"What they know is that I am extremely devoted to Snow College and that I love the community. If they don't know that, they don't know me," he said. "I hope what they see in me is someone who's genuinely committed to the college, and has been for the past 20 years, has family from here, and we are going to engage in a very open and honest discussion in order to really promote Snow College and the students we serve."

In the years ahead, Wyatt said he plans to re-create an alumni association, do whatever he can to grow the enrollment at Snow and continue to work on existing and potential partnerships with universities, in and out of Utah. Snow is the only college in the country that has a partnering music program with New York's Juilliard.

"Partnerships are a far better way to do it than to fight to grow our mission," he said.

The former state legislator said his time spent on Capitol Hill, advocating for the citizens of the state, has prepared him well for the job he is undertaking at Snow, as 99 percent of its funding comes from legislative appropriations.

"I plan to use my experience and relationships with other legislators to help further the mission of higher education generally statewide but specifically at Snow College," Wyatt said.

While the objective of Snow's former president, Michael Benson, was to raise money for the school, Winn said Wyatt's focus will most likely be on his own goals for the college, including statewide recognition and a new vision for the future.

"He's come in and given us a clear vision for Snow College — he has said we're going to be the best comprehensive college there is and we're going to partner with the best universities," Winn said. "So our students are going to have the best of both worlds."

Wyatt's happy to be in his wife, Kathy's, hometown, where he said he's spent a lot of time. In his 12 years of serving on the board at Snow, he logged more than 40,000 miles on his vehicle, driving from his hometown of Logan, where he practiced law. His family of four, the eldest of which is a student at Snow College, is settling in Ephraim after their first night was spent in sleeping bags.

And while Wyatt won't get to climb Ecuador's highest summit of Chimborazo this year as planned, he'll be scaling what he believes are much more meaningful mountains, getting more people to go to college, which he feels is the most important thing a person can do for themselves.

"If someone wants to better their life, they need to get to college," he said. And although Wyatt prefers it be Snow College, he says any source for a higher education will do.

Goals of Scott Wyatt, president, Snow College