'The University and the Valley sell themselves if the story is told right’ By JOHN WATERS

ALAMOSA —On April 21, 2023, David A. Tandberg, Ph.D., was selected by unanimous vote of the Adams State University Board of Trustees as the twelfth president. Before being named president, he served as interim president for about 10 months.

At the time Tandberg said, "To say that I am excited to accept the position of Adams State University president, would be a great understatement. Since this summer, my wife and I have deeply connected with the campus and community. It strengthens my resolve to be a strong leader who knows how to listen, when to take action, and can visualize a path for a successful future."

Tandberg earned a bachelor’s in history/social studies education from Adams State in 2002 and was elected president of the Associated Students and Faculty while a student. Tandberg also ran cross country at ASU. He earned a master's in political science and a Ph.D. in higher education from Penn State University.

Tandberg's wife, Darin, is also a graduate of Adams State, Class of 2002. They have three children – Allyson, Bryce and Kai.

Recently, Valley Courier News Editor John Waters met with Tandberg for a conversation about his first year in the position and some exciting projects the university is working on.

"It has been a good year, and it has gone fast. We've had our first increase in undergraduate enrolment in about 10 years. [Currently about 1,500 students] We've been challenged with declining undergraduate enrollment and we've turned that around. Our graduate enrollment continues an upward trajectory and I'm proud of that.”

Tandberg is excited the state has funded a new Facilities Service building, "Adams State had probably its best year before the state legislature that we have memory of. We had a significant increase in funding and a remodel and expansion of the Computing Services Building approved through the capital process. We started this year with the assumption of, 'Oh, we're not going to get capital funding approved,' because we were the only entity in the state to get new capital funding last year. That was huge. We thought, ‘let's be realistic we're not going to get our facilities services building funded.’ This is a $28 million project, this is a huge project with a brand new building. We pushed hard and they said yes. This has been a great victory and a lot of people contributed to making this happen.

“We had a strategy; we called it the Rural University Funding Request. Adams took the lead on organizing an advocacy strategy for extra state funding for our operations. We with Western and Fort Lewis went before the legislature and said, 'Increase the funding for all higher ed, and on top of that we want $3 million each and that is to recognize that running a small university in a rural location just costs more.’

“When we do construction projects, we often get only one bid. We can't outsource much. We don't get the same per unit cost on purchasing that CU does [University of Colorado at Boulder] because we just don't have the same volume, so they can get a lower cost per unit than what we can get. We don't have the available labor pool. At the end of the day, $3 million out of a budget of $65-$70 million doesn't sound like a lot but it is flexible and untethered, and it allows us to invest in new faculty lines, new student success initiates. When I was talking to the governor's office and the legislature, 'I was like $3 million isn't even a rounding error in one of our big university budgets, they wouldn't even know if they got it." [CU 2023-2024 budget is approximately $2.2 billion.]

"If you give me $3 million, I will do a backflip. We received the $3million, so I recorded a video of me doing a backflip. You have to come through if you promise, so I did a back flip, I was spotted because I don't know how to do one, but I made it around and didn't break my neck.

“At the end of the day, all of higher ed received a significant increase, we got our $3 million on top and we got the facilities building. It has been just an epic year. I'm super excited, when I think about it, the good year we had last year and the good year this year.

“The University and the Valley sell themselves if the story is told right. The history, the culture, the geography, and the place, are unlike any other place in Colorado. The University is unlike any other in the state and it is because of where we are. We serve the largest share of low-income students of any university in the state. We do better than any other university by moving them up to a higher income quintile. We're making the American dream a reality. We are the original Hispanic Serving Institution in Colorado, we are the only one that is a minority-majority.

“When I think of the really important organizations and movements throughout history, those that are trying to advance opportunity, economic mobility, equity, justice, all of those good things, that have always had to fight and struggle. I feel the legislature finally began to understand who we are. They see us as a stock on the rise with the price increasing; you are not going to invest in a stock that is on the decline. They see a bright future for Adams and they have put money behind us and it is a major stamp of endorsement.”

Tandberg is especially proud of a new initiative to bring lower income students to the university through an innovative program, "We launched the Adams Promise and we drew a line south of Denver, any county, any school and any student that comes from a family making less than $70,000 can come to Adams tuition and fees free. If you are making $70,000 or less, we guarantee you can come to Adams State, tuition and fees are free. This is a big deal, and we are committed to serving lower-income families and committed to serving Southern Colorado.

"Way too many students think they can't afford college and way too many students think they can't afford Adams State University when they can. I visit every school district in the Valley each year, and I ask the graduating seniors, 'How much do you think it costs to attend Adams State,' and they always estimate way over the actual cost. Most of them can now come tuition and fees free. If they can't come for free, they can still get a huge chunk of their education paid for. What I don't want is for any student to price themselves out of higher education. If they want to come, Adams State has a seat for them. And, if you are from the Valley, we will add money on top of that to help you pay for room and board. Valley kids, you can afford Adams."

Tandberg said the University now sends out an acceptance letter to every student in the Valley as a direct admissions policy that will ideally increase enrollment. "And we will tell them, you can come to Adams tuition and fees free.

"The U.S. Department of Education rolled out a new application for financial aid, FAFSA [Federal Application for Financial Aid] and in the rollout, things got bungled bad and it was delayed for months and we are way behind. Every university is down between 10 and 40 percent in FAFSA completions, and this is scary as Hell and it is none of our fault. The good news is that it now works and anyone thinking of financial aid needs to get their application completed and they can receive thousands of dollars in assistance."

In concluding the conversation, Tandberg said, "I'm proud of what the University has done, the campus is a more lively, happy, place. The students are more engaged, they are reporting that they are enjoying it more, there is more to do and more energy. And I've heard the same on the faculty and staff side. We have created a place where people want to be and that is just awesome, you want activity, and noise and we are seeing that. I'm really happy about that. The community, Alamosa, and the San Luis Valley are seeing more going on, and that Adams State is offering more. I am just blown away by the work of all of our faculty and staff.”