As ASU pushes forward with plans to build a campus in Payson, issues have arisen concerning land, financing and a relationship with the existing Gila Community College campus.
The city of Payson has yet to secure the 300 acres needed to build the campus, while ASU is working toward determining student costs and defining the relationship between ASU and GCC.
ASU University Planner Richard Stanley said a relationship with the community college is important to improve pathways for transferring students.
The city of Payson is also working to secure the land for the facility, roughly 300 acres when complete, with a goal to hold the first classes at the Payson campus between 2013 and 2015, said Mayor Kenny Evans.
“It will be an evolving campus that will take a number of years to complete … it’s a totally different and new approach to providing facility to students,” Evans said.
Evans added that while significant challenges exist, the project is on schedule to start classes within the goal window.
Giving Gila Community College students access to an ASU campus close to home is an exciting idea for the institution, GCC board member Larry Stephenson said.
“The idea that our students can have somewhere to go locally and pursue their degree … would be just great,” he said.
Integrating into GCC’s current curriculum and ASU’s possible management of the community college are among the top concerns, Stephenson said.
Utilizing classrooms at GCC would also function to lower student costs, a goal of campus planners.
Gila Community College is the only provisional community college in the state, which means the school must contract out the services it offers. The services are currently handled by Eastern Arizona Community College, Stephenson said.
ASU may need to oversee the community college district to facilitate the needs of students transferring between the two institutions, something Stephenson described as a challenge.
“It would require a change of law,” he said. “It would require the Legislature embracing this innovative concept.”
It is currently against state law for universities to contract with community colleges.
Stanley stressed that the relationship between ASU and GCC has yet to be defined as such, and he could not gauge how much longer these negotiations will take.
He said he hopes to build the same relationship ASU already has with Maricopa community colleges with the Gila Community College in Payson.
The biggest concern is creating a smooth transition between the two schools for the students, Stanley said.
GCC is very excited about the opportunity, Stephenson said, regardless of the issues.
Reach the reporter at anatwood@asu.edu
