Should they be parallel universes or should they merge? That's the question looming for some of Utah's community colleges and nearby colleges of applied technology.
There's a potential duplication of efforts between some community colleges and Utah College of Applied Technology (UCAT) sites, Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell told the Utah Board of Regents at its monthly meeting Friday. The board voted to study a possible merger of Salt Lake Community College and the Salt Lake-Tooele Applied Technology Center, Dixie State College and the Dixie Applied Technology College, and Southern Utah University and the Southwest Applied Technology College.
The new study will be a continuation of a recently completed study exploring the relationship between the College of Eastern Utah and the Southeast Applied Technology Center in Price. Kendell recommended Friday that CEU and SEACT merge.
"This is not intended as any kind of criticism of the community colleges or UCAT," Kendell said. "We simply have an environment of limited resources," as well as the coincidence of having similar institutions in the same regions.
The board may vote on the CEU-SEACT merger at its October meeting. The study about additional possible mergers will take between six months and a year, Kendell said. The new study will also explore the consolidation of the Dixie and Southwest applied technical colleges into a single ATC program within Dixie State College.
The potential mergers would only affect the less-developed applied technology colleges, not the well-developed programs such as those in Davis County, the Uintah Basin or Bridgerland, Kendell said.
He stressed that if the regents choose to merge the institutions, pains should be taken to continue the strengths of the regional UCAT centers, which he described as "nimble." The primary function of the UCAT is to meet the needs of local employers by providing specific training, often on an as-needed basis. The programs therefore have open entry/open exit scheduling and competency-measured training, he said. At the same time, "comprehensive community colleges" also include credit and noncredit job training programs, so there is often overlap.
The CEU/SEACT report noted that there is currently good collaboration between the two schools, based on an informal working arrangement between the presidents of the two institutions. CEU also currently provides administrative support in areas such as accounting and the motor pool.
Asked whether they support the commissioner's recommendation for merger, both school presidents sidestepped the question. "We'll implement whatever we're asked to implement," said CEU president Ryan Thomas.
In other action, the Higher Education Commission unveiled a new logo (a vague representation of an open book) and a tagline ("building a stronger state of mind.")
E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com