Increasing funds top priority for UA presidential candidate
Students and faculty grilled UA presidential candidate Tom Campbell yesterday about campus diversity, tuition, class availability and other issues facing the university.
To improve diversity in the student population, Campbell said he wants the UA's population of Latino students to increase from 12 percent to 25 percent, the same percentage of Latinos that make up the state's population.
Campbell rattled off current diversity statistics to members of the UA faculty, and stressed the need for a more diverse university.
"Diversity is a very critical challenge to our university," Campbell said.
Campbell said he would also like to work with nearby American Indian reservations, expand UA community college partnerships and offer more targeted scholarships to increase diversity among students.
To increase student retention, Campbell said he wants to eliminate financial barriers for students and address students' needs on an individual level.
Campbell said he wants the state legislature to give more money to the university. He said state spending on higher education has decreased from 16.5 percent of the budget to 10.5 percent over the past 20 years.
"That needs to be corrected," Campbell said.
Leslie Tolbert, vice president for research, asked Campbell how he would pursue more funding from the legislature.
Campbell promised a good, strong effort in facilitating more aid from the state and federal government, and said his experience as a politician will give him a "leg up."
Chris Deibert, a UA medical student, said he was concerned about whether Campbell's previous role in politics would help or hinder his role as president if he were chosen.
Campbell said his experience as a congressman would help him appeal to the state's legislative representatives, regardless of political affiliations.
"I do not look to tuition as a source to find the money we need," Campbell said.
Campbell said he would be interested in creating partnerships with businesses and sharing intellectual property as a major source for finances, which would make the UA a more globally competitive university.
Georgie Miller, a graduate student in English, asked Campbell what role he thought the study of humanities had at a research university.
"We're not a great university unless it's great in the humanities," said Campbell.
He said providing adequate funding for humanities departments is one of his priorities.
Campbell surprised onlookers with his sense of humor when he was asked a question by someone from the French and Italian department and answered in fluent French.
Andrew Blount, the UA medical student government chair, asked Campbell what he would do to retain UA medical students in Arizona.
Campbell said he would work with the state legislature to lower the cost of medical malpractice insurance so medical students can afford to stay in the state.
Campbell also discussed the hot-button issue of class availability and how he would address it.
"Demand-driven allocation of resources for regulating curriculum is the right way to go about it," Campbell said.
Campbell also told students he would like to increase admission into the James E. Rogers College of Law, learn from student opinions, participate in campus town hall meetings and increase the UA spending on financial aid.
Campbell told faculty he would attempt to create healthy access to the university through town hall meetings for students and staff, so they could have the opportunity to voice their concerns about the UA.
"I'm really honored to be considered for this job," Campbell told students.
Faculty members, like neighborhood relations coordinator Sarah Evans, were content with the presidential candidate.
"He personalized all of his responses and he really didn't miss a beat," Evans said.
Mike Proctor, assistant dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said he was impressed with the quality of the candidates so far.
"I think they're great candidates," Proctor said.
Proctor said he was intrigued to hear what the candidates had to say.
"It's a critical time for the university, and whoever steps in will have incredible challenges but tremendous opportunity as well," Proctor said.
Students were asked by the UA presidential search committee chair, Regent Fred Boice, to write what they thought were Campbell's strengths as a candidate and any concerns they had about Campbell.
"To say the least, it's a very important process," said David Martinez, a secondary education junior, who attended the forum to learn more about Campbell's background and to hear his thoughts on tuition. "It's not every day you get to have input on the president of a major university."