ARIZONA (By Judd Slivka, Arizona Republic) February 19,
2007 — Arizona students would have more choices in how much they pay for
attending a state university under a plan offered Friday by the team
redesigning the system.
The proposal would set up three levels of tuition and would bring huge changes to ASU West in Phoenix. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University would have the highest tuition to underwrite their academic research. ASU West and ASU East in Mesa would have among the lowest.
The recommendations were based on months of research that led to two major findings: The university system can't handle the expected growth in students over the next two decades, and Arizona lacks options when it comes to college costs.
Under the recommendations, the amount a student pays for tuition in Arizona would be directly linked to the kind of university the student attends. In addition, ASU West's growing research mission would be nipped in the bud, and the campus, along with ASU East, would focus almost entirely on undergraduate and master's degree students.
The most probable scenario would go like this:
• Tuition at UA's main campus and generally at ASU's Tempe and downtown Phoenix campuses would be among the highest in the university system, though some programs at those campuses could have lower tuitions than others.
• NAU's Flagstaff campus will have tuition below the research-heavy universities.
• UA South and NAU's "2+2" programs with community colleges will have among the lowest tuitions.
• ASU East and ASU West would have lower tuitions as they focus on undergraduate and master's degree students.
The recommendations are the work of the Feasibility and Planning Study Work Group, created last year to determine whether the university system needs an overhaul and, if so, what kind.
What is unclear is exactly how different the levels of tuition will be. Historically, tuition has either been the same or nearly the same for all three universities.
ASU President Michael Crow said Friday that tuition will be based on several factors: "What resources are needed for a particular program in a particular school at a particular campus; what are the peer schools competing against the program that a program would be competing for; and how can we create variability in price?"
As far as the ASU West campus goes, administrators had already planned to have schools with lower costs on that campus.
Other highlights of the draft proposal presented Friday include:
• ASU West will no longer expand its research mission and will instead focus on educating undergraduate and master's degree students. ASU East would do the same. Current research would probably be unaffected.
• Any research institutes or centers that ASU would administer in the West Valley might be on the ASU West campus but would be run and funded by the main campus in Tempe.
• NAU would continue its work with community colleges around the state.
• Both NAU and UA South would continue to work in Pima County, where growth in college-age residents is the highest. One of the schools would eventually become a free-standing four-year university.
• The universities should create a separate tenure track for faculty members whose primary job is to teach, not do research.
• The universities should create a way of breaking out "funds for instruction" from "funds for research" when asking the Legislature for money.
Perhaps the most notable winners: students and parents. The state has absolutely no lower-cost four-year alternatives for college. If this plan goes through, it could create lower-cost entry points to a college education.
Other winners: UA South and NAU, which will compete to see which of them can grow their Pima County facilities to become a free-standing four-year university.
A loser: The ASU West faculty, many of whom were recruited under the idea of the university's growing research mission. The faculty won the battle to retain an ASU identity but appears to have lost the war to remain a research institution.
She also is chairwoman of the Arizona Faculty Council, which represents the faculty at the state's institutions.
The wild card: The Legislature, which hasn't really had a hand in the redesign process. A legislative stakeholder group was created for input, then disbanded after few legislators wanted to participate. There is some resentment in the state's governing body over how the redesign process left lawmakers out.
Rep. Laura Knaperek, R-Tempe, chairwoman of the House Universities, Community Colleges and Technology Committee, has commented during at least three public hearings on how she wishes legislators had a role in the process.
The reaction in the West Valley, at least by those few who were familiar with the proposal, was predictable.
Jack Lunsford, president of the Western Maricopa Coalition, said the proposal was a disservice to a West Valley community that is growing at a record pace and in desperate need of public research.
Lunsford, whose group is made up of business and community leaders who focus on the economic needs of the West Valley, attended Friday's meeting and was struck by the apparent limit to the kinds of services ASU West will be allowed to provide.
"We will have a large concentration of residents with no major research institution," he said. "We need public research to help with urban development."
But students had a slightly different reaction: Cheap tuition and a brand-name university aren't such a bad thing.
Saif Al-Alawi, president of the ASU West student body, said students in general don't worry about the research capabilities of the campus. They want their degree to say ASU and they want affordable tuition.
But, he said, those looking to stay on campus for doctoral or high-level research will not want to drive to Tempe.
"We need more services out here, not less," he said.
The proposal would set up three levels of tuition and would bring huge changes to ASU West in Phoenix. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University would have the highest tuition to underwrite their academic research. ASU West and ASU East in Mesa would have among the lowest.
The recommendations were based on months of research that led to two major findings: The university system can't handle the expected growth in students over the next two decades, and Arizona lacks options when it comes to college costs.
Under the recommendations, the amount a student pays for tuition in Arizona would be directly linked to the kind of university the student attends. In addition, ASU West's growing research mission would be nipped in the bud, and the campus, along with ASU East, would focus almost entirely on undergraduate and master's degree students.
The most probable scenario would go like this:
• Tuition at UA's main campus and generally at ASU's Tempe and downtown Phoenix campuses would be among the highest in the university system, though some programs at those campuses could have lower tuitions than others.
• NAU's Flagstaff campus will have tuition below the research-heavy universities.
• UA South and NAU's "2+2" programs with community colleges will have among the lowest tuitions.
• ASU East and ASU West would have lower tuitions as they focus on undergraduate and master's degree students.
The recommendations are the work of the Feasibility and Planning Study Work Group, created last year to determine whether the university system needs an overhaul and, if so, what kind.
Hurdles to clear
An eight-person subcommittee was appointed last month to create a plan to redesign the system. If the proposal is approved by the entire work group Thursday, it will go to the Board of Regents in April. No final action could happen until at least August.What is unclear is exactly how different the levels of tuition will be. Historically, tuition has either been the same or nearly the same for all three universities.
ASU President Michael Crow said Friday that tuition will be based on several factors: "What resources are needed for a particular program in a particular school at a particular campus; what are the peer schools competing against the program that a program would be competing for; and how can we create variability in price?"
As far as the ASU West campus goes, administrators had already planned to have schools with lower costs on that campus.
Other highlights of the draft proposal presented Friday include:
• ASU West will no longer expand its research mission and will instead focus on educating undergraduate and master's degree students. ASU East would do the same. Current research would probably be unaffected.
• Any research institutes or centers that ASU would administer in the West Valley might be on the ASU West campus but would be run and funded by the main campus in Tempe.
• NAU would continue its work with community colleges around the state.
• Both NAU and UA South would continue to work in Pima County, where growth in college-age residents is the highest. One of the schools would eventually become a free-standing four-year university.
• The universities should create a separate tenure track for faculty members whose primary job is to teach, not do research.
• The universities should create a way of breaking out "funds for instruction" from "funds for research" when asking the Legislature for money.
Winners, losers
A careful reading of the plan shows clear winners and losers.Perhaps the most notable winners: students and parents. The state has absolutely no lower-cost four-year alternatives for college. If this plan goes through, it could create lower-cost entry points to a college education.
Other winners: UA South and NAU, which will compete to see which of them can grow their Pima County facilities to become a free-standing four-year university.
A loser: The ASU West faculty, many of whom were recruited under the idea of the university's growing research mission. The faculty won the battle to retain an ASU identity but appears to have lost the war to remain a research institution.
Faculty shut out?
"The consultant did not listen to the concerns of the working group who represent our universities and instead distinguished his role for (the Board of Regents) as divergent from the wisdom of the universities and their faculty," said Frances Bernat, an ASU West professor who headed the faculty stakeholder group.She also is chairwoman of the Arizona Faculty Council, which represents the faculty at the state's institutions.
The wild card: The Legislature, which hasn't really had a hand in the redesign process. A legislative stakeholder group was created for input, then disbanded after few legislators wanted to participate. There is some resentment in the state's governing body over how the redesign process left lawmakers out.
Rep. Laura Knaperek, R-Tempe, chairwoman of the House Universities, Community Colleges and Technology Committee, has commented during at least three public hearings on how she wishes legislators had a role in the process.
The reaction in the West Valley, at least by those few who were familiar with the proposal, was predictable.
Jack Lunsford, president of the Western Maricopa Coalition, said the proposal was a disservice to a West Valley community that is growing at a record pace and in desperate need of public research.
Lunsford, whose group is made up of business and community leaders who focus on the economic needs of the West Valley, attended Friday's meeting and was struck by the apparent limit to the kinds of services ASU West will be allowed to provide.
"We will have a large concentration of residents with no major research institution," he said. "We need public research to help with urban development."
But students had a slightly different reaction: Cheap tuition and a brand-name university aren't such a bad thing.
Saif Al-Alawi, president of the ASU West student body, said students in general don't worry about the research capabilities of the campus. They want their degree to say ASU and they want affordable tuition.
But, he said, those looking to stay on campus for doctoral or high-level research will not want to drive to Tempe.
"We need more services out here, not less," he said.
