H.C.R. 9

This document includes Senate Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Mon, Feb 7, 2005 at 10:32 AM by rday. --> This document includes Senate Committee Amendments (CORRECTED) incorporated into the bill on Mon, Feb 7, 2005 at 5:00 PM by rday. --> 1

RESOLUTION HONORING OUTGOING USU
2 PRESIDENT KERMIT L. HALL
3 2005 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Fred R. Hunsaker
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor expresses appreciation
10 to outgoing Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This resolution:
13 . expresses appreciation to outgoing Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall
14 for his years of service to the students, faculty, and staff of the university and for his
15 commitment to excellence.
16 Special Clauses:
17 None
18
19 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
20 WHEREAS, Kermit L. Hall, President of Utah State University, has announced that he
21 has been named President of State University of New York at Albany effective February 1,
22 2005;
23 WHEREAS, Kermit L. Hall was named the 14th President of Utah State University on
24 January 2, 2001;
25 WHEREAS, President Hall's four years of service at Utah State University have been
26 filled with tremendous dedication, energy, and accomplishment;
27 WHEREAS, President Hall declined to have a traditional inauguration and instead

28 pledged $10,000 of his own money to be used to establish a student inaugural scholarship fund,
29 saving the university $50,000;
30 WHEREAS, the scholarship fund is now worth $850,000;
31 WHEREAS, President Hall introduced a new funding relationship between the
32 university and its departments that matches funding allocations with departmental objectives;
33 WHEREAS, President Hall helped the university create a role statement and ten
34 well-defined university goals that are centered on the university's historical mission as the
35 state's only land grant university, and key decisions are made based on meeting these university
36 goals;
37 WHEREAS, "academics first" became President Hall's rallying cry, and in 2003 the fall
38 freshman class was the best prepared class Utah State ever admitted academically, with an
39 average grade point average of 3.6 and an average age of 18;
40 WHEREAS, Utah State University's incoming S. [ freshman ] freshmen.S athletes have
40a an 80%
41 graduation rate, ranking the university in the top ten nationwide;
42 WHEREAS, in May 2004 the university participated in its second S. [ Rhodes ] Roads.S
42a Scholars
43 Tour, which showcased the university's new faculty and staff and introduced them to the state
44 of Utah;
45 WHEREAS, during his service, President Hall saw Utah State University honored with
46 its first Rhodes Scholar in 22 years;
47 WHEREAS, President Hall helped the university to develop a new mission that
48 supports the vision of the State Board of Regents for the university's place in the state's system
49 of higher education;
50 WHEREAS, Utah State University was the first to develop this mission statement and
51 was cited by the State Board of Regents as a model for other institutions to follow;
52 WHEREAS, under President Hall's urging, the way in which Utah State University
53 measured research productivity was significantly changed, emphasizing the same measuring
54 standards applied by the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Foundation;
55 WHEREAS, despite historical state budget cuts amounting to some $14 million,
56 President Hall insisted that student tuition dollars earmarked to the university be used, in part,

57 to hire more teachers and advisors, resulting in the student/faculty ratio declining from 27:1 to
58 21:1;

59 WHEREAS, during the past 18 months, he has coedited two books, "The Oxford
60 Companion to American Law and Constitutionalism," and "American Culture: Writing the
61 New Constitutional History";
62 WHEREAS, early in his presidency, Kermit L. Hall vowed to meet Utah residents in
63 every county, and later he also milked a cow from every county and forged new friendships and
64 reintroduced and endeared many hundreds to the state's land grant institution;
65 WHEREAS, despite the demands on his time, President Hall, who is also a history
66 professor, took time out of his schedule to teach advanced classes in constitutional history;
67 WHEREAS, since he arrived four years ago, key decision makers around the state and
68 the nation have come to know and respect President Hall for his vision and insights regarding
69 higher education in Utah and the nation;
70 WHEREAS, President Hall has helped to reduce administrative costs by collapsing the
71 College of Family Life and dispersing departments among the university's existing S. [ six ]
71a seven.S colleges,
72 and reorganized the president's executive committee to reduce the number of vice presidents
73 traditionally required of similarly sized institutions;
74 WHEREAS, under his urging, university administrators, faculty, and staff were asked
75 to join him in giving up a portion of their day to help new students move into their campus
76 housing units;
77 WHEREAS, President Hall instituted a "Graduate in Four" program that encourages
78 students to graduate in a timely manner by following a preprescribed curriculum plan, and if
79 the student follows the plan but does not graduate in four years, the university covers the
80 student's last year of tuition;
81 WHEREAS, under President Hall's leadership, Utah State University advanced from
82 not being a member of any athletic conference league to joining the Sunbelt Conference and
83 recently accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference;
84 WHEREAS, under President Hall's direction, a child care development center will be
85 constructed to provide services for children of students, faculty, staff, and community
86 members;
87 WHEREAS, under President Hall's direction, Utah State University has seen its
88 research funding increase to record amounts;
89 WHEREAS, in the fall of 2004, under President Hall's direction, Utah State University

90 came together with the community to hold a benchmark summit that combined university
91 expertise with community know-how to address environmental sustainability, economic
92 growth, and demographic diversity, with the goal to make Cache Valley a better and even more
93 rewarding place to live, work, and study;
94 WHEREAS, President Hall has always been a champion of the open process and
95 demonstrated his commitment to this approach by taking his proposal for a tuition increase
96 over three years directly to the student body six months in advance of the usual timetable for
97 these discussions; and
98 WHEREAS, President Hall will be greatly missed by all those he has touched through
99 his leadership and service:
100 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
101 Governor concurring therein, express gratitude to Kermit L. Hall for his years of service and
102 dedication as the President of Utah State University.
103 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be presented to Kermit L.
104 Hall.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-20-05 10:04 AM

Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high
probability of being held unconstitutional.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel