Yates Praised as Higher Education Leader, Lauded for Accomplishments at Helm of Colorado State University

The State Board of Agriculture today gave high marks and high praise to Colorado State University President Albert C. Yates for his leadership of the university and as chancellor of the three-school university system.

In its annual review, the board praised Yates, who has been at Colorado State for a decade, for his steady leadership that has paid dividends for the university.

" You have to be impressed by the progress at Colorado State University over the past decade and the transformation of the university," said Stewart Bliss, chairman of the board. "Under the leadership and vision of Al Yates, the university and the entire CSU System have made remarkable progress."

Bliss cited several major accomplishments at Colorado State during Yates’ tenure.

• The university is implementing a new core curriculum, beginning this semester, to bring greater coherence and rigor to the undergraduate experience. The new core also includes a new program of small-group seminars that will be required of all students during their first year at Colorado State-a program that places the university as one of the only universities of its size in the country to require these small courses.
• Enrollment at Colorado State has grown to more than 23,000 students, the highest total ever for the university.
• U.S. News and World Report magazine ranked the university’s veterinary medicine program as the No. 2 program in the nation. Kiplinger’s Magazine rated Colorado State as one of the top 50 public universities in the country based on quality of education and affordability.
• The operating budget at the university, now more than $400 million, represents growth of more than 70 percent from the time Yates began at Colorado State more than 10 years ago.
• Research expenditures at the university have grown from $94 million in 1990 to $153 million this year.
• The quality of entering students at Colorado State has continued to improve, as measured by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education index-a mix of test scores and high-school rank. In 1990, the average index score for entering students was 103. This year, the average index score for Fall 2000 was 110.
• Ethnic minorities make up 11.1 percent of the total students this fall, an all-time high. That total percentage is up from the 8.9 percentage of minority students in 1990.
• Continued revitalization of the university infrastructure includes the completion of the Engineering and Physics Building project and the approval of the CCHE to move forward on the University Center for the Arts plan to remodel and renovate the old Fort Collins High School into a teaching and performing arts center.
• The Office of Civil Rights recognized the university’s athletic program for being in full compliance with Title IX, which requires gender equity. In addition, the Rams football team recently won a second consecutive Mountain West Conference title and is headed to the Liberty Bowl.
• The university is working to promote civic education and civic renewal through a series of initiatives, including a Campus Compact that outlines values all members of the campus community are expected to uphold. The university also is pursuing a series of recommendations designed to address drug and alcohol issues on campus.
• The university continued a recent trend in posting record fundraising, including the recently announced $32 million private gifts to the university in the last fiscal year-a record total and up from last year’s record fundraising amount of $25 million.

Bliss said the board also praised Yates’ service as chancellor of the three-school Colorado State University System that includes CSU, Fort Lewis College in Durango and the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.

"Al Yates is the longest tenured leader in Colorado higher education, and he has established himself as the spokesman for higher education in general. He has articulately and passionately used this role for the betterment of the CSU system, the higher educational system and the entire state," Bliss said.