Utah Valley University
Donor Report
Utah Valley University (UVU) is proud to celebrate our 80th anniversary in 2021. As we look back at our storied past, we strive to lay the foundation for future generations of students — and we could not do that without your support. You are creating a lasting impact and transforming the lives of all UVU students.
One of UVU’s core values is the belief that everyone deserves
access to opportunities that will help them succeed. Thanks to your support, UVU empowers
students of all backgrounds to achieve their personal, academic, and professional
goals. Your contributions provide scholarships for students in financial need and
resources to help them learn and grow. UVU offers more than 200 programs ranging from
certificates to master’s degrees that ensure students gain the knowledge and real-world
experience they need to reach their career goals.
In giving to UVU, you are supporting the institution and its students, which is in
turn an investment in Utah. In 2021, we celebrated our largest-ever graduating class
of 8,729 graduates. These students stay
to live and work in Utah, and 55% of them graduate with no student debt. UVU alumni
strengthen the state’s economy and fill high-paying jobs. We owe this tremendous achievement
to the dedication of our donors, who help us award scholarships and keep tuition affordable.
The successes of UVU this year were possible because of you. You have put us on a remarkable trajectory, and with your continued support, we can sustain this forward momentum. Thank you for your unwavering support of UVU and our shared community.
Sincerely,
Mark Arstein
CEO,
UVU Foundation Vice President,
UVU Institutional Advancement
Your commitment to UVU makes a meaningful difference in our community, state, and world. Thanks to your generous gifts, UVU is able to provide the services, scholarships, and support that our students need to graduate and lead lives of purpose.
59.56% New spaces for student learning
32.17% Program Fund
8.27% Annual Scholarship
41,262
students as of fall 2021
11,249
high school concurrent enrollment students as of fall 2020
81%
of UVU students work while taking classes
77
countries represented in the student body
30%
of our students are non-traditional (25+ years old)
17%
of UVU students are also parents
Utah Valley University is an integrated university and community college that educates every student for success in work and life through excellence in engaged teaching, services, and scholarship.
In August 2019, our CARE (Coordinating Access to Resources and Education) Task Force created a one-time emergency scholarship fund to support students facing basic needs insecurity. This fund is completely financed by donations and allows students to continue their education despite emergency financial crises. Due to unexpected financial burdens related to COVID-19, the application rate increased more than 480% from fall 2019 to spring 2020.
“I am the first person in my refugee family to attend university. My family, who is from Vietnam, is excited for me to enter my freshman year.
I study communication because I have a passion for understanding the human experience and how we convey our stories. I hope to use my skills doing humanitarian work. I plan to teach English abroad and to give back to my parents. You are making a monumental difference in my life.”
Emily Lam ’25, Communication
UVU announces and breaks ground on the new Young Living Alumni Center.
The longest pedestrian bridge opens over I-15, showing UVU’s exceptional care for
its students.
Mark Arstein is named vice president of Institutional Advancement and CEO of the UVU
Foundation.
GradReports ranks UVU the #1 college in Utah for alumni earnings after graduation.
Construction starts at Lakemount Manor, which will house UVU’s new art museum.
UVU graduates 8,729 students, the largest class in the institution’s history.
Students from the Center for National Security Studies place first in international
competition.
The 2021 President’s Scholarship Ball raised more than $555,000 for presidential scholars.
Scott and Karen Smith make UVU’s largest donation for a new Engineering Building.
The new Keller Building will welcome students in spring 2022. The state-of-the-art building will house the Woodbury School of Business.
The UVU Donor Relations team ensures each supporter of the university, no matter the level of their gift, experiences exceptional care, exceptional accountability, and exceptional results. It is our intent that every interaction you have with UVU is exceptional.
As the university celebrates its 80th year, we wish to thank you for your unwavering support and commitment. Our shared goal — to allow all students to succeed not just for today, but for a lifetime — will transform the state of Utah and our world. Thank you for the impact you are making in students’ lives. We look forward to engaging with you soon and are excited about what the next 80 years hold for UVU.
You cannot make a better investment in the state of Utah in education than Utah Valley University. Every dollar that comes to UVU has a greater effect on the trajectory of people’s lives than at any other institution in the state. UVU represents what I believe is the future, which is to say, excellence in education. I am proud to be associated with a university that represents openness to all.
-Duff Thompson
Managing General Partner, EsNet, Ltd.
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President, Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum
Distinguished Professor of Ethics, Professor of Philosophy
For 45 years, Distinguished Professor of Ethics Elaine Englehardt has taught and served at UVU. She’s been at UVU through its transition from a two-year college to a university — and through each stage, she’s worked tirelessly to elevate the school and its students. In 2021, she won the Wilson W. Sorensen Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given to an individual who has continually served throughout their life to further the purposes and mission of UVU.
As the only faculty member with the distinguished professor designation at UVU, Elaine strives to ensure every student she meets can think critically and write well. As an administrator, she’s secured more than $25 million in grants and legislative funding for UVU. And as a donor, she funds scholarships to give UVU students the opportunity to succeed.
What about UVU inspires you?
When I first started working at UVU, I saw us as the underdogs. Many of my students
started with the intention of transferring. I made it a goal to be able to say to them, “Stay
here.” Now
I can say that because UVU offers the highest quality education and outstanding degrees
while being inclusive and diverse. We’ve raised ourselves to meet the demands and
challenges of the community.
What motivates you to donate to UVU?
Like President Tuminez says, we are a school of second chances. Our role is to ask the students, “What can we do to help you?” Sometimes they are unable to afford school. Students need to have enough funds to get an education, whether that’s scholarships for tuition or research support. When I give to UVU, I feel like my money is well spent.
Why are donors essential to the success of UVU?
Donors are so important. I am always so glad when donors decide to join hands with us. So many UVU students come from large families, or support families of their own, or work full time, and they need our assistance. They work really hard, but sometimes they can’t make school work financially.
UVU also provides so many great resources to students and the community. We have a food bank, counseling center, and health services. We invite lecturers to speak and host conferences that are open to the public. We are always looking to help students and give back to the community when we have the funds to do so. This is why donors are important.
Qualtrics co-founder Scott M. Smith and his wife, Karen Smith, announced a $25 million gift to help fund UVU’s planned engineering building and name the college.
The building is part of UVU’s response to the state’s need for higher education to increase the number of engineers and computer scientists in Utah’s workforce. The new building will be named the Scott M. Smith Engineering and Technology Building, and the name of the college will be changed to the Smith College of Engineering and Technology.
The Smiths’ announcement comes at a critical time when there is an urgent demand for more engineers and computer scientists in the state. Last year, Utah universities together produced more than 3,000 engineers and computer scientists, but there remained approximately 4,000 unfulfilled positions across Utah’s workforce.
Engineering and computer science graduates from UVU are particularly valuable in filling the demand created by technology companies in Utah County’s Silicon Slopes. According to UVU’s Institutional Research Department, UVU graduates stay and work locally. Eighty-four percent of graduates remain in Utah after graduation for at least one year, and 76% are still in Utah 10 years after graduation.
"Karen and I are delighted to support UVU and its students in this way. Utah County is a special place for us. Our families settled Utah County in pioneer days, our children were raised here, and we started Qualtrics in our home in Provo. We want to give back in a way that will make an impact, honor my profession, and make Utah County a better place to live. We found the perfect match with UVU."
- Scott M. Smith
The UVU Women’s Success Center, founded in 2011, seeks to help students graduate by providing personalized support and removing barriers that prevent individuals involved with the Women’s Success Center from finishing degrees. The programs include:
Scholarships: On average, students who hold Women’s Success Center scholarships remain in school at rates 17% higher than their peers.
Women Lead: A class designed to prepare individuals to serve in leadership roles in every aspect of their lives.
Wee Care Center: Offering affordable, accessible, quality on-campus child care specifically for parent-students at UVU.
"Donors who give to UVU scholarships have given me my education and helped me recognize my strength. Being a Wolverine will forever be one of the best experiences of my life. These are the years that will shape my future. Thank you for helping me and hundreds of other students like me find a home at UVU."
- MaKel McCracken ’23,
Business Management
Holli Saperstein remembers sitting in her high school guidance counselor’s office. It was more than four decades ago, but she can still hear the words he said: “You’re just not meant for college.”
That sentence felt suffocating, like the guidance counselor had sealed her fate. She believed him, too. Nobody in her family had attended college — why would it be any different for her?
Holli dropped out of high school. For the next few years, she worked as a server and a gas station cashier. As a single mother of four children, it seemed no matter how many hours she worked, she could not make enough to provide for her children.
“I was on public assistance and caught in a cycle of poverty,” she said. “I knew I needed to make a change to break free.”
She preached the importance of education to her children and decided to take her own advice. “I sold my living room furniture to fund my first semester at Utah Valley State College (UVSC),” she said.
During the first months of her freshman year, Holli studied late into the night. She slept three hours, woke early to deliver newspapers, returned home to send her children to school, went to class, and then went to her second job. Despite how hard she worked, she worried how she would afford tuition in the spring. She talked to a mentor at the Women’s Success Center who encouraged her to apply for the Presidential Scholarship. She fit the criteria, having earned a 4.0 GPA in her first semester.
“When I found out I had received the scholarship, I cried,” she said. “I was relieved.”
Thanks to the UVU Presidential Scholarship, she was able to graduate from UVSC with an associate degree with honors. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry from Grand Canyon University and a Master of Business Administration from Regis University. Her career reflects her passion for science and public health, and she held roles at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and General Electric.
She can now say that she broke the cycle of poverty in her family. All her children attended college, and her oldest grandson just entered his first year of college on a full-ride scholarship.
“None of my success would have been possible if it weren’t for UVU and the donors who funded my Presidential Scholarship,” she said. “You changed my life and the lives of generations to come.”
-Holli Saperstein ’95, Science
UVU Presidential Scholar
