Promote Smaller Community Colleges - Efforts will be made to inform prospective students of the unique advantages of attending smaller rural and residential campuses. Funding mechanisms will be developed that recognize the differential costs of upper division and graduate instruction. Admission Standards - Admissions standards will be reviewed and revised as appropriate to be more consistent with institutional missions and provide a better match for students, institutions, and educational programs. Productivity Improvements - Additional productivity measures are also encouraged, such as increased experimentation with differentiated staffing, greater use of telecommunications instruction that has proven effecitve, and the use of other less expensive modes of instruction. Promoting Diversity Ongoing systemwide planning will differentiate among institutional missions and roles to avoid unwarranted duplication of programs and effort and promote quality through resource consolidation.
Planning necessarily involves critical choices.
Each college and university has a clearly defined mission and scope, and within its overall mission each institution is encouraged to develop special areas of strength that lead to distinction and contribute to the total spectrum of state educational responsibilities and student options and opportunities. Development of Academic Programs - Future development of academic programs across the System includes many diverse areas of the curriculum that will likely receive increased attention in the years ahead. Applied Technology Centers is proposed for use by the Legislature to fund short-term noncredit vocational training through the State Board for Applied Technology Education, whether offered in adult high schools, ATCs, or in higher education. This funding approach will discourage unwise duplication of effort, conserve state resources, and provide diverse and complementary training options across public and higher education for student advancement and economic development. However, the Center will continue to be administered by Salt Lake Community College, and the capital facilities budget will remain the responsibility of higher education and the Regents.