Tuesday marked UVSC's annual Sandwiches with Sederburg, where students, faculty and administration gathered to discuss the budget, celebrate the previous year's successes and present upcoming plans and events.

President William Sederburg emphasized the importance of the college's transition to a state university by explaining the institution's commitment to the students.

"UVSC is a phenomenal school that keeps changing and evolving to bring us where we're at today - preparing for our July 1 transition to a university," Sederburg said.

During the 2007-2008 school year UVSC has served 23,480 students, employed approximately 70 new full-time faculty members, increased community commitment and strengthened the school's partnership with the state, Sederburg said.

With university status, UVU will offer a master's of education degree and is working on approval from the board of trustees for a master's of business degree. The school has also received authorization to offer a new associate's of mechatronics degree to promote the study of mechanics, electronics and computing.

With its transition, UVU has also increased available scholarships funds from $150,000 in 1999 to more than $1 million currently.

"Two years ago we couldn't give our scholarships away," Sederburg said. "Now we're starting to struggle to keep up with qualified students seeking scholarship funds."

The school is focusing on building its student-base and increasing student retention by reaching out to Utah's Hispanic community, women and out-of-state students.

"Recruiting and retaining students is essential for us and we are reaching out to our students by providing additional faculty and advisers," Sederburg said. "We anticipate our enrollment to increase next year and we need to prepare ourselves for an additional 500 students."

The institution's annual budget was $76 million in 2002 and has been increased to $127 million for the 2009 school year through funding from the state legislature and an additional $2 million in federal funding.

"When you cut through all of the stuff discussed today, it really comes down to the support of the state of Utah," Sederburg said. "We owe a great deal of gratitude to the state for the support of our transition to a university."

Chris Taylor, associate vice president of marketing and communications for UVSC, said the school has worked to market the school and maintain positive enrollment.

"We have a marketing plan that has been in effect for about two years, trying to increase the student body," Taylor said. '

As the school prepares for its official transition in July, the school's staff has been working to convert more than 60,000 Web pages to the new UVU Web site, change 1,500 plus e-mail addresses and replace the school's 1,217 UVSC signs.

michaelwilson@byu.edu