Yellow Pages The Utah State Board of Regents approved Dixie State College's request to build on its mission at the board's monthly meeting this past weekend. In short, the new mission calls for an expansion of four-year degree programs.
Dixie State was granted permission to begin offering a limited number of baccalaureate degrees in 2000. Since that time, the college has created programs in business administration, computer & information technology, elementary education, nursing, and, most recently, communications. The new mission will pave the way for baccalaureate programs, not just in high demand areas, but in “core or foundational areas consistent with four-year colleges.”
“This means that we'll be able to start offering degrees in areas such as the liberal arts, math, science, for example, and other core areas, like you would see at any other four-year college,” said DSC president Dr. Robert Huddleston. “This is the biggest thing that's happened to Dixie State College, outside of the institution being granted four-year status originally in 2000.”
Any new bachelor's programs will be contingent upon available funding and resources. Dixie State College will also continue its ongoing commitment to its role as a community college.
The college was granted full accreditation at the baccalaureate level in 2003 by Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities. At that time, however, the accrediting agency recommended that the college review and make adjustments to its mission statement to more accurately reflect institutional realities. Given the projected growth of the St. George area, DSC administrators felt the timing was right to adjust its mission to more accurately reflect and accommodate the county's growth.
During the State Board of Regents meeting in April, which was hosted on the DSC campus, college and city administrators - among which included Washington County School District Superintendent Dr. Max Rose, Washington County Economic Development Council Director Scott Hirschi, and St. George City Councilman Rod Orton - presented the Regents with data regarding the county's future growth. Some of that data included:
1. Value-added businesses grew by an increase of 13 percent in Washington County in 2004.
2. Washington County School District is made up of 22,000 students - the seventh largest school district in the state. That number is expected to jump to 40,000 by 2019.
3. St. George's current population of 67,000 is expected to reach 134,000 by 2020.
4. The number of dwelling units permitted in St. George alone currently exceeds 2,000, almost doubling the number of permits in Lehi. Washington City ranks fifth in the state in number of dwelling units permitted.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, St. George, Utah, ranked number one among the nation's fastest growing metropolitan areas (population over 50,000), with a growth rate of 86.1 percent between 1990 and 2000. Las Vegas had the second highest growth rate at 83.3 percent, followed by Naples, Fla., at 65.3 percent. Washington County's population is projected to surpass Weber County by 2030 and Davis County by 2040, according to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget's 2005 Baseline Projections.
Despite this growth, however, Washington County has both a very senior and a very young population, with not a lot in between. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's age 25-45 demographic made up a mere 22 percent of the county's population, down from the state average of 28 percent and the national average of 32 percent for that same demographic in terms of population composition.
”We're exporting far too many of our Washington County natives because of a lack of employment and educational opportunities,” Huddleston said. “It's our hope that as we're able to offer more and more bachelor's degrees we can help slow that trend.”
