UA News

The Board of Regents meets on the ASU at the West campus on Thursday and Friday.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is scheduled to make remarks on redesigning the state's university system during the Arizona Board of Regents meeting on Thursday.

During the meeting, which is being held on the Arizona State University at the West campus on Thursday and Friday, all three state universities will give Brewer progress reports on their efforts to redesign and provide more cost-effective instructional delivery options.

The board also is set to approve the universities' fiscal year 2009 student financial aid reports and fiscal year 2010 and 2011 financial aid plans. The reports provide the actual amount of financial aid awarded during the previous academic year and outline how the universities are complying with specific board policies related to financial aid to ensure higher education is affordable.

The full agenda is available online.

Regents will review the enrollment and graduation trends at ASU, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, looking at undergraduate headcount and enrollment numbers as well as how successful students are in earning degrees.

The report before the board states that the total headcount at the state's universities is about 1,900 short of the board's projection, while undergraduate enrollment is about 1,400 below the projection. The numbers mark the first time since 2003-04 that enrollment has fallen below forecasted levels.

The report also shows the number of bachelor's degrees awarded by the universities in 2008-09 exceeded projections by about 1,500.

In other business:

• The UA will request approval of its revised 2010 fiscal year Capital Development Plan, which includes the expansion of Arizona Stadium's north end zone and the relocation and expansion of the Bryant Bannister Tree-Ring Building. The expansions would cost $87.9 million.
• The UA also will seek approval for the UA Science Center/Arizona State Museum Project at Rio Nuevo. The plan would relocate the UA Science Center and public exhibit portions of the Arizona State Museum to the museum district of the downtown Tucson redevelopment area. The Rio Nuevo Project, in partnership with the city of Tucson, is estimated to cost $130 million.
• The Arizona Biomedical Collaborative, which comprises all three state universities, will request approval to sell the collaborative's share of Stimulus Package for Economic and Educational Development, or SPEED, revenue bonds to finance up to $187 million of the Health Sciences Education Building project, which includes support space and renovations of the Arizona Biomedical Collaborative Building in Phoenix.
• The regents will discuss the board's tuition and affordability policy.
• The universities will give presentations on their current budget status and the anticipated impact of any additional state budget reductions.