Possible merger of CEU and SEATC presented to Utah State Board of Regents
The College of Eastern Utah, as well as the Southeast Applied Technology College, may both be experiencing a change for better or for worse as the Utah State Board of Regents and the legislature are presented with the possibility of the two colleges merging in order to advance both programs of study.
This archived article was written by: Jake Cottam
The College of Eastern Utah, as well as the Southeast Applied Technology College, may both be experiencing a change for better or for worse as the Utah State Board of Regents and the legislature are presented with the possibility of the two colleges merging in order to advance both programs of study.
The Commissioner of Higher Education, Richard Ken- dell and the UCAT President, Darrel White organized a team, in order to conduct a study to clarify options to further the relationship between the two colleges including the possibility of merging SEATC as a fully integrated administrative unit of CEU. In order for the two schools to be considered for any kind of merging, the mission statements from both schools must be compared.
CEU’s mission statement states:
“College of Eastern Utah is committed to the highest standards of instruction and learning in its academic and applied technology programs. The college prepares students for certification, degree or transfer programs and recognizes that education continues beyond graduation. We strive to help instill the curiosity and skills necessary for a student to continue learning throughout life.
College of Eastern Utah provides a complete campus experience for both traditional and non-traditional students. We seek to be involved in and responsive to our community. The college affirms a special role in representing the human diversity of our region, state country and world. Our classrooms include the beauty of our setting among mountains, high deserts and deep canyons.” (“CEU General Catalog,” 2004)
SEATC’s mission statement states:
“The mission of the Southeast ATC is to provide training for high school and adult students, displaced workers and unemployed individuals in Southeast Utah for employment in skilled or semi-skilled jobs; to provide on-the-job training leading to higher proficiency and retention, or placement in skilled craft jobs; and to bring education and business together to assist students in receiving the most benefit from their applied technology instruction.” (“SEATC General Catalog,” 2005)
The two mission statements are similar in ways such as they both serve the needs of their students in both basic and short-term specific skill training. Up until 2001 with the creation of UCAT, CEU served both missions effectively but with the lack of resources and a philosophical shift, they reduced the devotion to some of those areas, however with the formation of UCAT, the two institutions worked out a plan in order to minimize overlap with the two mission statements and to maximize their efforts in those areas.
With both institution having different standards of hiring including CEU requiring instructors to have earned at least a master’s degree in an appropriate field. Where as SEATC instructors are not required to have a degree in the field of their expertise, there is a greater stress on proving their expertise and experience.
