'Communiversity' may be headed to Q.C.

Higher education is making its way to Queen Creek.

Two community colleges are working with the town to bring a "communiversity," a sort of satellite campus for multiple schools that offers some university degrees.

Plans are still in the early stages, but if everything moves forward smoothly, college classes could be offered in Queen Creek as early as fall 2010 or spring 2011.

Community college tuition increase sought

A communiversity offers general education classes from community colleges and university classes from multiple institutions on one campus, ultimately letting students earn college degrees, said Todd Simmons, vice president of business and employee services for Rio Salado College.

"To be able to offer that kind of education to the citizens of Queen Creek without them having to leave their community is very attractive," Simmons said.

Rio Salado is working with Chandler-Gilbert Community College to make the school a reality. Queen Creek would be the second communiversity campus Rio Salado operates, with the first expected to open in Surprise this fall, Simmons said.

Queen Creek was picked because it's a growing area and Chandler-Gilbert Community College suggested it would be a good place to offer college courses, Simmons said.

CGCC's Williams campus, at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, gets a "fair amount of traffic" from Queen Creek, said John Schroeder, provost of the campus.

About 20 percent of the campus' students came from Queen Creek two years ago, and, while he didn't have current figures, that number has been growing, Schroeder said.

The Williams campus has about 3,500 students.

The Queen Creek communiversity will probably operate in a similar manner to the Surprise campus. In Surprise, Rio Salado will hold online courses, while Glendale Community College and Phoenix College will offer courses on campus, Simmons said.

About four universities will offer classes that result in about 24 degree programs, Simmons said. He couldn't release the names of the schools because deals were still being worked out, but said both public and private institutions were invited to participate.

Surprise students will be able to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in fields like the health industry and business, Simmons said.

The specific degree programs in Queen Creek will depend on what topics the community is interested in, Schroeder said. The colleges will conduct surveys to determine what should be offered.

"The secret to it is the continuity, so that what is offered actually leads to a degree," Schroeder said.

Doreen Cott, Queen Creek economic development director, said the communiversity would be a benefit to the town.

"One of our goals was to bring in an institution of higher learning into the community," she said. "As this evolves and we work to attract employers to the area, we can work to establish work-force development training."

At this point, Rio Salado is still working with the town to identify where to build the communiversity.

It's hard to say how much it will cost until details are worked out, said Simmons, who added that the 26,000-square-foot facility in Surprise cost $9 million.

Rio Salado has some funding identified for the Queen Creek project from its 2004 bond, Simmons said.