GEOG CARTOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLES FINAL PROJECT Ashley Riggleman December 2014

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Mission Statement Salt Lake Community College is a public, open-access, comprehensive community college committed to serving the broader community. Its mission is to provide quality higher education and lifelong learning to people of diverse cultures, abilities, and ages, and to serve the needs of community and government agencies, business, industry and other employers. The College fulfills its mission by: offering associate degrees, certificate programs, career and technical education, developmental education, transfer education, and workforce training to prepare individuals for career opportunities and an enriched lifetime of learning and growing; offering programs and student support services that provide students opportunities to acquire knowledge and critical thinking skills, develop self-confidence, experience personal growth, and value cultural enrichment; maintaining an environment committed to teaching and learning, collegiality, and the respectful and vigorous dialogue that nourishes active participation and service in a healthy democracy. Strategic Priorities Enhance quality higher education Improve student access and success Advance a culture of evidence and accountability Strengthen institutional support Advance partnerships/relationships with the community and business

BACKGROUND INFORMATION  Salt Lake County is growing at a very fast rate  The number of households in Salt Lake County are expected to increase by 169, 440 by 2020 (7)  Salt Lake City is one of the largest refugee relocation centers in the country (1)  Salt Lake City is the fifth fastest growing city in the country (2)  The bulk of SLCC’s traditional and GER courses are offered at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus and the South City Campus.  Salt Lake Community College student profile is changing. Below is a breakdown of demographic changes over the last 4 years (4)  Black Students have increased by.23%  Hispanic Students have increased by 4.93%  Mixed Race students have increased by 1.05%  White (non Hispanic) students have decreased by 8.69%  Student enrollment in total is down 5%

THE PROBLEM Although the college is committed to providing educational opportunities to the people of color in Salt Lake County, access can be an issue. We have to ask, are we serving students we intend to? Are we making access to education as easy as possible? The need to address these question becomes more significant as we look forward to the future. Salt Lake City is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country that accepts and relocates refugees (1). Forbes has also ranked Salt Lake City as the fifth fastest growing city in the country (2). As the population expands, the need to accommodate the growing student body becomes a necessity if the college intends to be in harmony with its vision and mission. As the state and administration look to relocate and open new campuses, factors contributing to access need to be at the forefront of the decision making process.

CONSIDERATIONS When considering new campus locations and how they relate to student access, especially as it pertains to students of color, there are several items that need to be considered and the interaction of those items on each other.  Campus Locations  Locations of the populations in question  Future locations of the populations in question  Access to public transportation  Walkability

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOCATIONS Salt Lake Community College currently has several locations through out Salt Lake County. Below are their names arranged from North to South. 1. Westpointe Center 2. Aviation Education Center 3. Library Square 4. Meadowbrook Campus 5. Taylorsville Redwood Campus 6. Jordan Campus 7. Miller Campus

UTA BUS ROUTES In this map, UTA bus routes have been overlaid onto the SLCC Locations map. Here we can see how SLCC’s locations align with public transportation routes. We can also see which parts of the valley are “cut off” from public transportation options. From the map we can see that large areas of West Valley City, Taylorsville, and West Jordan do not have east access to bus routes.

STUDENT DIVERSITY The map to the left shows the distribution of diversity in the valley based on school records obtained from the Utah State Office of Education. As you can see, there are more diverse populations in the north and west sides of the county.

SLCC PROXIMITY TO DIVERSITY In this map, we have added the SLCC campus locations to the student diversity information. If you will recall, the bulk of SLCC general curriculum is offered at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus (located in the middle west part of the map) and the South City Campus (located fourth down from the top). This knowledge aids in the interpretation of access.

ACCESS In this map, all the previous elements are incorporated to create a more complete picture. We can now see how public transit lines intersect diverse populations and SLCC campuses. We can also see holes in service. This kind of information ought to be used as SLCC moves forward with plans to open new and relocate existing campuses.

LIMITATIONS There are a few limitations of the data contained within this report. I have listed them below.  UTA bus routes are listed, but the times that the buses run is not included. Just because a bus route crosses a certain area, does not mean that the times that the buses are there coincide with when classes are offered. For example, the bus line that runs closest to the Miller Campus has its last pick up at 6:00 pm. This will not work for classes offered in the evening.  Student diversity bubbles are based on school enrollments and are placed on the map based on the school location. Bus lines may appear close to the bubble, but can still be quite far from where people are actually living.  This map does not take into account TRAX or walkability, two items that ought to be included in any discussion regarding access.

SOURCES Source data and information to complete this project was obtained from the following: 1.1. The Brookings Institute ( 2.Forbes Magazine online ( 3.Utah State Office of Education 4.Salt Lake Community College Fact Book 5.Utah AGRC ( 6.Utah Transit Authority 7.Salt Lake County (