Kustra's Last Stand — President Kustra on Higher Education

6/13/2018

DR. BOB KUSTRA'S ADDRESS ON HIGHER EDUCATION

“Go back to your college experience,” President of Boise State University Bob Kustra addressed a filled Stueckle Sky Center audience on Monday, June 11. As Kustra set the stage for perhaps his final address to the Chamber, those in attendance paused for a moment and considered the president’s words, remembering fondly (or not so fondly) the “frayed notes” and rambling professors of their college days.

Higher education is an ever-evolving organism, just as its courses, faculty, and foundation continue to seek out new innovative means to tailor the collegiate experience. Office hours, before merely a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity during any given week, are now a key interactive advantage offered to students nearly around the clock. Digitized textbooks and online dashboards, a component of a growing hybrid educational campaign, are changing the ways students earn degrees at Boise State University. In fact, degrees themselves are not merely the sole definitive document they once were. Kustra argued that tailored degrees versus a “paste education” system are what’s carving out a student’s unique educational track. “Forget the major,” he asserted. Much of Boise State’s future is dedicated to this notion that a student’s educational understanding and eventual application in the workplace should not be defined by one all-encompassing phrase, such as “communications” or “applied science.” More and more students are wanting to showcase their unique interests, instead opting for various minors and certificates.

The Chamber and the community will miss Bob’s unique leadership. It is rare for a university president to aggressively move outside the academic walls to robustly engage with the community it serves. The Chamber is honored to have worked so closely with President Kustra on so many projects and achievements during his career. We wish him the best in all future endeavors — and, of course, who could blame him for choosing the greatest city in the country to ride off into the sunset.