On March 1, Weber State University held its 2024 legislative session review. In this town hall meeting, topics such as funding allocation, six-year completion rates and bills of interest were discussed by WSU faculty and staff.

Because of recent legislative changes, WSU will be receiving less funding from the state of Utah than it has in the past; the allocation of funding must change to match this lack of funding and the needs of the institution.

WSU President Brad Mortensen discussed the allocation of funds as it relates to salary and benefits for faculty and staff at the university, as well as how different public grants for WSU will be utilized.

The meeting also discussed the performance metrics of the institution, including access, timely completion and high-yield graduates. Access performed slightly lower than expected for the university, timely completion performed close to target and high-yield graduates performed higher than target.

The main focus of the meeting was how recent legislature motions are going to affect the university and the organizations within. One of these bills was H.B. 257, which dealt with sex-based designations for privacy, anti-bullying and women’s opportunities. This passing of this bill means that restrooms may be used by those who identify with said gender while changing rooms are based on one’s assigned sex at birth. WSU provided a single-stall restroom resource for students.

Other bills of interest discussed in the meeting were H.B. 261, dealing with equal opportunity initiatives, and H.B. 438 and S.B. 192, dealing with higher education revisions. Other bills dealing with external issues that may or may not impact the university were discussed in the meeting as well, but only briefly.

A recording of the Weber State University’s March 1 town hall meeting and slides relating to the meeting are available on the university’s website.