The Arizona Board of Regents on Thursday discussed a proposed plan to make earning an undergraduate degree faster and less expensive for students in more locations throughout the state.
The presidents of The University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University presented models that would enable the university system of increase the number of baccalaureate degrees it awards by at least 50 percent by 2020.
The UA's model would leverage existing University sites throughout the state, grow current partnerships with community colleges and expand academic programming into new sites within two years.
It would result in a 37 percent increase in UA enrollment by 2020.
"We feel like this could be done with minimal administrative infrastructure at each location," said UA President Robert N. Shelton.
In his presentation, Shelton outlined communities where students would have the opportunity to access UA degree programs – including Chandler, Thatcher, Yuma, Tuba City, Casa Grande and Nogales.
Shelton said this plan "reflects our commitment to serve the entire state, based on our land grant heritage."
A key element to this plan to include accessibility and affordability of an undergraduate education, Shelton said, is each local community's involvement in identifying degree programs that are relevant to each area and would appeal most to its residents.
The scalable model would grow over a 10-year period to support more students while maintaining lower operations costs and tuition than the UA main campus. As Arizona's Land-Grant university, the UA already has site in every county in the save and will leverage those venues to reduce operational costs.
"It allows us to focus on regions where we already have a presence," Shelton said.
According to Michael Proctor, dean of the UA Outreach College, while this is a lower cost model additional resources would need to be invested in the UA in order to hire additional faculty and provide appropriate student support programs.
The regents also approved a five-year contract for new UA men's basketball head coach Sean Miller, which will run through April 30, 2014.
The UA also presented its fiscal year 2010 capital development plan, which was approved. Four projects were approved, including:
Construction schedules for these projects are dependent on the availability of funding.
Master leases for the UA's Arizona Bioscience Park were approved by the regents. The Arizona Bioscience Park, located on 65 acres of land in central Tucson, will be part of a 350-acre project known as The Bridges that will include 110 acres of retail and 175 acres of residential development.
A master developer for the project will be selected by year's end and construction of infrastructure improvements will begin. The first phase of development for the Arizona Bioscience Park is scheduled to begin in January 2011.
The regents also approved a 50-year ground lease with the Vail Unified School District at the UA Science and Technology Park. Vail High School, a charter school and a tenant of the park, serves about 160 students.
The Arizona Board of Regents will continue its meeting in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Friday, June 19 at 9:30 a.m.