Although it’s unclear what the Legislature’s role in a proposed university restructuring will be, members want to be part of that process from the beginning, says Senate President Ken Bennett.

“ . . . They want to be included in the process early enough so that they can be part of coming up with the decision, instead of somebody else coming up with it by themselves and . . . throwing it on our doorstep,” Mr. Bennett said. “You want the goal to be a positive cooperation, not to avoid a negative confrontation.”

Mr. Bennett, House Speaker-elect Jim Weiers and Board of Regents President Gary Stuart met with Governor Napolitano on Dec. 15 to discuss legislative involvement in the restructuring plans.

“It’s so the Legislature is not presented with a fait accompli [irreversible deed or fact],” Ms. Napolitano said.

The proposed restructuring of the state university system would add two new public universities and set up a regional university system.

A study of the proposal was authorized by the Regents in June and could be completed by July. Should the university restructuring plan ultimately be approved, changes couldn’t start until at least August 2006.

Governor: ‘A Redesign Issue’

The governor said it is too soon to know if statutory changes would be required to implement the restructuring or how much it might cost the state.

“It’s not a budgetary issue,” Ms. Napolitano said. “It’s a redesign issue.”

The restructuring proposal put forward by Regent Chris Herstam was in response to continued funding and overcrowding problems at the state’s three public universities — Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and the Unive sity of Arizona.

Under the plan, ASU and UofA would continue their growth as major research institutions. NAU, which already has undergone academic restructuring and returned to its roots as an undergraduate-focused university, would become the flagship institution of the new Arizona Regional University system that would feature lower tuition costs, smaller class sizes and faculties focusing strictly on teaching.

ASU-West would become its own university, tentatively called Central Arizona University. NAU-Yuma and the University of Arizona-South, which has locations in Douglas, Sierra Vista and Tucson, would combine to become Southern Arizona University, likely headquartered in either Tucson or Sierra Vista.

The chancellors of the three regional universities — Central, Northern and Southern — would report to one president, whose headquarters would be in Flagstaff.

Mr. Herstam said in June that the demand for undergraduate education in Arizona is expected to skyrocket during the next two decades. “The current university system is not prepared to cope with the impending demand,” he said

Mr. Bennett and Mr. Weiers said university restructuring was one of the reasons they created new committees on higher education. —