Adjuncts to get slight pay raise

Hey UVSC adjuncts...what are you gonna do with your extra $98!

Adjunct instructors get a pay raise
(Salt Lake Tribune, March 25 2008)

In the past UVSC has relied heavily on adjunct instructors. The school now hopes to reduce the total number of classes taught by adjuncts to less than 50 percent.

Regents give final approval to UVU's first graduate degree program

Though there was never much doubt, it has finally been made official. Utah's Board of Regents have approved UVU's very first graduate program. Starting this fall students wanting a Master's in Education have a new choice.

UVSC moves by leaps and bounds toward university status (Salt Lake Tribune, March 23 2008

Regents OK master's for UVSC (Daily Herald, March 23 2008)

UVSC gets OK for first master's (Daily Herald, March 23 2008)

This first year the education master's program will only accept anywhere from 20-30 students.

Bill would offer college scholarships to every high school student in Utah

Richard Kendell may have stepped down from his position as Utah's commissioner of higher education, but that hasn't stopped him from spearheading a campaign to get more high school students into college.

Good grades, the right college prep classes may net $1,350
(Salt Lake Tribune, January 9 2008)

Kendell is helping Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, navigate the bill through the legislature. The annual session begins later this month. The bill calls for each 8th grader to receive a letter from the Board of Regents saying that a $1000 scholarship is already in their name and gaining interest. All students need to do is graduate with a B average and take a set college prep courses while in high school. It is expected that of the 35,000 8th graders currently in the state about 7,000 would qualify.

Sure, $1350 would hardly pay for a single semester at UVSC (especially in 5 years!) but at least it is something.

Univeristy of Utah president "unapologetic" about tuition

Sunday's Tribune featured a scathing article on how top administrators at the University of Utah are cashing big checks while professors get incremental raises, and tuition soars.

Costs rise, U.'s elite get richer
Tuition has skyrocketed, profs see meager raises - but administrators' salaries grow leaps and bounds
(Salt Lake Tribune, December 16 2007)

But one of the most interesting statements came from U president Michael Young:
"I'm absolutely unapologetic about the cost of tuition. It should be three times as high for the quality of education here."

In other words...you can count on more tuition raises.

For those who might be interested in how UVSC salaries stack up head here

UVU's first graduate program gets greenlight from Trustees

Last night, members of UVSC's board of Trustees approved the school's first graduate program.

UVSC board OK's master's degree plan
(Deseret Morning News, November 8 2007)

UVSC trustees approve first proposal for master's degree
(Daily Herald, November 8 2007)

UVSC approves first master's degree for UVU
(Salt Lake Tribune, November 8 2007)

As expected the first master's degrees will be in education, and if the proposal gets approval from the State Board of Regents the program could start in the August of '08. Classes would be at night to allow current teachers to continue working while earning their degrees. The school also plans heavier workloads for graduate students during the summer.

It is expected that the UVU will accept between 20-30 new students into the Master's of Education program each year.

Everybody's working on the weekend

A nice little article in today's Tribune about the conveniences of weekend classes at UVSC.

Salt Lake Tribune - Weekend college: Schedule offers flexibility

Orem city council candidates worry about UVU growth

UVSC's transition to UVU, and the expansion and traffic that will come with that transition, seems to be on the minds of Orem's six city council candidates.

Orem City Council candidates say growth, UVSC are top concerns
(Salt Lake Tribune, October 29 2007)

The Pipeline spoke recently to one of the candidates, UVSC employee Brent Sumner, who said that during his door-to-door campaigning many campus neighbors say UVSC's growth is their number one concern.

Student housing also seems to be a concern among most of the candidates. With enrollment expected to rise to 40,000 students, according to some particularly rosy estimates, providing housing is going to be a huge issue. Candidate Mark Seastrand wants to restrict student housing to those complexes to the west side of I-15 (think Parkway Crossing).

By the way...candidate Carl Hernandez's campaign manager is UVSC VP Val Hale...we thought you should know.

Regents approve tuition increases for next year

The State Board of Regents has given preliminary approval for tuition increases for each of its colleges and universities. UVSC's first-tier tuition will go up 2.62 percent.

Tuition at state-owned colleges, universities to jump
(Salt Lake Tribune, October 26 2007)

The total tuition increase will be known when UVSC lays out their plans for their second-tier increase. The total will be presented to students during the mandatory Truth in Tuition forum, which usually occurs in March.

UVSC bucks statewide trend with positive enrollment numbers

The state Board of Education has released enrollment numbers for Utah's public colleges and universities, and while overall the numbers are flat UVSC gained the most students and had the second highest percentage of growth over last fall's numbers.

Enrollment remains flat at Utah colleges
Recruitment to become more competitive as numbers stay steady
(Salt Lake Tribune, October 12 2007)

While this news is no big surprise for UVSC, it is nice to see what numbers other schools are posting. Here are the headcounts for all nine schools:

U of U: 27,685 -2.15%
USU: 21,455 +1.10%
Weber: 17,089 -1.16%
SUU: 6,410 +4.94%
Snow: 3,202 -9.65%
Dixie: 5,209 -2.43%
CEU: 1,799 -3.95%
UVSC: 20,959 +3.44%
SLCC: 23,824 +0.01%

Higher Ed
Total: 127,632 -0.09%

If that number seems a little low for UVSC, who usually boasts of having 24,000 students we can only assume the state is not counting high school students taking in concurrent enrollment classes.

UVSC Trustee to challenge Cannon for 3rd district seat

Former BYU place-kicker and current UVSC Trustee Jason Chaffetz announced today that we will run against Chris Cannon for the republican nomination for Utah's 3rd district congressional seat.

UPDATE: Governor's former chief of staff to run against Cannon
(Daily Herald, October 1 2007)

Chaffetz announces bid to unseat Cannon
(Deseret Morning News, October 1 2007)

Jason Chaffetz, David Leavitt
Two Republicans challenge Congressman Chris Cannon
(Salt Lake Tribune, October 1 2007)

While there was no announcement on what this will mean for his responsibilities at UVSC , we have to speculate that he might be stepping down. This much is for sure, Big Bill would love to have a former trustee (even a former Cougar) in Washington.

You can check out Chaffetz's website here:

http://www.jasonforcongress.com

Former UVSC student fights to survive (a television show)

Former UVSC student Todd Herzog is one of the contestants on the latest season of CBS's hit show Survivor. As a self-described "openly gay Mormon" Herzog will surely stir up controversy in the local papers...Daily Herald letters section, we are counting on you!

Todd Herzog's profile
(CBS website)

Culture Vulture: 'Survivor' trots out its latest 'gay Mormon'
(Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah college enrollment flat overall

Despite UVSC's positive numbers so far this year Utah overall only saw a meager .8 percent increase in college enrollment over last year's declining figures.

College enrollment shows a decline
(Salt Lake Tribune, September 15 2007)

But the important part of this story is that the Board of Regents anticipate that the state's Higher Ed system will experience an average of 3 percent growth annually over the next 20 years. According to their projections this is just the lull before the storm, and we should see real increase starting in 2013-2014.

So if the state as a whole is experiencing static enrollment right now, while UVSC is still growing, what does that mean for UVU when things really get hopping in a few years? UVU could have the largest student population in the state in just 10 years.

Something stinks across the I15: MATC scandal blows up

For the past week or so there has been some quiet articles bouncing around the local papes concerning possible fiscal wrongdoing at the Mountainlands Applied Technology Center. But now it seems that where there was smoke a fire has been found, and that means Utah College of Applied Technology president Rob Brems, and MATC president Clay Christensen have some 'splaining to do.


UPDATE: Audit shows MATC officials broke laws (Daily Herald, August 22 2007)
Audit alleges illegal use of funds, cover-up by college presidents (Salt Lake Tribune, August 22 2007)


Other than the proximity of the two campuses, there isn't much of a UVSC connection here. The State Auditor found that some of the money Brem had received as part of a compensation package when he left MATC to run UCAT had been put into an endowment that his dependents used at UVSC.

But it should serve as a reminder to administrators need to operate above reproach. And favors to powerful folks like the Utah Republican Party will not go unnoticed.

Utah schools slip in rankings

Every year US News and World Report puts out their rankings of the best colleges and universities in the country. And every year the state of Utah usually fares pretty well. This year Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, and Westminster College have slipped in their rankings.

BYU, Westminster, Utah rank high on top-colleges list (Deseret Morning News, August 17 2007)

Utah schools go south in national rankings (Salt Lake Tribune, August 17 2007

Kind of fun to see how different the two papers spin the news.

Also interesting, especially to those in UVSC's administration, is the fact that the magazine has changed some of its methodology in determining the rankings. In particular they now disqualify any school that does not require either the ACT/SAT as part of the admission process.

UVSC has been ranked as high as 4th for comprehensive colleges in the West (The comprehensive college category has been renamed the baccalaureate colleges category this year). And while the school has sort of required the ACT as part of admission since 2005, it is unclear if the schools iffy policy (students over 21 or not required to take the ACT) has kept them out of the rankings this year. It might also be the fact that UVSC, in keeping with its open admissions policy, does not use the ACT to determine eligibility, but placement.

Utah soldier killed in Iraq has UVSC ties

Yesterday Sgt. Nathan Barnes was laid to rest in American Fork. Barnes was killed in Rushdi Mullah, Iraq on July 17. His mother Donna is the herbarium curator in the biology department at UVSC.

Utah soldier laid to rest: Bronze Star, Purple Heart awarded to American Fork sergeant (Salt Lake Tribune, July 29 2007)

Condolences to the Barnes family for their loss.


UPDATE: The College Times has done a nice piece on Donna Barnes and the loss of her son.


UVSC employee loses son in Iraq
 (The College Times, July 30 2007)

Sederburg gets biggest raise among Utah's college presidents

Next time you see Bill Sederburg he just might have a big ol' grin on his face. That's because yesterday he and the other nine Utah public college presidents received a pay raise. And Big Bill's smile might be particularly wide because of all the raises handed out by the Board of Regents he got the highest percentage, no doubt reflecting the school's move to university status.

For all the details check the story out here:
Utah college presidents getting raises (Deseret Morning News)

Utah college presidents, commissioner to get raises (Daily Herald)

School presidents getting a pay raise (Salt Lake Tribune)

It is nice that UVSC's growth is being recognized and compensated accordingly. Now let's hope that this raise means Sederburg will be making more than Men's Basketball coach Dick Hunsaker.

Naming rights to baseball facility sold, again

It was announced to the media today that a deal selling the naming rights for UVSC's baseball stadium has been made, thus ending years of uncertainty over what exactly to call the facility.

For now it appears that local auto dealer Brent "Bend Over Backwards" Brown will be the one putting up the dough to see his name above the scoreboard. His $1 million (which the Des News article is calling a donation?) will be matched by Arizona philanthropists Ira and Mary Lou Fulton, though their names will not be featured on the facility.

You can read all about it here:

UVSC announces baseball stadium donors (Deseret Morning News)

UPDATE: UVSC stadium gets new name (Daily Herald)

UVSC stadium named Brent Brown Ballpark (Salt Lake Tribune)

Students at UVSC should sleep a little better tonight as this deal will end the two year ordeal as to who would be paying the bill for the stadium. When the county issued the bond a few years back they made UVSC secure funding by putting student fee money up if donors or a naming rights deal fell through.

In 2005 that is exactly what happened. After failing to make two bond payments Craig Pickering, who was at the time the owner of Parkway Crossing apartments, backed out of a $1.7 million naming rights deal with the college. To many of those involved the deal seemed fishy from the start, as Pickering is in-laws with UVSC Athletic Director Mike Jacobsen. When everyone else had cut bait on Pickering it was Jacobsen who still called it Parkway Crossing Stadium.

A 2006 article in The College Times found that the school ended up covering Parkway Crossing's payments for two years while still hoping they would come through. Then college spokesperson Derek Hall said that those payments were made with auxiliary funds and did not come from student fees. Who knows how the 2006 payment was made!

But it appears that Brown and the Fulton's have saved UVSC's bacon. Now if UVSC Athletics could just find a NCAA Div I conference to play in.

Huntsman makes it official, college to become a university

In a longer than necessary ceremony Utah governor Jon Huntsman signed SB 70 that will give UVSC an extra $8 million in continuing funds that will transform the state college into a level II university come July of 2008.

The Pipeline won't bore you with all the pomp and circumstance, will let The Herald, Des News, and Salt Lake Trib take care of that, but we did want to share some observations that perhaps might shed some light on this very interesting time at UVSC.

All lot of folks have made a big deal about who attended Monday's celebration, but it was some notable absences that got our attention; namely faculty members. Make no mistake, this was a packed event with all the chairs full, and plenty of folks standing on the sides of the Grande Ballroom. But we didn't see a lot of faculty members. Perhaps it was because it was right in the middle of Monday classes, but it seemed strange that there were more faculty at last month's Ira Fulton celebration then at this one.

With Mormon leader Thomas Monson on hand there was plenty of references to the LDS church and its role at UVSC...one of the strangest came from UVSC president Bill Sederburg. While announcing some dignitaries he said "We have Linda Walton here and she is....what is she again? (looking to his right-hand man Cameron Martin for help with Walton's title) Oh yes, she is the campus chaplain. We also have Reverend Jackson here too...so we have balance with the LDS influence here." It was a tiny awkward moment that seemed to speak volumes about how Sederburg is always walking the fine line of the LDS community issue.

Of course no one is more awkward then "UVSC's Biggest Fan" and lone voice on the Board of Regents Marlon "No High School Diploma" Snow who at one point reduced the program to a Friar's Club Roast with a series of lame jokes, back slaps, and a demeanor that said that this whole transition was "Good Ol' Boy" approved.

Which makes one wonder how much UVSC had to give away to get so much so fast from the state legislature. One of the first speakers on the program was Rep. Dave Clark from St. George, you was one of the most vocal proponents of the bill in the House. Why on earth would a Washington County guy speak up for UVSC, when Utah County has such a tight hold on legislative leadership? Perhaps Clark sees the day when he will need to call in a favor on behalf of Dixie. Or maybe he is just a nice guy.

The Pipeline spoke to a reporter who worked on the hill during the recent legislative session, and he got the impression that UVSC had made assurances to key conservative leaders that it would not follow the liberal path of the University of Utah. It is still much too early to tell if UVSC's promotion to university status will be paid for with increased scrutiny from Utah County's powerful conservative caucus. But higher ed usually finds a way to get people like Sen. Margaret Dayton in a huff. It is only a matter of time.

The life of UVSC faculty

Over the weekend there were two rather interesting articles that look at UVSC faculty. One was an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune and said that university professors are under-worked and over-paid. It is a response to UVSC's own David Keller, who wrote an editorial in last week's Trib calling for funding to match the school's new mission.

Obviously the author hasn't been around UVSC much (he says that it is located in Provo not Orem...a small mistake to be sure, but telling). He talks about his own experience as a professor at a research university, noting that his work day was over by noon, allowing him to enjoy free swimming and cheap golf. A tour of UVSC's, shall we say, spartan facilities would have been helpful before writing such an article.

There is no doubt that some professors, and let's go ahead and say some UVSC professors, take advantage of the unstructured culture common among colleges and universities. You won't find professors punching time clocks, or doing much heavy lifting. But I would say that the vast majority of professors at any college work hard and earn their salaries and any extra accouterments that get thrown their way.

The other article worth mentioning comes from the College Times and deals with the subject of tenure. This isn't a groundbreaking article, but is nice to let students in on an important part of college life. And you can gaurntee that as the school progresses to university status, the issue of tenure will become more heated.