'UVU' clears first hurdle

"I'm troubled by some of the direction I'm hearing. Commissioner Kendell has said this one-year bump is all that is needed. I don't doubt his sincerity, but I doubt the accuracy," he said.

Kendell did say UVSC will need more money — a total estimated at $20 million to $25 million annually — to be on par with its national peers, but that will come from natural enrollment growth. Routine operational funding will also help fund the gap over the next few years, he added, but not in one large sum like the $10 million asked for this year.

"I think there's been a little misunderstanding about would this $10 million be a down payment and there will be a request for another bump. The answer to that is no," he said. "Quite candidly, it's a ways away from its peers, but this $10 million will make a major difference in its ability to look like the other universities."

Valentine's legislation, which now heads to the full Senate for debate, would make UVSC a Type II university, putting it on the same level as Weber State University and Southern Utah University. It would not be a research university.

Valentine also told committee members that the name — Utah Valley University — is only a working name and could be changed by the Legislature.

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