Check out our Day 1 recap to read about what the board discussed on their first day of public meetings.

The Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body for the state’s three public universities, held a meeting on campus in the North Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center on Friday, Nov. 22. On the last day of their semiannual visits to campus, the regents discussed matters important to the university. President Dr. Robert C. Robbins gave a presentation for the majority of the meeting.

Strategic Plan Initiatives

Robbins announced a list of Strategic Plan Initiatives last year that he wanted to launch for the university.

Robbins said that 65% of the Strategic Plan Initiatives have now been launched and 35% are in a pre-launch phase.

RELATED: Regents Recap Day 1: Native American students speak out, Robbins’ contract extended

The initiatives are split into five pillars: Wildcat Journey, Grand Challenges, Arizona Advantage, Arizona Global and Institutional Excellence.

Examples of launched initiatives include: develop prospective transfer student portal, startup of building a changing world, cross border collaboration and partnerships, unparalleled support infrastructure for international students and health analytics powerhouse.

Free tuition for certain med students

Robbins said the UA College of Medicine will be providing free tuition to medical students who commit to practicing in designated underserved areas in Arizona after they graduate.

This new tuition option is possible due to $8 million in funding from Arizona’s 2020 Fiscal Budget.

Robbins said some of the work health sciences research will be focusing on include opioid treatment, immunotherapy and treatments for brain disease.

According to Robbins, there are four categories of focus for the health sciences research: precision medicine for all, making wellness ageless, creating defenses against disease and big data for personalized care.

Microcampuses

According to Robbins, the University of Arizona is setting up microcampus locations in multiple countries. He said UA professors will provide the curriculum to these schools.

Robbins said the UA receives 50% of the tuition made from these locations.

There are UA microcampus locations in Lima, Peru; Sulaimani, Iraq; Amman, Jordan;  Ajman, United Arab Emirates; Qingdao, China; Hanoi, Vietnam; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Jakarta, Indonesia and Réduit, Mauritius.

The UA is looking to add microcampus locations in Mexico, China and the Philippines. A location is also being discussed for India.

Center for Native American Advancement and Tribal Advancement

Robbins said Native Initiatives have created a plan to create a Native American cultural center. 

He said this comes after Native students expressed in yesterday’s meeting that their current meeting space in the Nugent Building is not big enough or suited well for their needs. 

RELATED: Native SOAR looking toward future after incident with President Robbins

Robbins said this center could be the start of multicultural centers for all groups on campus who want and need them, such as black, Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+ and veteran students.

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