After a distinguished career in higher education, Dr. Jeffery E. Olson, senior vice president of Academic Affairs at Utah Valley University, announced today he will retire following the conclusion of the 2018-2019 academic year. A university search committee is in place with the goal of having the new provost and academic vice president in place by June 2019. 

During his five years at UVU, Olson oversaw the development of the university’s current Academic Master Plan, which outlines the university’s commitment and strategies to meet all postsecondary educational needs of Utah, Wasatch, and Summit counties. The plan addresses credit and noncredit courses; high school concurrent enrollment and enrollment of traditional and nontraditional students; and one-year certificates, associate degrees, bachelor degrees, and graduate degrees and certificates.

"Dr. Olson has played a pivotal role at UVU over the last five years," said Astrid S. Tuminez, president of Utah Valley University. "He served as interim president when President Matthew Holland stepped down and worked tirelessly to make sure UVU was meeting the educational needs of our service area, including making higher education available to our nontraditional, first-generation, and minority students." 

Olson helped guide the university through dramatic enrollment growth, from 31,331 in 2014 to 39,931 in 2018, a 27 percent increase. Under his leadership, master’s degrees increased from 3 to 8, graduate certificates from 2 to 4, bachelor’s degrees from 75 to 90, associate degrees from 63 to 67, minors from 52 to 65, total degree emphases from 205 to 224, and undergraduate certificates from 37 to 46. The university’s completions increased by 20 percent, from 5,082 to 6,329, and 310 additional full-time faculty were hired, taking the total to 730, reaching a university goal set 10 years ago to have 55 percent of sections taught by full-time faculty. 

"It has been an honor for me to help lead this university in its remarkable upward trajectory," said Olson. "I believe in the power of higher education and its ability to change peoples’ lives for the better. We were able to accomplish much, and I now look to my colleagues to continue to lead UVU to even higher levels of success."

Prior to UVU, Olson served as the associate provost at St. John’s University for 16 years, and as an assistant and then associate dean of the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah for seven years.

The search for a UVU provost and vice president of academic affairs as Olson’s successor also was announced today — details can be found at https://www.uvu.edu/provost-vpaa/.