Utah's college presidents present strategic reinvestment plans to lawmakers

SALT LAKE CITY — Tuesday marked a key moment in the state's historic and often divisive strategic reinvestment effort for Utah's higher education institutions.

For the first time, the leaders of the state's eight degree-granting colleges and universities formally presented their respective reallocation plans for the next three years to lawmakers.

The Legislature's Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee got the first shot at examining each institution's plans. After listening to Tuesday's presentations from each of the school presidents, the appropriation subcommittee, by majority vote, accepted their respective reallocation proposals.

The eight strategic reinvestment plans are now in the hands of the Legislature's Executive Appropriations Committee for final approval, which will vote in the coming weeks.

There's much on the line.

If each of the school's strategic reinvest plans gets a thumbs-up from the committee, they can reclaim the 10% of their annual budget that was cut during the recent legislative session.

The eight strategic reinvestment plans each received prior approval from the Utah Board of Higher Education.

Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Geoffrey Landward, who addressed the subcommittee at Tuesday's school presentations, saluted the institution presidents and their teams for the "exceptional amount of work … that they put into producing these plans and executing on these plans."

"As well as having to go through a process that required a careful scrutiny of the programs that they offer — and making some very difficult decisions."

Rep. Karen Peterson, R-Clinton, who co-sponsored House Bill 265 — the so-called "Strategic Reinvestment Bill" — said that Tuesday's subcommittee meeting has been "a long time coming."

"We've been talking about higher education and the importance and value of higher education in our state — not just for our students, but for our communities, for our families, for our industries and for keeping our state strong.

"Higher education is the most important economic driver we have in our state, and we need to continue to keep our higher education system strong to keep our state strong."

Difficult decisions demanded by HB265

The "growing pains" exacted by HB265 are being felt by institutions — and by individuals.

People have lost, or will lose, jobs.

Meanwhile, instructional programs and courses are being eliminated so funds can be reallocated to programs deemed more valuable.

"This process was not easy on our college campuses … there were real impacts for individuals," said Peterson.

Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, has been a vocal critic of HB265 since its inception.

The longtime educator made clear Tuesday that she remains opposed to the state-mandated higher education reallocations and cuts.

She pushed back on suggestions that the reallocation legislation is "a massive success."

"I have not really gotten a lot of great emails about (how this) is working," said Riebe.

"I have had a lot of emails from professors that say it's not working — that their programs have been cut, that they have lost their tenure and that they feel like it's arbitrary and capricious in the ways things have happened."

Responding to Riebe, Landward acknowledged that the reallocation process "is not without its pain points — and that there are real impacts on individuals that work at our institutions."

But the commissioner added that Utah's education leaders are required to justify every tax dollar sent to higher education. So it's appropriate, he said, to scrutinize each program being funded at a public Utah college — and then make data-driven decisions about if it's providing sufficient returns and worth preserving.

There are valid criticisms regarding the institutions' reallocation decisions, Landward acknowledged.

"But making the wrong choice, based on the data in front of us, is different from making an arbitrary choice based on no data," he said.

"And I am confident in the fact that all of our institutional presidents … made decisions based on the best information they had in front of them, and not arbitrarily."

Riebe argued that there is danger in making the sort of "occupational optimization" pivots being prioritized by HB265. She pointed to efforts in recent years to educate more people in computer coding — a job skill that's now being claimed by artificial intelligence.

"I think the changes we are making are shortsighted," she said. "And I think that the humanities and social services are taking a brunt that they shouldn't be taking."

She added that such educational shifts could undermine efforts to remedy societal challenges such as loneliness and suicide.

Peterson countered that one of the largest "reinvestments" happening across Utah colleges is in health care.

Read the entire story at Deseret.com.

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