Utah Technical University in St. George (formerly Dixie State University) opens a new classroom to serve its growing student population
Studies in the Sunny South
Southern Utah calls to me when winter hits the Wasatch: red rocks, desert, and warm sunshine sound ideal. The son of some friends attends school at Utah Technical University and reports that he’s happy with his studies and the place. Late this autumn, I had a chance to check it out for myself when I traveled to St. George to photograph the new General Classroom Building on campus designed by Method Studio in Salt Lake City and built by Okland Construction.
Here is a day shot of the General Classroom taken across a grassy field early in the day. A big moisture-filled storm was predicted, and true to the predictions, it arrived early evening when I took the opening shot with the gray angry sky. (And yes, I did get a little wet.)
Growth in St. George took off in the 1980s, and Utah Technical University paralleled this boom. Dixie College offered two-year associate degrees until year 2000, when it became Dixie State College of Utah and began offering four-year degrees. In 2013, it gained university status and became Dixie State University, and then in 2022, it was renamed Utah Tech University. Now it offers 58 bachelor’s degrees, 10 master’s degrees, one doctorate, and it still awards associate degrees (21). In addition, 81 certificates and endorsements are available. There are now seven academic colleges and an enrollment in the range of 13,000 students.
The entrance lobby is two stories with enough windows that it feels like an atrium. Glass sculptures adorn the wall and hang from the ceiling.
The new building adds 120,091 square feet to the campus and serves the College of Humanities and Social Sciences with lecture halls, classrooms, labs, faculty offices, academic support offices, conference rooms, and study spaces. The design brings in natural light and creates transparency.
From further back, you can appreciate how the entrance lobby connects public rooms, a store on the left, and the elevators and stairway on the right.
Super graphics announce the classroom. The glass surrounding the doorway offers transparency and connection. There were hallway benches for students to study while waiting for the classroom to empty. It was a nice touch that I don’t recall seeing before.
Here is the classroom, looking out from the lecturer’s perspective and showing the views.
The computer lab offers an indication of the hands-on instruction available. The average class size is only 22. On the screens, you can see the school mascot, Brooks the Bison.
The short corridor is lined with faculty offices. In the center are worktables for students waiting for office hours or looking for a space to work collaboratively on projects.
There are study areas with spaces to work alone or together on each of the four floors above the lobby near the elevator bank.
The camera looks into a dean’s office reception area on one of the upper floors.
My takeaway after a day at Utah Tech is that it is a friendly campus dedicated to giving students a positive learning experience directed to career opportunities and certainly one I would encourage students to consider. Plus they can hike and bike in the red desert!
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