UVU to Open Campus at Thanksgiving Point

UVU TO OPEN NEW LEHI CAMPUS AT THANKSGIVING POINT

Through the purchase of a Lehi building, Utah Valley University is bringing educational opportunities to the heart of the Silicon Slopes area.

In May of 2020, UVU purchased the former Entrata building at 2912 Executive Parkway, Lehi. Prior to that time, UVU was renting half of the building’s first floor.

Since the purchase, remodeling efforts have been underway inside the 103,000-square-foot building to create more flexible teaching and working spaces. Construction is now wrapping up and the new UVU Lehi Campus at Thanksgiving Point will have its formal opening this fall.

“Lehi and north Utah County are, without question, great hubs of ideas, innovation, and growth,” said Astrid S. Tuminez, president of UVU. “Early in my tenure, I was very excited to learn about Silicon Slopes and the potential synergies between industry and academia. The UVU campus at Thanksgiving Point is a physical location that will facilitate these powerful synergies. As we forge closer partnerships with industry, I am confident that students, families, employers and Utah’s economy will be the clear beneficiaries.”

UVU continues to grow, and this growth is evident in its various schools, programs and divisions. “Our vision for the division of Community Outreach and Economic Development (COED) and UVU’s role in the region positions us well to lead in intentional efforts to be active contributors and partners to learners of all ages. The Thanksgiving Point campus, part of the COED portfolio, is strategically positioned to fuel educational, workforce and economic development in various fields,” said Belkis Torres-Capeles, associate provost for COED. “We partner with our faculty and industry leaders to offer best-inclass learning opportunities ensuring career and professional excellence.”

UVU’s concurrent enrollment department as well as executive education and continuing education will be housed in the Lehi building, said Donna Milakovic, senior director of community outreach for UVU and project manager for the remodeling of the Lehi campus. The university will occupy the building’s first and fourth floors while renting out the building’s second and third floors to outside businesses.

“In the past, we’ve had only a handful of faculty and facilitators that were there, but now we’re moving more employees to the northern Utah County area,” Milakovic said. “It will be an anchor for community education and executive education, which are noncredit business and community offerings, as well as credit classes and general education certificate courses.”

The campus will offer a mixture of executive education courses for professionals, credit courses for undergraduate students, and continuing education courses for the general public. There are also two master’s degree programs offered at the Lehi campus in cybersecurity and business administration. The MBA program has an optional track offering an emphasis in technology management.

There will be a wider range of courses than ever before at the campus, and students at the nearby Mountainland Technical College will have the option of taking college credit courses at the UVU campus through a partnership between UVU and MTECH.

“UVU has a focus on outreach in the area,” Milakovic said. “We have a focus on executive education and innovative learning spaces that matches the fast-growing economy of north Utah County.”

The Lehi campus is located close to Interstate 15 and within walking distance of Lehi’s FrontRunner station, making it a convenient location for students.

“We’re excited to be more closely participating in the energetic growth of Silicon Slopes and north Utah County,” Milakovic said. “UVU is really excited to be even more accessible to residents and businesses in that part of our service region.”