A committee of 12 volunteers in support of the future ASU Payson campus is doing its part to educate the people of Payson about the campus and quell any misconceptions locals may have about its creation.
Laura Bartlett, one of those volunteers, leads the marketing and public relations side of the committee. She said the volunteers each have different areas of expertise and use those to help the group.
“The forming of the committee was really to support the mayor and his vision in bringing the campus to the area,” she said. “Different people have raised their hands and asked, ‘How can I help?’”
Bartlett said she volunteered to be a part of the group because of Payson Mayor Kenny Evans.
“The mayor actually has demonstrated a lot of vision and commitment and personal drive to make this happen and he inspired me to see what I could do,” she said.
Bartlett said the committee receives information and updates about the future campus through Evans, who has direct interaction with the people at ASU.
“There’s some different ways that information is shared,” she said. “We make sure that information that is shared with the public that is factual.”
One of the ways the committee has informed the Payson community about the future campus is by having a series of open forums to answer questions and open a two-way dialogue.
So far, the committee has held six informational forums that have generated around 300 attendees.
Bartlett said the people who have come to the committee’s meetings have had “a wide variety of concerns.”
“There’s a group that is enthusiastic and will ask, ‘When is the campus going to be completed?’” she said. “There are people who want to know about the mechanical logistics, ‘What’s the impact on traffic?’ ‘What’s the impact on noise?’”
Bartlett said that people are also concerned about how they can better prepare local students for a college education.
The committee has also put together and published information on the upcoming campus for distribution.
Progress on the Payson campus was almost completely stalled in May when Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed Senate Bill 1497, which would have allowed the creation of a separate legal entity (SLE) to financially support the future campus.
However, Payson and Star Valley created an SLE that allowed progress on the endeavor. The campus will be made up of smaller buildings and will be powered by solar technology.
“What ASU has to do is provide the two things it takes for education,” Bartlett said. “They have to provide teachers and students.”
ASU will offer a limited number of programs at the Payson campus, including health programs and sustainability programs.
Bartlett said that ASU could broaden the scope of the campus to include more programs like liberal arts degrees.
Construction on the campus will begin at the end of this year and should be completed by August of 2013.
Bartlett said that the informational meetings created more positive attitudes toward building a campus in Payson.
“There is enthusiasm and support for a university campus coming to Payson,” she said. “By and large the support is very strong.
“I think that everybody in the community recognizes that the community needs something to help the economy,” she said. “This campus has a potential to facilitate that in a variety of ways.”
Reach the reporter at katherine.torres@asu.edu
