Proposed bill would give UCAT autonomy

After months of discussion, members of the Higher Education and Applied Technology Governance Committee arrived at a conclusion Tuesday, sending a draft bill to lawmakers to consider in the upcoming legislative session.

The bill outlines how career and technical education in the state of Utah is managed and delivered to more than 110,000 students every year. The topic was moved to the interim committee after an initial bill aiming to merge Salt Lake Community College and the Salt Lake-Tooele Applied Technology College was tabled in the last session of the state Legislature.

The draft, to be sponsored by Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, separates authority of the Utah College of Applied Technology from the Board of Regents, which governs the remainder of higher education in Utah. UCAT would have its own board of directors and will appoint its own presidents and duties.

"It also streamlines the reporting process ... giving the governor three reports, from UCAT, higher education and public education," Bigelow said. The bill would also address future mergers, specifically in Salt Lake County and bar any further consolidations to take place beyond SLCC, if that were to happen.

Board of Regents, UCAT and public education officials provided input for the draft bill and several amendments.

"As far as our objective for UCAT, which was to gain independence from the Board of Regents, we are very happy," said Tom Bingham, chairman of the UCAT board of trustees. He said he believes the process was fair, but the resulting "hybrid of sorts," may impose a rocky future for the SLTATC campus.

"There will be some challenges to making the new model work, but we're committed to making it work," he said, adding that upon success, the model may be applied to career and technical education options at the College of Eastern Utah and Snow College.

The only difference is that SLCC charges 40 cents more per hour for its career and technical education courses than does UCAT, but some of that is made up in varying fees charged at each of the institutions.

"We try our best to keep costs low for students throughout the community college and especially in these programs," said Mason Bishop, SLCC vice president for institutional advancement. He said what is reflected in the draft is the result of lots of work and is a "very good outcome."

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