| Description |
This historical study identified the efforts made that led to the coordination of higher education in Utah, culminating in the passage of the Higher Education Act of 1969, the creation of the State Board of Higher Education and the appointment of Dr. G. Home r Durham as the first Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Utah. The reports of Committees that were created by the Legislature with their recommendations for coordination were examined. Information obtained from a review of original documents and of the related literature was utilized in obtaining an overview of the development of administrative policies and philosophies of other states which had coordinated their higher education institutions. Coordination and centralized control of higher education is not a new movement, especially in the state of Utah. The Pioneers, under the leadership of Brigham Young through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, developed control of education very early in Utah. The University of Deseret, now the University of Utah, was founded in 1850. The Utah State University, as the Agricultural College, was founded in 1888. At the Constitutional Convention in 1896, the unification of these two institutions was considered, but failed. Several Bills were introduced in the Utah Legislature attempting to combine the governing boards of institutions two institutions under one board but were never passed. The first attempt at a single board was the Coordinating Board of Higher Education in 1957 that turned out to be more of a study which recommended the establishment of the Coordinating Council of Higher Education which was created by the 1959 Legislature. The Council could exercise leadership, give direction in planning, define the role and program of the institutions, establish criteria for determining budgets, study new methods of instruction for better use of educational facilities, but without the authority to control. The Higher Education Act of 1969 created the State Board of Higher Education and abolished the governing boards for the institutions. It created the Utah System of Higher Education which included; University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State College, Snow College, College of Southern Utah, Dixie College, College of Eastern Utah, and the Utah Technical Colleges at Provo and Salt Lake City. Each institution now has its own Institutional Council. |
