Regional program expands with new Legislative Bill 185
Thousands of USU students have never attended a class in Logan, and thanks to a new bill passed by the Legislature, there will soon be even more.
USU’s Regional Campuses & Distance Education, which serves residents all across Utah, is in the process of expanding after the passage of House Bill 185, which provides nearly $4.8 million to the programs.
The money will also go toward expanding partnerships between USU and the College of Eastern Utah and Snow College. It will be used to create or expand 23 degree programs and hire 37 new faculty members at those schools and the regional campuses. Three new faculty members have already been hired, and the rest will be hired over the next two years, said Ronda Menlove, vice provost of Regional Campuses & Distance Education.
The goal of such programs is to provide students all across the state a chance to pursue degrees in higher education without leaving their home communities, Menlove said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Elisa Taylor, a former student of USU’s Uintah Basin campus in Vernal. “I’ve heard from a number of students who are tied to their communities, and they want to stay, but they also want to learn and get degrees and make a good living. This is good for them to stay in their communities and add to their communities.”
The program also allows students from the Logan campus to keep taking classes if they move somewhere else in the state – such as students who return to live with their parents to save money.
The College of Education and Human Services will see the biggest benefit from the bill, with seven new programs being added, followed by the College of Business, which will have five.
It is crucial to expand teacher training programs, Menlove said, because the demand for teachers in Utah’s less populated areas is very high.
“Training teachers in their own communities is great because then they stay there to teach,” Menlove said.
Providing business training to people in Utah’s smaller towns is important because it enables them to manage their own businesses, which is good for local economies, Menlove said.
USU’s partnerships with CEU and Snow College allow students attending those two-year institutions to enroll in USU classes and pursue the higher degrees offered by USU.
As Utah’s population has grown, there has been a trend among colleges toward expanding to provide more degrees and services, even to the point of seeking university status, such as Utah Valley University, formerly Utah Valley State College, Menlove said. However, two-year schools serve a valuable purpose as well, and not every school should become a university, she said. Partnering with USU allows schools such as CEU and Snow College to provide higher degrees and more programs without the high costs of expanding their schools.
When Taylor graduated from high school, she was ready for college, but she wasn’t yet ready to leave her hometown of Vernal, Utah. She enrolled in classes at USU’s Uinta Basin regional campus, which let her attend classes and still live at home.
She finished her associate degree there and came to Logan to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing education. When she later decided to earn a master’s degree in instructional technology, she was married and needed to work a full-time job, so she earned her degree through the distance education program. She now works at USU as director of the interactive broadcast program.
In addition to education and business programs, four new engineering programs, two science programs, two natural resources programs and three programs in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences will be created.
USU officials are planning to seek more money to further expand partnerships with other institutions at the next legislative session, Menlove said. Among other programs, they plan to create more teacher education, natural resources and engineering programs, as well as a Chinese language program.
Altogether, there are 37 USU distance education sites in Utah, from Wendover in the west to Vernal in the east, and from Logan in the north to St. George in the south.
-d.felix@aggiemail.usu.edu