Speech
Board of Regents
Remarks of Governor Judy Martz
Dillon
3/25/2004
Thank you for inviting me here today. It is always a pleasure to visit with this Board. You truly capture the meaning of public service.
Before we begin I would like to formally introduce the newest member of the Board, Mike Foster. Mike has a long record of dedicated service to the Montana people. He has been a teacher, legislator, commissioner of Labor and Industry and my chief policy advisor.
He currently works as the Director of Advocacy for St. Vincent’s Hospital in Billings. I know him to be a capable and very wise man. Most importantly he has two children in the University System that is why I know he will perform admirably on the Board of Regents.
As you know economic development has consistently been my top priority.
Our state’s great university system is a critical player in growing our economy and creating more good paying jobs for our citizens.
I am excited that my office, the Legislature, the Board of Regents, Commissioner Stearns, and key leaders in the university system have teamed-up to move our economy forward. Thank you John and Sheila for your personal leadership in this endeavor.
Also, just yesterday, here in Dillon, we had an historic joint meeting of the regents and a legislative committee focused on keeping this economic development partnership moving forward.
Thank you to Sen. Barkus, for your leadership and support as the chair of the Postsecondary Education Policy and Budget Subcommittee. I would also like to personally thank the many of you in the university system that have worked so hard with me to grow our economy and create more good jobs for Montanans.
There are too many of you to name here, but I do appreciate your commitment to this state and know we can count on you to take this renewed effort to a new, higher level.
Of course, I realize that one of your core missions is and must continue to be the education of Montana’s young people. It is vitally important that access to a high quality education remains one of your top priorities for our higher education system.
However, it is also apparent that every other state in the country that has successfully grown its economy or positioned itself for success in the coming century has done so in strong partnership with its university system.
This partnership must extend beyond just providing a quality education.
Your resources are incredible and we must leverage these resources if we are going to grow our economy.
The most successful higher education systems in the world embrace this dual role of the university: to educate and to grow the economy.
This year our university system will do about $150 million in research. We continue to see a phenomenal rate of increase in the research dollars flowing into our research universities and this is clearly a reflection of the world-class researchers we have in Montana.
This high quality of research also helps us give a world-class education to our math and science students. However, we still have tremendous opportunities to commercialize more of that research in Montana businesses. This has always been a priority of my office and I am very pleased that this is one of the priority areas we have already identified in this new initiative.
There are also other important initiatives that you are considering which will not only grow our economy but also directly impact your mission to provide a world-class education.
By improving access to higher education we not only get better citizens and a stronger Montana we also have a better and stronger skilled-workforce to fuel economic growth.
I am excited to know that among your priorities are expanded access to education for rural areas and our reservations with better on-campus and distance learning programs. I encourage you to work hard to bring expanded opportunities to all Montanans – both traditional and non-traditional students.
The capabilities of our university system to help our businesses, particularly our small businesses, also go far beyond technology transfer and an educated workforce.
With two strong business schools, small business incubators at almost all of our 4-year campuses, a tremendous alumni network and many other needed resources there is a clear opportunity to better coordinate our economic efforts.
I am also pleased that we are concentrating efforts on improving our state’s 2-year system. We did not need to hear President Bush’s state of the union speech this year to know that the role of the 2-year colleges in this country has changed.
A responsive, world-class technical education system is now a prerequisite for growing the good-paying jobs we all want in this state. I encourage you to work hard on strengthening our own system of tribal colleges, colleges of technology, and community colleges.
Finally, and I know this is a huge issue for Chairman and former Speaker of the House, John Mercer, we can all benefit by finding better ways for the university system to help state policy makers find solutions to the problems facing our state.
The vast resources of the university system hold enormous potential but we will all have to work hard together to find better ways to harness these resources.
I believe that the name we have chosen for this new effort is truly appropriate: “ A shared leadership for a stronger Montana economy.”
With our university leaders, our legislators and my office all working toward a better state we have an opportunity to truly make a difference for our children.
Before I conclude there are two other items I would like to address.
The university system had some difficult news a few weeks ago. I applaud Commissioner Stearns and you on the Board of appointing an independent council to examine the problems with athletic budgets.
That independence is going to mean that it is a thorough and exhaustive investigation. The people of Montana deserve nothing else.
My one thought on the subject is that the students not be asked to cover the deficit. I hope that creative and innovative solutions come from this situation. The students are there to learn and pay their fair share but not to be the sole revenue source for these activities.
The next item that I want to mention is related on an interesting level to the difficult athletic situation. But this is good news.
The day the independent council was announced there were dedicated people in Helena working on one of my long time education priorities.
That day the Board of Education P-20 Committee was hosting a meeting to find ways to link elementary, secondary, and post secondary education. That seamless transition is critical to our student’s development.
I am so pleased that the P-20 efforts are off and going. It is going to achieve so much for our students. Please let us know how we can help. Thank you for making it a priority as well.
That really shows that for every bad headline we receive there are three or four good stories that are not being told. Do not be deterred by the negative; you are doing so much good.
Keep up the great work. We are always prepared to work with you. Thank you so much for the time today and God Bless.
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