S.B. 120 Enrolled

DISTANCE EDUCATION DOCTORATE PROGRAM
2001 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Beverly Ann Evans
This act provides for a Distance Education Doctorate Program to be offered by the state
system of higher education through Utah State University over the UEN-EDNET system.
The act has a $195,000 appropriation and an effective date of July 1, 2001.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
ENACTS:
53B-18-1001, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 53B-18-1001 is enacted to read:
Part 10. Distance Education Doctorate Program
53B-18-1001. Distance Education Doctorate Program.
(1) The Legislature finds that:
(a) many Utah public education administrators are nearing the end of their careers and will
retire early in the 21st Century;
(b) Utah public schools have many mid-career faculty that could become the next wave
of administrators if they were prepared with a doctorate in education degree that emphasized
curriculum and instruction;
(c) each of Utah's community colleges have several faculty that need a terminal degree and
further knowledge in curriculum development and state-of-the-art instructional methodology, and
these individuals, being mid-career, find it difficult to relocate to a college campus for a traditional
program; and
(d) the state and its students will be better served if faculty and administrators are more
knowledgeable about the development of curriculum and the latest instructional methodology
based on documented research.
(2) Therefore, Utah State University shall establish a Distance Education Doctorate
Program to accommodate public education administrators and community college faculty and

administration.
(3) The program shall include the following components:
(a) the offering of courses for a doctorate degree in education over the UEN-EDNET system
established under Title 53B, Chapter 17, Part 1, Educational Telecommunications;
(b) structuring of the program to make it identical to a regular campus program in rigor and
course work; and
(c) providing a support system from at least the following five departments at the university:
(i) Elementary Education;
(ii) Secondary Education;
(iii) Business Information Systems and Education;
(iv) Industrial Technology; and
(v) Agricultural Systems Technology and Education.
(4) The university shall augment the program with off-campus summer courses, with those
courses eventually being offered over the UEN-EDNET system.
(5) The Legislature shall provide an annual appropriation to fund the program established
under this part.
Section 2. Appropriation.
There is appropriated for fiscal year 2001-02, $195,000 in individual income tax revenues
to Utah State University to fund the Distance Education Doctorate Program established in Section
53B-18-1001 .
Section 3. Effective date.
This act takes effect on July 1, 2001.

- 2 -