Her lone message was about the future of the work force in Utah, specifically, that the workforce will require more than just a high school diploma.
Of the total work force, she mentioned, about one-third of those didn't even require a high school diploma in 1994. That figure has fallen since, due to the fact that more people are going to higher educational facilities such as technical or certificational programs, or an established university.
"I know this is a bit of a stretch goal at present," said Millner during her speech. "But I anticipate that we will be an institution that will allow up to 30,000 students to be enrolled here."
She also spoke highly about Weber State's Davis Campus and how it has already helped many people get the degrees they seek without having to travel far.
"Our Davis Campus currently has 21 degree programs available, including eight master's programs," she said. "We had previously done extensive research to achieve the building of that [Davis] campus, and we aim to expand our campus' all over the state of Utah."
She also voiced concern over some other statistics as well, such as the fact that 44 percent of persons 18 to 22 went on to a higher educational facility to some extent in 1992, as opposed to just 34 percent today.
"There are more technical, training, and certificational schools out there than before, so the opportunities are there for people to go," said Millner.
Weber State wants, as their mission, to be more involved in the future. Their plan is to create the most comprehensive multi-campus teaching university and creating a regular faculty to teach in their newly planned facilities, thus making smaller class sizes and a better student to teacher ratio. It was also important for Millner to stress the importance of schooling not just for students out of high school, but the older generation as well.
"We've had a number of students who are 'non-traditional' attend our university in order to better themselves," she said. A non-traditional student is any person attending the university over the age of 25.
Millner was elected as the 11th President of the university in 2002, after 20 years of serving as an educator and administrator. From 1993 until her election, she served as vice president of University Relations. She is the current chair of the Utah Campus Compact and a board member for Intermountain Health Care, the Ogden/Weber Chamber, and the Weber Economic Development Corporation, among other things.
Her final message was this, "At the present pace, the percentage of future jobs in the work force requiring a level of education higher than a high school diploma will increase, and we [Weber State] are ready to take the necessary steps in expanding our university to fit those needs."
sgillet@davisclipper.com
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