The two-year Ricks College will soon begin phasing into a four-year institution to be known as Brigham Young University-Idaho, the First Presidency and Ricks College Board of Trustees announced June 21.
The announcement statement was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley at a press conference in the Church Administration Building, held for the occasion of his 90th birthday, June 23.
At a simultaneous announcement made at Ricks College, a group of 2,500 students and teachers burst into applause at the prospect of becoming part of a four-year university.
Church leaders said the current programs are expected to remain in place for much of the coming year.
"This change of status is consistent with the ongoing tradition of the evaluation and progress that has brought Ricks College from infant beginnings to its present position as the largest privately owned two-year institution of higher education in America," said President Hinckley in the statement.
"There may have to be another building constructed or something of that kind, but not anything of great significance." He said the transition would be made gradually" in such a way as to preserve the school with honor and identity. Adjustments to its mission will be minimal. The school will have a unique role and be distinctive from the other institutions of higher education within the Church Educational System." David A. Bednar will continue as Ricks College president and report to the Church Commissioner of Education.
President Hinckley said the school will continue to be teaching-oriented, with effective teaching and advising students the primary responsibility of its faculty, "who are committed to academic excellence. The institution will emphasize undergraduate education and will award baccalaureate degrees. Graduate degree programs will not be offered."
Faculty rank, which has not been at the school in the past, "will not be a part of the academic structure of the new four-year institution. BYU-Idaho will operate on an expanded year-round basis, incorporating innovative calendar scheduling, while also taking advantage of advancements in technology to enable the four-year institution to serve more students. The objective is to increase the number of students who we can serve in the Church education program."
The name change is expected to give the school immediate national and international recognition, while the name of Thomas E. Ricks, colonizer, first local stake president, and founder of a stake academy in 1888, the forerunner of Ricks College, will continue to be appropriately honored and perpetuated, he said.
A year-round activity and intermural athletic program will replace the current intercollegiate athletic program. The new program will better suit the needs of a diversified student body. In addition, some of the long-standing and beneficial programs will be changed and even eliminated as the school focuses on key academic disciplines and activities, said President Hinckley.
He praised the facilities at the Idaho campus. "May I say that if you have not been to Ricks recently, you have a surprise awaiting you. That campus has been renewed with new buildings and restored buildings. It is a beautiful campus with wonderful facilities."
The college has "a wonderful campus, great facilities, a very caring faculty, a very strong and innovative president, and everything that we feel is needed now to make a program of this kind to succeed."
Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and Church Commissioner of Education also attended the press conference.
"This will be a great blessing to the students who will take advantage of the campus," the former president of Ricks College said. "The wonderful student orientation that has been there will remain, and now more opportunities will be added for those who choose to stay for a four-year program. What a wonderful blessing to the students who will come to Ricks College."
He said that while "the announcement is now, the changes will be gradual."
R. Brent Kinghorn, community services vice president of Ricks College, told the Church News: "The heart and soul of this institution has been the nurturing association between student and teacher, and we anticipate that to continue. We would be foolish, however, not to take advantage of technology and to enhance our program."
He said that the school's change will be a process that will take time, and "We will keep Church members aware of the details."
The change will also affect BYU's Provo campus. Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy, president of BYU, said in an interview, "During the past two years, we have developed a close relationship with Ricks on a number of issues. For instance, we are looking at the opportunity to share library resources. We have been working on course developments, particularly in the online area."
He said the change will help relieve the enrollment pressure at BYU's Provo campus. Each year, "We take 1,200 transfer students, and to the extent some of those students stay at Ricks to complete their education, that will open the doors for us to accept more freshmen or more transfer students, or both."
He sees the "balance between our graduate and undergraduate programs remaining about the same." However, while the supply of Ricks athletes to a number of BYU programs "obviously will stop," those young people who would have been involved and want to come to BYU "will still be available to us either as transfers from other schools or as freshmen."
"I think it is a very significant day when the Church opens the door for more young people in the Church to be educated in the Church's educational system," he said.