SUU, Dixie State agree to share education programs

Presidents of two universities in southern Utah announced plans on Thursday to develop a cooperative learning environment for students in that region. Their hope is to be able to deliver more programs to more people, therefore better preparing a future labor source.

Dixie State College President Lee Caldwell said the sharing of education programs is especially significant for his local constituency, where they are experiencing an increased teacher shortage because of substantial growth in the area, and a statistically low rate of residents with bachelor's degrees.

Collaborative efforts were outlined in a letter signed by Caldwell and Southern Utah University President Michael T. Benson. It states the schools already have a history of working together in the fields of health care, education and business education, yet there is still much the two can offer each other.

The two institutions hope to unite for a common goal, which, as stated in the letter, is to "provide a broad spectrum of high-quality educational opportunities to residents in the extended service area of southern Utah" while maintaining individual but complementary and noncompetitive missions.

"The different roles of the two institutions are quite clear. As Utah's only public university south of Orem, SUU plays a critical role as a comprehensive, regional university serving the dynamic needs of both southern and rural Utah. DSC, as a community-oriented college, is developing to serve an increasingly urbanized area, and over the past five years has increased its focus on meeting the vital and rapidly growing needs of Washington County."

Under the new guidelines, supported by Utah's System of Higher Education, SUU would help deliver programs to DSC in the following areas: math, history, art, chemistry, dance education, family and consumer science, German, physical education, social science composite and Spanish. The Cedar City-based university also hopes to offer secondary licensure programs in biology and English.

Institution officials hope students can move more progressively through the system, from DSC directly into SUU's graduate programs, "providing even more highly skilled individuals to better serve the needs of the region," their letter of intent states.

In order to avoid duplication and inefficient use of state resources, it is proposed that SUU secure a venue somewhere in Washington County and that programs of high demand — including the master's of education classes already being provided in cooperation with DSC — be identified for the specific region.