OREM — University of Utah students call their school the "U." Brigham Young University is known as the "Y."

And Utah Valley State College President Bill Sederburg hopes that students begin calling the soon-to-be university the "V."

Sederburg introduced the newest letter in Utah County's university alphabet soup Friday morning, as he discussed with about 300 faculty and staff members the bill passed by the Utah Legislature that renames the college Utah Valley University effective July 1, 2008.

"I think that (the 'V' designation) sounds kind of weird," said Happiness Peterson, who is finishing up her degree at the college and is employed there. "I think the real name sounds more professional."

In other news from the nomenclature department, proposals for Utah Valley State University and Central Utah University were nixed after Sen. President John Valentine, R-Orem, and the UVSC Board of Trustees said they wanted the school to be called Utah Valley University, Sederburg said Friday.

Still, Sederburg reminded faculty to be cautious with names.

"So any formal use in reference to UVSC must remain UVSC," he said. "If you are citing a letter or a contract of commitment to a new faculty hire, it's UVSC. Now clearly, informally, we can refer to it as Utah Valley University."

The school will reissue diplomas in July 2008 for alumni who want the new name on them.

"For graduates, they need to contact the Alumni Association," said Cameron Martin, chairman of UVSC's University Transition Task Force.

Tuesday, the Utah Legislature unanimously passed SB70, which in addition to changing the name, allows the school to begin offering master's degrees and provides $8 million— $2 million short of Sederburg's request — in additional ongoing funds for university status.

"Out of the $8 million, we will hire 75 (professors)," said UVSC budget director Linda Makin.

Eighteen of the 75 professors are needed to reduce the workload of current professors; 15 are needed because UVSC — which only started offering bachelor's degrees in 1993 — has added so many degree programs so quickly.

The rest will reduce the number of adjunct faculty on which the school relies, Sederburg said.

"Some will be hired this summer," Sederburg said. "We'll probably hire one-year lecturers as we search for tenure-track faculty" because the hiring season for full-time faculty ended a month ago.

Sederburg hopes next year the Legislature will provide the remaining $2 million. That money will be used to develop graduate programs.

The first program will be a master's in education, probably in teacher instruction and not education administration, Sederburg said.