Utah Valley University
Don’t worry about UVU.
Utah State President Stan Albrecht isn’t.
In fact, he said Utah Valley State College’s transition to Utah Valley University is a “non-issue” at USU.
“I don’t go to bed at night worrying about UVSC. I don’t wake up in the morning worrying about UVSC. And I don’t think about it in between,” he said.
For some, worries about UVSC started in September when they sent a request to the Utah State Board of Regents asking to be upgraded to university status. The request was originally denied, and UVSC was told it needed to make improvements in order for the request to be approved.
Then, on Feb. 27, a bill that would give UVSC university status was passed in the state Legislature. Gov. John Huntsman signed the bill March 19, giving the UVSC university status on July 1, 2008. It also provided UVSC with $8 million to facilitate the transition. The money will be used primarily to hire more full-time professors at the school.
But how much will UVSC’s transition cost USU students?
Nothing.
“It won’t have an impact on tuition at all,” Albrecht said.
He said the tuition increases we see are separate from anything going on at UVSC. This is because the state has a 75-25 rule, which means the state pays 75 percent of the compensation package for faculty, and student tuition covers the other 25 percent, Albrecht said. So, any tuition hike is just to get the students’ share up to the 25 percent requirement and has nothing to do with UVSC, he added.
However, there are other concerns like faculty, enrollment and funding.
“(UVSC) is not an institution we compete with for faculty,” Albrecht said. “It’s not an institution that we compete with for research grants. And this will surprise you – it’s not really an institution that we compete with for students. We’re a very different place.”
ASUSU President Noah Riley wouldn’t go quite that far.
“I see where the president’s coming from, and I agree that in a lot of ways it’s not really an issue. But in a lot of ways it is,” he said.
Riley has concerns about the diluting of resources, enrollment and increased competition for internships in the state.
Since he’s from Utah County, Riley has a unique perspective on the impact UVU could have on enrollment at USU.
“I think the university is thinking optimistically in saying, ‘No it’s not,'” he said. “It’s definitely a concern. You will lose some Valley students.”
But it’s not just Riley who has these concerns. He’s spoken with a few dozen students, and he said the ones on the border of Utah County and Salt Lake that “have their ears a little closer to the ground” are concerned about the effects.
Albrecht isn’t worried about these enrollment concerns. He said USU may lose a few Utah County kids, but overall, USU is way up in terms of enrollment indicators.
“It’s not one of our competitors,” he said.
However, it could be for state dollars.
“We’re dealing with a state budget that is finite,” Albrecht said. “You divide it into additional slices, maybe there’s a modest impact, but the large majority of our funding comes from sources other than the state of Utah anyway. And that will continue to be the case.”
According to Albrecht, USU gets 160 million in research dollars, including grants and contracts.
UVU wouldn’t be able to compete for a lot of that money. It will be a “Tier II” institution, which means they will be a teaching institution focused on undergraduate work, even though the will have a few master’s programs.
USU and the University of Utah are the “Tier I” research schools in the state. This designation is based on research dollars generated, graduate degrees offered and doctoral programs. UVU will not offer any doctoral programs.
Funding may not be much of an issue if USU continues to have surpluses like the one it had this year, Riley said.
And, it was a good year financially for USU.
“We had the best year we’ve ever had in history, in terms of a financial package to Utah State,” Albrecht said. “So did the fact that there is a new UVSC effect us? Gosh no. We got everything we were after in terms of money.”
Riley still worries some people won’t recognize the difference between USU and UVU. This is where Riley’s idea about the diluting of state funds would come in.
“Here on campus it’s easy to see that we are totally different institutions,” he said. “But a lot of people don’t see the difference, and a lot of legislators don’t see the difference. They’ll see it as, ‘We just have another university, period.’ So that makes me a little bit nervous.”
When you start competing for buildings and money for growth and expansion at institutions, it becomes a bigger responsibility for the university to differentiate itself and set itself apart, Riley added.
Differentiation will be especially important in areas where programs may overlap. As of now, UVU will be offering master’s degrees in business administration, education and nursing, pending approval by the state Board of Regents.
Two of these programs, business administration and education, are also available at USU.
Again, Albrecht is not concerned – especially about USU’s education program, which he says is one of the best in the country – but Riley sees a potential for impact.
“There’s always that potential, for sure,” Riley said. “But I think that’s where Utah State is going to have to excel. It should push us to work harder, because whether they should be our competition or not, they are … I think Utah State will build up the programs.”
USU’s ability to differentiate itself from UVU is one area where Albrecht and Riley agree.
“People think that once UVSC becomes a university it’s on the same level as Utah State, when that’s clearly not the case,” Riley said.
Albrecht looks to the faculty and experiences students can have at USU as the biggest source of differentiation. He said the opportunity students have to do undergraduate research with faculty members makes USU a different kind of experience.
“You can’t get that at an institution that isn’t like this institution,” Albrecht said.
But at this stage, all of this is just speculation. Riley said it will take five to 10 years to see any impact that may result from UVSC’s transition to UVU.
Albrecht is more focused on the near future at USU.
“We’re moving forward … The last thing we need to do is look over our shoulder at what’s going on in Utah County,” he said.
-dabake@cc.usu.edu