New Technical Education Offerings

New Programs and Lower Costs Make Snow College the Center for Technical Education

By Lisa Jane Laird

Snow College offers the best of both worlds when it comes to training for technology careers in rural Utah and offering reduced tuition costs.

Snow gained a unique standing when the Utah System of Higher Education’s degree-granting institutions combined with Utah’s technology college system last year. In addition to the degree-granting role Snow College has always played, it is now the technical college for Central Utah. As a technical college, Snow College offers technology certifications that also count as transferable college credit with no added charges. Students in technical education programs pay much less for their training than their peers in other Snow College divisions.

The goal of technology education programs is direct employment in a field related to the training area. To qualify for the lower tuition rate, Snow College must demonstrate a need for employees in the industry and provide data and reporting on students who get placed in jobs. Not all courses at the College fit those criteria. While every course at Snow College is beneficial in some way, technical education courses are skills oriented and aligned with high-demand industry fields.

Stacee McIff, newly appointed vice president for technical education and workforce development, leads the charge to match affordable training to the labor market needs of Central Utah and beyond.

“We recognize that we have a responsibility to rural Utah as we are a driving economic development force for our region,” said McIff.

In an April Town Hall meeting for the Snow College community, President Brad Cook said that the renewed emphasis on technology programs gives Snow College the opportunity to broaden Richfield campus programs and unify Central Utah to champion its economic growth, address labor skill gaps, and meet regional needs.

The first programs that qualify for the lower tuition rate are automotive technology, certified nursing assistant training, composites, construction management, cosmetology, diesel technology, emergency medical technician (EMT) training, industrial mechanics, machine tool technology, nail technician training, networking and cybersecurity, and welding technology.

Snow College will add more programs in Fall 2022 to meet employer demands. Future programs on the docket include agriculture, basic accounting, and digital marketing. The college will consider tech-based programs across all academic divisions to add to the lineup in Fall 2021 and beyond.

To determine training needs, Snow College met with many regional employers, obtained data on skill gaps and labor needs from state agencies, and spoke to economic development leaders. “It is important that our technical education focuses on skill and knowledge acquisition to align with industry needs,” said McIff.

There are many advantages for this new focus, she explained. The programs offer lower tuition costs and are still eligible for financial aid for students who qualify. Students can earn certificates that take one to three semesters to complete. Those who wish to specialize further can earn an Associate of Applied Science degree within two years.

“We are looking for ways to remove barriers to education,” said McIff. The new programs have no general education requirements at the certificate level, which also means that students can enter the job market sooner.

Supporting Nontraditional Students

In addition to matching programs to skills needed in the region, technical education also places greater emphasis on student success.

Snow College leaders are working to ensure that technical education programs are more accessible for nontraditional students. These students include working parents, stay-at-home parents who need to upskill to return to the labor market, students from diverse backgrounds, and workers who may be in lower-paying jobs that need “upskilling” to close their knowledge gaps for promotions at their current job or to go into a higher-paying profession.

Snow College officials note that there are many Central Utah residents who have some college but stopped before they finished a certificate or degree. Technical education certificates will close that gap for many of those former students to make completion easier.

In Spring 2020, Snow College pivoted from live courses to online courses and used other technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. This experience proved that the College could offer many certificates in a variety of formats.

Some of the courses in each technical education certificate will include online classes. Other formats will include hybrid schedules, where much of the coursework is still online, but students may meet for hands-on lab work once per week. Offering flexible schedules will help those students who work full- or part-time or have parenting duties that keep them from a traditional classroom.

Snow College will also offer competency-based education, allowing students with work or life experience to advance through the certificate courses based on their ability to master a skill or competency at their own pace.

Select programs will easily move to a competency-based education format. “The student can easily be rewarded for their previous knowledge, abilities, and skills,” said McIff. “With key performance indicators in place that match industry standards, a student can finish more quickly and enter the job market.”

Education Meets Experience

Snow College has set an ambitious goal to increase technical education completion rates to 65 percent. To support that goal and make its programs more relevant to the real world, the College plans to establish more apprenticeships and internships for technical education students by 2022.

The College will work with regional employers and state agencies to build internships to give students hands-on workplace experience before they graduate with a certificate of completion or a degree. Students will graduate with industry-related skills and work experiences that are attractive to hiring managers.

Snow College will also tie into the Lieutenant Governor’s initiative to broaden the number of internship-related sites available to students. In April, Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced plans to establish “returnships” for underskilled workers to rejoin the workforce.

Returnships are internships for adults looking to re-enter the workforce after an extended absence. They are designed as a back-to-work program that provides the experience, training, skills, and mentoring that an individual needs to return to the workforce without starting from the bottom of the career ladder.

Working with regional employers and the Utah Department of Workforce Services, Snow College will support the returnship initiative, beginning with technical education programs and with the shortterm Learn & Work certificates, which are specifically backed by State of Utah funding to meet short-term skill gap needs for returning workers.

The Learn & Work certificates offered through technical education will include composites, EMT certification, geographic information systems certification, heavy equipment operation, industrial mechanics, junior coder certification, meat processing, networking and cybersecurity, and Mine Safety and Health Administration certification for new miners.

This is the second round of funding given to Snow College for specific programs funded by Learn & Work. The first round funded 10 unique programs for more than 250 students, who were impacted by job losses or shortened hours due to COVID-19.

“Snow College has presented a diverse selection of programs suited for a variety of needs. Most of the programs began as innovative ideas by faculty, which were quickly constructed into courses,” said McIff.

For more information about technical education programs and the reduced tuition costs, go to snow. edu/teched. For Learn & Work programs, see snow. edu/learnandwork.