OREM — They sit at a large board table, the 20 or so administrators, discussing what-ifs, should-bes and due-bys.

Topics range from information technology and diverse student populations to athletics and faculty.

Written at the top of their agenda in large boldface letters is, "Countdown: 279 Days Left" — the time until Utah Valley State College becomes Utah Valley University.

The University Transition Task Force, which meets twice a month, is the committee of all committees: Its members represent about 20 organizations on campus or about 400 people who are bustling — some full time — to a smooth transition as the college hires new faculty and advisers, unrolls master's degrees and tackles other business of becoming a university.

UVSC becomes a university July 1, 2008.

"Even though it says '279 Days Left,' that's going to fly by," said Cameron Martin, chairman of the Transition Task Force, at a recent meeting.

Ever the taskmaster, Martin encourages people and departments, urging them to set deadlines and meet with each other to find solutions to the technical aspects of transition to university status.

Martin wants to know about athletics, graduate degrees, the fight song, a draft policy defining "open admissions," and master's degrees.

"Basically, our response is, we're ready to go through Division I transition," said Megan Kennedy, an assistant athletic director, explaining how UVSC is in its fifth of six years of provisional Division I status with the NCAA.

On Oct. 19, NCAA officials will visit the campus, which is routine during provisional status, in response to a report on campus athletics prepared by the athletic department.

Karl Worthington, associate vice president of academics, explained how a master's degree in education will likely be the first graduate degree to be offered at UVSC, although the Utah Board of Regents must approve the program first.

Graduate degrees in business and nursing education may follow.

"They are interesting in that each of the degrees will be different in how they are handled," Worthington said.

For instance, an education program will be filled with people already working. A business program would have both full-time students during the day and nontraditional students at night.

And the fight song?

"The basic tune of the fight song will remain the same," said Chris Taylor, a vice president in college marketing, "and the lyrics will change ever so slightly to coordinate with the name change."

Adam Black, the assistant director of career and academic counseling, says open admissions means anyone can take classes at UVSC, regardless of academic ability.

Not to be confused with "open enrollment," opportunity enrollment means that students cannot take certain classes unless they are qualified, based on aptitude tests and grades.

"One of the reasons we did this (draft policy) is, people are saying, 'You're a university, I can't get in,"' Black said. "It's not true."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com