Salt Lake Community College announced a major change for the 2015-2016 school year. The school will transition from SLCC to Salt Lake University in order to lend credibility and justify recent tuition increases.
“This decision was done after very careful consideration and collaboration between staff and the board of trustees of the college,” says college vice chairman Fred Regent.
By attaining university status, SLCC hopes to better compete with other universities in Utah, including the University of Utah, Weber State University, Dixie State University, Utah Valley University, and Utah State University.
Teachers believe that by redubbing the school Salt Lake University it will cause students to work harder in classes and increase attendance. Teachers also hope it will help current students better understand why tuition has increased the past few semesters.
Students had both positive and negative reactions to the announced change.
Jake Jones, a second semester freshman working towards his associate degree, responded by saying, “I think the name change is a great idea, I hope now that SLCC is going to be a University that they’ll offer more four-year degrees like the U.”
Albert Alverez, who is graduating this spring, thinks that the name change is a poor excuse for tuition hikes.
“It’s not like the quality of the education is going to increase with the name change,” says Alverez. “It seems like a good smoke and mirrors distraction to distract students from tuition increases.”
Regardless of student and faculty opinion, the name change is happening – just like tuition increases. The school’s website has a feedback from regarding the name change, with a disclaimer at the bottom.
“Feel free to have your voice heard, however, change is coming on April 1.”
