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OREM, Utah (AP) -- Utah Valley State College officials eager for university status put the cost at around $8.4 million.
UVSC President William Sederburg said in his state of the college address last week that the college hopes to become a regional state university, but he did not give details.
"We have no desire to be a research institution," he said. "We desire to be a regional state university."
Documents obtained by the Daily Herald through a government records request revealed more of how the administration is working toward university status.
Cameron Martin, assistant to the president, said last month in response to a student's e-mail query that it would be two to five years before the school achieved university status.
The Legislature would need to come on board, and the switch would be expensive.
"So our focus right now is to prepare for the move by chipping away at these cost (i.e., faculty/staff needs, programmatic adjustments, etc.) now." he said.
The college has been aggressively adding degrees, with nine added last year and seven more planned for this year.
The college would need about $8.4 million to make the switch, according to a printout of a digital presentation. That includes $6.9 million to hire new faculty, $600,000 to improve the ratio of students to advisers, $300,000 for graduate admissions and $600,000 for graduate instruction.
Faculty and staff office space would add to the cost.
Students would pay part of the costs through tuition increases, in increments of $1 million a year over three years beginning in 2006-2007. That would equal about $33 per semester per student. UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said the administration would ask for the first round of tuition money during tuition hearings later this month.
Administrators originally planned to ask the Legislature for $3 million in equity funding this year and $2 million next year. Equity funding is intended to equalize the amount of state money each state institution receives per student.
But the Presidents Council of the Utah System of Higher Education has taken a dim view of equity funding.
Three consultants visited UVSC in November and will issue a report in April on how the college should proceed.
Efforts of junior colleges to become four-year colleges, four-year colleges to become universities and universities to become research universities have troubled the state Board of Regents and state higher education officials for years.
Commissioner of Higher Education Rich Kendell recently said of a bill to allow Snow College to offer bachelor's degrees, that it was just one more case of "mission creep" among Utah schools trying to go beyond their purpose.
Regents Chairman Nolan Karras, also commenting on the Snow proposal, said schools' seeking to enhance their course offerings beyond the intended scope puts the whole school system in a tight spot because funding and students would then be split among the universities.
He said that trend has pushed Weber State to want to become a research university and UVSC to become a full-fledged university.
He said the costs are often overlooked and leave the state system facing bills for enhanced libraries, faculty members and buildings.
UVSC is looking for state money this year for a new library, called a digital learning center. It is estimated to cost $48 million to $57 million, and is first on the state Building Board's priority list and third on the Board of Regents' list.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
