With the departure of Weber State University President Brad Mortensen to lead Utah State University, we have reflected on how we have responded in our region.

Three years ago, we formed our Northern Wasatch Collegiate Coalition, a shared commitment to solutions that benefit our students and communities, not the individual agendas of our institutions. Together, we have shortened the feedback loop with industry. Changes to our training programs that may have taken years, now take months. What is more, we have sunset programs that no longer meet market needs, and have launched new ones in response to emerging demands.

We have also made it easier for students to enter and move between our three institutions. Starting last year, we began directly admitting high school seniors in our region. Each October, more than 10,000 students receive a letter confirming their admission to Davis Technical College, Ogden-Weber Technical College, and Weber State University–no application required. 

Students who choose a technical college to start their higher education journey can now take general education courses online through Weber State at the lower technical college tuition rate of $95 per credit hour. This Jumpstart option allows students to earn a technical certificate and an associate degree simultaneously and in the most economical manner. 

Through our TechTransfer initiative, technical college graduates can now receive up to 30 credits toward Weber State University associate or bachelor’s degrees. It is equally easy for Weber State students to earn certificates from our technical colleges, which hundreds do every year. 

By sharing services, we have achieved efficiencies and scale that would be impossible alone. For example, rather than building separate Title IX compliance structures, we pooled resources into a single team, saving money and ensuring consistency. When our technical colleges needed additional classroom space, Weber State welcomed us into available facilities on its campuses. 

One indication that we are on the right track is the recent report from the Utah Foundation that ranks our three institutions in the top four among Utah’s public and private colleges and universities, and among the highest in the nation for ten-year return on investment (the ranking is based on research conducted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce).

We thank President Mortensen for his visionary leadership, which helped make all this possible. We wish him the best as he begins his tenure at Utah’s land-grant university. We are confident he will continue to elevate higher education across the state.

We are also grateful to the Utah State Legislature, Utah Board of Higher Education, and the public, who are asking tough, important questions. We believe we are finding solid answers that benefit the people and employers of Northern Utah.

Darin Brush is the president of Davis Technical College. Jim Taggart is the president of Ogden-Weber Technical College.