Academic Excellence & Retention

MASTER OF EDUCATION FILLING LEADERSHIP GAPS IN the community

With nearly a decade of teaching experience in her home country of China, Xiao Song said she was still “as nervous and anxious as a chicken” when she walked into her first class as a student of the Master of Education in Higher Education Leadership program at Weber State.

“I worried if my English wasn’t good enough to understand the lecture, to understand my professor,” said Song, who immigrated to the U.S. in 2021. “But gradually, I figured out all of my professors are really nice and very helpful.”

Master of Education Program Director Louise Moulding said it’s this in-person interaction between professors and students that helps set WSU’s Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education apart. And it applies across all seven of the program’s emphases, each designed to fill a need in education.

For example, while Song’s emphasis helps fill needed roles in higher education, the educational leadership emphasis focuses on preparing students for K–12 administration roles. Unlike similar programs in the state that offer fully online courses, the educational leadership emphasis offers a hybrid approach of online and in-person classes. This provides students the speed and convenience of online classes, “without sacrificing the expertise and experience of interaction within a classroom,” Moulding said.

Luke Rasmussen, WSU graduate and superintendent of Ogden City School District, says at a time when it’s becoming more and more difficult to find administrators, especially administrators who graduate with an understanding of what the job entails, he finds WSU’s Master of Education graduates fill that gap.

“It was a bold step by Weber State to create a program that focuses on competency-based and relevant experiences,” Rasmussen said. “Too many times, colleges are a bit behind the real work that takes place in the field. This program is not that … We just hired our first administrator since the program has been restructured, and now that there are so many more students enrolling, [they] will not be the last.”

Following her fall 2023 graduation, Song was accepted to a doctorate program at Utah State University, where she plans to continue her studies in education. “I think this program encourages students to go further, to go beyond Weber,” Song says.

WSU PROFESSOR STUDIES EFFECTS OF PRICE GOUGING during the pandemic

Gavin Roberts couldn’t help but notice hand sanitizer and toilet paper shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. But where most saw empty shelves, Roberts, an associate professor of economics and chair of Weber State’s Department of Economics, saw a rare opportunity to study price-gouging regulations, or government-mandated price limits.

“Individuals who aren’t trained or educated in economics are like, ‘Yes, price gouging is bad. We should make it go away,’” Roberts said. “But they don’t think about the economic consequences of that action.”

Using data from cell phones, Roberts and Rik Chakraborti, an associate professor at Christopher Newport University, compared the number of social contacts inside stores and pharmacies from counties in states with price-gouging regulations and those without.

Controlling for differences in population densities, they discovered that states with regulations had increased social contact among shoppers. As a result, social distancing and stay-at-home orders were disrupted.

Roberts and Chakraborti published their findings in their article: “How price-gouging regulation undermined COVID-19 mitigation: county-level evidence of unintended consequences.” For their findings, they received the Gordon Tullock Prize for best article contributed by younger scholars in 2023 from the Public Choice scholarly journal.

ROY KWON JOINS WSU as vice provost

Roy Kwon, an experienced academic leader with a background in sociology, was named vice provost of Undergraduate Studies, Academic Support & Institutional Effectiveness as of July 1, 2024. In this role, he will facilitate collaborations with campus stakeholders to lead new proposals, program reviews, policies, processes and organizational changes.

He came to WSU from the University of La Verne in California, where he began his career as an assistant professor of sociology in 2012 and then held a number of administrative positions, including vice provost.

Kwon replaces Eric Amsel, who retired after 28 years at the university.

FORGING STRONG CONNECTIONS in South Korea

Mary Machira, executive director and senior international officer of the Office of International Programs & Services, received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to build connections in South Korea.

There, she engaged with the country’s higher education system and created relationships with other universities during a two-week seminar in June 2024.

“It’s important to open our minds and embrace diverse educational perspectives from around the world,” Machira said. “Fostering a strong global understanding can ultimately lead to a more unified world.”

The Fulbright Scholar Program offers awards for recipients to teach, conduct research and implement professional projects around the world. Machira chose South Korea because of growing interest among faculty and students to develop stronger ties with Korean schools and increase study abroad opportunities.

“Having international students on campus not only enhances the community’s cultural experience, but also enriches the classroom experience by adding diverse perspectives and ways of thinking,” Machira said. “And sharing cultures brings the world to our students who may not be able to afford to go abroad.”

She believes this experience will strengthen the university’s commitment to academic excellence through transformative learning experiences rooted in global best practices.

WSU MEETS booming film industry demands

Weber State’s film studies program went from four students when it launched in 2019 to 85 students in fall 2023, meeting the needs of a growing Utah industry. 

Students prepare for a wide range of careers through access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, learning essential film concepts and building portfolios to showcase their work.

“We make sure students graduate from this program with the experience to feel confident stepping onto a film set or attending graduate school,” said Andrea Baltazar, director of the film studies program.

According to a recent study by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Utah’s culture industry supports roughly 70,000 jobs and brings in nearly half a billion dollars in direct tax revenues.

Weber’s film studies program offers unique opportunities through its partnership with the Utah Film Commission, which provides internships, apprenticeships and certifications to students.

In 2024, WSU students volunteered and viewed films at the Sundance Film Festival and produced a documentary for the 100th anniversary of Peery’s Egyptian Theater in Ogden.

Payton Schreiber-Pan, WSU film studies student, said he’s excited about his future in film. 

“I’ve been told that people who study film struggle to get a job, but having stepped into this environment, I couldn’t disagree more,” he said. “There are so many opportunities, so if you’re passionate about film, then go for it.”

BRADY PRESIDENTIAL DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR supports strategic plan goals

Professor Melissa NeVille is among three faculty named 2024 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor, a title given annually to Weber State professors who demonstrate high quality teaching, scholarship, research and community service.

During NeVille’s 14 years at Weber, she has overseen both the Master of Science in Nursing program and the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

NeVille has also helped the university strive toward goals in its strategic plan, Weber State Amplified, a 5-year plan for growth, such as increasing student retention and engagement. Through her passion for evidence-based teaching, high-impact student education experiences and clear pathways for student success, she has helped WSU earn national recognition, with the MSN program ranked among the best in the nation by FORTUNE and The Princeton Review.

She also guided the accreditation process for nursing’s graduate programs with outstanding results, including full accreditation status of Weber State’s first doctoral program. Recently, NeVille became Graduate Council chair, spearheading the development and implementation of the university’s Office of Graduate Studies initiative.

In all this, she has maintained her registered nurse and advanced practice registered nurse licensure and certification since 2001. As a pediatric nurse practitioner at a free clinic, she continues to serve and engage with her community.

DONNING THE white coat

Twenty students from the Department of Physician Assistant Medicine received traditional white coats during a ceremony on Dec. 14, 2023, which recognized the program’s first cohort that started in January 2023. During their first year, the students engaged mostly in classroom and laboratory work. Their second year focused on immersive training with rotations at clinics and hospitals throughout Utah and Colorado.

SPEECH TEAM EARNS national reputation

In just five years, Weber State’s speech team has gone from newcomer to perennial powerhouse. Last spring, WSU won the Northwest Forensics Conference for the third year in a row, besting a field of 32 teams, and finished the 2023–24 academic year ranked fifth in the nation.

Along with the team’s overall success, communication major Morgan Allen became WSU’s first All-American in speech. Competing against hundreds of students from across the country, she was named one of 10 All-Americans last spring.

“She elevates everyone around her with a real passion,” said communication instructor and coach Mark Galaviz, who started the team when he arrived at WSU in 2019. He noted that, in addition to himself, a coach from a rival school also nominated Allen for the honor.

Allen plans to enroll in law school after graduating from WSU next year. “What I love about speech and debate is it teaches people how to disagree without being disagreeable,” she said. Eventually, Allen would like to work in corporate mediation, building on what she’s learned from her experience on the team.

EXAMINING UTAH’S CONNECTION TO O’Shaughnessy Dam

Stewart Library created the exhibit Utah’s Connection to Hetch Hetchy Dam to commemorate 100 years since the Utah Construction Company built the controversial O’Shaughnessy Dam near Yosemite National Park, which sparked a national debate over what should be allowed in national parks. Special Collections brought 10 students and three faculty to California to visit the site, where they conducted research and took photos to display alongside archived footage. Many students said it was one of the most significant learning experiences of their college education. In support of the exhibit, historian Robert Righter discussed the historical importance and Utah’s connection to the dam.