Four-Year College to University Status

The collection was created by Dixie College personnel when Dixie College only granted associates degrees and wanted to grow the college by offering four-year bachelor's degrees. At that time, Southern Utah University (SUU) had a center on the Dixie College campus to offer four-year degrees. The major topics in the collection are the justifications of allowing Dixie College to offer its own four-year degrees and removing the SUU center from campus with the associated cost and consequences. Most of the collection is from 1997-1999, although there are a few reports and communications as early as 1993. In March 1999, Governor Leavitt signed a bill making Dixie College a university and four-year institution.

The documents include communications between members of the Dixie College Board of Trustees and NORED the consulting company highered to study the feasibility of becoming a four year college, and between themselves documenting the attempt beginning in late 1997 to obtain the approval of the Utah Board of Higher Education to be a four-year college. The effort was ultimately futile and in 1998 the Board of Trustees redirected their efforts to instead convince the Utah State Legislature that the requirements set by the Utah Board of Higher Education were too high and to allow Dixie College to bypass the requirements,ultimately succeeding with the passage of H.B 32 on July, 1st 1999

Several reports were generated at the request of the Board of Trustees in an effort to prove that Dixie College needed to offer four year programs.Reports generated by other colleges were used by Dixie College as background information.

There are also several newspaper articles detailing the attempt to become a four-year college with editorials both for and against the project. Also included are the minutes from the various meetings that took place.