In a few weeks when Utah Valley University president William Sederburg has a new job, it may seem a little bit odd to see his smiling face blown up on banners advertising the new UVU student ID card in the student center at UVU.

On Aug. 18, the president who led the transition from Utah Valley State College to university status gets a new job as the state commissioner of higher education. Last week the state board of regents announced Sederburg's appointment to the position that had been vacant for seven months. At the same meeting, UVU officials said they aren't expecting drastic changes to come quickly.

"We anticipate a smooth transition through all of this," said Val Peterson, the university's vice president of administration and legislative affairs. He said the university's vice presidents are unified and plan to keep hold of UVU's goals.

Jed Pitcher, chair of the state board of regents, said a search committee will begin looking for an interim president within the month. The interim president will serve until the process of hiring a new president is complete. Pitcher said the earliest a new president would be at UVU is Jan. 1, though that is a quick timetable.

During Sederburg's tenure at UVSC, he set out to create a community-engaged university where students and staff would become stewards of their communities through internships, projects, grants and other activities. The university is seeking a special engagement classification from the Carnegie Foundation.

Elizabeth Hitch, UVU's vice president for academic affairs, said that will not change.

"The university has a well-developed strategic plan and a community-developed vision for how it will be in the year 2018. While we will miss Bill's enthusiasm, good humor and thoughtful interactions with faculty, staff and employees, we can confidently implement our current plan of becoming a community engaged institution," Hitch wrote in an e-mail.

Jack Christianson, UVU's director of the Center for Engaged Learning, said unless a new president takes the school in a completely new direction, things will not change, but he's not losing any sleep over it.

"You know, I don't really worry about that. If the new president wants to go in a new direction, we'll go from there," Christianson said.

Jeanette Hales Beckham, chair of UVU's board of trustees, is not worried about losing direction either, because President Sederburg's contributions to the school will live on.

"I think his leadership will still be visible. I just have confidence that they'll find a good successor for UVU," Beckham said.

UVU junior Justin Findlay liked having Sederburg as president because he listened to students. He even fixed something Findlay e-mailed him to complain about.

"He actually did something about it. I was always quite impressed with that," Findlay said.

Even then, not being acquainted with the intricacies of being a college president, Findlay said he doesn't know that having a new president will affect him.

"At least from my point of view ... They're pretty much interchangeable," Findlay said.

Hitch said students may not see how a president influences an institution, but Sederburg's experience was good for the school.

"Bill Sederburg came to UVU as a very experienced president, and his knowledge regarding higher education and the political process served UVU extremely well. He really was the perfect man of the hour for the transition of UVSC to UVU," Hitch wrote in an e-mail message.

• Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.