SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has named 10 men and eight women to the inaugural Utah Board of Higher Education, the governing body for all Utah technical colleges and degree-granting colleges and universities.
Appointees to the inaugural Utah Board of Higher Education were confirmed by the Utah Senate last week.
The 18-member board succeeds the Utah State Board of Regents and the Utah Technical Colleges Board of Trustees, although the majority of the members of the new board served as regents and trustees.
Under the legislation, the governor was authorized to appoint to the new board six sitting regents, six sitting trustees and two student members and four at-large members.
The newly constituted board includes regents Chairman Harris Simmons and Vice Chairwoman Nina Barnes as well as Aaron Osmond, vice chairman of the technical colleges trustees.
Other current members of the board of regents appointed to the new higher education board include Wilford C. Clyde, Patricia Jones, Crystal Call Maggelet and Lisa-Michele Church.
Current members of the state technical college trustees named to the board include Mike Angus, Scott L. Theurer, Arthur E. Newell, Stacey K. Bettridge and Jera L. Bailey.
Bridgerland Technical College student Glen Rivera and Utah Valley University student Candyce Damron were named inaugural student board members.
At-large members include Utah State Board of Education member Shawn Newell as well as Jesselie Barlow Anderson, Sanchaita Datta and Alan Hall, the latter current members of the board of regents.
SB111, passed by state lawmakers earlier this year, is intended to make the state’s public post-secondary institutions more accessible and affordable for students. Other goals of the legislation, sponsored by Senate Majority Assistant Whip Ann Millner, R-Ogden, are to create “seamless pathways” for credit transfers as students attend multiple institutions over their careers as workforce demands evolve and to accelerate graduation rates.
The governor anticipates swearing in the new members during their inaugural meeting on July 10. Among the board’s first tasks will be electing leadership; recruiting and hiring a commissioner, setting a statewide vision, and developing a strategic plan with goals and performance metrics.
The board will also establish the institutions’ missions and roles and delegate the appropriate responsibilities to each institution’s board of trustees and presidents. The board is charged to ensure the system is efficient, effective and delivers world-class instruction and research.
The system includes Dixie State University, Southern Utah University, University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, Weber State University, Salt Lake Community College, Snow College, Bridgerland Technical College, Davis Technical College, Dixie Technical College, Mountainland Technical College, Ogden-Weber Technical College, Southwest Technical College, Tooele Technical College and Uintah Basin Technical College.
The merged systems will operate under one roof in offices at The Gateway. Construction, furnishing and equipping the remodeled space is expected to be completed by July 1.