Salt Lake Community College
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| Motto | Step Ahead |
|---|---|
| Type | Community college |
| Established | 1948 |
| President | Deneece Huftalin |
Academic staff | 346 full-time faculty |
| Students | 30,112 (2012-13 year)[1] |
| Location | , , 40°40′20″N 111°56′40″W / 40.67222°N 111.94444°W |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Gold |
| Affiliations | NJCAA |
| Mascot | Brutus the Bruin Bear |
| Website | www.slcc.edu |
Salt Lake Community College (also called SLCC) is Utah’s largest college with the most diverse student body.[2] It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses and with online classes.[3] The college has a student to faculty ratio of 20:1.[4] Since 1948, the College has focused on providing individual attention and personal care to each student. SLCC has open enrollment and serves the local community, with approximately 95% of the student body considered Utah residents. Of the enrolled student body, two-thirds aspire to eventually obtain four-year degrees.
Although the college does not offer four-year degrees directly, school officials work with the state's other institutions of high learning to create partnerships between different schools and ensure that credits are transferable. Salt Lake Community College has partnered with selected four-year institutions to provide opportunities for students to complete a bachelor degree while remaining on one of SLCC campuses. General education credits may be transferred to any four-year school in Utah including the University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley University as well as private schools such as Brigham Young University and Westminster College.
History
Salt Lake Community College began teaching classes September 14, 1948 as the Salt Lake Area Vocational School.[5] A product of the GI Bill, the school evolved out of the War Production Training School established at West High School during the war. After most federal support dried up in 1946, the Salt Lake City School District continued funding the program on its own, which was a burden for the district. The district, with the State Board of Vocational Education, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, the local American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars successfully lobbied the state legislature to create state-supported vocational schools. On March 19, 1947 money was appropriated for establishing vocational schools in all school districts serving populations of at least 140,000.
The Salt Lake City School Board selected long-time vocational teacher Howard Gunderson as the school's first president. The old Troy Laundry Building on 461 South 600 East in Salt Lake City was selected as the school's first building, and equipment was donated from Salt Lake area High Schools which had housed War Production Training Schools during the war. Gunderson received authorization from the Salt Lake City, Park City, and Tooele School districts to teach 39 vocational programs, although teachers could not be found for all of them immediately.
Newspaper ads for the school carried the slogan, "Learn to Earn", which would be used into the 1970s. In its first quarter, tuition for the school was $78 annually, and 246 students registered in 14 classes. By the following quarter, 948 students were enrolled including 589 veterans.
In 1949 J. Bracken Lee became governor of Utah. A fiscal conservative, he opposed the Area Vocational School as duplicating services available elsewhere. When the legislature presented the 1949–1950 budget with expenses projected to exceed revenues by $2 million, Lee used line-item vetos to cut the entire $500,000 appropriated to the school. Lee's veto drew criticism from The Salt Lake Tribune, labor unions, and veteran's organizations, but the supporters of the cut stood firm, alleging wastefulness at the school. Only by scaling back operations to $145,000 annually was Gunderson able to keep the school open.
The second President of the school, Jay L. Nelson (1949–1978), referred to the first years of Lee's governorship as "the starvation years". No state funding was provided to the school again until 1951 when it began receiving modest subsidies, and a $312,000 grant to purchase the Troy Laundry Building it was in.
Initially the school was seen as a central location for high school vocational education, and the school was thus an extension of public secondary education. The school was guided jointly under the direction of the state and local school board until 1959 when it changed its name to Salt Lake Trade Technical Institute, reflecting the more adult-oriented nature of the school. Governance for the school also moved solely into the state's hands under the State Board for Vocational Education.
In 1967 most departments of the school (now renamed Utah Technical College at Salt Lake) moved to the current location at 4600 South Redwood Road in what is now Taylorsville. The state legislature granted money for expansion at the Taylorsville Redwood campus, which is now the primary campus of SLCC. A thriving vocational program existed at the original site well in to the 1980s that served thousands of students seeking basic education and occupational skills.
In 1969 the State unified the scattered public higher education direction into the State Board of Higher Education (later called the Board of Regents). However, the Technical College was not placed entirely under this board. Instead, it was jointly governed by the State Board of Higher Education and the State Board of Vocational Education. Turf wars between the boards erupted almost immediately in 1970 and again in 1974 when the boards fought over who had authority to raise salaries (it was decided that the vocational board controlled wages, but that the higher education board dictated budgets). The Board of Higher Education first sought to convert the schools into community colleges in 1970, which the vocational board outright rejected. The Vocational Board eventually relinquished control of the school in 1978 with an agreement that technical school maintain 75% vocational training, which was state law at the time. President Jay L. Nelson believed this was necessary to prevent the school from becoming merely a feeder for the University of Utah. However, in 1987 the school formally became Salt Lake Community College and the old requirement 75% for vocational training ended.
Campuses
Taylorsville Redwood Campus (1967)
Located at 4600 South Redwood Road in Taylorsville, the Taylorsville Redwood Campus is the primary campus and harbors the school's student center and main offices. Serving over 15,000 students a year, the campus is spread across two city blocks and is home to twelve academic buildings. Taylorsville Redwood contains a library (approx 90,000 volumes), athletic facilities, an amphitheater, and a student union.
Anime Banzai and Anime Salt Lake, which are two different anime conventions, were both initially held at the Taylorsville Redwood campus. The Rocky Mountain Revue, a pre-season basketball tournament sponsored by the NBA's Utah Jazz, was hosted in the Lifetime Activities Center until 2008.[6] The arena has played host to professional basketball teams over the years, including the Utah Snowbears, the Salt Lake Dream, and the Utah Eagles.
South City (1992)
Located at 1575 South State Street in Salt Lake City, the South City Campus occupies the former home of South High School. The campus houses classrooms, labs, and the Grand Theatre, home of the Grand Theatre Foundation and Community Institute.
South City Campus added the Center for Arts and Media (CAM) Building in 2013, thanks to a grant from the State of Utah as well as many community partners including the George S. & Delores Doré Eccles Foundation and Adobe. This newest addition provides classroom and cutting-edge work space for 17 programs in the School of Arts and Communication, serving approximately 9,000 students. With the addition of this building, SLCC provides the industry-standard tools for students need to help them build professional portfolios and gain valuable industry experience so they can be successful after they graduate.
Jordan Campus (2001)
Located at 3491 West 9000 South in West Jordan, the Jordan Campus is SLCC's third full-service campus. It houses a library, food court, financial aid, a dental clinic for the dental hygienist program, academic advising offices, and Cate Field (where the SLCC baseball team plays its home games).
College plans call for the Jordan Campus to become the largest and main campus by 2020. The nursing program opened at the campus by 2007 in a new five-story Health Science building. A UTA TRAX station will eventually be constructed across the street for the college. Other non-college buildings on the campus include the Jordan School District applied technology center, Itineris Charter School built by Bill Gates, and an LDS Institute of Religion.
Miller Campus (2001)
The Miller Campus was donated to Salt Lake Community College by the late Larry H. Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees. The Miller Campus opened its doors in 2001. The Miller Campus is home to SLCC’s Culinary Institute, and numerous Continuing Education programs such as legal secretary, digital media technology, real estate appraisal and public safety/criminal justice. The Miller Business Resource Center offers four corporate training programs and The Miller Business Innovation Center helps startup companies with operational and educational services. Training facilities for the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) on the campus include: Highway Patrol training, DPS development education center, the Utah POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) academy and the Department of Corrections training academy.
Meadowbrook Campus ()
The Meadowbrook Campus is home to general education courses, and many of the college’s vocational and School of Applied Technology programs including: Diesel Systems Technology, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC), Professional Truck Driving, Professional Pilot, and Non-Desctructive Testing.
Organization and Administration
In September 2014, The Utah Board of Regents named Deneece Huftalin as new president of Salt Lake Community College.[7] She served previously as Vice-President of Student Services and has more than 20 years experience working for the college. She replaced President Cynthia Bioteau, who left to become the president of Florida State College at Jacksonville.[8]
The Thayne Center is a non-profit organization established in 1994 (originally named the Emma Lou Thayne Community Service Center) to coordinate a variety of service-related programs for Salt Lake Community College. Most of the money the organization obtains comes directly from the college, and 75% of all donations go back into the Thayne Center's cause.
Academic profile
SLCC offers more than 200 degree and certificate programs in academic, technical, and vocational fields.[9] It is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and many credits are transferable to all of the state's four-year colleges. More SLCC graduates attend the University of Utah than graduates of any other institution of high learning.
Student life
Sport
Salt Lake Community College's mascot is a Bruin Bear named Brutus. He is seen at most local parades in the summer and performs at the Women's Volleyball and Men's Basketball games. Brutus has his own Facebook page[10] that he updates with photos, post and videos.
The Bruins have competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) since 1985. Currently, the school fields men's teams in baseball and basketball and women's teams in basketball, softball, and volleyball. Also, the school hosts club teams for men's and women's soccer. Dating back to 1985, the Bruins boast 54 NJCAA All-American athletes. Additionally, SLCC has produced 513 Academic All-Region honorees and 192 Academic All-Americans.[11]
Led by veteran coach Norm Parrish, the men's basketball program advanced to the NJCAA championship game in 2008, narrowly losing to South Plains College. The following season, the Bruins returned to the title game, this time defeating Midland College to claim the first national championship in school history.[12]
Noted people
Prominent professional athletes who trained and competed at SLCC include Justin Braun (soccer), Eddie Gill (basketball), Sinan Güler (basketball), Chris Shelton (baseball), and Eddy Alvarez (baseball).
Notes
- ^ "Tab C Enrollments" (PDF). Utah System of Higher Education. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ [1]
- ^ https://slcc.edu/about/index.aspx
- ^ https://slcc.edu/about/index.aspx
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ How the Revue began.
- ^ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58402259-78/president-college-lake-huftalin.html.csp
- ^ http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57135533-78/president-huftalin-college-bioteau.html.csp
- ^ "Salt Lake Community College - Catalog". Slcc.edu. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
- ^ Brutus the SLCC Bruin Bear
- ^ SLCC Bruins Awards and Honors
- ^ Salt Lake CC comes back, wins NJCAA championship
Sources
- Randa, Ernest W. Salt Lake Community College: A College on the Move 1949-1998. Agreka Books. ISBN 1-888106-46-8
- [3] Salt Lake Community College's Thayne Center for Service & Learning Website
External links
- Salt Lake Community College, official site
- Salt Lake Community College, capsule from the Utah System of High Education
- Salt Lake Community College Student Association
- Salt Lake Community College's Thayne Center for Service & Learning Website
- Salt Lake Community College
- Buildings and structures in Tooele County, Utah
- Community colleges in the United States
- Two-year colleges in the United States
- Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
- Universities and colleges in Salt Lake County, Utah
- Universities and colleges in Utah