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8 LONG TITLE
9 General Description:
10 This resolution honors the service and legacy of President Matthew S. Holland of Utah
11 Valley University.
12 Highlighted Provisions:
13 This resolution:
14 ▸ honors President Matthew S. Holland for his community leadership and educational
15 vision.
16 Special Clauses:
17 None
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19 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
20 WHEREAS, President Holland has served as president of Utah Valley University for
21 nearly nine years and during this time made numerous accomplishments in academic strength
22 and innovation, resource expansion and planning, and more;
23 WHEREAS, President Holland has brought national and international attention to
24 UVU's dual-mission model as both an outstanding teaching university and a comprehensive
25 community college;
26 WHEREAS, under the leadership of President Holland, the university developed 26
27 new bachelor's degrees and six of its eight current master's degrees to meet workforce needs;
28 WHEREAS, President Holland implemented the Freshman Reading Program, the
29 Presidential Lecture Series, Freshman Convocation, and Presidential Internships;
30 WHEREAS, President Holland established three academic centers -- the Center for
31 Constitutional Studies, the Center for National Security Studies, and the Melisa Nellesen
32 Center for Autism;
33 WHEREAS, President Holland expanded the number of full-time faculty at the
34 university, resulting in more than 55% of the instruction there being delivered by full-time
35 faculty;
36 WHEREAS, President Holland was named the national Executive of the Year in 2016
37 by Education Dive for his innovation and strategic leadership in higher education;
38 WHEREAS, under the leadership of President Holland, UVU nearly doubled the
39 footprint of the campus by acquiring 225 acres on the old Geneva Steel site in Vineyard, more
40 than doubled the size of the school's endowment, and raised more cash donations and pledges
41 than were previously raised in its history;
42 WHEREAS, President Holland developed a long-range university master plan for
43 academic programming and development of land and physical facilities;
44 WHEREAS, President Holland worked with the Legislature to secure an additional $21
45 million in new, ongoing funding to put UVU on a more equitable level with other institutions
46 in the Utah System of Higher Education;
47 WHEREAS, President Holland secured public and private funding for 12 major
48 buildings, structures, and refurbishments, totaling more than one million square feet of space;
49 WHEREAS, President Holland oversaw the expansion of student headcount
50 enrollments from 28,765 to 37,282, and a corresponding number of graduates, for a total
51 increase of 45% over nine years;
52 WHEREAS, President Holland commissioned and oversaw the development of the
53 nationally and internationally recognized, 200-foot wide, stained glass panorama, the Roots of
54 Knowledge, celebrating the world's most important advances in human knowledge and
55 understanding;
56 WHEREAS, President Holland established a Business Engagement Strategy and Five
57 Pillars of Engaged Learning to make UVU a model of responsiveness to workforce demands
58 and community development;
59 WHEREAS, under his direction, UVU completed its transition to Division I athletics,
60 joined the Western Athletic Conference, and added a Division I men's soccer team, the only
61 NCAA-sanctioned men's soccer team in the state; and
62 WHEREAS, President Holland never lost sight of the individual student, as evidenced
63 by his weekly run to the food court to treat a surprised student to lunch:
64 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
65 Governor concurring therein, honors President Matthew S. Holland for his legacy of
66 community leadership and educational vision, making Utah the right place to live, to learn, to
67 work, and to play.
68 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be presented to President
69 Matthew S. Holland.