AIC quota will be met, provost says

Arizona Daily Wildcat Celestino Fern ndez, executive vice president and provost of the Arizona International Campus of the University of Arizona.

"We will be at that number," Celestino Fern ndez said. "We're out at the high schools recruiting and talking to students and parents."

The proposal would eliminate AIC's state funding if the campus does not enroll 300 full-time equivalents by Oct. 1. The committee's proposal would force the first-year campus to close its doors if it does not reach that number.

AIC fine arts freshman Sarah Semadeni said she sees both sides of the issue.

"I understand the concern the legislature has about numbers, but our perception is that they are trying to shut us down," she said.

Fern ndez said the committee's proposal makes little sense in terms of projected high school graduation rates over the next ten years.

"It's not a rational decision when enrollment growth is going to be there," Fern ndez said. "This type of recommendation has not been made to any campus in the past."

He said that by 2006, Arizona projects a 60 percent increase in high school graduates from today's current figure.

Tony Seese-Bieda, public relations director for the Arizona Board of Regents, said should AIC shut down, plans to accommodate Arizona's rising university enrollment would be uncertain.

"The main campuses are essentially capped," Seese-Bieda said. "Enrollment demands are being met by branch campuses and off-campus centers such as AIC. I couldn't speculate on what would happen (if AIC is closed)."

The regents have capped AIC's enrollment at 5,000. Fifty-one students are currently enrolled at AIC.

Fern ndez also said the committee's proposal language is inconsistent with its intent to revoke state funding for AIC should the campus miss its quota. The proposal sites six "worthwhile goals" of AIC, while at the same time recommending a termination of the campus if 300 full-time students fail to attend the school this fall.

"It doesn't make any sense in that context," Fern ndez said.

Should the campus not meet the committee's quota, AIC's state funding would fall back into the state budget.

The board recommended $600,000 in state funding for AIC during the 1997 fiscal year, according to the Board of Regents' site on the World Wide Web.

According to the proposal, as AIC matures, the long-term cost of education would be substantially lower than at the three state universities.

Semadeni said the proposal looks like a double standard.

"It's absurd for them (the legislature) to be in favor of what we are doing and then knock the feet right out from under us," Semadeni said.

Semadeni said, should AIC close, she still has a number of educational options.

"I'm still a UA student," she said. "I could transfer to Pima Community College. I could go out of state. I have UA credits to transfer, so it's kind of a safety net."

The Arizona Legislature will vote on the committee's proposal in March.