Uphold university mark after end of appeals (7)
I believe the answer is:
sustain
'uphold' is the definition.
(sustaining is a kind of upholding)
'university mark after end of appeals' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'mark' becomes 'stain' ('stain' can be a synonym of 'mark'**).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'end of' suggests the final letters.
The final letter of 'appeals' is 's'.
'u'+'stain'='ustain'
'ustain' after 's' is 'SUSTAIN'.
(Other definitions for sustain that I've seen before include "Keep up; hold for a long time" , "Strengthen physically" , "Nurture, uphold" , "Prolong, support" , "Bear, hold, up" .)