This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The state Board of Regents on Wednesday authorized Utah Valley University to sell up to $59 million in bonds to finance its proposed Student Life and Wellness Building and a 534-stall parking structure.

The UVU bond sale is intended to address a crushing lack of student space at the fast-growing Orem school, according to Val Peterson, UVU vice president for finance and administration. The 170,000-square-foot life and wellness building, which would cost $40 million, will help keep UVU students on campus when they are not in class and promote their extracurricular involvement in school, Peterson told Regents.

"This is crucial for increasing our completion rates," he said.

The bond would be paid off through student and parking fees, as well as excess revenue from other facilities, such as the bookstore, baseball stadium, student center and dining services. Meanwhile, the school is asking the Legislature this session for $50 million for a new classroom building.

In other action, the Regents established strict policies governing how colleges and universities establish new student fees — the mandatory charges that fund nonacademic services and activities, such as bus passes, computer labs and athletics. The policy is a response to a blistering legislative audit that found the University of Utah does a poor job of monitoring student fees and ensuring revenue is spent for designated purposes.

In implementing auditors' recommendations, the new Regents policy requires each school to form an advisory committee, whose members include students, to oversee the creation, review and maintenance of student fees. The creation of new fees must be supported by a demonstrated need, a clear description of the fee and a budgetary plan; fees must undergo an annual review to ensure they are accomplishing their stated objective and fund balances should be kept to a minimum; and fee increases must be accompanied with documentation supporting the rationale and the uses of the additional revenue.