Featured Post from Southern Utah University

Transparency and Accountability - Week Two of the 2019 Utah Legislative Session

Feb 5, 2019

2 min

It is week two of my sixth session representing Southern Utah University with the Utah State Legislature. As I reflect on the task at hand and what I've learned over the last five years, I continue to have a greater understanding and greater respect for the effort our state leaders put into transparency. We, as individual constituents, have an opportunity to understand the process and contribute to it.


Appropriations committees continue to meet this week. At our first meeting, the legislative analyst presented an outline for the Higher Ed Appropriations Committee meetings scheduled. Pages three and seven get very specific about what we are going to discuss at each meeting. This allows the presidents of each of the eight state institutions to prepare. Meetings are also held with individual legislators so there is a greater understanding of what they are trying to achieve. President Scott L Wyatt will present to this committee next week, on February 13. It's easy to listen in.


President Wyatt will also be presenting this Friday, February 8 to Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Committee (IGG). This committee has enormous budgetary responsibilities as they deal with everything from compensation to transportation to technology and, what we are most interested in, state-funded buildings. We have the responsibility to convey to this group why an investment in SUU now is the right thing to do with one-time state funds. This committee will prioritize and recommend funding during the February 14 meeting, I'm hoping it's a real Valentine for SUU.


Additional requests for funding will be made by the Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF) and the Utah Summer Games (USG) to the Business, Economic Development and Labor (BEDL). Yes, it's all initials, all the time. USF has been receiving ongoing funding for the last two years. This year, for the first time, they have been asked to return and report on how those funds have been used to benefit the state of Utah. As an economic engine for our community and region, the Festival has an amazing story to tell. As does the Utah Summer Games. State support for these auxiliary enterprises is very important as they seek private funds to accomplish their missions and benefit our campus and community.


It's a great show! Listen in to committees or watch the debate on the floor. While my focus is on the funding, bills, and policies that affect higher education in Utah; the debated bills are likely to impact you or someone you know.



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Dr. Kevin Stein Receives Fulbright Specialist Award to Spain at Universidad de Murcia

Southern Utah University is pleased to announce Dr. Kevin A. Stein has received a Fulbright Specialist Award to consult as an expert in communication and journalism at the Universidad de Murcia in Spain. Dr. Stein is a professor of communication, director of the Master of Arts in Professional Communication program, liaison for the SUU Office of International Affairs, and published author.  His project will aim to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within the field of communication. "It is such a tremendous honor at this stage of my career to be deemed worthy of a Fulbright Specialist Award,” said Stein. “I've worked with several Fulbright Scholars over the years and have always aspired to do what they've done in creating meaningful cultural connections between SUU and our partner universities abroad." Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected based on academic and professional achievement, as well as a record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. The Fulbright Program is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Dr. Stein joins over 800 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and/or provide expertise abroad for the 2024-2025 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Having grown up in a culturally diverse region of central California, Dr. Stein finds the opportunities provided by this award very personally important to him. "My Jewish bloodline makes me particularly sensitive to the intolerance and racial strife facing many regions of the world,” said Stein. “Because of this strong sense of my own heritage, I believe I have an inherent desire to generate understanding and sensitivity between people of differing cultures.” Stein’s expertise mainly focuses on the rhetoric of attack (kategoria), defense (apologia) and persuasive responses to defense (antapologia). He has published numerous articles addressing a variety of apologetic contexts, as well as books and peer-reviewed articles on different types of political campaign messages. He is the webmaster for Public Apology Central, which archives crisis summaries, transcripts, videos and audio of public apologies (apologia) of public figures in all facets of media. Dr. Stein has presented his academic work at regional, national and international conferences, including presentations at the University of Athens in Greece and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. While on a year-long sabbatical in China, Dr. Stein directed the American Studies Center at Hunan Normal University in Changsha. Since then he has returned several times as a liaison for the SUU Office of International Affairs and as a teacher in a dual degree communication program offered by Wuhan Polytechnic University and SUU. Dr. Stein has since spent his time directing the MAPC program and participating in SUU's innovative Jumpstart program, which had seven faculty from different disciplines teaching freshmen students all their general education classes as one cohort. “I would like my students to learn the basic theories and research methods in our field and to apply those skills in professional communication industries,” said Stein. “When they leave our program they should be masters in the construction and critical analysis of messages, whether they be in public relations, journalism, politics or business.” Other SUU faculty members who have received the Fulbright Scholar Award include David Schwalb (Ukraine), Jim Aton (China and Indonesia), Jon Smith (Portugal and Swaziland) and Bryce Christensen (Taiwan). Interested in learning more about Dr. Stein's work?  Simply click on his icon now to connect and arrange an interview today.

2 min

Rita Osborn Recognized by National Rural Health Association

Rita Osborn, MBA, has been named this year's Outstanding Educator by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). This award is given to an individual who has dedicated their time and talents to improving the health and well-being of others. Osborn and other awardees will be honored during the NRHA’s 47th Annual Rural Health Conference on May 9, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana. “We’re extremely proud of this year’s winners, particularly because of the additional challenges rural health professionals face as we navigate unique and ever-changing environments,” said NRHA CEO Alan Morgan. “They have each made tremendous strides to advance rural health care, and we’re confident they will continue to help improve the lives of rural Americans.” Osborn is the Utah Center for Rural Health Executive Director based at Southern Utah University (SUU). In addition, she leads the Rural Health Association of Utah and directs the Southwest Utah Area Health Education Program. In the quarter-century she has spent promoting health education, Osborn founded the Rural Utah Health Scholars Program that assists students pursuing health careers, and she continues to be instrumental in assisting medical professionals who wish to practice in rural areas. "I am humbled by this award and appreciate colleagues who nominated me, along with supportive members of my team," Osborn said. "I have enjoyed helping students pursue careers in health care, and it brings me even greater satisfaction when they choose to practice in rural Utah." The Utah Center for Rural Health works to promote and enhance the quality of rural health through leadership, advocacy, coalition building and education, and to affect policy and legislation. Looking to know more about rural health?  Then let us help. Ria Osborne is available to speak with media - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.

3 min

Economics Professor Creates Health Education Action Lab

In a recent podcast interview with Southern Utah University’s Center for Teaching Innovation, Dr. Joshua Price, associate professor of economics at SUU, shared his goals for the students of SUU, and the programs he’s created to help them succeed. Dr. Price’s goal is to create a community of students to work together, and overcome their similar challenges. As an undergraduate Dr. Price worked as a research assistant working on a project looking at this high school participation, increasing lifetime earnings. He has dedicated his time to help students on their paths of research and understanding. After coming to SUU he partnered with other faculty and the provost to hire students to work on different projects, and has since expanded to create the HEAL (Health Education Action Lab). “HEAL has been designed to give students of any major of any class an opportunity to engage in empirical research. We want them to start working on their own research, where we can help mentor them,” said Dr. Price. “I think part of it is just to let them rely on each other. And oftentimes, I want to step in quickly. And oh, let me, I know the answer. I've done this kind of thing. Here's how you solve this problem quickly. But just take a step back and let them go through that experience.” Dr. Price uses Bloom's Taxonomy, which is a classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition. “There's a triangle of hierarchy of learning, and research hits, I think, every single one of those levels. And by doing research, you're able to create new knowledge, so we want to give students those opportunities.” said Price. “The hard part is, research can be hard. And it can be difficult. As you start to get into it, the challenges come and the problems start to happen and the problem solving has to kick in. By forming a community by getting students together in a group, there's something special about students being in a collaborative environment, where they're facing the same challenges and same opportunities.” The purpose of education is to help students gain valuable skills they can use for any job/major. Such as problem solving, critical thinking, communication, etc. These are the skills that every employer is looking for, but they are also the hardest skills to teach and learn. In the interview Dr. Price mentioned his love of teaching when he said “One of the big things that attracted me here was the opportunity to work with students and be a part of a college experience and a college atmosphere.” A good educator is someone who truly understands and cares about the students. Technology can both help and hinder this process. While you are able to meet with people over a large distance, There is a different connection when it comes to face-to-face communication. Connecting with the students is essential if professors want them to reach their goals. Professors want their students to succeed, and that means pushing them to learn and grow. “I've tried to embrace the student’s goals, and support their goals no matter what they are and that's how we measure success. When you look at our job placements, and when you look at talk to these students afterwards, they're incredibly happy. They're achieving their definitions of success. The Health Education Action Lab is successful because we're helping these students achieve their dreams.” “We take any student, any major, we have an open door policy, where we will help train you on how to do empirical research and give you the skills that you are looking for, no matter what your discipline is, and we welcome anybody, and it's an awesome experience.” Dr. Price’s research focuses on the application of behavioral economic tools in a variety of settings. He joined SUU in 2014 and received SUU’s Outstanding Educator of the Year Award in 2016. To learn more, book an interview via the profile link above.

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