Mesa lawmaker champions MCC as 4-year school

Supporters of turning Mesa Community College into a four-year state college have gained an important ally in state Rep. Rich Crandall.

The Mesa Republican and chairman of the House Education Committee told me that he supports the idea and is taking steps "to head down this path."

He said he expects to meet with MCC President Shouan Pan and Maricopa County Community College Chancellor Rufus Glasper within the next two weeks to get their viewpoints.

He has asked staff at the Legislature to put together a memo on statutory changes that would have to be made for such a step.

And he has done his homework on a similar transformation that took place in Utah in recent years that culminated last year with Utah Valley College rechristening as Utah Valley University.

Crandall also said that fellow Mesa Republican and House Speaker Kirk Adams "has been involved in early talks" on the question and that there is support from the Arizona Board of Regents for the idea, particularly if Arizona Western College in Yuma is part of the mix.

The arguments that Crandall is making follow closely the reasoning laid out in this column when it broke the story on March 13 that members of Mesa Community College faculty were shopping a proposal to turn the two-year Mesa college into a four-year college.

By expanding Arizona's current three-university system, prospective students would have more choices.

Crandall pointed out that Arizona has led the nation in creating education choices for K-12 students but has failed to expand choices at the four-year college level.

"We need choice. We have great universities, but they don't fit everybody," Crandall said.

Crandall said he believes there is room for a "lower cost four-year model" in Arizona's public university system. (According to an analysis prepared by faculty members at MCC, the college is less than half as expensive as Arizona State University.)

"Top-tier research universities are a very expensive way to get a bachelor's degree," Crandall said, referring to ASU and the University of Arizona.

He explained that small, advanced degree classes and costly research capabilities come at the expense of undergraduate students in large classes.

Crandall expects resistance to the idea from the big three universities as well as from the Maricopa County Community College District offices.

"MCC is the flagship of the community system," he said, referring to his upcoming meeting with Glasper. "They are not going to be ecstatic about letting MCC go."

Among the issues that Crandall identified: How would it be separated? How would voter-approved bonding money be distributed? Would MCC need millions of dollars to put in an administrative infrastructure? Oversight for state universities is provided by the Board of Regents. How would oversight be structured for Mesa State College or Mesa University?

He said he expects opponents will push the alternative of allowing MCC to provide four-year degrees in narrow categories.

Among other "baby steps," Crandall said Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, has offered legislation that would allow up to 75 credit hours to be transferred from the community college system to the state university. Under current law, community college students can get up to 60 hours of credit for their community college studies.

That legislation would lower student costs by allowing them to do more of their course work at the community college level.

The state's budget crisis has provided the catalyst for energizing long-standing interest in expanding the 22,000-student Mesa Community College into a four-year-degree institution.

But Crandall warned that breaking Arizona's three-university lock won't happen quickly and without a great deal of study and review.

Yet, he said, "I do believe there is a chance."

Jim Ripley is former executive editor of the Tribune. Contact him at jripley@evtrib.com.