July 5, 2007: Deseret Morning News

Growth Chart: UVSC on Task Reaching Full D-I Status
by Jason Adkins

OREM — Making the leap to major college athletics didn't seem to be in the cards for Utah Valley State a decade ago, but neither was the prospect university status.

UVSC — soon to be renamed Utah Valley University — is trying to do something no other college has, jumping to NCAA Division I straight from the junior college level. Junior colleges in the past looking to play four-year schools have gone the Division II route, such as Dixie State, or a step below to the NAIA.

UVSC administrators didn't know what route they would take right off the bat, but they knew they needed to play against other four-year colleges to increase their visibility in the community.

"We had four-year degrees for about four years, and there was a survey in the community," UVSC athletics director Mike Jacobsen said of a conversation he had with then-UVSC President Kerry Romesburg in 2000. "Eleven percent in the community knew we had four-year degrees. I said, 'If you want people to know you have four-year degrees, we need to be playing four-year schools.' That's when the decision was made to go NCAA."

Division II was the option for the Wolverines at that point, but an NCAA moratorium on new membership gave the college more time to decide what division was the best fit. "If we made our decision then, we would have gone Division II," said Jacobsen.

What changed their minds was the perception of Division II athletics in the area. "We talked to people in the community, and they don't connect to Division II," said Jacobsen. "To them, playing as a junior college is better than Division II ... "

"We decided that to do what we needed to do, we needed to go Division I."

One drawback of Division I is the seven-year process to obtain full NCAA status, with Division II membership taking only four years.

Dixie State, another in-state school making the jump from the junior college ranks to the NCAA, felt that Division II was best for them. "The philosophy of Division II fits us better," said Dixie State athletic director Dexter Irvin.

The Rebels will also have the advantage of being able to compete in NCAA postseason events starting with the 2008-09 school year, while Utah Valley has to wait until the fall of 2009 for any postseason opportunities.

Geographically speaking, UVSC has the advantage of competing with five other Division I schools in the state. Other than Dixie State, the nearest Division II schools are in California, Colorado and New Mexico.

The downside for UVSC in the transition to Division I is perhaps being on the losing ends of many games in most sports while they are trying to get their feet wet playing against major college competition.

Many may ask what is left for UVSC to accomplish in its final two years of provisional status with the NCAA.

An NCAA accreditation visit in early November, a final exam of sorts, is the last major hurdle that the school must pass before it can concentrate on other matters.

Jacobsen said that the NCAA will take a look at many items in their three-day visit. "They want to make sure we are adequately providing for all sports and there is institutional control from the president on down," he said. "And that the faculty, to some extent, support what we are doing."

Besides the obvious in providing for athletics needs, the NCAA also wants to make sure UVSC is helping out their athletes on the academic side as well.

"The NCAA wants us to provide academic support to see that the students are successful," said Jacobsen.

A new Wolverine Student Center on the far north end of campus hopes to provide that support.

"It's a 6,000-square-foot academic center first," said Jacobsen.

Academic advising, a computer lab, student-athlete lounge, scholarship office and on-site tutoring will all be part of the center when it opens in the fall.

Along with the academic facilities, several sports offices will also be moving away from the main campus building, including golf, soccer, track and wrestling. Besides offices, new locker rooms will be in place for those sports as well as a new training area for the wrestling team, the state's sole college wrestling program, which was added in 2004.

There have been rumblings that despite the progress UVSC is making, the NCAA does not want UVSC to jump to D-I. Receiving NCAA support is seen as crucial for UVSC's efforts to attain Division I membership.

"They have been very cooperative the last little bit," said Jacobsen. "Early on, they weren't as much, because I don't know what they expected out of us. Once they have seen we are committed and we are really serious about doing this, they have been very cooperative."

Jacobsen admits not all is perfect with UVSC's transition to Division I. Full funding of all their sports is one of the main goals that the athletic department still needs to reach in the short-term.

"In any of the programs that are struggling, we need to provide a better scholarship base and to fully fund some of our programs," said Jacobsen.

Even sports such as basketball and baseball are not offering all of the scholarships allowed under NCAA regulation. "None of my programs have full scholarship allotments," said Jacobsen. "We are operating 60 to 70 percent of what we could offer scholarship-wise."

Funding full-time head coaches is also an issue that needs to be resolved for the Wolverines to find success.

Jacobsen said that the reason why some sports are struggling, such as golf and wrestling, is not being able to recruit the best athletes available, partly due to the lack of postseason play.

"Once kids know that they can qualify for postseason play, that will make it easier," said Jacobsen.

Poor attendance has been an issue for the school, and that is something that UVSC needs to address in order for athletics to pay for itself. "Our ticket sales haven't been what they needed to be, and that's a good revenue source," said Jacobsen.

Attributing some of the attendance woes on the lack of a conference, Jacobsen said that UVSC can't afford to wait until a conference is found and needs the fan support now.

Despite the struggles UVSC athletics faces, Jacobsen has confidence that UVSC is building a new legacy as they are trying to become a player in major collegiate athletics.

Utah Valley athletics milestones

1971 — Utah Technical College joins NJCAA (baseball and men's basketball first sports)
1978 — Women's basketball begins play
1987 — UTC becomes Utah Valley Community College
1993 — UVCC becomes Utah Valley State College
2000 — Softball wins NJCAA national title
2004 — Athletics program begins transition to Division I
2004 — Wrestling added to meet minimum total-sports requirement
2005 — Men's basketball defeats Arizona State on the road
2006 — Baseball beats national-powerhouse Arizona State on the road
2007 — Men's basketball finishes season ranked 130th in RPI
2008 — UVSC will become Utah Valley University
2009 — UVU should complete Division I transition
Future? — Conference affiliation