Board Faces College Identity Crisis

The Board of Education is considering new roles and missions for Idaho’s universities that some people hope will end regional fiefdoms and promote cooperation.

At a meeting Thursday, several board members said they support the revised roles and missions.

The biggest change relates to Lewis-Clark State College, but President James Hottois downplayed the change, suggesting it is primarily cosmetic.

Lewis-Clark’s old mission statement is vague. The new role and mission would specify the college’s primary programs as business, criminal justice, nursing, social work, vocational-technical education and teacher preparation. In a 1983 policy governing the universities, “primary emphasis” meant a school would lead the state in that discipline.

Attempts to offer those courses in other parts of the state resulted in turf battles, University of Idaho President Robert Hoover said.

Proponents of the new roles and missions say “primary emphasis” now means those are the areas where an institution will direct money and staff. But the document does say those areas of emphasis “may become statewide.”