U leaders say they need to know more specifics about the proposal to make Dixie State College a satellite campus of the U before they will give the plan the thumbs up or down.
The U Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution last Monday to create a task force that will study options for an enhanced partnership with Dixie State in southern Utah.
U President Michael Young said details of the proposal need to be studied in much more depth. He told the trustees the issue must be approached cautiously because “we probably are only going to have one chance to get this right.” Young also discussed several options for a lesser partnership, like making Dixie State a center for U graduate courses.
The U and Dixie State have an existing partnership for the U to provide instructors in three graduate programs, but Dixie State administrators say they need to offer more degrees to meet the area’s growing demands.
Shandon Gubler, chair of Dixie State’s Board of Trustees, said that while the school is eager to join the U, he understands the need to study the issue carefully.
“I don’t want to rush,” he said. “It’s just too significant.”
The task force will look at a variety of issues posed by the affiliation, like how the change would impact academic departments and how the administration at Dixie State would be structured.
The task force will not talk about changing Dixie State’s name. The Dixie trustees have said that the college would be renamed the University of Utah, St. George, though some students are eager to maintain Dixie in the name.
Gubler said that if a partnership is agreed to, the school would only use the title of “Dixie Campus” to differentiate between the school’s primary campus in St. George and outlying campuses in Hurricane and other surrounding areas.
If an affiliation is approved by the U’s trustees, the proposal would also need to be approved by the State Board of Regents and would require funding from the Utah State Legislature.