During the 2022 Utah General Legislative Session, representatives from Utah Valley University (UVU) ascended the steps of the Utah State Capitol to represent the university’s interests and petition for resources to help our campus grow.

Dr. Steve Anderson, UVU associate vice president of university relations, said that in the six years he’s visited the capitol, this has been UVU’s best legislative session financially.

“We won,” Anderson said. “UVU was able to secure the funding for all of its legislative priorities. I said that last year was our best year, and I think I said the same thing the year before.”

Included in UVU’s Legislative Priorities is a 3.5% cost of living adjustment for all campus employees. This means mandatory raises for all our hard-working faculty and staff at UVU. As a bonus, an additional 2.25% raise can be implemented depending on performance review results. Additionally, mandatory cost increases to insurance premiums are to be implemented, meaning UVU has more funds to pay insurance, so employees’ premiums don’t go any higher.

In addition to employee raises, UVU was able to secure $80 million for the construction of the Scott M. Smith Engineering and Technology Building. Thanks to the generous $25 million donation of Qualtrics co-founder Scott M. Smith and his wife, Karen Smith, as well as the hard work from UVU’s Institutional Advancement team, UVU has raised a total of $30 million from private donors for the construction of the CET’s new home.

“We're lucky here in Utah, because most states are cutting budgets, and in higher education, they're cutting positions,” Anderson said. “We’re just not doing that. We're in a state where the legislature values higher education. I mean, you look at the University of Michigan, and they're funded at 8% from the legislature, whereas in Utah, most schools have around 50%.”

UVU administrative support Stephanie Albach helped coordinate the UVU Day on the Hill, an event held on Feb. 7 where UVU showcased the best of UVU in the Capitol rotunda, including Culinary Arts’ mouthwatering meatballs, CET’s VR technology, and UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez.

“It was such a fun, interactive day,” Albach said. “I helped coordinate getting the legislators down there and assisted in the hard work preparing for that day. It was perfect.”