The change that has been promised for so long is finally beginning to take shape.
Since the advent of ASU President Michael Crow's tenure in 2002, he has had the plan to change ASU from what it is -- a successful regional university serving the needs of the Southwest -- to what it could be -- a Research I university in the ranks of Harvard, Stanford and Crow's old school, Columbia University in New York City.
Many officials and administrators around ASU echo what Doris Provine, director of the School of Justice and Social Inquiry, said about her school, "We're in growth mode."
With a projected population of 90,000 students within 10 years, it makes sense to most that Crow would look outside of Tempe for the space needed for such a huge growth spurt. Room was needed that the main campus could not give. By and large, downtown Phoenix will provide that space.
After working for more than a year on proposals and holding town meetings for faculty and students, the University Design Team -- a group of ASU professors and administrators -- gave Crow their recommendations for campus expansion, which he released to the public in April.
Among the fancy language of ASU becoming a "college/school-centric" model and a "New American University," the design team's plan, once approved by Crow, means change.
The biggest changes will be moving various colleges to the different ASU campuses: Tempe (formerly Main), West, Polytechnic (formerly East) and the new Capital Center in downtown Phoenix, which has yet to being constructed.
Dividing the duties
For those campuses already in existence, not just the names will change. Each campus will have a different focus, and each will have a more specific mission.
West campus will be the practical education school, and be the home of the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology; the Recreation and Tourism Management Program; and the College of Teacher Education and Leadership -- formerly the College of Education at west campus.
Polytechnic will also be home to practical-based education, with a general engineering program, the real estate program, the physical education program, a new School of Industrial Administration and the Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Managment.
Capital Center will host the redesigned Public College (formerly the College of Public Programs) that will include the School of Public Affairs, the School of Community Development and Service, the School of Social Work and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Downtown will also accommodate the College of Nursing.
In addition, the Capital Center will be the home of KAET, ASU's PBS television station; the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication; the School of Health Management and Policy; the School of Interdisciplinary Studies; the Community College Alliance and the Extended Education programs.
Tempe campus will remain the home of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, the Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the W.P. Carey School of Business, the College of Law, the College of Education and the Barrett Honors College.
But while most of the biggest changes are still in discussions, most current students will feel little, if any change. Faculty, staff and administrators will feel the brunt of the adjustments.
Goin' downtown
Wellington Reiter, dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, is one of the key figures in making the project go forward.
"The year to look at is 2008. That is when the light rail system will be completed, the convention center reconstruction will be done and the downtown campus will be at about half its capacity," he said. "It will be a significant year for downtown."
Reiter is most knowledgeable about the progress of the Capital Center campus, which is slated to have 15,000 students when it is fully completed in 2015. The first students are expected to attend the campus in August 2005, although it will be limited in size and will only house new programs and new students.
The first programs from ASU Main will be moved downtown by August 2006. Bus shuttle services between the two campuses will begin next year.
"Right now, we have preliminary plans drawn up. We're testing the realities of the schemes and we're moving into a financial strategy mode," he said. "We need to figure out who owns what and start to develop some collaborations and partnerships. ASU isn't going to be building from scratch."
ASU owns only a small piece of land in downtown Phoenix, the Downtown Center located at Monroe and Fifth streets.
In addition, "ASU doesn't have enough money to go in and buy up land and build," Reiter said of the project that is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Instead, he foresees ASU using every type of arrangement in order to get the campus built, including leasing from the city, buying existing historic buildings and participating in joint ventures with Phoenix and other entities.
In May, five architecture firms -- Will Bruder Architects in Phoenix; DeBartolo Architects in Phoenix, Architekton in Tempe; SmithGroup in Phoenix; and Ayers Saint Gross in Baltimore -- gave ASU a schematic plan of their vision of what the downtown campus might look like.
"They're all in slightly different areas of downtown, with very different ideas," Reiter said. "But we won't be picking one over another. We'll take some of the best of each of them to work with and see what good characteristics we can maintain."
As a direct result of the different plans, ASU wants to have the campus constructed close to Central Avenue, the Phoenix Library, and most importantly, the new light rail system.
Much of Crow's master plan is centered on the new light rail system, which is planned to have three stops near the Tempe campus as well as stops in downtown Phoenix.
"It's a great opportunity for students and faculty," Reiter said. "ASU will demonstrate to the general public how to use light rail on a daily basis."
Reiter said the proximity of the new campus to the light rail stops proved to skeptics that the plan really will work.
"It caused people at ASU to think positively about it when almost no one was imagining it even a year ago," he said. "It suddenly dawned on everyone, what is not to like about it?"
Getting the funds
A final plan for the Capital Center campus should be ready by mid-autumn 2004, said Richard Stanley, senior vice president of University Planning in the Office of the President.
Both Reiter and Stanley emphasized the importance the city of Phoenix has in the development of the campus.
"We've developed a strong working relationship with the city, and we'll likely be in the position to make a proposal to the city council and the president in early- to mid-fall," Stanley said, adding that the public will almost certainly get to look at the completed plans before they are final.
"There are a lot of different choices and options to fill about 1.5 million to 2 million square feet downtown," he said.
Stanley estimates the campus will cost anywhere from $200 million to $400 million, but that a specific project will need to be chosen before any financial specifics are known.
"Phoenix has said they are prepared to be partners," he said. "It is a major benefit to them to have us there in their efforts to reinvigorate downtown."
Because ASU does not have the start-up funds to build a new campus, Stanley said they are looking at private donations as well as the city to help.
He added that future tuition dollars from the increased amount of students ASU will be able to accommodate will help pay for operating the campus.
Bracing for challenges
The impending arrival of 15,000 college students into downtown Phoenix brings more than just the logistical problems ASU is dealing with right now.
Groups in Phoenix have expressed concern over what could happen to the character of the city after so many young renters move in.
Reiter said the most important aspect of the downtown project is ASU's partnership with Phoenix and keeping them in the loop.
"I meet with the mayor [Phil Gordon] on a weekly basis, and the president [Crow] meets with him on a monthly basis," Reiter said. "Hopefully, there will be no surprises to anyone, as we're trying to deal with any issues together."
Reiter said he understands if groups are worried about a large group of renters coming to a city that has been promoting home ownership, but neighborhood groups have been involved in meetings.
"It is good news to have people buying homes, and we don't want to drive up prices downtown," he said. "We're sensitive to that, and I hope we'll actually spur a building boom around us. There is an incredible amount of vacant property downtown, but we want the old neighborhoods like Garfield and Roosevelt to maintain their identity even through the rejuvenation we hope to bring.
City Councilman Michael Johnson said he, like the rest of the council members, is excited to see ASU in downtown.
"It's a great idea, and we're looking to make downtown the centerpiece of the city," said Johnson, councilman for District 8, one of the prime locations ASU focusing on.
"My residents are on board, and between the city and community groups, we're going to all work together to make this successful," he said. "Long-term, we want to see downtown grow into a more vibrant place, with more synergy to it."
Brian Kearney is the president and CEO of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, a non-profit organization that provides services to the Copper Square area downtown, including security, marketing, business development, streetscape/urban design and public policy facilitation.
Kearney said he has been involved in the project for a number of years and added, "Potential expansion has always been seen as a good thing.
"With the addition of 15,000 students, it will create a 24-hour presence with the activity, energy and vibrancy this city needs," he said. "Crow has made it clear he is looking for a fully integrated university, nothing walled off."
While there are concerns about what the presence of 15,000 students will mean, like serial renters and breaking of noise ordinances, Kearney said he sees mostly positives to the growth.
"We're going into this with our eyes open, and we're dealing with issues up front," he said. "Anything on this scale is bound to have challenges, but I think everyone recognizes the benefits are tremendous."
Kearney said he is pleased with the amount of involvement ASU has given to the city and its residents.
"They've been very aggressive in getting people involved -- monthly forums, community meetings and meeting with neighborhood leaders directly," he said.
"It will be wonderful to take these vacant and historic buildings and turn them into something of academic use."
Faculty members react
Perhaps the group that will be affected the most by the change is ASU's faculty, some of whom will not only have to move, they will have to create schools and programs from scratch.
Some faculty members realize that while they might be sad to leave Tempe, it is in the best interest of their college to move.
"I'm personally not thrilled, as I love the campus atmosphere here, but I think it's a good move for the college," College of Nursing Interim Dean Karen Sousa said.
"Downtown, we can be a major player in the health care delivery, and a lot of people are really excited about that. And I understand that eventually, the environment downtown will be campus-like when it's done."
School of Justice and Social Inquiry Director Doris Provine said she has been critical of how the design team looked at her school.
"They thought we were a criminology department, and were going to be moved to west campus," she said. "We really didn't like that, and so we had to educate them that our proper place would be with other departments like us."
Provine said ASU gave her college the choice to move downtown and be in the Public College, or move to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which they decided to do.
She said she sees the downtown campus evolving into its own identity, with character of its own, but that it will be a loss for Tempe if the campuses do not stay close.
"I guess we're generally positive about the move, although I will miss everyone in the College of Public Programs -- it was very friendly for the faculty," she said. "We're enthusiastic for the new, but nostalgic for the old."
Other faculty members see the plan with more energy.
"ASU needed to be shaken up a bit, and President Crow has certainly done that," said Stephen Doig, interim director of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Doig said he doubts "all the grand plans will come to fruition," as it is almost too great an amount of change proposed.
"For us at the Cronkite School, this gives us the space we so desperately needed, although it will be a pain for a year or two while we're moving. But after the move, I think it's going to be extraordinary to have space," he said.
With its warm weather and affordable housing, Doig said the Valley will only continue to "grow massively, and where are we going to put all of them? It was very realistic to develop the other campus facilities."
Unlike other large cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, Doig said that Phoenix comparatively has no character at all.
"A big piece of ASU in the heart of downtown is guaranteed to jump start the place," Doig said.
Reach the reporter at annemarie.moody@asu.edu.
