The Lake Havasu City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved plans to look into creating a new Colleges@ASU location in the city.
The low-cost, 4-year degree program in Lake Havasu City could be operational by as soon as 2011.
The approved plan, a 45-day feasibility study that will conduct focus group surveys in the area, will analyze the economic impact of
moving college programs into Lake Havasu City. Officials will also assess the possibility of using Daytona Middle School as the location of the Colleges@ASU degree program.
“The community is very excited about ASU having a campus here,” Lake Havasu City Mayor Mark Nexsen said.
ASU spokeswoman Terri Shafer said the University is excited to continue working with Lake Havasu City on the project.
“The Colleges@ASU program is one of the only offerings that we think will make education available for students who might be choosing not to go to college due to lack of available choices in their area,” Shafer said.
The new location would be focused more on instruction than research, she said.
“We recognize that the state has a gap — we have research universities and community colleges but nothing in between,” Shafer said.
“Colleges@ASU is designed to fill that gap,” Shafer said. “If we offer programs in Lake Havasu, we will offer them in an existing building that is owned by the [Lake Havasu Unified] School District.”
ASU officials have not yet decided what kind of programs would be offered, but a decision will be based partially on the findings of the 45-day study.
Nexsen said Lake Havasu City is the ideal location for ASU.
The potential site would be within walking distance of the downtown area and is only minutes from the lake, he said.
“Having Daytona Middle School here eliminates the idea of ‘build it and they will come,’” Nexsen said. “It’s already built — a ready-made facility and a low-cost solution to expanding the University.”
Bringing ASU to Lake Havasu City could bring a large economic boost to the area, he said.
“Young people bring a vibrancy to a community,” Nexsen said.
Jo Navaretta, president of the Lake Havasu Unified School District who has been working on the project for six years, said the plan has received positive reactions from all sides.
Lake Havasu City has about 55,000 people, a handful of high schools and Mohave Community College, Navaretta said.
“There is a demand for the kinds of programs ASU could offer here,” she said.
Daytona Middle School, one of two middle schools in the area, will be vacated on July 1 as tightening budgets in Lake Havasu City required its closure.
A May 2009 survey conducted by the Havasu Higher Education Foundation reported that 84 percent of high school juniors and seniors in Lake Havasu City’s high schools responded positively to the idea of a Colleges@ASU campus in the city.
Bill Ullery, spokesman for the foundation, said the survey illustrated the demand for an alternative road to higher education.
Eighty percent of high school juniors and seniors in Lake Havasu City completed the survey, a total of 673 responses. More than 86 percent of those that responded positively said they would “definitely” or “very likely” attend a program like the one ASU could offer.
Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu
