Governor and Haeger: Let's watch our language

NAU in good company

Northern Arizona University, classified as a "doctoral-research intensive university" based on the number of master's and doctoral programs it offers, shares similar characteristics with other institutions with the same classification:

  • Usually the institutions are a strong economic force in their communities.
  • Most students are residents of the state.
  • The universities usually do not participate in NCAA Division 1 football; athletics need to be subsidized.
  • Many are located in smaller communities.
  • They balance undergraduate and graduate education with research.

NAU keeps good company in this category. Here are some selected doctoral-research intensive universities, public and private:

  • Northern Arizona University
  • San Diego State University
  • University of Colorado at Denver
  • University of California, San Francisco
  • Pepperdine University
  • Illinois State University
  • Dartmouth College
  • Wake Forest University
  • Bowling Green University
  • Portland State University
  • Ball State University
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Indiana State University

As members of the academic community, we should always mind our vocabulary.

But now, when we hear about a proposal to revamp the state's university system, we need to be even more careful, say NAU President John Haeger and Gov. Janet Napolitano.

"We shouldn't be talking 'tiers,'" the governor told the Arizona Board of Regents at its special June 3 meeting to discuss the proposal. "We should be talking different (university) focuses and how we target Arizona."

The regents agreed to proceed with a feasibility study of the proposal that was presented in light of Arizona's projected growth rate of college-bound students.

Since regents President Chris Herstam last month unveiled the proposal-which includes NAU becoming the flagship campus of three newly established "regional," or primarily undergraduate-focused, universities—the notion that NAU is somehow devalued by what's been called a two-tier system has been disconcerting to the governor, the Board of Regents and the three university presidents.

"'Second-tier' does not mean second-rate," Haeger told a campus forum recently during a Q and A session about the proposal.

Although success as a so-called regional university does not come naturally, many institutions excel in that role, according to David Longanecker, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education who was hired to assess the Arizona education situation.

Responding to concerns about the difficulty of recruiting good faculty to a university that focuses primarily on undergraduate education, Longanecker said there is great deal of faculty interest in the "scholarship of teaching" and NAU offers an exceptional opportunity.

"NAU could be the premier component of an undergraduate-focused set of institutions," Longanecker said.

The best way to describe NAU—and the state's other universities, for that matter—is by what they do, Haeger said. NAU fulfills a mission to provide an excellent education to undergraduate students, while still offering renowned graduate programs in certain fields, all of which is enhanced by research. NAU currently conducts about $52 million in research annually. "Research is extraordinarily important to NAU," he said.

The University of Arizona and Arizona State University, on the other hand, are primarily research-focused institutions with hundreds of millions of dollars of research conducted annually.

All three presidents agree that the proposal to establish a regional university system is more about meeting the educational needs of Arizona's population. "No one mission is more important than the others," U of A President Peter Likins told the regents with Haeger adding, "We must put away the power plays of rank."

ASU President Michael Crow said, "We're facing a design problem—how to provide access, growth, appropriate compensation, and economic development to students and the state.

"The notion of tiering seems an almost obscene concept," Crow said, adding that the three institutions should be thought of as one university for Arizona's student population.

As the process moves forward on a plan to restructure the university system, Haeger offered several points to the regents for consideration:

  • focus on the differences of the universities' missions, because there is no difference in quality
  • expand partnerships with community colleges to educate students where they live
  • change the formula for funding NAU because undergraduate education will be more, not less, expensive as greater numbers of students enter the university system who are less prepared and need more financial aid
  • consider alternative names for the undergraduate-focused universities to avoid directional names that imply geographic boundaries

In addition to voting to proceed with the feasibility study, the regents also will accept other plans until July 1.