This mornings Arizona Board of Regents meeting got off to a late start because the Regents attended a formal breakfast. The first thing on the agenda is the strategic business plan for Arizona State University. A small board from ASU, which includes Elizabeth Capaldi, executive vice president and ASU provost and Morgan Olsen, ASU treasurer and chief financial officer, is presenting a report to the ABOR President and the other regents. Their report includes plans for increasing enrollment, creating specialty master’s programs, expanding their top colleges including the school of engineering and the college of nursing-and increasing program fees for these colleges to off-set costs. Their report also outlines their projected total capital needs over the next ten years. ASU expects to spend less than $2 billion. They plan to spend $1 billion for teaching and student projects and over $730 million for research facilities. 

Ultimately, ASU is concerned with cuts to the schools resource, tuition increases without sufficient increases in enrollment. They hope to generate partnerships with community colleges to share some of the burden and to increase enrollment rates. ASU also hopes to create a more sufficient “”pipeline”” from K-12 schools into college, as well as from community colleges into four-year universities.   

Next on the agenda, the board will receive updates on the “”Mission-Driven Change”” program and then the Human Resource Committee will address their section of the agenda which includes approvals to changes in ABOR policy concerning sick leave, organ donation leave and the Arizona Board of Regents policy on conflicts of interest.