SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — One by one, the heads of Utah's colleges and universities sat before the Board of Higher Education on Friday and outlined the changes they're making on campuses.
They detailed jobs being eliminated, programs being consolidated or cut entirely and new programs they intend to start up. It's in response to a bill passed by the Utah State Legislature this year dramatically overhauling the state's higher education system. Lawmakers have demanded that the schools invest more in "career ready" fields and streamline the process to get students degrees faster.
In total, the public colleges and universities will make roughly $65 million in cuts over the next three years. They have scrutinized positions, programs and entire colleges. The money they cut goes into an account they can then dip into and "reinvest" in new programs and offerings.
"How can we better utilize the taxpayer money we have to ensure the state and students are getting the best return on their investment in their education?" said Geoffrey Landward, the commissioner for Utah's System of Higher Education.
Colleges and universities will be beefing up programs with an eye toward emerging career fields.
"Broad areas of engineering, health care, artificial intelligence but also civic dialogue and civic education," University of Utah President Taylor Randall told FOX 13 News.
What's being cut depends on the school. On Friday, college and university presidents each disclosed plans to merge entire colleges or shuffle courses around. Some were partnering with other schools for course instruction. But there are entire offerings that will be cut. Many schools were eliminating some foreign language instruction, art education, physical education and philosophy courses. Among its cuts, Utah Valley University announced it would doing away with a woodworking course.
But schools have also gotten creative in looking for new opportunities. Salt Lake Community College is seeking to preserve hospitality management and film production programs in response to local needs, despite some recommendations from the Utah System of Higher Education against it. At Southern Utah University, President Mindy Benson said she found a space for philosophy professors with one moving to teach business ethics and another teaching ethics with artificial intelligence.
"The students voted with their feet a year, couple of years ago as to programs they wanted or didn’t want," Benson told FOX 13 News. "Those programs have been eliminated or downsized. And now we have these opportunities to beef up programs that we know students are looking to go into and our state workforce needs."
The schools announced plans to invest more into other offerings. A lot of Utah's schools said they were planning to offer more courses and training in AI-related fields. Snow College President Stacee McIff said she planned to add prison education and rural entrepreneurship courses in response to local demands. The University of Utah will offer more in the fields of robotics, cybersecurity and energy systems. The U also intended to offer nursing and behavioral health courses to respond to shortages in that profession.
The impact of the legislature's mandate has caused a lot of anxiety in academia. Weber State University President Brad Mortensen detailed some angst and frustration as they held town hall meetings on campus with people worried about losing their jobs. The schools all described moving employees into new roles, while detailing dozens of positions across their campuses that have simply been eliminated.
"We don’t want to be dismissive of the fact that this has a very human element to it, but the reinvestment is there will be hiring in areas where we see high growth and high need for the state of Utah," Landward told FOX 13 News.
Muskan Walia is keenly aware of what it means for students, too, even those in programs that are winding down.
"One of my degree programs is on the chopping block so I empathize really deeply," she said.
Walia serves as a student representative on the Utah Board of Higher Education and told FOX 13 News she has heard from students with concerns. But she said the plans she's seen from colleges and universities gives her optimism.
"I'm feeling very optimistic and I've had the opportunity to share that with students," Walia said. "That the focus on the strategic reinvestment is really heavy emphasis on student success, student access, affordability and workforce development."
Overall, college and university presidents said they felt optimisic
"There’s just a lot of opportunity," said Salt Lake Community College President Dr. Greg Peterson. "Seventy-five percent of our students are part time. So we’re looking at how do students access programs so they can get back in the workforce more quickly."
The Utah Board of Higher Education approved all of the plans. The Utah State Legislature's Higher Education Appropriations Committee and the powerful Executive Appropriations Committee will get the final sign-off on the cuts and reinvestments.
"I'm grateful to the Utah Board of Higher Education for their careful review of the reinvestment plans and to our universities for their forward-thinking work in developing them," said Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, who sponsored the bill mandating the overhaul.
"Together, these efforts are laying the foundation for programs that deliver even better results, equipping Utah students with the skills they need for successful careers and a brighter economic future, while making higher education more affordable and accessible for all students across the state."
