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Weber State is helping military spouses gain skills for exciting careers. Started in January 2023 and named after Rosie the Riveter — the namesake of a campaign aimed at recruiting female workers during World War II — the Rosie Project provides tuition-free classes and childcare to military spouses. Students earn industry-recognized certifications that prepare them for employment with Hill Air Force Base and the Department of Defense. Those interested can find more information at rosieproject.org.

Weber State’s Wildcat MicroFund received a $1.2 million gift from America First Credit Union to help expand services throughout Utah. Housed in the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics, the MicroFund offers cash grants of up to $3,000, plus networking opportunities, for WSU students and local entrepreneurs. Since 2018, it has awarded over 300 grants to businesses in industries such as construction, education, tourism and more. 

Ogden local Tania Rodriguez received enough money to afford a new food truck for Los Churros del Norte, which serves buñuelos and other Mexican food.

Intermountain Health provided over $1 million to help increase enrollment and develop future health professions programs. The funds support Weber State’s new physician assistant program, the Diversity in Healthcare scholarship program, and Ogden Civic Action Network (OgdenCAN). 

“Weber State truly benefits from having such a strong partnership with Intermountain McKay-Dee Hospital,” said Yasmen Simonian, dean of the Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions. “They’ve helped us secure the best equipment and space, which allows us to provide hands-on education to our students so they’re confident and ready to join the healthcare workforce when they graduate.”

Weber State received a $2.78 million grant from the Department of Education for a teacher training program to help students who are not native English speakers thrive in school.

Professors Melina Alexander, David Byrd and Shernavaz Vakil in the Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education are leading the professional development efforts for teachers and administrators in public and charter schools throughout Utah.

The five-year grant will support up to 100 teachers and administrators. The first cohort of 25 educators started coursework during summer 2023.

Byrd said a significant achievement gap exists between English language learners, or ELLs, and their native-speaking peers. 

“This grant aims to help Utah teachers provide ELLs the best possible foundation for educational success,” he said. 

Weber State’s spring 2023 Advanced Urban Planning class studied the potential impact of four bus stations set to open along the new Ogden bus rapid transit line, named Ogden Express (OGX).

The class worked with the Utah Transit Authority to study stops along Harrison Boulevard at 25th, 28th, 32nd and 36th streets to determine what Ogden City should consider regarding access to opportunities, environmental conditions, affordable housing and transportation choices around the bus line.

Construction of the OGX allowed students to learn how to work as a team on a development project, said Bryan Dorsey, WSU’s Urban and Regional Planning Program coordinator. He added that the class regularly offers opportunities to work on real-world projects.

Reducing speed, adding traffic calming circles and a pedestrian bridge on Harrison Boulevard between 37th and 24th Streets were among the class’s suggestions.

The first leg of the OGX opened on the Weber State campus in fall 2022. The full route from Ogden’s FrontRunner station on Wall Avenue to McKay-Dee Hospital opened in August 2023.

“All elections shall be free, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage …”

— Article I, Section 17, Constitution of the State of Utah

The Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service VOTE Certification trains election officials to uphold Utah’s constitution through free and fair elections.

During the 2022–23 academic year, the institute hosted dozens of election officials from across the state at three sessions to learn how to properly run elections.

“The United States depends on elections as the foundation of the republic,” said Leah Murray, Walker Institute director. “We exist the way we do because we have elections.”

The institute has partnered with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, the Utah State Legislature and national leaders for the certification since June 2021.

While Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competitions place college students in ethical debates, the lessons they teach can also apply to those outside of higher education.

Recognizing an opportunity to teach students outside the university setting, Richard Greene, Weber State philosophy professor, and his wife, Rachel Robison-Greene, Utah State University philosophy assistant professor, volunteered to teach an ethics bowl course for female inmates at the Utah State Correctional Facility three years ago. The first course ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the instructors restarted it for the spring 2023 semester.

As part of the University of Utah’s Prison Education Project, it ran eight weeks and ended with a competition against WSU and Utah State teams. The incarcerated students defeated the Utah State team in a unanimous decision, and lost to Weber State in a 2-1 decision. 

The inmates enjoyed the course, and instructors plan to hold it again next spring.

Weber State’s Ogden campus has new lighted entryways on Harrison Boulevard. The lighted gateway columns were designed by VCBO Architects and built by YESCO in spring 2023. The statuesque, angular pieces stand out with prominent WSU logos, light features and stone bases at the 3950 South and 3850 South entrances. A similar project will be installed at WSU Davis in fall 2023.

Weber and Morgan counties have a new tool to save cardiac arrest patients. 

Bill Robertson, associate professor of emergency healthcare, partnered with Ogden City Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Slater to bring the PulsePoint mobile app to the communities in spring 2023. 

During a cardiac arrest, the app notifies emergency responders and nearby CPR-trained volunteers who can provide life-saving care until emergency responders arrive. The app also gives volunteers the location of nearby defibrillators. Robertson, along with the Dean’s Office of the Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions and others from the college, helped secure funds and training to launch the project.

This fall, Weber State will welcome the first cohorts for a new bachelor’s degree in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety, and a graduate certificate in occupational health nursing. 

The two fields of study are part of an innovative collaboration between Weber State, the University of Utah, and the Rocky Mountain Center for Environmental and Occupational Health. 

The Utah Legislature funded the partnership during the 2022 and 2023 sessions.

American Red Cross representatives honored Weber State in June 2023 as the organization’s single largest blood sponsor covering Box Elder and Weber counties in 2022.

Kofi Herrick recalls relying on packaged meals, called MannaPacks, every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner while growing up in a Ghanaian orphanage. 

He was adopted by a family in Utah at age 14. Now, almost a decade later, he’s a member of Weber State’s soccer club and majors in child and family studies. But he hasn’t forgotten hungry kids around the world rely on the same MannaPacks. 

Herrick recently helped coordinate a service project, where he and fellow students put together more than 100,000 MannaPacks. The meals they packaged are estimated to feed about 300 people for an entire year.