important impact; all of us share in the success.

Enrollment Management

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Scheduling and Conference Services

Greetings from Snow Scheduling and Conference Services. We are halfway through “For the Strength of Youth Program,” aka “FSY” for the summer. We started week 1 with two sessions on May 29th and we will be ending with one session the week of July 31st. The week of July 3rd will be quiet around campus as we will not be having FSY that week. Participants and leaders will be returning Monday, July 10th for four additional weeks. We’ve had well over 1,200 participants and leaders on campus each week. This summer program could not be successful without help from all of you! Food Service worker bees are serving 13 meals a week at the GSC. We keep Facilities/Custodians busy with our upkeep. Thanks to on-campus and off-campus housing. We appreciate all the help and the team created for FSY each summer. Not to mention most of the staff working in the GSC and around campus who make these prospective future students feel welcome and make it work even with the additional commotion by their offices. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your work easier due to summer programs.