Introduction

Nestled at the base of the rugged Wasatch Mountains, Ogden-Weber Tech College has offered practical education since 1971. Its beautiful main campus and convenient locations in Roy and at the Business Depot Ogden offer convenient schedules, competency-based learning, and training opportunities in high-demand fields. With over 300 technical-skills courses in over 50 employment categories, the tech college serves over 9,000 students annually.

Three Types of Education:

Technical Education ^[1]

These areas of study focus on training students for better jobs. The tech college offers a wide variety of certificate programs.

Employer and Community Education

With courses ranging from Excel to woodworking, these classes offer easy enrollment and convenient schedules. They are a great way to stay sharp, learn a new hobby, or increase job skills. Courses run from 3 to 40 hours in length.

Custom Fit ^[2]

This innovative program helps businesses be more competitive and increase productivity. Ongoing classes such as forklift certification, marketing, and quality management allow businesses to send workers for training as needed. The real strength of Custom Fit is in designing individualized courses focused on the specific needs of local businesses. Many companies qualify for government funding to help offset the cost.

Competency-Based Education

The tech college conducts education in a way quite different from the traditional manner followed by U.S. high schools, colleges, and universities. In traditional education, high school and university students learn and progress by beginning and completing classes at the same time (e.g., quarters, semesters) and graduate after they have completed all prescribed classes on a grade-to-grade basis. In competency-based education, students are allowed to learn and progress by beginning their courses the day they arrive at the campus. They graduate when they have mastered the skills and competencies of all required courses.

Accreditation ^[3]

• A Career and Technical Education Institution Accredited by the Council on Occupational Education (COE).  Ogden-Weber Tech College is accredited by the Commission of the Council on Occupational Education. The Council on Occupational Education can be contacted at (800) 917-2081 or at 7840 Roswell Road, Suite 325, Atlanta, Georgia, 30350, www.council.org ^[4].
• The tech college was the first technical training institution in the nation to receive the prestigious U.S. Secretary of Education Award for Outstanding Vocational Programs.

Strategic Plan Overview

Strategic planning is an essential step in positioning Ogden-Weber Tech College to anticipate and meet employer, student, agency, school district, and employee needs over the next five years.

The Strategic Plan Overview is future-oriented, identifying the key issues facing the tech college over the next three to five years and the objectives that will assist us in addressing these challenges.  The Strategic Plan Overview provides direction for the college’s annual planning process which identifies specific strategies and addresses the local market, program operations, and resources available to the institution.

Click here to review the “Strategic Plan Overview.” ^[5]

Strategic Plan Overview Strategies and Outcomes

The “Strategic Plan Overview Outcome Measures” document provides information on specific actions, quarterly benchmarks, and end-of-year outcome measures.

Click here to review the “Strategic Plan Overview Outcome Measures – 2013″ document. ^[6]

Business Plan

The tech college’s Business Plan is based on the initiatives and strategies outlined in the Strategic Plan and identifies the objectives that the college will focus on in the current fiscal year.

Click here to read the current Business Plan. ^[7]

Ogden-Weber Tech College At a Glance

• Open-entry, open-exit
• Competency-based education
• Over 300 technical-skills courses in over 50 employment categories
• Over 9,000 students served annually
• Average monthly enrollment of 2,281
• Daily child care provided for more than 90 families in the Children’s School
• 1,000 new students enrolled monthly
• Internships and on-the-job training with nearly 200 employers
• Custom Fit training for over 200 local employers annually
• Partnerships with over 100 community organizations

A Brief History

The tech college opened in April 1971 under the name of Skills Center North. This institution was established essentially to assist adult students in learning new job skills and obtain jobs. Back then, our student body consisted of 93 students.

By 1975, the Utah Board of Regents incorporated Skills Center North as part of Weber State College. Near the end of the 1970’s, our expanding training programs received full state and regional accreditation. These important actions served as the foundation for authorizing local high school students to enroll in our vocational courses while they completed their high school graduation requirements. Our student body soon exceeded 750 full and part-time adult learners and high school students.

In 1982, we were moved under the auspices of the Utah State Office of Education, and we were renamed Ogden-Weber Area Vocational Center. Our student body quickly grew to over 1,200 students who were attending both full-time and part-time.

Legislators authorized the move to our present campus in 1984 to accommodate our need for more classrooms, lab areas, and our steadily increasing student body. In the early 1990’s, our name was changed to Ogden-Weber Applied Technology Center.

In 2001, we celebrated our 30-year anniversary. At that point, we had a workforce of more than 150 employees, were offering over 300 technical courses, 53 employment categories in 14 major buildings, and at 9 locations. Also in 2001, the Utah State Legislature approved the tech college to be a Utah College of Applied Technology campus, which resulted in this institution being designated as a stand-alone campus serving the Ogden-Weber region.

We now serve over 9,000 adult and high school students who attend full-time and part-time each year. This includes 5,000 employees from local businesses through our Custom Fit Training Program. The success of our students after they are hired by local employers is a continuing force in the growth and economy of Northern Utah.

Our Future

As Utah moves into the new century, businesses and employees are faced with two dilemmas:

1. The continuing advance of high technology and computers in the workplace, and
2. A shrinking workforce to fill existing and new jobs.

Technology is evolving at such a rapid rate throughout the U.S. that 65 percent of Utah’s jobs now require high-tech skills. Most undergraduate degree programs do not fully respond to this demand. Consequently, most adults and high school students planning to work in Utah must acquire their high-tech skills by enrolling in technology education programs linked directly to the requirements of employers.

To secure employment and grow successfully with high-tech employers in the years ahead, adults and high school students will need skills in computer operations, math, reading, teamwork concepts, and interpersonal communications.

During the years ahead, all local employers must be prepared for the highly competitive struggle that is taking place in hiring new employees, as well as in retaining their current employees. To combat the problem of a shrinking workforce, local employers will be increasing their involvement with Utah’s educators (high schools, colleges, and universities) to help students and job applicants learn the technical skills that will lead to employment and long-term careers.

More and more employers will also be supporting and sponsoring skill upgrade training for their employees, maintaining legitimate career paths, and establishing stronger incentives to keep their current workers. Employers state-wide will soon recognize that employees are, indeed, their most valuable resource for moving successfully through the new century.

The changes in Utah’s workforce will strongly influence how the tech college enrolls its students, conducts its technical education programs, and works more closely with local employers in keeping this community strong and moving forward.

UCAT (Utah College of Applied Technology)

Ogden-Weber Tech College is a member institution of the Utah College of Applied Technology and operates under the direction of the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College Board of Directors and the Utah College of Applied Technology Board of Trustees.

The Utah College of Applied Technology can be contacted at:
4501 South 2700 West, Building #3
P.O. Box 147900
SLC, UT  84114-7900
1.801.955.2170

http://www.ucat.edu

School Song – Lest We Forget

We pledge our loyalty to OWATC
Our school of applied technology
People reaching out a helping hand
Freely giving their knowledge forever and ever,
together we stand.

Red is for courage to do what is right,
Black is for learning by still of the night
White is for truth it carries us through
Silver the dream of tomorrow we sing
Ogden-Weber we love thee…

The dream of a pioneer
Turns the wheels of his mind
Motivating ideas the purpose he serves
A foundation of truth to all that apply
A school of technology for all to try

A promise is kept
Reaching out for the hands
One step at a time the hero demands
A moment, a chance for the children he plans
A school of technology united they’ll stand

Some battles were lost, some battles were won
Tears of sadness, tears of joy, The man did not stop
Determined to win undaunted he purged
To the future he shouted, in motion the plan
A school of technology through out the land

Now holding the firm foundation
Is the corner stone of truth
One man’s dreams come true
Come one come all and follow me….
Ogden Weber Applied Technology

By Mandy Lund