Salt Lake Community College’s will be closing its doors at the end of July as part of a reshuffling of higher education in the county by state education officials.

Students at the center were informed last week by instructors that the program — which offers technical, computer and office skills training — would shut down.

“Salt Lake Community College will be closing all on-site credit, non-credit and concurrent programs in Tooele,” said Joy Tlou, public relations director for Salt Lake Community College. “We will continue to offer short-term custom, short-term intensive training and small business development programs in Tooele.”

The closure will affect roughly 80 students who attend Salt Lake Community College’s two physical locations in Tooele. SLCC operates the Skills Center at the USU Tooele Regional Campus, and offers classes at its Tooele Center at 66 West Vine Street. The Tooele Center will also be closing. Classes offered at the Tooele Center included a Certified Nurse Assistant program, an electrical apprenticeship, computer classes, algebra courses, and college preparatory writing, according to Arnette Starks, an instructor at the Tooele Center.

The closure will also affect high school students that enroll in concurrent enrollment classes through Salt Lake Community College.

The shutdown of the Salt Lake Community College programs is part of a transition in career and technology education in Tooele County, according to Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, whose No. 1 legislative district includes parts of Tooele County.

Utah State University will pick up the academic offerings in Tooele County, said Menlove who also serves as the vice provost for regional campuses and distance education for USU.

Exactly who will provide the technical programs offered by Salt Lake Community College in Tooele county seems to be still in question.

The Utah Higher Education Board of Regents made a recommendation to the Legislature last year that the Salt Lake-Tooele Applied Technology College be consolidated with Salt Lake Community College, due to overlap in services. The consolidation effort failed, however, as the legislature wanted to examine the issue of applied technology governance statewide. A legislative committee formed to conduct that examination has been holding hearings and gathering information since its first meeting in April of this year.

Both Gowans, who sits on the committee, and Menlove hope that the outcome for Tooele County will be the creation of a Tooele Applied Technology College. The school district has plans to build a new facility to house its career and technical education, adult education and alternative high school. If the Tooele Technology College is approved, it could partner with the district on the new facility.

“That will take some time and require legislative action next year,” Gowans said.

In the meantime, the school district may continue to work with the Salt Lake-Tooele Applied Technology College and Salt Lake Community College to continue existing programs that are co-sponsored by the school district, Gowans said.

The 40 students at the Tooele Skills Center, which is operated by Salt Lake Community College independent of the school district, have been told that their classes will be discontinued in July. The students may continue their program by driving into Salt Lake. However, the time and expense of commuting into Salt Lake for classes is a concern for many of the students at the Skills Center. They are also concerned about an increase in tuition and if other institutions that take over for Salt Lake Community College in Tooele can accept their current financial aid packages.

tgillie@tooeletranscript.com