By
Eric Swedlund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Senate committee OKs $10M project
PHOENIX - A Senate panel yesterday gave preliminary funding approval for a joint UA-Pima northwest campus that would become the new home of the AIC.
The proposed 300,000-square-foot campus would eventually accommodate 12,000 students at North Shannon and West Magee Roads, about one mile northwest of Marana.
In addition to housing the Arizona International College, the campus would give permanent space to a joint University of Arizona-Pima Community College "Two Plus Two" teacher training program.
The funding request came in the form of two bills, SBs 1523 and 1297. SB 1523 would appropriate $5.2 million to the UA and $4.77 million to Pima for the construction of the new facilities. SB 1297 would appropriate $800,000 to the UA for operating costs related to the new facility.
Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, proposed the bills.
"One of the really important aspects of this is that it is a joint effort," she said.
Both bills passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously and now face what will most likely be more difficult hearings in the Appropriations Committee before moving before the full Senate.
The 60-acre campus would be the first presence of higher education in the fastest-growing area of Pima County.
The first phase of construction - already designed - would be 110,000 square feet of facilities to house 5,000 students at a total cost of $30 million.
The UA's portion of the campus would be a $5.2 million, 30,000-square-foot, three-story building that would permanently house AIC.
Paul Rosenblatt, AIC dean, said the new facilities are "responding to the need to extend higher education."
The AIC opened in the fall of 1996 with 46 students and five faculty members. Those numbers have risen to 300 students and 13 faculty members now, and when the northwest campus opens, enrollment is expected to reach 700.
"The funds are necessary if we're going to continue to offer a distinctive liberal arts education," Rosenblatt said.
He added that the curriculum has a strong technological and global emphasis.
The "Two Plus Two" program is aimed at training teachers in response to the growing teacher shortage in the state, said UA lobbyist Greg Fahey.
The program is in its early discussion stages now between John Taylor, dean of the College of Education, and Pima officials.
The northwest campus will be bordered by Pima County and YMCA facilities, adding to the sense of a "joint effort," Hellon said.
Sen. Mary Hartley, R-Phoenix, voted in support of the measures, but questioned the cost.
"As lovely as it is, I am worried about the budget," she said. "It's a big price tag."
