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Show Wednesday, September 6, 2006 ScK oo A7 Sanpete Messenger-Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Enrollement, tuition increases causes Gunnison Elementary again has iReady'to Learn' literacy program mixed feelings in Snow president goals:.20 minutes of reading a day, literacy skills, television as t Staff writer a tool and in-home child develt ? Gunnison—The Ready to opment skills. Families who participated in liearn program will be available the Ready to Learn program read at Gunnison Elementary again books 35 percent more often and this year. for 20 percent longer than they Parents can receive a free did before—on average, 46 minbook just for signing up for the workshops throughout the year. utes a week. Children watched 40 Also, participants have an oppor- percent less television but 25 pertunity to earn free books each cent more educational programming, parents and children talked month. The Ready to Learn program about television programs 50 peris in its 11th year in Utah. The cent more often, and families program focuses on four main made more frequent trips to the r By Tanya Y. Spencer library and bookstore. Throughout the year KB YU will sponsor workshops to help parents achieve the program goals. The workshops will be held at Gunnison Elementary School the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. Children will be bringing home a notice about the workshops this week. For more information or to sign up for the workshops contact Robyn Hendrickson at robyn.hendrickson @ssanpete.k 12.ut.as, or call Gunnison Elementary School at 528-7880. Benson doesn't want college improvements to burden families of the six-county area By Tanya Y. Spencer Education Editor EPHRAIM—Enrollment is up by nearly 100 students at Snow College this fall, which makes President Michael Benson happy. But tuition is up nearly $80, and Benson is not'happy about that. "I want the college to continue to improve but not at the expense of the people in the six-county area," Benson said Monday. Sixty percent of the student body comes from the six-county region—Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevicr and Wayne counties. Based on numerous economic indicators, the region is economically disadvantage^ By Karen Prisbrey This year's tuition increase is Staff writer the fourth in four years. However, Benson notes, the increases have GUNNISON—The homes occurred in two tiers. of 11 valley residents are beThe first tier was an increase ing spruced up, cleaned and for all higher education statewide. trimmed for the annual GVHS The additional funds were used for Drill Team Garden Show to be buildings at the slate's colleges and held today and tomorrow from universities. 5-8 p.m. The second tier increases have Homes in t h e show inremained with Snow College and clude those of David and have been used to hire at least 11 De.bra Madsen, Rae Lou new full-time faculty members. Olsen, Terry and Judy "I feel one of the niches Snow Madsen, and Bill and Charoffers its students is small class lotte Christiansen of sizes. There's no school in the state Mayfield; Kade and Maghan The home of Kennard and Glade Anderson of Gunnison is one that can boast 20 students in sciHansen, Janell and Owen of the homes being featured in this year's GVHS Drill Team Gar- ence or math classes," Benson said. Braithwaite of Centerfield; den Show. In addition to hiring more proand Kennard and Glade fessors, Benson is looking to add a Anderson, Jay and Janet Jensen of Gunnison. contact any drill team memnew science building and lab. Childs, Steve and Arlene Tickets for the event are ber, or call Barbara Olsen at But Benson's concern is that Higgins, Brett and Kelly $5 prior to the show or $6 at 528-3958 for more informamodernizing facilities and mainAshton, and Pat and Redge the door. To purchase tickets. tion. taining small classes might not be in the best interest of the students in the region. "I don't want to price people out," he said. "I've looked for alternatives to increasing tuition, and one of the first avenues is the state Legislature," Benson said. Aside from the Legislature granting Snow additional funding, Benson has tunned to private and corporate donations. To that end, under Benson's Garden show to raise funds for Gunnison High drill team BEN FOX / MESSENGER PHOTO Snow College President Michael T. Benson says that enrollment is up, but is concerned about the $80 tuition increase this year. leadership, Snow has garnered $6.5 million in donations—"$9 million if you count the pledges," Benson said. Scholarship money has also increased 500 percent during his administration. Financing the vision he has for Snow College isn't the only thing on the president's mind lately. More than a year ago, the school received a warning from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the entity that grants the college its accreditation. The accreditation team was concerned that the relationship between the two Snow College campuses, in Ephraira and Richfield, were not clearly defined. The team was also concerned that outcomes measures, or the knowledge each student should have upon completion of each class, and upon completion of given degrees, were not as strong as they should be. "The biggest obstacle to the outcomes assessment was getting the professors on board with defining what the students should know by the end of each course; once they came together it all fell into place," Benson said. The changes were made, and Snow's accreditation was renewed. The current accreditation certifica- Don't go out on a limb with your family at stake! tion will expire in 2008. Also on Benson's mind is the proposed Snow College-San pete County Library. "We were on the cusp of receiving approval last year, but at the 1 lth hour, Weber State pushed its project ahead of ours. However, I have assurances that the library is at the top of the list for the Legislature," he said. Having the project pushed back gave the school the opportunity to reexamine the initial plans. At inception, the library was at 90,000 square feet, which is coincident^ the same size as the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. The project has since been scaled back to 72,000 square feel. The new plans will be presented to the Utah State Building Board and die Legislature's Capita! Facilities Committee in January. As Snow College experiences growth, the library project becomes more crucial, Benson noted. One of the elements the accreditation team will look at in two years is the number of volumes held by the library in relation to enrollment numbers. Benson feels the college has an ace in the hole because it has not received approval for a project since the Legislature funded the Eccles Center. ;.\v:, - ' '. • . " : " . • ' . ' - • . 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