BOISE — Tromp used much of her speech to celebrate the school's successes including the value of being a doctoral research university and being a leading edge research university.
"Research is world changing," said Dr. Marlene Tromp, Boise State University president.
In her state of the university address on Wednesday, Boise State President Marlene Tromp charged the campus to help people outside of the university understand the transformative power of research.
"They get to be a part of what it means to solve the world's problems. They're not just reading a text book. They're finding it in their labs and the archives and the field."
She payed special attention to rural students.
"Right now, many of them don't know why they should come to a university or they feel like they can't give up the chance to be where they are at home. Their parents aren't sure what they'll bring back and who will come back. We need to find ways to connect with those communities to help them understand the benefit of university education and to serve them well."
Tromp says Boise State is also the number one choice for Idaho High School graduates each year. She also says one in every three students enrolled in Idaho's public higher education system that includes comprehensive universities, community colleges and technical schools attend Boise State.
She says Boise State was named one of the top 50 most innovative national universities by the national higher education leaders surveyed by U.S. News and World report this year. She says the university needs creativity more than ever.
"You have so many new insights, so many important connections. You can see what must be addressed, but isn't yet being addressed in your fields, your industries, your communities. I'm counting on you to bring this to the fore."
Tromp is the first female president of Boise State. She was appointed to the position in April.
