Chandler city officials hope a new ASU campus built in the city could bring potential employees together with students searching for jobs and internships.
The city of Chandler is one of many ASU is considering as locations for satellite campuses as part of its Colleges@ASU program.
An ASU campus in Chandler has the potential to offer more career openings for students, said Richard Dlugas, Chandler’s assistant city manager.
“There could be good opportunities for students who come [to Chandler] for classes to become involved with internships and work programs with companies,” Dlugas said.
The idea for a campus in Chandler is still in its preliminary stages, ASU Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth Capaldi said in an e-mail. A Chandler campus is only one of the options the University is exploring with the Colleges@ASU program.
The goal of the program is to increase access to the University, Capaldi said.
“We have a great demand for our education, so more locations will be ... more convenient for some students,” she said.
Colleges completed as part of the program will offer very few majors, possibly business and communications, elementary education and humanities or social sciences, Capaldi said. The campuses will not provide graduate programs, nursing, engineering or laboratory sciences.
Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said that though no decision has been made by either party to build a campus in Chandler, he is still interested in the possibility.
“My impression is that Arizona State University is looking at opportunities to meet the demands for the future, and I appreciate them looking at the demographics of Chandler in a very positive way,” he said.
As part of the Colleges@ASU program, the University is asking local cities to fund the campus facilities. Chandler funding a campus would be dependent on finding financial resources as well as allowing
citizens to vote on the idea, Dunn said.
He added that one of the most important discussions would be about location. Several possibilities include downtown Chandler, near potential employers, or close to Chandler Gilbert Community College to encourage shared facilities or create a center of education.
The campus would hopefully stimulate Chandler’s economy, Dunn said.
“If it was downtown, there could be some economic benefit for restaurants and stores,” he said. “Hopefully students will want to spend their hard-earned dollars in some of those venues.”
Reach the reporter at allison.gatlin@asu.edu.
