Saying a radical restructuring is needed, a legislative panel approved a plan Wednesday to have each state university run by its own governing board.
The proposal by Sen. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, would scrap the Board of Regents. Instead, the governor would name panels to set the policies for each of the three schools.
In fact, there would be four: SB 1115 would spin off what is now known as ASU Polytechnic into its own freestanding university, with its own direction.
But a change in structure is just part of the program.
It also would eliminate the current system of providing a set amount of aid for each university. Instead, the state would give a voucher to each student that the school, in essence, would trade in to the treasury for state aid.
Get more students, you get more money.
And schools that want more would have to meet certain performance standards, such as the number of students who actually get a degree in four years. Any money the schools want beyond that would come, as it does now, from the students.
The way Biggs sees it, the current system doesn't work. He said what's needed is an incentive for true diversity and competition, incentives he said have been lacking.
Regents President Tom Anderes conceded that may have been the case. But he insisted that is all in the past, with the university presidents now working on "a new approach for the delivery of higher education" in the state.
"(The plan recognizes the differences in university missions," he told Biggs and other members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He said the issues that Biggs mentioned are "history" and that the regents are "looking at things very differently."
He promised a system "built on metrics," with measurable standards and funding tied to performance. And Anderes said that the regents foresee creating a system with various ways of addressing the particular needs and priorities of individual communities and groups.
"But we're also looking at the strength of being able to work together," he said. "There is value in being able to do things cooperatively."
Biggs was not impressed.
"I appreciate that you're trying to move in exactly the direction that I'm moving, which is new matrices, new benchmarks, new directions for these universities, less stumbling block and more facilitation," he told Anderes.
But Biggs said what's needed is a structural change to the system, including its funding, to truly make the schools more responsive.
Other legislators shared his belief that a new model for higher education is needed.
Sen. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa, said he wants to look at the system in Utah. While he said there is a state governing board, each university there also has its own board, which does things like setting tuition above the state minimum.
"And they get to choose to have their own mission," he said.
For example, Crandall said, Southern Utah University strives to be a liberal arts school, with higher tuition.
"Utah Valley University wants to be the most affordable four-year school in America," he continued. "And right now, they're accomplishing that," though Crandall called that "a very hard-to-duplicate model, so I'm not pushing that."
He said the University of Utah wants to be a Tier One research school, with Utah State focusing on engineering and education.
"Every one of them has been allowed to have the freedom of flexibility without answering to just one board," Crandall said.
And he, like Biggs, said he was not content to sit back and wait for the regents to deliver on the promise of something different.
"A lot of us are kind of just tired of waiting for something big and bold," Crandall said.
The change is not favored by the Arizona Students Association. Lobbyist David Martinez III said the proposal does not require that a student be a voting member of each university's governing board. Now there is a voting student on the Board of Regents.
But Martinez said his group also questions whether the voucher system will ensure adequate funding for the schools.
Notably absent from the hearing - and from taking a position on possible new freedoms - were the university presidents. That is not by accident: Spokesmen for Michael Crow at Arizona State University and John Haeger at Northern Arizona University both said the official position of their bosses is that of the Board of Regents.
Senate Minority Leader David Schapira, D-Tempe, said he's not convinced that having four separate systems is in the best interests of taxpayers. In fact, he noted, lawmakers are pushing for consolidation of the more than 200 individual public school districts in the state under the banner of saving money through less duplication.
But Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, supported the plan.
"I think there's a lot of room for improvement in our higher education system," he said.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 4:39 pm on Wed, Feb 23, 2011.
THIS RESTRUCTURING IS LONG, LONG OVERDUE ! ! !
The Arizona Board of Regents have become a home to Democrat National Committee "Big Shots" and others from the...ULTRA-LIBERAL, LEFT-WING, SOCIALIST Minority pushing their ETHNIC/RACIAL BASED DOGMA.
Just look at Flagstaff's Northern Arizona University Faculty Senate vote of 90%...."AGAINST SB 1070".....almost the same at ASU-PHOENIX.... and....UA-TUCSON. These Arizona tax-payer supported ..."State" Universities advocated non-compliance and up to in including..."civil disobedience" to ...STOP....the implementation of SB 1070 on ...THEIR....THEIR.....Campuses (the Campus that hard working Arizonat tax-payer ....OWN).
The University of Arizona at Tucson's "COLLEGE OF EDUCATION is the co-sponsor and mentor for the TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT'S....HIGH SCHOOL ETHNIC STUDIES/RAZA PROGRAM.
University of Arizona even invited a UCLA Professor who is a self-proclaimed Che "El Commie" Guevara Lover to give the keynote speach to Tucson Ethnic/Raza High School teachers.
Folks, something is completely wrong with Arizona's University System when almost every professor and academic is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy to the SOCIALIST/LEFT.....of Arizona's Citizens....the ones who are paying through the nose to support these Universities.
Last November 2nd, 2010 National Election Day...not only Arizona voters but voters all across America said enough was enough....AMERICA IS NOT GOING TO BECOME A SOCIALIST NATION.
Now it is time for the Citizens of Arizona to ......TAKE BACK OUR TAX-PAYER SUPPORTED UNIVERSITIES ! ! !
IceCat posted at 7:00 pm on Wed, Feb 23, 2011.
Leon, have you thought about getting some mental health treatment?
Back to the topic: Sen. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa, said he wants to look at the system in Utah. While he said there is a state governing board, each university there also has its own board, which does things like setting tuition above the state minimum.
Sen. Crandall is spot on. Compare to the number of public universities in Utah, New Mexico to Arizona. Proves for again Arizona doesn't value education.
az2008 posted at 8:05 pm on Wed, Feb 23, 2011.
Long overdue. We should have a plethora of state universities like California. Not a handful of *satellites* as Crow is pressured into them. The center of the universe isn't ASU and Crow's empire. It's time to decentralize and reign in than megalomaniac.
anotherAZguy posted at 11:19 pm on Wed, Feb 23, 2011.
Check out my website which advocates restructuring the Arizona University System to provide greater accessibility, affordability, and accountability to a public university education for many more Arizonans while breaking-up the ASU monopoly within Greater Phoenix.
It does this by merging the ASU West & Polytechnic campuses into an independent, "medium-cost", & modest research state university that is then housed at the Polytechnic campus location while the ASU West campus then transforms itself into an independent, "low-cost", & non-research state university.
Click on (or copy and paste) the link below to view my website for the details of my strategic plan:
http://PSUandAzTech.blogspot.com
wonderweenie posted at 8:25 am on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
The board of regents should be abolished. I totally agree with this money saving move. The board of rejects are the ones responsible for Mike Crow's outrageous salary. He makes more than the Governor and both Senators. He isn't worth it.
Get rid of the regents now. I'll help them pack. One more thing. The regents knew fired ASU Prof. Kathryn Milun won her discrimination case against the school and she won her case with the school's arbitration committee. They all refused to settle with her dragging it into litigation for years. They ended up paying her a whopping sum. They are not fiscal leaders either.
renew21 posted at 12:55 pm on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
anotherAZguy, have you meet with state politicians or anyone on the board of regents? I have seen a ton of your post and have read your webstie. I agree with most of it and wanted to see if those in leadership have meet with you about this plan?
Anyways, Its time to be bold, think big and stop waste in higher education. Its time to see results and allow competition among our public schools. For instance, UA does not want ASU have its own independent med school. Crows plan in parts is good to expand education, but I think his monopoly is bad. Its also time to see MCC move into a 4 year school similar to Utah Valley Univ. We also need more private institutions here. But its government and academia, they are not going to let go of there power.
manini posted at 7:37 pm on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
What's so difficult about understanding that the State of Arizona is bankrupt with a $2.25 BILLION+ budget deficit and there is no way it can support the existing AZ State Universities + K-12 Education "status quo" which accounts for approximately 60% of the state budget???? As I've previously suggested...AZ should live within it's means & dump not only the AZ Board of Regents, but PRIVATIZE/SELL the function/assets of the exiting UofA, ASU, NAU state universities to for-profit or non-profit private universities like Grand Canyon University, Southwestern University, University of Phx, etc., & get back to financial balancing AZ's state budget hemoraghing red ink this FY.
What's so difficult about understanding this since AZ did it last FY to balance a $1.5 BILLION+ budget shortfall by sell/leaseback state buildings & facilities. Besides, joblessness in AZ & USA is astronomical with no future for college educated younger people in this 21st Century Great Global Economic DEPRESSION coupled with HYPERINFLATION, which the ABA & criminal Wall St. BANKSTER$ have caused by their mortgage-backed fraudulent "Securities" CDOs/CDS, bankrupting the EU, Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Japan & many countries overseas.
BTW, how many "BANKSTER$" have gone to Jail for this Global PONZI Scheme????...Bernie Madoff was just the "bag_man" & small_potatoes. So let's quit being bureacrats trying to SYA_their worthless paper-pushing jobs in a bankrupt state economy...PRIVATIZE more bureaucratic educational functions via the INTERNET classrooms_without_walls...