Due to the extreme legislative budget cuts and weak Arizona economy, I have made some fundamental changes to my original proposal. Instead of contributing to "urban sprawl" by immediately building new campus locations, I suggest that the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) first maximize its existing, under-utilized campuses. This saves more money and precious time while resulting in a more immediate impact for students and taxpayers alike.
I propose that Arizona State University (ASU) be divided into 3 separate universities:
(1) The West campus now becomes a low-cost, non-research university (PSU).
(2) The Polytechnic campus is a medium-cost, modest-research university (AzTech).
(3) The Tempe campus remains as a high-cost, heavy-research university (ASU).
The ASU Downtown Phoenix campus continues as an extension of the ASU Tempe campus.
The remaining ASU West programs are moved to the ASU Polytechnic campus to create a "complete university" (AzTech) having a moderate research level. This approach could establish "2 universities for the price of 1". Common degree programs, departments, and research (e.g., Applied Math, Psychology, Computing, Humanities) between the West and Polytechnic campuses would then be merged together. The current ASU West faculty would still continue pursuing research upon relocating to the newly integrated AzTech University.
Now, this then frees up the ASU West campus to also become a "complete university" (PSU) by offering its own complete set of programs (e.g., business, education, arts and sciences) on-site, but at a noticeably lower tuition rate with a much lower operating cost structure (e.g., non-research faculty) than ASU. Thus, PSU provides increased undergraduate access to a university via "low-cost, high-quality" instruction with a university atmosphere. PSU can also adopt a common course numbering system with the Arizona community colleges.
This decentralization approach removes the fragmentation that is currently present among ASU's campuses and provides a "one-stop" educational experience whereby all programs, faculty, leadership, and administration are housed on-site. PSU, AzTech, and ASU each become its own separate brand and can then compete and collaborate with one another and with the Maricopa Community Colleges for student enrollments within Greater Phoenix.
PSU and AzTech will each have a more clearly defined identity, purpose [mission], and a "sense of community" which then provides a "destination effect" and a "critical mass" to substantially increase enrollments and graduations. In contrast, ASU West & Polytechnic campuses each resemble an "empty shell" at a remote outpost under a central university (ASU), which does not provide a strong enough incentive for many students to avoid attending the high-cost and overcrowded Tempe campus that is located not too far away.
Common degree programs offered at these 3 universities (PSU, AzTech, ASU) would not be viewed as a redundancy because each institution's cost structure, curriculum, mission, and branding are more clearly defined, unlike common programs found among the campuses of ASU's "One University in Many Places". Likewise, each institution would then have its own separate budget, unique admissions standards, local decision-making authority, and a more distinct tuition rate. ABOR would exert direct control over these universities and ASU shall no longer serve as the "middle man" among these university campuses.
AzTech can later establish a non-research, Polytechnic branch campus in Greater Tucson. PSU can provide a low-cost education for more students throughout Arizona via distance learning and community college partnerships. Residents of Greater Phoenix can use their expanding freeway system to travel across town to attend a local university of their choice.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Abstract and Brief Summary of my Restructuring Proposal
The Arizona University System urgently needs systemic change and reform to offer more choices and differentiation among its public universities while better controlling costs. My proposal transforms the ASU West and ASU Polytechnic campuses into independent state universities. This provides increased access to public university education for all qualified Arizonans while maintaining a lower operating cost structure by not subsidizing the doctoral research programs and parking structures located at the ASU Tempe campus.
Both campuses would have clearer institutional identities and purpose if they are branded and managed as free-standing state universities. Their independent budgets and local decision-making authority shall protect them from the politics and policies of ASU's centralized administrative structure. Furthermore, they provide a large enough venue away from the high-cost, heavy research UA and ASU Tempe campuses to educate a high-volume of students at a lower per unit cost to both the student and the State of Arizona.
The time has come for ASU's monopoly power as a public, free-standing, 4-year university to finally come to an end for Greater Phoenix’s population of 4 million. Arizona needs to restructure its university system to provide greater accountability and accessibility for its residents while stimulating the regional economies of Greater Phoenix and Greater Arizona.
Both campuses would have clearer institutional identities and purpose if they are branded and managed as free-standing state universities. Their independent budgets and local decision-making authority shall protect them from the politics and policies of ASU's centralized administrative structure. Furthermore, they provide a large enough venue away from the high-cost, heavy research UA and ASU Tempe campuses to educate a high-volume of students at a lower per unit cost to both the student and the State of Arizona.
The time has come for ASU's monopoly power as a public, free-standing, 4-year university to finally come to an end for Greater Phoenix’s population of 4 million. Arizona needs to restructure its university system to provide greater accountability and accessibility for its residents while stimulating the regional economies of Greater Phoenix and Greater Arizona.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
ASU at the West campus as an Independent State University
Phoenix State University (PSU) could replace the West campus at ASU. A public, regional, urban, and academic university that has a similar title to PSU is Chicago State University. Other public universities with a similar mission include Texas A&M - San Antonio, University of North Texas at Dallas, and Metropolitan State University. PSU shall become a masters-level, instructional-intensive, general academic university.
Alternatively, the new name could be "University of Central Arizona" (UCA) or even "Goldwater State University" (GSU).
However, Phoenix State University follows Portland State University and San Diego State University as a public university whose city-named title advertises its metropolitan area.
Although PSU is classified as a "non-research" university, it is assumed that a very small amount of research will still occur. To adopt a "low-cost" model, a very large percentage of the faculty must necessarily consist of non-research personnel (e.g., clinical professors).
IMPORTANT: Click here to view the proposed initial degree program list for UNT at Dallas.
Similar workforce-oriented, academic degree programs could also be implemented at PSU.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO MAGNIFY THE TABLE
The table above compares public Regional Universities of major cities with Phoenix.
ASU Polytechnic campus as an Independent State University
Arizona Tech University (AzTech) can replace ASU Polytechnic. Similar universities include Tennesee Tech, Arkansas Tech, and Louisiana Tech.Alternatively, "Arizona Institute of Technology" (AzTech) could be the new name which has a similar title to the Oregon Institute of Technology.
AzTech shall become a masters-level, Polytechnic research university with a mission and curriculum that then mirrors Cal Poly. AzTech can later establish a non-research, Polytechnic branch campus in Greater Tucson.
AzTech would then contain the liberal arts and social sciences programs from the ASU West campus plus the engineering and technology programs from the ASU Polytechnic campus.
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO MAGNIFY THE TABLE
The table above contrasts public Technical Universities of other states with AZ.
Expanding the Membership of the Arizona Board of Regents
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO MAGNIFY THE CHART
Increasing the membership size from 3 to 5 reduces the likelihood of any single university from having a disproportionate influence and reduces the temptation for empire building. Overcrowding is reduced at the existing universities while even greater access to public higher education is provided. Many smaller states have more than 3 public universities. Under this arrangement, ASU and UA implicitly become Arizona's top-tier universities.
Increasing Access and Performance among Arizona Universities
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO MAGNIFY THE TABLE
Not listed above are smaller, rural locations with a relative tuition pricing of Lowest to Low.Headcount is the total number of students enrolled as reported from this ABOR document.
MORE SELECTION.....MORE DIFFERENTIATION.....MORE COMPETITION
GREATER AFFORDABILITY....GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY
LOCAL CONTROL
Split the ASU Monopoly into 3 Universities for Greater Phoenix
PSU replaces ASU West campus and AzTech replaces ASU Polytechnic campus.To better understand the scope of Greater Phoenix's 4 million population, consider that the entire statewide population of Oregon is less than that of Metropolitan Phoenix. Yet, Oregon offers several public universities whereas Arizona only offers three. Likewise, New Mexico has only half as many people (2 million), yet offers more public universities than Arizona.
Granted, Oregon and New Mexico each spread out their universities across rural locations throughout their large-sized states. However, it is still more cost-effective to establish a university in a highly-populated, urban setting than in a rural location. And, it is certainly cheaper to convert an existing university branch campus into a free-standing university than it is to create from scratch a brand new university that is located somewhere else.
Even with 5 state universities in Arizona: Oklahoma, Kentucky, Kansas, Arkansas, and Mississippi each still has more public universities despite each having a total population size that is less than or equal to that of Greater Phoenix. Thus, it becomes quite a bargain and without extravagance to have 3 public universities located within Greater Phoenix.
Keep in mind that Arizona's population distribution is heavily skewed, with 60-65% of the statewide population residing in Greater Phoenix. As such, since 3 out of every 5 Arizonans live in Greater Phoenix, it then makes sense if 3 out of the 5 state universities are located in Greater Phoenix, too. Likewise, having 4 out of the 5 state universities located in Greater Phoenix and Greater Tucson combined (including a future Polytechnic branch campus in Greater Tucson) is consistent with 4 out of every 5 Arizonans (80%) living in those regions.
An Interesting Tale of Two Cities - San Antonio versus Phoenix
IMPORTANT: Click here to view the planning document for the new Texas A&M - San Antonio.The arguments presented in the link above are also applicable towards establishing PSU and AzTech.
Also, Greater Atlanta now contains a third public university: Southern Polytechnic State University, located 15 miles north of Atlanta in Marietta, GA.
Below are some facts to consider when comparing San Antonio and Phoenix, as referenced in the above planning document:
(1) UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) is a doctoral university analogous to ASU, but with a smaller research budget and lower enrollment size.
(2) UTSA recently built a new downtown campus in downtown San Antonio, analogous to ASU's new downtown campus in downtown Phoenix.
(3) UTHSC (University of Texas Health Sciences Center) has a location in San Antonio, analogous to the joint UA - ASU Health Sciences Center that is located in Phoenix.
(4) The distances between ASU Tempe and its satellite campuses (West & Polytechnic) are approximately the same as the distance between UTSA and Texas A&M - San Antonio.
(5) The Westside of Phoenix (and the expanding West Valley) is underserved in higher education and already has a large (and fast-growing) Hispanic population, analogous to the Southside of San Antonio.
(6) PSU and AzTech would each be a conversion of an existing university branch campus (ASU West & Polytechnic), whereas Texas A&M - San Antonio is being built from scratch.
(7) Phoenix is now the 5th largest city in America whereas San Antonio is the 7th largest.
(8) The population of Phoenix's Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is now 4 Million, which is double that of San Antonio's MSA of 2 Million.
Notice the many similarities between Phoenix and San Antonio as mentioned above? PSU and AzTech would both seem to have a more substantial impact for Greater Phoenix than Texas A&M - San Antonio will for Greater San Antonio.
Responses to Some Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns
Do you (author) have something personal to gain from this proposal?
No, there is nothing of value (financially or politically) for me to gain as I am neither a lobbyist nor an employee of any university or municipality. Rather, I am a concerned Arizona resident and an ASU graduate student who is interested in promoting increased access, competition, and accountability to public university education for all Arizonans.
How is this different than ABOR's 2004-2005 proposal to separate ASU West?
The key difference is that under my revised plan, the ASU West and Polytechnic campuses are "combined together" to form a "complete", free-standing state university (AzTech) that is housed at the Polytechnic campus location with the current ASU West faculty then keeping their research responsibilities. It should also be noted that ASU already "gutted" its West campus by disestablishing many of its original programs (e.g., business, human services). There is not a tiered governance system under my plan because each public university in Arizona would still report directly to the exact same governing board (ABOR). Converting ASU West into a non-research state university is consistent with ABOR's publicly stated goal of establishing a new, instructional-based state university.
What about the money to pay for this restructuring?
Yes, additional monies are necessary for restructuring. However, additional monies are also necessary to maintain the status quo. Instead of pumping more money into supporting a fragmented university (ASU) whose resources are already stretched out too thin, this money could be better used to consolidate the university system (PSU and AzTech), which also includes the savings from educating more undergraduate students at a lower per-unit cost. Certain upfront expenses necessary to transform ASU West and Polytechnic into PSU and AzTech can be met through a portion of the temporary federal education stimulus dollars and from a portion of Governor Brewer's proposed temporary sales tax increase.
What is the effect of the growing population?
Greater Phoenix's population of 4 million is already too large for any single university (ASU) to have monopoly power as a free-standing state university. The varying demographic and geographic differences necessitate separate public universities that further specialize as a function of cost structure, learning style, rankings, and mission so as to maximize access and efficiency. Furthermore, there exists a significant migration rate of people from rural Arizona and from outside of Arizona into Greater Phoenix who still seek educational and employment opportunities. PSU and AzTech can handle this additional population growth. And, unlike ASU, PSU and AzTech need not require first-year students to live on-campus.
As the population rates of Greater Phoenix and Greater Arizona continue to increase, the existing higher education infrastructure of 3 public universities remains insufficient even for the current population size. PSU and AzTech (along with the AZ community colleges) provide the physical space and capacity to educate tens of thousands of undergraduate students at a lower per unit cost and at a higher student success rate while permitting the very heavy research universities (ASU and UA) to issue enrollment caps to control their excessive costs and student overcrowding. For example, ASU recently capped new student enrollments last March due to a lack of state funding for its higher per-student costs.
Does this separation result in low-quality institutions?
Absolutely not! The curriculum and faculty at PSU and AzTech shall promote academic excellence and increased access to undergraduate education. Although their rankings will not equal the national reputations of ASU and UA, neither does NAU and yet NAU is still considered a quality university. And, the presidents of PSU and AzTech (along with ASU, NAU, & UA) would each report directly to ABOR, thereby ensuring parity, quality control, and legitimacy for PSU and AzTech. Also, if a significant percentage of Arizonans perceive four-year degrees from a community college as "reputable", then it is reasonable to assume that many more Arizonans would perceive four-year degrees from PSU as "more reputable".
PSU and AzTech are academic universities, not vocational institutes. They would promote student success in public higher education for more Arizonans, especially among its under-served and under-prepared populations. For example, PSU (as an instructional university) would embrace a stronger teaching emphasis, which allows many more students to thrive in such a stronger learning environment who might not otherwise do so while at a very heavy research university (ASU & UA). Likewise, AzTech (with its polytechnic focus) would offer students a stronger applied problem solving approach to learning compared to ASU & UA. Thus, PSU and AzTech can increase the graduation rates in the Arizona University System.
Isn't this just creating additional burreacracies?
Not exactly, because the campuses would become free-standing universities under local control (via coordination through ABOR) instead of following the decision-making from a central university (ASU). Arizona already has too few public universities for its population size; thus, this restructuring plan presents an opportunity to close the gap in the number of available public universities while saving the West & Polytechnic campuses from collapse. This is similar to a very large city having more than one high school or community college.
Greater Phoenix's large population size and the conversion of existing university branch campuses provide the necessary cost-effectiveness for operating more than one public university. Remember, each university shall have a different cost structure. For example, the corresponding administrative expenses at PSU and AzTech shall each be lower than ASU. It may also be expected that ASU Tempe would further reduce the expenses from its centralized administrative structure, thereby reducing its own burreacracy. In addition, new academic programs and services at PSU and AzTech could be phased in over time.
What about the role of the community colleges?
The community colleges shall continue to play a pivotal role in Arizona Higher Education and they are expected and encouraged to form even stronger partnerships with the state universities, including the possibility of transfering upto 90 credit hours in select programs. However, PSU and AzTech would still provide the capacity and the economies of scale to educate tens of thousands of undergraduate students across dozens of degree programs on-site for those students who still want a university-level instruction while at a lower tuition rate than ASU and UA. The community colleges should avoid conflicting their mission on providing Arizonans with open access to remedial, vocational, and community education, especially since Arizona's K-12 per pupil expenditures are among the nation's lowest. The CC's should increase the percentage of their tenured faculty for the lower-division courses.
What about the economic impact of PSU and AzTech?
PSU offers Arizonans with increased access to an affordable, general academic university in an instructional-intensive environment. PSU's proposed speciality programs in allied health professions would support the growing healthcare service industry clusters within Arizona. PSU can also produce a high volume of low-cost business and education degrees to satisfy the growing demand for business professionals and K-12 school teachers within Arizona.
AzTech's speciality programs in aviation and technology are consistent with initiatives from the Arizona Aerospace Institute and the Arizona Technology Council to attract more high-paying aerospace and technology jobs by educating more Arizonans in STEM related fields. AzTech's Polytechnic main campus in Mesa and its future branch campus in Greater Tucson would accomodate the growing high-technology industry clusters that are locating there.
PSU and AzTech would partially serve as reliever institutions for the overcrowded ASU and UA, which is especially important because 80% of all Arizonans live in Greater Phoenix and Greater Tucson regions. This allows ASU and UA to focus more on generating very heavy research and achieving top national rankings with positive results benefiting all Arizonans. PSU and AzTech help satisfy ABOR's 2020 Strategic Vision towards substantially raising Arizona's higher educational attainment through increased production of quality degrees.
What about PSU and/or AzTech being part of ASU (or any other university)?
NO! The point is to establish autonomy and not subsidize the expensive operations of ASU, NAU, & UA while providing healthy competition and more choices. A subsidiary or branch campus does not provide the necessary institutional independence, thereby resulting in manipulation and exploitation. As a recent example, "piggybacking" off ASU's name resulted in the loss of local control, as witnessed by the loss of programs and direction at the West & Polytechnic campuses. Local control is important as this allows philanthropists and the neighboring communities and municipalities to "take ownership", which may also include providing future fundraising and bonding towards university development. Furthermore, each university would have its own separate budget and local control of its curriculum without the power struggles that often arise when associating with another university.
Why not keep the existing ASU differentiated campus model?
It is important to have clearer institutional identities instead of the vague and ambiguous
"campus-centric" models because universities rely heavily on fundraising, endowments, and rankings as an indicator of performance and community involvement. A bloated university that has a fragmented and sprawling campus structure may not attract the levels of support neccessary to increase the above mentioned indicators, and individual campuses have lost funding when specific resource investments were later redistributed to other campuses.
Furthermore, the West & Polytechnic campuses are each located too far away for students to take classes back and forth between either campus and any other ASU campus. This is in contrast with the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses, whereby travel times between these two campuses are short especially with the added convenience of light rail transport.
On the other hand, the West & Polytechnic campuses are not located far away enough for students to avoid the high-cost Tempe campus because under ASU's "One University in Many Places", there is not a strong enough incentive for students to attend the West or Polytechnic campus. Why would many students want to attend the "Fake ASU" (West or Polytechnic campus) when within driving distance the "Real ASU" (Tempe or Downtown Phoenix campus) embraces the same institutional identity at a very similar tuition rate while offering many more degree programs, greater amenities, and higher ranked faculty?
In addition, the campuses have different cost structures that vary depending on the level of research and types of degrees offered. It is easier to self-contain costs and have differential tuitions at the institutional-level if the West & Polytechnic campuses are encapsulated and branded as separate, free-standing state universities (PSU & AzTech) since this results in each having an unambiguous identity and a clearer mission while better accounting for the variance in operating expenses and intensity of research to be incurred at each institution.
The goal is to reduce the overcrowding at the higher-cost UA and ASU Tempe campuses by providing viable alternatives for students who still want a university education while in an urban area, but at a lower tuition rate and separate brand than ASU, NAU, and UA. This is important because when educating undergraduate students, Arizona still relies heavily on its very heavy research universities (UA & ASU Tempe) despite their higher costs that will only continue to increase as they compete with peer universities. As a result, taxpayers cannot support as many students as those who would attend lower-cost universities and overall affordability then decreases. Therefore, ASU and UA must necessarily reduce their admissions percentage from the total statewide, undergraduate student population in AZ.
Is your proposal a solution in search of a problem?
ASU West's emergence in the 1980's came about when ASU was in a different stage of its development. Back then, ASU was not a Research I institution but more like a regional university with a lower cost structure. There was little emphasis on rankings, research grants, and endowments. Today, ASU (Tempe and Downtown Phoenix) is a very heavy research institution with a higher cost structure that competes aggressively with other universities across the country for exclusive research grants and top national rankings.
My solution is not in search of a problem, because the problem of not having enough public universities to satisfy Greater Phoenix's population of 4 million people and the State of Arizona's population of 6.6 million is very real. Arizona still has the same number of public universities as it did 50 years ago and yet look at the population change. The ASU West and Polytechnic campuses are under-utilized and must necessarily expand to take advantage of the available space to accomodate the growing undergraduate student populations in AZ.
"One University in Many Places" is a myth because it would be too expensive to put very heavy research programs on the satellite campuses and ASU does not want to do this anyways. Likewise, ASU will still keep its top-ranked faculty at the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses. The West and Polytechnic campuses should each offer its own complete set of programs on-site; however, they cannot do so while affiliated with ASU because ASU Tempe will see this as a redundancy and as a direct competition to its own rankings.
ASU is using these satellite campuses to establish a "mighty empire" by hoarding student enrollment and milking its state appropriations funding so as to satisfy a silly marketing slogan such as "the largest public university under a single administration" while having students on the remote campuses subsidize the expensive doctoral research programs and expensive parking structures located at the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses.
Arizona prides itself in promoting school choice for public K-12 education and should now extend this courtesy for public university education by breaking-up the ASU Empire. My restructuring plan provides Arizonans with more choices, greater access, and healthy competition among Arizona's public universities while the greater accountability that follows helps ensure that Arizonans keep their faith in their public university system.
No, there is nothing of value (financially or politically) for me to gain as I am neither a lobbyist nor an employee of any university or municipality. Rather, I am a concerned Arizona resident and an ASU graduate student who is interested in promoting increased access, competition, and accountability to public university education for all Arizonans.
How is this different than ABOR's 2004-2005 proposal to separate ASU West?
The key difference is that under my revised plan, the ASU West and Polytechnic campuses are "combined together" to form a "complete", free-standing state university (AzTech) that is housed at the Polytechnic campus location with the current ASU West faculty then keeping their research responsibilities. It should also be noted that ASU already "gutted" its West campus by disestablishing many of its original programs (e.g., business, human services). There is not a tiered governance system under my plan because each public university in Arizona would still report directly to the exact same governing board (ABOR). Converting ASU West into a non-research state university is consistent with ABOR's publicly stated goal of establishing a new, instructional-based state university.
What about the money to pay for this restructuring?
Yes, additional monies are necessary for restructuring. However, additional monies are also necessary to maintain the status quo. Instead of pumping more money into supporting a fragmented university (ASU) whose resources are already stretched out too thin, this money could be better used to consolidate the university system (PSU and AzTech), which also includes the savings from educating more undergraduate students at a lower per-unit cost. Certain upfront expenses necessary to transform ASU West and Polytechnic into PSU and AzTech can be met through a portion of the temporary federal education stimulus dollars and from a portion of Governor Brewer's proposed temporary sales tax increase.
What is the effect of the growing population?
Greater Phoenix's population of 4 million is already too large for any single university (ASU) to have monopoly power as a free-standing state university. The varying demographic and geographic differences necessitate separate public universities that further specialize as a function of cost structure, learning style, rankings, and mission so as to maximize access and efficiency. Furthermore, there exists a significant migration rate of people from rural Arizona and from outside of Arizona into Greater Phoenix who still seek educational and employment opportunities. PSU and AzTech can handle this additional population growth. And, unlike ASU, PSU and AzTech need not require first-year students to live on-campus.
As the population rates of Greater Phoenix and Greater Arizona continue to increase, the existing higher education infrastructure of 3 public universities remains insufficient even for the current population size. PSU and AzTech (along with the AZ community colleges) provide the physical space and capacity to educate tens of thousands of undergraduate students at a lower per unit cost and at a higher student success rate while permitting the very heavy research universities (ASU and UA) to issue enrollment caps to control their excessive costs and student overcrowding. For example, ASU recently capped new student enrollments last March due to a lack of state funding for its higher per-student costs.
Does this separation result in low-quality institutions?
Absolutely not! The curriculum and faculty at PSU and AzTech shall promote academic excellence and increased access to undergraduate education. Although their rankings will not equal the national reputations of ASU and UA, neither does NAU and yet NAU is still considered a quality university. And, the presidents of PSU and AzTech (along with ASU, NAU, & UA) would each report directly to ABOR, thereby ensuring parity, quality control, and legitimacy for PSU and AzTech. Also, if a significant percentage of Arizonans perceive four-year degrees from a community college as "reputable", then it is reasonable to assume that many more Arizonans would perceive four-year degrees from PSU as "more reputable".
PSU and AzTech are academic universities, not vocational institutes. They would promote student success in public higher education for more Arizonans, especially among its under-served and under-prepared populations. For example, PSU (as an instructional university) would embrace a stronger teaching emphasis, which allows many more students to thrive in such a stronger learning environment who might not otherwise do so while at a very heavy research university (ASU & UA). Likewise, AzTech (with its polytechnic focus) would offer students a stronger applied problem solving approach to learning compared to ASU & UA. Thus, PSU and AzTech can increase the graduation rates in the Arizona University System.
Isn't this just creating additional burreacracies?
Not exactly, because the campuses would become free-standing universities under local control (via coordination through ABOR) instead of following the decision-making from a central university (ASU). Arizona already has too few public universities for its population size; thus, this restructuring plan presents an opportunity to close the gap in the number of available public universities while saving the West & Polytechnic campuses from collapse. This is similar to a very large city having more than one high school or community college.
Greater Phoenix's large population size and the conversion of existing university branch campuses provide the necessary cost-effectiveness for operating more than one public university. Remember, each university shall have a different cost structure. For example, the corresponding administrative expenses at PSU and AzTech shall each be lower than ASU. It may also be expected that ASU Tempe would further reduce the expenses from its centralized administrative structure, thereby reducing its own burreacracy. In addition, new academic programs and services at PSU and AzTech could be phased in over time.
What about the role of the community colleges?
The community colleges shall continue to play a pivotal role in Arizona Higher Education and they are expected and encouraged to form even stronger partnerships with the state universities, including the possibility of transfering upto 90 credit hours in select programs. However, PSU and AzTech would still provide the capacity and the economies of scale to educate tens of thousands of undergraduate students across dozens of degree programs on-site for those students who still want a university-level instruction while at a lower tuition rate than ASU and UA. The community colleges should avoid conflicting their mission on providing Arizonans with open access to remedial, vocational, and community education, especially since Arizona's K-12 per pupil expenditures are among the nation's lowest. The CC's should increase the percentage of their tenured faculty for the lower-division courses.
What about the economic impact of PSU and AzTech?
PSU offers Arizonans with increased access to an affordable, general academic university in an instructional-intensive environment. PSU's proposed speciality programs in allied health professions would support the growing healthcare service industry clusters within Arizona. PSU can also produce a high volume of low-cost business and education degrees to satisfy the growing demand for business professionals and K-12 school teachers within Arizona.
AzTech's speciality programs in aviation and technology are consistent with initiatives from the Arizona Aerospace Institute and the Arizona Technology Council to attract more high-paying aerospace and technology jobs by educating more Arizonans in STEM related fields. AzTech's Polytechnic main campus in Mesa and its future branch campus in Greater Tucson would accomodate the growing high-technology industry clusters that are locating there.
PSU and AzTech would partially serve as reliever institutions for the overcrowded ASU and UA, which is especially important because 80% of all Arizonans live in Greater Phoenix and Greater Tucson regions. This allows ASU and UA to focus more on generating very heavy research and achieving top national rankings with positive results benefiting all Arizonans. PSU and AzTech help satisfy ABOR's 2020 Strategic Vision towards substantially raising Arizona's higher educational attainment through increased production of quality degrees.
What about PSU and/or AzTech being part of ASU (or any other university)?
NO! The point is to establish autonomy and not subsidize the expensive operations of ASU, NAU, & UA while providing healthy competition and more choices. A subsidiary or branch campus does not provide the necessary institutional independence, thereby resulting in manipulation and exploitation. As a recent example, "piggybacking" off ASU's name resulted in the loss of local control, as witnessed by the loss of programs and direction at the West & Polytechnic campuses. Local control is important as this allows philanthropists and the neighboring communities and municipalities to "take ownership", which may also include providing future fundraising and bonding towards university development. Furthermore, each university would have its own separate budget and local control of its curriculum without the power struggles that often arise when associating with another university.
Why not keep the existing ASU differentiated campus model?
It is important to have clearer institutional identities instead of the vague and ambiguous
"campus-centric" models because universities rely heavily on fundraising, endowments, and rankings as an indicator of performance and community involvement. A bloated university that has a fragmented and sprawling campus structure may not attract the levels of support neccessary to increase the above mentioned indicators, and individual campuses have lost funding when specific resource investments were later redistributed to other campuses.
Furthermore, the West & Polytechnic campuses are each located too far away for students to take classes back and forth between either campus and any other ASU campus. This is in contrast with the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses, whereby travel times between these two campuses are short especially with the added convenience of light rail transport.
On the other hand, the West & Polytechnic campuses are not located far away enough for students to avoid the high-cost Tempe campus because under ASU's "One University in Many Places", there is not a strong enough incentive for students to attend the West or Polytechnic campus. Why would many students want to attend the "Fake ASU" (West or Polytechnic campus) when within driving distance the "Real ASU" (Tempe or Downtown Phoenix campus) embraces the same institutional identity at a very similar tuition rate while offering many more degree programs, greater amenities, and higher ranked faculty?
In addition, the campuses have different cost structures that vary depending on the level of research and types of degrees offered. It is easier to self-contain costs and have differential tuitions at the institutional-level if the West & Polytechnic campuses are encapsulated and branded as separate, free-standing state universities (PSU & AzTech) since this results in each having an unambiguous identity and a clearer mission while better accounting for the variance in operating expenses and intensity of research to be incurred at each institution.
The goal is to reduce the overcrowding at the higher-cost UA and ASU Tempe campuses by providing viable alternatives for students who still want a university education while in an urban area, but at a lower tuition rate and separate brand than ASU, NAU, and UA. This is important because when educating undergraduate students, Arizona still relies heavily on its very heavy research universities (UA & ASU Tempe) despite their higher costs that will only continue to increase as they compete with peer universities. As a result, taxpayers cannot support as many students as those who would attend lower-cost universities and overall affordability then decreases. Therefore, ASU and UA must necessarily reduce their admissions percentage from the total statewide, undergraduate student population in AZ.
Is your proposal a solution in search of a problem?
ASU West's emergence in the 1980's came about when ASU was in a different stage of its development. Back then, ASU was not a Research I institution but more like a regional university with a lower cost structure. There was little emphasis on rankings, research grants, and endowments. Today, ASU (Tempe and Downtown Phoenix) is a very heavy research institution with a higher cost structure that competes aggressively with other universities across the country for exclusive research grants and top national rankings.
My solution is not in search of a problem, because the problem of not having enough public universities to satisfy Greater Phoenix's population of 4 million people and the State of Arizona's population of 6.6 million is very real. Arizona still has the same number of public universities as it did 50 years ago and yet look at the population change. The ASU West and Polytechnic campuses are under-utilized and must necessarily expand to take advantage of the available space to accomodate the growing undergraduate student populations in AZ.
"One University in Many Places" is a myth because it would be too expensive to put very heavy research programs on the satellite campuses and ASU does not want to do this anyways. Likewise, ASU will still keep its top-ranked faculty at the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses. The West and Polytechnic campuses should each offer its own complete set of programs on-site; however, they cannot do so while affiliated with ASU because ASU Tempe will see this as a redundancy and as a direct competition to its own rankings.
ASU is using these satellite campuses to establish a "mighty empire" by hoarding student enrollment and milking its state appropriations funding so as to satisfy a silly marketing slogan such as "the largest public university under a single administration" while having students on the remote campuses subsidize the expensive doctoral research programs and expensive parking structures located at the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses.
Arizona prides itself in promoting school choice for public K-12 education and should now extend this courtesy for public university education by breaking-up the ASU Empire. My restructuring plan provides Arizonans with more choices, greater access, and healthy competition among Arizona's public universities while the greater accountability that follows helps ensure that Arizonans keep their faith in their public university system.
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