Brigham Young University Idaho

I came across this awesome article about BYU-Idaho. I was amazed at how this school has been shaped by so much inspiration and so many wonderful people. The President right now Kim. B Clark, was the dean of the Business School at Harvard University before coming to be the President Of BYU-I. Here are some quotes from the article because it is better than me explaining.

When Clark left his post at the helm of the Harvard Business School for BYU-Idaho in 2005, many of his colleagues were baffled. Why leave the most prestigious university in America for a school with open enrollment? Shortly before leaving Cambridge, PBS' Charlie Rose asked Clark a version of this question.

"People will know BYU-Idaho," Clark replied. "BYU-Idaho will be known around the world."

Clark was standing before 200 faculty members for a hastily called meeting. Larry Summers, the embattled university president, stood beside him, looking downtrodden and exhausted.

"Dear faculty and friends, I am here to announce my retirement as dean of the Harvard Business School," Clark said. There were audible gasps — Clark had been at Harvard for 35 years, and had served as dean of the business school for the last decade. Surely, he was leaving for something even more prestigious and high profile.

"I have accepted a position to become president of BYU-Idaho," he said. The decision baffled his colleagues. The Boston Red Sox season tickets, the tree-lined streets of Cambridge, the cafes and bookstores for what, exactly? BYU-Idaho didn't even crack the top 100 on US News and World Report's annual ranking of colleges and universities. Most of his colleagues had never even heard of it.

"Many of you may be wondering, 'Why this? Why now?'" Clark continued, explaining that for some time he and his wife had felt it was time to do something else. Ricks had a "pioneering spirit" that resonated with them, he said, but most importantly, he and his wife had received a call several weeks before from President Gordon B. Hinckley, the leader of their church, and he extended the invitation. "We have counseled with our students for years to do what matters most to them and have an impact," Clark said. "Our church and our family are the most important things in our life. Thus, it is time for us to 'walk the walk,' and we are going."

When Clark sat down the faculty erupted with applause. Finally, after repeated attempts to get everyone to sit down and stop clapping, Summers took the floor. He had known Clark since graduate school, he explained, and had thought about talking him out of his decision but had then realized, "I was not the president he listened to."

The day Clark left Boston for Rexburg in June of 2005, it was 70 degrees and the trees above the tennis courts near his office were blooming. When he got to Idaho, he was met by 30-mile-per-hour winds and temperatures of 40 degrees. Rexburg had no airport and no mall. These were not the trappings that attracted Clark and others to the Rexburg campus.

 

At BYU Idaho we have a learning model that was developed by Kim B. Clark. The three steps are 1. Prepare, 2. Teach one another, and 3. Ponder and Prove. I know a lot of students have questioned the learning model. It was a big change when it first happened for both the students and the teachers. Some teachers were used to just giving lectures and that’s it, and now they have to provide opportunities for the students to teach one another. I have had discussion with other students before who didn’t think it was fair that they were paying money just to have to teach themselves and learn from other students. Valid concern I guess, but the teachers were still facilitators and were still teaching, just also giving us opportunities to use critical thinking and learn from others as well. Here is another quote from the article referring to this kind of teaching.

For example, a prominent, cross-discipline study released by North Carolina State University found that students who participated in this type of learning environment were more likely to graduate, earn higher grades and develop higher critical thinking skills than those who did not. They also reported more fulfilling interactions with students in class, and a richer relationship with their professors.

There you have it.

Here is a quote from President Hinckley about BYU Idaho.

"We are trying an experiment here. We think this school is different from any other university in America. I submit that this campus, with its adjoining buildings, may literally offer a foretaste of heaven.”

- President Gordon B. Hinckley

How lucky am I that I get to graduate from this wonderful inspired University in July! And that Jordan already did graduate from there. We have both loved our time there and the wonderful small town of Rexburg. I remember last summer while I was doing my internship there and I got to interact with the older people that live around there and it was wonderful. I love them and miss them. I love our church and how they have provided wonderful schools for us to go to and learn and grow not only temporally but also spiritually. I tear up just thinking about it.