Let us say first that SCUP is proud to note that the new president of the Arizona Board of Regents is Thomas K. Anderes, a long time SCUP member and leader who is currently the convener of SCUP's Resource and Budget Planning Academy.

The Lumina Foundation's Focus magazine for July 2010 (PDF) is focused on "The Productivity Push: System-Wide Reform Allows Arizona to Serve More Students." An excerpt:

Arizona is among a growing number of states that are expanding their capacity to graduate more students (see map, Pages 8 and 9). They’re doing this by spending money differently and by delivering education in new ways and in new places.

The plan Burnand shared with Cecilia that day — a joint initiative of the Maricopa Community College District and Arizona State University that jump-starts productivity even before a student sets foot in a college classroom — is but one piece of the statewide reform effort.

Once competitors for student minds — and public dollars — the schools in the state community college system and Arizona’s three four-year universities are now full-fledged partners. They’re working together to streamline transfer policies, expand student opportunity at “no-frills” regional educational centers, and keep costs down for both institutions and students — all in an effort to improve the system’s productivity and cre- ate new paths to learning.

The driving force behind this change is the 12-member Arizona Board of Regents, the panel that governs the state’s three research universities from its headquarters just a few miles from Alhambra High School. In a blunt comprehensive strategic plan released in 2008, the board called out Arizona for failing to keep pace with other states in the effort to recruit and retain low- income, first-generation and other 21st century students.

Don't miss out on joining nearly 1,500 of your colleagues and peers at higher education's premier planning event of 2010, SCUP–45. The Society for College and University Planning's 45th annual, international conference and idea marketplace is July 10–14 in Minneapolis!

Here's your SCUP Link to "University Centers"

"If you think the politics of a single university are interesting, try getting 14 together and see what happens!"

There appear to be many routes to the creation of a "university center." University centers are an attempt by community colleges to bring 4-year offerings locally, to its students. Once a student completes the associate's degree, they may lack a life situation that permits them to move and attend a 4-year institution. So, partnerships develop where universities, sometimes many universities, use community college space (or space, even a campus, built and designed for the purpose of partnership) to bring class offerings to local students. Veteran SCUP leader Arnie Gelfman's home institution, Brookdale Community College, has been a driving force behind such a partnership in New Jersey for quite some time.

According to the Association for Consortium Leadership (ACL) survey, there are at least 64 such partnerships, formally labeled "higher education center" in the US. The kinds of arrangements made, and how and by whom decisions are made, can be interesting.