Fourteen members of the 15-member board of trustees of the Utah College of Applied Technology have been named. The board members represent higher and public education and business/industry representatives selected by the 10 regions included in the newly created college. The Utah Legislature officially folded existing applied technology centers and service areas into a college during a special session last June.
Gregory G. Fitch, approved by the State Board of Regents last month to head the college, announced the constitution of the board of trustees Thursday. Only one regional board — Southwest — has still to recommend a trustee.
Five members of the board were directly appointed by Gov. Mike Leavitt. They include Thomas E. Bingham, business/industry; A. Earl McCain and Janet A. Cannon, State Board of Education; and Charles E. Johnson and Pamela J. Atkinson, State Board of Regents.
Named to represent the regions were: Michael J. Madsen, Bridgerland; Carl Albrecht, Central: William H. Prows, Davis; Don Ipson, Dixie; Doyle Mortimer, Mountainland; Douglas J. Holmes, Ogden/Weber; Norman H. Bangerter (the former Utah governor), Salt Lake/Tooele; Kevin Ashby, Southeast; and John Busch, Uintah Basin.
"The Legislature obviously intended business and industry to be a strong partner with the College of Applied Technology, requiring that 11 of the 15 members of the board of trustees be from the business community," said Fitch.
The unprecedented partnership is "an exciting opportunity" to bring applied technology training and education to a new level, he said.
Among the first duties of the UCAT board will be selecting a chairman, developing proposed budget recommendations for the governor and Legislature and prioritizing capital development requests for consideration by the State Building Board.
Fitch also noted that one of the first priorities for consideration will be development of a competency-based associate of applied technology degree — one of the requirements of the bill that created UCAT. The procedure will be lengthy, he said, because sanction by an accrediting agency will have to be obtained before such a degree can be offered.
Fitch, who formerly was with the Idaho education system, has spent the past month making visits to all of the UCAT units scattered across the state.
The first meeting of the board will be held in November.