Technical Education Program Alignment
This platform serves as a central resource for exploring Utah’s aligned technical education programs—part of the Utah System of Higher Education’s commitment to delivering consistent, high-quality technical training across the state. Program alignment ensures that technical education certificates offered by USHE institutions follow shared standards for program names, objectives, CIP codes, program lengths, and essential employment skills. This approach supports clarity, reduces duplication, and improves alignment with statewide workforce needs.
At the same time, the model allows institutions the flexibility to add supplemental coursework that responds to local industry demands. This balance of statewide consistency and regional responsiveness ensures that students graduate with relevant, employer-validated skills, regardless of where they enroll, while providing transparency and cohesion for students, educators, policymakers, and industry partners.
This initiative strengthens educational and workforce outcomes by:
- Preparing workforce-ready graduates with consistent, industry-recognized skills.
- Creating clear pathways for students by reducing variation and improving credential clarity.
- Supporting credit transfer and articulation across institutions.
- Allowing regional flexibility through supplemental coursework based on local employer input.
About the Initiative
The Technical Education Program Alignment initiative ensures that technical education programs across USHE institutions follow common standards, such as program names, objectives, CIP codes, lengths, and key skills required for employment. This initiative helps align programs to prepare students with relevant skills for today’s job market. It also provides clarity for students, educators, and employers, while allowing each institution the flexibility to adjust offerings based on local industry needs through additional courses.
The initiative is designed to:
- Ensure Workforce-Ready Graduates: Graduates will have consistent, industry-recognized skills that meet the needs of employers across the state.
- Simplify Educational Pathways: Clear and consistent program structures make it easier for students to understand their options and reduce confusion.
- Support Articulation and Transfer: Agreements between institutions help students transfer more easily, saving time and reducing the cost of their education.
- Adapt to Regional Needs: Institutions can offer extra courses that meet the specific needs of local industries.
Faculty Resources
Provided here are essential tools, templates, and references for faculty participating in Utah’s technical education program alignment initiative. These resources support faculty in developing and refining programs and courses, participating in alignment committees, and ensuring compliance with statewide objectives. These materials are curated to help faculty collaborate effectively across institutions in this effort.
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Program Alignment Process
The alignment process ensures that technical education programs across Utah are consistent, workforce-driven, and policy-compliant. It is a multi-step, collaborative approach involving faculty, institutional leaders, industry representatives, and the Utah System of Higher Education. This page outlines the process from program development to final Board approval, providing transparency into how programs are reviewed, approved, and maintained to meet local and statewide priorities.
- The alignment process is collaborative and structured to ensure that programs meet workforce demands while remaining consistent with policy and statute. It begins with faculty committees from participating institutions, who work together, alongside industry advisory committees, to develop or revise programs based on current occupational needs.
- Once a proposal is drafted, Chief Instructional Officers review and vote on program proposals, representing institutional and stakeholder interests. Their review helps ensure the program is viable, regionally responsive, and aligned with educational goals.
- The Commissioner’s Office then evaluates the proposal through the USHE Review Committee. This includes a review by the Chief Economist to confirm alignment with broad occupational areas requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a degree, and a compliance review to verify that the proposal meets all statutory and policy requirements.
- The final step is the Utah Board of Higher Education review, which determines whether to approve, reject, or request additional information regarding the proposed alignment or program changes.
Contact Us
Kim Ziebarth
Associate Commissioner of Technical Education
Will Pierce
Assistant Commissioner of Technical Education
Kim and Will lead technical education for the Utah System of Higher Education. Reach our office at 1-801-646-4784 or through the form below.
2025
2026
- View All Programs
- Agriculture and Veterinary Services
- Architecture and Construction
- Aviation
- Business and Consumer Technologies
- Culinary and Hospitality Services
- Digital Media and Web Design
- Health Professions
- Manufacturing
- Personal Services
- Public Safety and Emergency Services
- Technology
- Transportation
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems program will prepare students to become FAA certificated as a remote pilot and gain introductory experience in flying and programming both fixed-wing and multirotor drones. Students will also gain introductory experience in maintaining and repairing aircraft, as well as collecting, analyzing, and reporting data and deliverables.
Objectives
- Apply factual knowledge of FAA requirements, regulations, and expectations in industry as well as for the Part 107 exam.
- Identify sUAS components, uses, designs, and applications related to industry.
- Perform basic skills in flight, repair, and construction techniques in both fixed-wing and multirotor drones.
- Utilize soft skills in documentation styles, reflection, in-class and online discussion, and analysis related to drone deliverables.
Veterinary Assisting
Veterinary Assisting provides students with hands-on training to develop skills to work as support staff in veterinary clinics, shelters, or other animal-based entities. Under the supervision of veterinarians, laboratory animal specialists, and zoological professionals, students learn to provide patient management, care, and clinical procedures assistance as well as owner communication. Including instruction in animal handling and restraint, nursing care, animal health and nutrition, clinical pathology, radiology, anesthesiology, lab procedures, blood collection, IV catheterization, surgical assisting, dental cleanings, vaccines, physical exams, office administration skills, and applicable standards and regulations.
Objectives
- Safely and successfully restrain and work with a variety of small and large animals.
- Perform nursing care, laboratory procedures, dental cleanings, IV catheterization, vaccinations, and physical exams.
- Perform routine lab procedures including blood collection, fecals, and infection control.
- Use appropriate veterinary terminology and pharmacology in communication with faculty, veterinarians, and other veterinary staff.
- Provide various species care and demonstrate appropriate interactions with clients and the animals’ owners.
Web and Graphic Design
The Web and Graphic Design program prepares students for entry-level employment in the diverse fields of web development, graphic design, and digital marketing. Students learn to develop websites using industry-standard programming languages, create both print and digital collateral using industry-standard visual design software, and implement effective marketing campaigns using industry best practices. Students create a diverse portfolio of work throughout the program that demonstrates their skills to potential employers.
Objectives
- Manipulate raster images.
- Create vector graphics and illustrations.
- Apply foundational principles and processes to all visual designs.
- Develop Responsive Websites (Mobile-First / Progressively Enhanced) using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that will work on all devices and screen sizes.
- Demonstrate server-side and client-side scripting.
- Design dynamic User Interfaces and delightful User Experiences.
- Optimize websites to load quickly and rank highly in search engines.
- Develop custom themes for industry standard Content Management Systems (CMS).
- Establish an online Web and Graphic Design portfolio.
Web Programming and Development
This program provides students with the knowledge of computational, problem-solving and practical skills needed to integrate and deploy modern websites and web applications. Students will adapt and use industry-standard tools, including modern client-side and server-side languages and relational and non-relational database structures, to frameworks used in the web industry today.
Experienced web developers and software engineers in the industry provide instruction and share knowledge and skill sets as they mentor the students. This program is designed to give students the skills needed to be a Front-End, Junior-Level, Web Developer or Quality Assurance Technician.
Students will learn basic Front-End Development including Source Control, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap and Sass. Students will then spend the majority of the program learning JavaScript, TypeScript, Angular and React. The remainder of the program will cover Back-End Development as it relates to Back-end servers, Database, Hosting, Deployment, Security and Automated QA. Throughout the program students will complete a series of professional portfolio projects. Finally, students must complete an externship in order to receive a certificate of completion for this program.
Objectives
- Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for entry-level employment in the Web Programming and Development careers.
- Implement design, authoring, standards, protocols, tools and techniques for development for different Web-based technologies.
- Use industry-standard programming languages and techniques to add user interactivity to Web sites and Web applications. ● Build maintainable and robust React and Angular real-world applications.
- Create real-world web application projects that also involve interacting with databases such as Postgres and NoSQL databases like MongoDB.
- Use Automated QA principles to monitor and ensure increasing improvements for web applications and be able to identify some of the mechanisms used to establish overall health of a product.
Welding Technology
In the Welding Technology certificate program, students receive hands-on safety, welding, and cutting instruction on a variety of metals. Instruction includes basic Oxy Fuel Cutting (OFC), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), and other thermal and mechanical cutting processes. Students also learn welding process-specific and welding shop safety practices, basic print reading, and the proper uses and applications of AWS welding symbols.
Objectives
- Demonstrate welding safety on a daily basis.
- Use measurement systems, written instructions, and prints to complete welding projects.
- Use GMAW, FCAW, GTAW, and SMAW to perform high-quality welds on various metals correctly.
- Use thermal cutting equipment to perform high-quality cuts on ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
- Determine the correct welding and/or cutting process to use in specific applications.
