Last month, UVSC took another significant step toward becoming UVU. In a meeting held Dec. 14, the Utah State Board of Regents approved a new mission statement for UVSC.
The new mission statement, as approved by the Board of Regents, is as follows:
"Utah Valley University is a teaching institution which provides opportunity, promotes student success, and meets regional educational needs. UVU builds on a foundation of substantive scholarly and creative work to foster engaged learning. The university prepares professionally competent people of integrity who, as lifelong learners and leaders, serve as stewards of a globally interdependent community."
With the new mission statement, UVSC progressed toward fulfilling its university status expectations. This is because along with the approval of the new statement came the approval for UVSC to move from a Type IIIA institution to a Type II institution.
"Our old mission statement was limited in what it could do for UVSC," said Cameron Martin, assistant to the president for institutional development and planning at UVSC.
As a Type II institution, UVSC will have the authority to offer graduate degrees up to the master’s level, in addition to the present two- and four- year undergraduate degrees that are offered.
According to Martin, "Two- and 4-year programs are still UVSC’s bread and butter, but now we will be able to offer master’s degrees to meet the educational needs of this community and serve it better."
Offering master’s programs is exciting news for soon-to-be UVU. By doing so, UVU will be able to better accommodate the needs of many of the students. As Martin pointed out, "UVU will first seek to offer a master’s program for education, as well as nursing and business."
"This is a watershed day for UVSC," said Martin. "Some may have thought it was a foregone conclusion to have this approved, given the Legislature’s vote to create UVU. It wasn’t. We had to go through the process of approval and receiving input. This wasn’t a one-person project. It was collaborative, and all of those involved have been dedicated to the core mission of benefiting the students of UVSC. There are more things to come," said Martin, "but this is a very significant step."
