Hoagies with Holland highlights a year of success and growth at UVU

The annual Hoagies with Holland event was held April 20 in the Grande Ballroom. President Matthew S. Holland covers the legislative season and gives a review of the past year for UVU while faculty and staff eat sandwiches.

Holland assured everyone in attendance that the event would not be switched to Haggis with Holland in coming years. Different events were highlighted in the presentation including the annual hike of Mount Timpanogos that Holland does with students, graduation and freshman convocation.

“Behind each slide(of the presentation) of student success are faculty,” said Holland.

Some of the programs that were highlighted were: the LEAD Program which is ranked number two in the world; UVU PRSSA has been a star chapter for the last six years; and we have the best young chef in the America’s.

“He’s moving in with my family next week,” said Holland referring to the student named best young chef in the America’s,amidst laughter from the audience.

The UVU pass rate for the CFA exam is at 80 percent, this is particularly impressive because The Wall Street Journal calls it one of the hardest exams in the world.

It was recently announced that the Board of Trustees approved the addition of five new Master’s degrees.

“We are moving absolutely, solidly and aggressively into graduate education,” said Holland.

“We have been busy this year,” said Holland, while highlighting the many undergraduate degrees that were added in the last year.

Some other achievements included: The first ever alumni chapter was established outside of Utah in Phoenix, Arizona; the Latino Initiative received a Bright Spot Recognition from the White House; and the Veteran Success Center was officially opened this year. During the opening of the center a veteran stood and gave an impromptu salute to UVU for what is being accomplished.

“We didn’t get as much ongoing funding as we were hoping for,” said Holland.

Ongoing funds available for allocation are $16,792,069. This comes from areas such as tuition from enrollment growth. 68 percent of our on-going budget comes from students, as opposed to 32 percent from tax funds.

“We need to be conscientious because many of these programs come on the backs of the students,” said Holland urging staff and faculty to operate effectively.

The PBA areas of focus were student success, inclusiveness and operating effectively.

Some of the areas that received funding were reducing student-to-advisor ratio; improving general ed/math completion; improving onboarding-through-graduation support programs/services; implementing new programs including master’s degrees; implementing innovative pedagogy including large sections and online classes.

It was announced that some of the athletic teams will get a cost of attendance aid and there will be a soccer facility upgrade.

“Our athletes are as good in the classroom as they are in the field,” said Holland referring to the many athletes who have been WAC champions or All-American athletes.

Holland mentioned that there is a possible purchase of land in Payson being considered to plan for the future of UVU and needed expansion in the coming years.

All full-time employees will receive a $625 annualized base increase. Adjunct faculty will get a 2.75 percent increase. Hourly staff gets a 2.5 percent increase.

Holland ended his address by highlighting the fact that in 1948 total enrollment was 300

“We are in a totally different place than we were in 1941,” said Holland. “Because we didn’t get discouraged, and what we have accomplished is extraordinary.”

To see specifics on PBA allocation visit http//www.uvu.edu/pba/current.html