UVSC graduates to university status

It isn't quite official just yet but Utah Valley State College has been given the greenlight to become a university. Utah governor John Huntsman will be on the campus Monday March 19 to sign the bill that will make UVSC a level II institution effective July 1, 2008.

Along with the name change comes a commitment of $8 million more in ongoing funding, money that will be used to hire more full-time faculty (about 60) and to develop the school's first graduate programs.

UVSC president Bill Sederburg said he hopes the hires will decrease the school's dependence on adjunct faculty, increase the number of professors with terminal degrees, and reduce the average teaching load of existing profs on campus.

College administrators have made it quite clear that the first master's degree programs will be in nursing, education, and business administration. Sederburg said recently that he does not want to be flooded with degree proposals. He seems more interested in shoring up existing programs and rounding out the catalog to include a more comprehensive list of undergraduate offerings.

That $8 million is a bit short of the $10 million that the school was hoping for, and Sederburg has already told the local press that he'll be back on the hill next year to lobby for the remaining $2 million. In the meantime he will put new Vice President of Academic Affairs Liz Hitch to work when she gets to town just one year before the school switches over.

Along with overseeing all the new faculty hires (which is usually handled at the dean and department level), Hitch will need to hire a new Dean of Technology and Trades, a school that will probably feel the growing pains more than any other. Tom McFarland's replacement will have to deal with the problems associated with integrating an entrenched, and often stubburn trades program into a new university setting. And with Sederburg wanting new grad degrees that meet market needs don't be surprised if Technology isn't first in line with a new master's program (after a few years of course).

Don't be surprised either if in a few years the all-powerful school of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences doesn't come begging at the postgrad door. HASS is the biggest school on campus, and they will soon be itching to prove themselves.

Of course it is easy to get lost in all of this university hoopla and forget that there are many other things happening at UVSC. Ira Fulton has raised $10 million in the last two months (kicking in $5 million of his own). The new library is inching out of the ground and steel work will begin this month.

And while ther are many good things it also worth noting that UVSC has its share of problems. The faculty is underfunded when compared to professors at other colleges. Athletics is running out of time on their provisional NCAA Division I status, and seems no closer to finding a conference. Utah's warm economy is keeping many students in the workforce. Infrastructure woes like registration and advising still cause a lot of student frustration.

Sederburg still has a lot of work to do before UVSC can become UVU.

Dean Tom McFarland leaves UVSC

School of Technology and Computing dean Tom McFarland has announced that he will be leaving UVSC at the end of February. Here is acting VPAA Karl Worthington's awkwardly worded e-mail, that was forwarded to all school employees school by president Bill Sederburg:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "President Sederburg"
To:
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:32:02 -0700
Subject: T&C Dean Announcement

This is the official "Thank You!" and "Best Wishes!" to Dean Tom McFarland who has resigned the position of Dean of the School or Technology and Computing. Dean McFarland's last day will be February 28, 2007. Tom is moving to New Mexico for family reasons and we wish him the very best as we also express appreciation for his unique and valuable service to UVSC. A reception will be held to honor Tom's service and to meet with him on Monday, February 26, 2007 in Center Stage.

Dr. Ernest Carey has accepted our request that he serve as the interim dean of the school. We are grateful to Ernie for his willingness to serve where he is needed for as long as he is needed-up to a point! Ernie's long service as a faculty member, including service as President of the Faculty Senate, as a department chair, and as an associate dean is a fine record and Dean McFarland has included Ernie in a lot of his activities the last while to prepare him to assume this role well. I urge all of us, and particularly the faculty and staff of the School of Technology and Computing, to give a little extra in support of Dr. Carey as he directs and moves forward the initiatives underway and planned for in the school.

A search and screening committee will be put together soon to begin the process of searching for a new dean. It certainly is conceivable that this dean selection may be one of the first new personnel decisions of the new VPAA.

J. Karl Worthington
Interim VPAA

The move seems quite sudden, as it is midway through semester. Worthington's e-mail says the move was prompted by "family reasons". The Pipeline has heard that McFarland has family that lives in the area, and also that the move was in conjunction of a potential job there. The Pipepline will keep you updated if more reasons are given by the involved parties.

In the meantime Dr. Ernest Carey will be standing in as interim dean until a search committee can come up with some candidates for new VPAA Liz Hitch to look over.