UVSC on wrong path?

SOUTH JORDAN — The longtime former leader of the school now known as Utah Valley State College says a proposed move to university status is a misguided effort.

In fact, he doesn't support it at all.

"I think they're going the wrong way," Wilson W. Sorensen told the Deseret Morning News. "We have enough universities already."

Sorensen essentially founded the school, first known as Central Utah Vocational School, and served as president for 37 years — from 1946 to 1982. He led the school, which was started to help develop equipment for the war effort, as it made several name and location changes.

"They've already dropped the machine shop and heavy equipment programs," said Sorensen, now 90 and living in South Jordan. "They cut the welding program. Eventually, the liberal arts will take over."

Utah's other universities can pump out research, he said.

Sorensen said he believes the losses will outweigh the benefits.

"It will give the school a social image. That's all it will do," he said.

Sorensen said he is more than willing to testify or speak to the Legislature about the idea "but nobody has asked me."

A spokeswoman for UVSC said that the Orem school emphasized trades and technology when the local economy depended more on industry.

"That's no longer the case," the spokeswoman, Megan Laurie, said, adding that today's demands are bachelor's and master's degrees.

UVSC became accredited to offer bachelor's degrees in 1993.

The "machine shop" program to which Sorensen referred, called Machine Tools, was dropped in 2002 due to low enrollment. The heavy-equipment program was dropped for the same reason.

Welding has not been cut, she said, but some courses are not regularly offered because of low student demand.

Some technology programs have evolved with industry.

For instance, an electrical and computing technology program dropped two years ago may come back in the form of metronics — a combination of mechanics, electrical and computing technology, Laurie said. The governor-appointed State Board of Regents has to approve the metronics program before UVSC can offer it.