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OREM — Utah Valley University President Matthew S. Holland will step down from his position at the university to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a statement from UVU officials.
Holland will continue to serve as the university's president through June 2018, then leave for his mission the following month. He will preside over an English-speaking mission that will be announced later in the year.
Holland is the son of LDS Church apostle Jeffrey R. Holland.
“Serving at UVU during the past nine years has been a signal honor and daily joy,” Holland said in the statement.
Building a thriving university around a community college has been one of the great causes in higher education, Holland said, and he couldn’t be more pleased about the impact UVU has had in making college degrees more affordable, accessible and relevant.
"At the same time, I absolutely cherish my faith and am so honored and grateful for this unexpected privilege to serve in this new ecclesiastical role,” he said.
Holland was appointed UVU's sixth president in 2009. During his time at the university, UVU completed its transition to a full-fledged university with more than 37,000 students. UVU is now the largest university in the state and almost doubled its campus footprint with the acquisition of 225 acres during Holland's tenure.
"We grew in a pretty historic way and we made it work," Holland said. "We found the resources for it in terms of the funding and the buildings, and we found some innovative ways to move higher ed forward in a time when higher ed is in kind of a crisis."
The university now offers 44 certificate programs, 62 associate degrees, 84 bachelor degrees, three graduate certificates and eight master degrees.
“Matt Holland's vision for engaged learning and student success has propelled UVU into the national and international spotlight," Elaine Dalton, UVU board of trustees chairwoman, said in the statement.
The school will begin a national search to replace Holland and hopes to announce a new president by June 2018. Holland has no plans to return to any official position at UVU after his time as a mission president, according to the university.
"Over the last nine years, the Hollands have led Utah Valley University to extraordinary heights. We are grateful for their wholehearted and visionary service in improving higher education here in Utah and send them our best wishes as they dedicate the next few years of their lives to serving the LDS Church," said Governor Gary Herbert in a news release.
But according to Holland, the university president still has a lot to do.
"Anybody who knows me knows they’re going to have to drag me out the door 'til the last day I’m here."
