Higher ed chief looks back, ahead to good years

Record enrollment increases and shrinking budgets were the most significant higher education issues in Utah during 2009, according to Commissioner William Sederburg.

"I am always amazed that at any one point in time, it doesn't seem like much is happening, but upon reflection, a lot has changed and a lot has been accomplished," he said.

At the top of his list, and on the minds of administrators, educators and campus employees in Utah, is the addition of about 24,000 more students than last year at state colleges and universities. Dixie State College saw the largest increase, with 23 percent more students on its already congested campus, most of them taking advantage of new four-year programs.

Sederburg commended action taken to further affiliate the College of Eastern Utah with Utah State University. The Board of Regents has adopted a plan, including a detailed document explaining various protocol, that will align the two schools following anticipated Legislature approval.

"This affiliation will improve the higher education opportunities in the southeast region of the state as well as assume some cost-efficiencies for CEU and USU," he said.

Friends of Higher Education, a new advocacy group, helped in 2009 to make higher education a top priority among business and state leaders.

Another priority of the commissioner, as well as the state, is economic development. Sederburg said the promotion of various statewide educational initiatives has helped to more closely connect local business and industry with regional colleges and universities.

Although state budget cuts — 17 percent overall — drastically impacted campuses across the state, Sederburg said he was proud that schools "have been able to maintain quality services at affordable rates for students." Recent state budget proposals have indicated that higher education institutions might be better off this year, but Sederburg has said the system is at a "critical tipping point."

The state's K-16 Alliance has worked throughout the year to build on a common student identification system to track students, allowing for improvement throughout the system, as well as the release of UtahFutures.org, a career planning program for students. Utah leads the country in coordinating academic content across the higher education spectrum and in 2009, the American Association of College and Universities identified the Beehive State as one of five pilot states to align educational courses with the needs of industry.