- The Utah System of Higher Education plans a regional reimagining to enhance collaboration.
- Five educational regions will be established, each with unique strengths and partnerships.
- USHE President Geoffrey Landward emphasizes incentivizing effective roles over growth for growth's sake.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah System of Higher Education is set for a "reimagining" focused on bolstering collaboration, reducing competition, improving access and outcomes for students and operating more like its name suggests — as a system.
The structural change officially advanced as a plan following a state board of higher education vote Thursday, but the notion of changing the organization of the state's higher education landscape didn't begin then.
Passed in the 2026 legislative session, HB352 directed the state higher education system to organize institutions into regions that include at least one degree-granting institution and one technical college and to "facilitate greater horizontal and vertical integration among institutions," according to a USHE memo.
"We're trying to align our missions and roles with regional and statewide needs ... we want to start looking at success not as whether or not you're growing, but instead, how effectively you're executing on your specific roles and missions within the system," UHSE President Geoffrey Landward said during a meeting full of presidents from the state's public higher education institutions.
The proposed framework of the plan would establish five unique educational regions throughout the Beehive State, each with its own strengths, partnership opportunities and regional workforce needs to address.
Here's what they look like.
- Northern Region: Utah State University, Bridgerland Technical College, Uintah Basin Technical College, and Tooele Technical College.
- Wasatch North Region: Weber State University, Ogden-Weber Technical College, and Davis Technical College.
- Wasatch Central Region: University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College.
- Wasatch South Region: Snow College, Utah Valley University, and Mountainland Technical College.
- Southern Region: Southern Utah University, Utah Tech University, Southwest Technical College, and Dixie Technical College.
Essentially, the reworked system is intended to optimize regional partnerships and highlight the different institutions' strengths that complement the respective regions they occupy.
"The concept here is that we're looking to build our system coordination around building blocks of enduring regional partnerships," Landward said. "I think that the problem ... in all of our efforts to try and operate more like a system and integrate more as a system at a statewide level is that it falls under its own weight."
Landward added that this model will only work if USHE continues to "disincentivize growth for growth's sake and to incentivize operating as force multipliers."
SLCC President Greg Peterson said he sees a lot of positive opportunities that could come through the new system, but acknowledged that incentives for universities must shift to reflect the reimagining.
"If we don't change our incentives ... we will struggle in a new system. If we're expected to be only focused on our own institutions and our outcomes, and if that's what's measured, it just makes it really difficult for us to find those spaces to grow and leverage the shared partnership," Peterson said.
Board member Aaron Skonnard responded, agreeing with Peterson and noting the board has "every intention of evolving the incentives for this new system design."
U. President Taylor Randall said the regional focus has "already spawned some of the most exciting conversations I've had since being a president."
"I also certainly recognize that the hard work is yet to come, but when you've got an exciting vision to execute on, it makes the work a lot easier," Randall said.
Despite the initial framework and alignment, Landward told USHE board members and institution presidents to think of it as a "living document" that could be rethought if needed.
He also said collaboration between institutions won't be region-restricted. So, Utah Tech University could still work with Weber State University — but the priority is within an institution's region.
"At this point, we need to start the work. And this is the first step in starting the work. To identify the regions, to identify the partners, and now to start the process of starting to truly integrate this system," Landward said
As far as next steps, USHE will appear in front of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee meeting to present on the system's tentative regional structure, as well as "the reasoning behind the way we've made these assignments, and the outcomes that we're hoping to seek," Landward said.
More details about the regional framework can be found here.
