PHOENIX (By Louie Villalobos, Arizona Republic)
May 25, 2007 — ASU West faculty members and students mostly expressed dismay Monday over a
proposal that would separate the campus from Arizona State University and
place it under a regional university system.
As about 350 people packed into an ASU West meeting room, about 20 tenured
faculty members were asked to stand up, then remain standing if they planned
to stay should the campus become Central Arizona University.
Most of them sat down.
Major concerns that were expressed dealt with whether ASU West would be
shifted to second-tier educational status in the statewide university system
and whether the quality of faculty members or classes would be lowered under
the plan.
Faculty members and students said they also worried about losing the pride and
identity wrapped in the ASU name.
"How would one recruit somebody with this degree of uncertainty?" asked
Richard Gitelson, a faculty member of the College of Human Services at ASU
West.
On Monday, ASU West faculty, staff and students were given their first chance
to ask about proposed changes in Arizona's university system. The earliest
they would take effect is 2007.
Under the plan, ASU West would become Central Arizona University, an
independent university with a focus on undergraduate and master's level
education, with less of an emphasis on research.
The proposal, developed by Regents President Chris Herstam and the presidents
of the three universities, would also separate Arizona universities into two
types: the University of Arizona and ASU would remain large research
universities. Northern Arizona University, and the proposed Central Arizona
and Southern Arizona universities, would become part of a regional university
system.
NAU would be the flagship and model for the regional universities.
Paul Miller, a member of the social and behavioral sciences faculty, said the
East Valley campus is younger than ASU West and the downtown campus is more
costly to ASU.
"We're ready to go on to the next level," Miller said. "Why aren't they open
for discussion for them being part of the regional university? It doesn't make
any sense."
Most of the questions were directed at Milton Glick, executive vice president
and provost of ASU. . Because of an earlier scheduled meeting, ASU President
Michael Crow was not at the meeting.
Glick said ASU West should proceed with three goals while awaiting a
feasibility study on the proposal:
• Continue its mission as a liberal arts campus under the ASU umbrella.
• Continue to initiate programs that have been planned for the campus before
the proposal was drafted.
• Be involved in the process of restructuring higher education in the state.
Newly appointed ASU West Provost Mark Searle, named three days before the
proposal was made public, will likely be appointed to a team that will spend
the next months discussing the proposal, Glick said.
"We know to even have that dialogue is disruptive," Glick said. "But the
regents made that decision that it was time to have that dialogue."
Some faculty members asked Searle to visit the idea of the West Valley
university being the flagship for the regional system rather than NAU.
"Let's not overreact yet," Searle said. "Let's try and move forward."
A few students also asked questions, with one who wanted to make sure that
current course offerings won't be affected and that students admitted to ASU
West won't have a Central Arizona University degree.
Glick promised the same courses will continue to be offered and anyone showing
progress toward graduation will have an ASU degree.
