Colorado State University President Albert Yates Receives Top Marks for Leadership of Csu System

The State Board of Agriculture today gave top marks to Colorado State University President Albert Yates for his leadership of the state’s land-grant university and the Colorado State University System.

In its annual review, the SBA praised Yates, who is celebrating his 10th year as president, for the university’s progress over the past year.

"The board recognizes and appreciates the leadership and strategic vision Dr. Yates brings to Colorado State as president, to the State Board of Agriculture as chancellor and to the higher education community of Colorado," said SBA President Stewart Bliss.

Yates, president of Colorado State since 1990, also serves as chancellor of the Colorado State University System, which includes Fort Lewis College in Durango and the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.

Highlights of Yates’ tenure over the past 12 months include the following:

• Colorado State moved up an entire tier in U.S. News and World Report’s rankings of the nation’s top universities. With this move, Colorado became one of only six states in the nation to have three or more public institutions in the top two tiers of this national ranking.
• The Templeton Foundation again named Colorado State to its Honor Roll of the nation’s Top 100 Character-Building Institutions.
• For the first time, the Colorado State University Foundation broke the $100 million milestone, with total assets under management increasing from $87 million to $101 million. The university raised $25 million in private funds.
• Over the past two years, enrollment of ethnic minority undergraduates has reached a new high of 11.1 percent of the total student population.
• The university continued its efforts to invest in student retention with creation of the Key Academic Community, which brings small groups of freshman together both academically and in their living environments to provide a strong basis for success in their college careers. In addition, Colorado State continued progress toward overall improvement of the undergraduate learning experience through increased investment in the Honors Program, freshmen seminars and implementation of the new core curriculum.
• Research volume increased by 5 percent, with research expenditures from all sources totaling $147 million.
• Fourteen departments, centers and interdisciplinary projects were designated Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence. The designation recognizes the high-quality work being done by these units and the continuation of strategies for nurturing and supporting excellence at Colorado State.
• Colorado State and the University of Northern Colorado signed a Memorandum of Understanding this spring, agreeing to make more efficient use of financial resources, to collaborate in certain academic programs and to expand educational opportunities by sharing the strengths of the two institutions.
• Construction was completed on the first phase of the Natural Resources Research Center, a federal project expected to save taxpayers more than $100 million.
• Major building projects completed during the year included the Thurman "Fum" McGraw Athletic Center, the Human Performance Clinical Research Laboratory, the Student Recreation Center addition, the Administration Annex renovation and the Colorado State Forest Service facility in Durango.
• Recovery from the 1997 flood continued, and the university has succeeded in its goal of restoring the campus to conditions better than those that existed before the disaster.
• The university made a successful transition from the Western Athletic Conference to the new Mountain West Conference. Both the Colorado State women’s and men’s basketball teams enjoyed record success in 1998-99, finishing their seasons in postseason tournaments. In addition, club sports at the university reached new heights with three teams – women’s soccer, men’s polo and men’s lacrosse – all winning top national titles.