BSU President Bob Kustra opened his presentation to JFAC this morning with a video of the faked punt that the Broncos used to dramatically win the Fiesta Bowl this year. "There are some who call those trick plays," Kustra said. "We don't call trick plays that are well-executed tricks." He said the success on the field is symptomatic of Boise State's strategy for building success in many areas of the university, including using "athletics to build strong academic programs." Among innovations he highlighted: BSU's first intersession during the winter break this year, a three-week session that served 333 students who earned 880 credit hours at a time when the university's buildings normally would have stood vacant. The program was "self-sustaining" - tuition revenues covered all its expenses.

"We have some great ideas on how we can do things more efficiently," Kustra said. An example is a new mail services agreement with the state, in which the state Department of Administration will take over the campus mail service, saving about $250,000 a year starting next year. Evening and weekend classes have been shifted around to save on energy costs. A million dollars has been cut from personnel and operating in the university's advancement office. "We've definitely done some very serious cost-cutting," Kustra said. A multi-year fundraising campaign is "on track," he said.

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