Utah Valley State College doesn't want to add the word "university" to its stationery if there's no money to back it up, school leaders told legislators Monday.

That dollar amount, however, may be much higher in the end than the $10 million figure volleyed at the Legislature this year. In reality, $20 million to $25 million annually could be needed to make UVSC a full-fledged university, Utah Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell said.

He told members of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee that this year's $10 million estimate is likely just a "down payment" on ongoing funds needed to make UVSC a "genuine university."

"We've been very open about the fact that this might take a couple of installments," Kendell said. "In the past we have gone along with changes in mission. Without funding that, in retrospect as a Monday morning quarterback, would be ill advised."

Kendell added, however, that he doesn't expect UVSC leaders to come back to the Legislature asking for millions more to fund the mission change after the initial $10 million in ongoing state funds. Rather, he said the gap will be filled as the college's enrollment grows and it is able to fund its own expansion.

"We thought this $10 million would be the increment needed to get them on that university road.

After that, I don't think there's any intent to come back and say, 'Here's another $5 million bump,"' Kendell said.

A bill containing $3 million of those initial mission change funds has already passed out of the Senate and is now awaiting a hearing in the House. The rest of the money is expected to be included in the official bill by Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, to change the Utah County school to Utah Valley University. Exact language of that bill has not yet been released.

About $1.1 million of the $10 million state investment would go toward new graduate degrees, and the remainder would strengthen current undergraduate offerings, UVSC President William Sederburg said.

In particular, reducing the number of courses taught by adjunct faculty, increasing advisers and lessening the teaching load are all necessary changes to become a university, he said.

Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, said although he can "sense a consensus growing around, the switch to a university," he is wary of mission creep among schools that get caught up in the prestige of becoming research universities.

Under the pending legislation, UVSC would become a Type II university, meaning it would offer some master's degrees but would not be a research institution. Weber State University and Southern Utah University would be in its peer group.

"Once you're a university, people want to do more research. There's just a natural be-true-to-your-school boosterism," Bell said. "We can't afford in five or six years to have someone from Utah Valley say, 'We need a community college."'

Sederburg said he's committed to maintaining the community college offerings at UVSC and that any future change would only come on the heels of changing market demands.

That marketplace is calling for a regional university, Sederburg said, with Brigham Young University accepting more out-of-state students and Utah County's population growing rapidly.

"We think this is a natural evolution," he said.

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