By Kacey Earl
The Utah Valley State College Wasatch Campus, Utah''s newest college campus, is under construction in Heber Valley.
The 71,000 square-foot building will accommodate students all over the state, especially those in the Wasatch and Summit counties.
'It''s the setting of the campus that is so beautiful,' said Donna Creighton, director of student life at Utah Valley State College. 'It''s striking. It sits out on a hill overlooking Mt. Timpanogos.'
Crews started working on the main campus building at the beginning of October and should finish in time for fall semester next year.
'The campus design of the main building is all glass,' said Creighton. 'It provides students and faculty the view of the mountain.'
UVSC is required by state law to provide college courses for residents in Wasatch and Summit counties.
Eight years ago, UVSC officials recognized the need to better serve the current and potential students in those counties and prevent them from a long commute on the Provo canyon road to the Orem campus.
This problem was temporarily addressed by offering a satellite campus for approximately 500 students in a rented building in downtown Heber.
But with rising enrollment and no room for expansion, officials soon recognized a need for the new campus.
'This will be the most beautiful campus in Utah,' said J.D. Davidson, dean of the Wasatch Campus.
Classrooms, administrative offices and a bookstore will make this a full-service campus, preventing students from having to drive to UVSC''s Orem campus for books or registration.
The campus, located two miles north of Heber in U.S. 40, hopes to enroll 800 students for fall 2003. UVSC officials are projecting to accommodate 2,500 students by 2010, the same number of students the Orem campus was built to accommodate 22 years ago.
'We hope the Wasatch campus will have the same success and growth as the Orem campus,' said Davidson.
As enrollment grows, the college will have access to 52-acres for expansion to fit the student''s needs, said Davidson.
The $18 million project was made possible through $9.5 million in community donations. Heber residents Jeff Knowles, an Internet entrepreneur, and his wife Molly added a $5 million donation.
The rest of the funds were provided by state funds.
The college will initially offer general education classes and associates degrees. Depending on enrollment, the school could eventually expand to a four-year school.
UVSC currently provides the Provo Airport campus, located at the Provo Municipal Airport and the West campus, located on the west side the freeway from the Orem campus.
It also provides educational centers at the University Mall, Spanish Fork and North Valley.