UCAT is still finding its place

The Utah College of Applied Technology is having a quasi identity crisis these days.

It came to a head recently when UCAT President Greg Fitch told the state Board of Regents that if they want to consider UCAT as Utah's 10th public college, they'd better start treating it that way.

The UCAT, however, is not like the others.

For 20 years, an education in applied technology was made possible under the direction of the state Office of Education, which oversees public education. Even now, most high school students taking applied technology courses are still served by school districts.

But in June 2001, the Legislature created the UCAT, which meant all of the publicly funded applied technology centers and other related facilities — apart from high schools — became part of higher education, serving mostly an adult clientele.

Now 3 years old, the UCAT is expected to act like Utah's 10th public institution of higher education, with peers like the University of Utah and Utah Valley State College.

For example, making major changes to curriculum or adding degrees at the UCAT means, like the U., UVSC and others, being forced to wait for a regents' approval process.

But Rich Kendell, commissioner of higher education, said he believes it's important that the UCAT remain "nimble" in order to quickly meet the varied and changing needs of industry and business.

And then there's the image thing.

Even some regents differentiate between attending classes through the UCAT and getting a "higher" education.

The problem is, as Fitch and others will admit, the UCAT is a "different animal." Its mission has been — and still is — to get people in and out of classrooms fast and into jobs that typically don't require a four-year degree.

"Most jobs that are being created don't require a four-year degree," said Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley City, one of the lawmakers responsible for creating the UCAT. Changes are happening with the UCAT, like moving toward one regional accreditation, he said, but the transformation is slow.

At the UCAT it's still open entry/open exit, where students essentially buy an instructor's time in class and come and go as their educational needs dictate, taking the UCAT classes for training or toward some kind of competency certificate. Anyone can get into UCAT classes anytime, regardless of prior educational experience.