Group backs UVSC's bid

OREM — Community and business leaders have formed a group with the goal of pushing Utah Valley State College toward university status.

The group is called "Friends of Utah Valley" — with the last words of the school's title, "State College," dropped because the group anticipates the school's name will change if it is granted approval to become a university, said one of the group's organizers, Stan Lockhart, a Micron lobbyist and husband of Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo.

The group thus far is roughly 200 people strong, all residents or business leaders in Utah County, said Mark Robinson, a Provo attorney involved in the group.

Members have pledged about $10,000, said Robinson, who is finalizing paperwork to make the Friends of Utah Valley a nonprofit organization.

Friends of Utah Valley is independent of UVSC, and the money it raises will be used for its own activities, such as print advertisements and radio spots touting the benefits of the school.

"I think what we're trying to do is, we're trying to create a forum that people in our community can help UVSC," Lockhart said.

Such efforts would include lobbying and educating the public and lawmakers about UVSC, and the need they perceive for a public university in 360,000-resident Utah County.

"Ultimately, UVSC serves this community and it's a great vote of confidence to have a group like this to throw its support behind this institution," UVSC spokesman Chris Taylor said. "You know, UVSC and Utah County share many of the same goals."

Within the next three years, UVSC could receive from the legislature the additional $10 million needed to round out its bachelor degree offerings, add graduate programs and staff, and become a university.

The sooner, the better, according to UVSC officials, although Richard Kendell, the state's commissioner of higher education, will recommend $3 million go to the college for university status this year.

Neither Lockhart nor Robinson are alumni of the Orem college — but they say they want to rally around the 23,300-student college because it's the school most youth in Utah County attend.

Admission to the other school in Utah Valley, Brigham Young University, has become more competitive in the past 15 years, and very few high school graduates from Utah County are granted admission.