SLCC and U of U open new Juniper Building

HERRIMAN, Utah — Salt Lake Community College (SLCC)  and the University of Utah joined forces with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening the Juniper Building on the new SLCC Herriman Campus. With the launch of the building, the two institutions commit to celebrating higher education by making it more accessible. 

The project is a collaboration between the schools and gives many students in the southern region of the Salt Lake valley access to higher education that’s closer to home. Therefore, the campus will mostly serve students from the South Jordan, Riverton, Bluffdale, Herriman and Draper areas. 

Students will be able to earn an associate degree and then, on the same campus, go on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the U. The university’s president, Taylor Randall spoke at the ribbon cutting event where he shared the big picture goal of accessibility and the joining of the two institutions’ efforts.  

“A top ten university of tomorrow is actually a top ten university that thinks really deeply about access and trying to include everyone in the process of higher education,” said Randall. 

📚Salt Lake Community College & the U are joining hands celebrating higher education by opening the Juniper Building on the new Herriman Campus.

This building is the first completed building on the campus⬇️⬇️⬇️@KSL5TV @UofUNews @SaltLakeCC pic.twitter.com/QwkzFPwqRk

— Karah Brackin (@kbontv) August 7, 2023

The Juniper Building is the campus’s first completed building and is the hub for the SLCC Herriman campus. It has three floors which include classrooms, collaborative spaces, and more learning areas. It will also provide enrolled students access to resources like financial aid and advising.  

“If we do this right, we’re gonna be taking the best of two remarkable different models of education. We’re gonna be putting them together, and you’re gonna see students flocking to this place from all over. We’ll open this year with about 2,000 students, but we plan to have 7,000 here by 2025,” said Randall.

The University of Utah president said much of the leadership is already working to to readjust degree programs so that the needs of the workforce can be met in the area and across the state.

More buildings are expected with future growth on campus.