So you want to be a U? Dixie State ponders future

Dixie State College announced last Friday that it is considering hooking its wagon to the University of Utah and becoming a satellite campus in an effort to expand the possibilities of higher education in Washington County.

Dixie says it weighs becoming U. satellite
(Salt Lake Tribune, September 8 2007)


Dixie State seeks partnership with U of U
(The Spectrum, September 8 2007)

Dixie State College Announces Plan to Pursue Enhanced Affiliation with the University of Utah
(From the Dixie State College website)

Essentially Dixie could very well follow the path of UVSC and become a university with a community college emphasis and open enrollment. Which leads us to a very interesting question, will UVSC support this move? Just because Dixie and the U have talked about it doesn't mean it's a done deal...far from it. The proposal will need to get approval from the Utah Board of Regents and the legislature.

And that process could be moved along considerably with the help of UVSC's voices on the Board of Regents (Marlon Snow, Jack Zenger, and Lucille Stoddard) and Utah County's all-powerful caucus (Senate president John Valentine tops the list).

And we might have a little quid pro quo action happening here. You might recall at the signing of SB 70 this past March that St. George representative Dave Clark was not only present, but spoke, and was widely praised by others for his support of UVSC's transition. At the time the Pipeline thought it seemed a little fishy for a St. George guy to be all buddy buddy with Utah County. Our bet is that UVSC and all its cronies will be backing up Dixie's move 100 percent.

And perhaps that is not such a bad thing. One thing is for certain though...the transition is going to cost money.

UVSC scores another supporter on Board of Regents

The Salt Lake Tribune reports today that former chair of UVSC's Board of Trustees Jack Zenger has been nominated by Gov. Jon Huntsman to the all-powerful State Board of Regents. Zenger will be replacing Michael Jensen, a lawyer from Price. His nomination will need to be confirmed by the state senate.

Zenger will join Marlon "No High School Diploma" Snow on the Board, and the two will be the only representatives from Utah County. Still, that is one more than UVSC had yesterday.

According to the Board of Regents website Snow's term is ending this June. It will be interesting to see if Huntsman replaces him with another Utah County resident. Might we recommend Jeff "Pee Wee" Alexander, who recently retired from the legislature and probably wouldn't mind working a few days a month.

Regents get paid next to nothing (a travel per diem for their monthly meetings) but they hold positions of incredible influence and are treated like kings by schools looking to curry their favor. They also get to rub shoulders with Utah's best and brightest...in other words, it's a pretty good deal.

The Board is made up of fifteen regents, each appointed by a governor to a six-year term. The Chair appoints two non-voting members to serve unspecified terms. There is also a vote for the student regent, which is chosen every year and is usually a former student body president. Historically Salt Lake City has had the most representation on the board. Currently there are eight regents from Salt Lake serving on the Board.