Talk of ASU campus groundbreaking premature

By Gazette Blog Staff

We continue to urge caution when it comes to a four-year-university, especially Arizona State University, establishing a campus in Payson in the near future.  We too would like to see it happen, but you are not getting the whole story from the local media.

Here is an update that includes some potentially time-consuming required steps in the process that have not been reported:

As has been reported, the Arizona Board of Regents must approve any expansion plans ASU or any state university develops. Before the first shovel is ever turned for a university in Payson, ASU or any state university must first get their plans submitted to the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) for consideration.

Back in November the local media reported the ASU group was attempting to get its proposal on the ABOR agenda for December. It stated the group needed to complete the sale of some community college land with Gila County to secure agenda consideration. This did not happen in the needed time frame.

The Board of Regents just completed another set of meetings and the ASU plan for Payson was again not on the agenda. The next board meeting will not take place until mid-April. 

Before the ASU proposal can be placed on an ABOR agenda, several steps must be completed. The first step is approval by the ASU Faculty Senate. The process also requires approval by the Academic Committee and the Capital Committee. 

Only after all these approvals have been gained may the item may be placed on the Board of Regents agenda. Not only have these steps not been previously reported, but as of the writing of this article there is no confirmation that any of these bodies have considered, much less approved the Payson plan.

It should be pointed out that if a private college were to work out a plan with the Payson group, it would not have to go through the ABOR process and building could begin much sooner.