Regents OK a new degree at Dixie

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 23, 2005 by Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News

ST. GEORGE -- The State Board of Regents on Friday approved a request by Dixie State College to begin offering a new bachelor's degree in communications and new media this fall.

The four-year program will offer digital motion picture production and broadcast, business/corporate communications, and Web design, publishing and online journalism.

"These graduates will be skilled professionals, not trained technicians," according to college officials in a report presented to the regents.

Washington County is growing so fast that DSC is finding it difficult to meet the needs of its projected student population and the community, the report states.

"I grew up in Tooele County and it is also significantly underserved in terms of higher education," said Lee Caldwell, DSC vice president of academics. "But it's also true that we have over 100,000 people in Washington County, and are still sustaining one of the highest growth rates in the country. The magnitude of the challenge for Dixie is different than what it is for Tooele County."

Regent Jim Jardine said there's no question that Washington County's growth rates are impressive.

"It's not a contest of who's growing the fastest," Jardine said. "Part of what we're trying to do is respond to the needs of the students throughout the state. We have to find a rational way to meet the needs with the resources we have."

Dixie State College officials provided numerous growth statistics to back up their request for the new communications/new media degree including several stats from state agencies.

Among the findings offered to the regents:

-- The Utah Department of Workforce Services project 170 new communications/new media related jobs in Washington County each year between 2002 and 2012.

-- Utah Workforce Services projects an annual demand in Utah of more than 4,000 communications/new media-related jobs, and another 3,000 in southern Nevada.

-- Utah Occupational Projections for the same time period shows 10 occupational specialties related to the degree that are rated high in need, salary and demand.

While the regents' vote favored DSC and its proposal, Commissioner Richard Kendell reminded college officials to focus on core disciplines.

"There's going to be a great need for health occupations in the county, which means you must have core disciplines in place like math and chemistry," he said. "You can't just offer four-year degrees that are in "high demand." You also have to move to improve the quality and integrity of the core programs."

The regents also voted to establish a committee to address the realistic needs facing a growing southern Utah.

"Creating a study group is a real validation of your growth and development," said Regent Bonnie Jean Beesley. "This is a show of support. I encourage all shareholders to recognize the value of a comprehensive community college and to reflect that in your mission statement."

The regents also approved several technology-funding requests by various institutions including $907,000 to the University of Utah and $633,000 to Utah State University. The money is matched by the institutions and is used to help increase the number of engineering and computer science graduates from each.

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com