Elevate university commendation (7)
I believe the answer is:
upraise
'elevate' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'university commendation' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'commendation' becomes 'praise' (praise is a kind of commendation).
'u'+'praise'='UPRAISE'
(Other definitions for upraise that I've seen before include "Erect" , "EU pairs (anag) - lift higher" , "Exalt - elevate" .)