To sell the report on post-secondary education, Dr. Rick Miner has, on a couple occasions, used Arizona State as an example of a university that has transitioned to become “Arizona State Polytechnic Institute”. He actually used that name in last Monday’s open house. This is completely false, as my quick research shows that they do have a polytechnic as one of 4 total campuses within their university. Clearly, the Commission is trying to use the good name of Arizona State University (ASU) and others to push this agenda-driven report.
I took the liberty of e-mailing ASU President Michael Crow to briefly summarize what is happening here, and see what he has to say about it. This was a long shot especially since over 50,000 students attend this huge university, and perhaps he might have been too busy to reply to me.
Here is the e-mail I sent:
I am student at the University of New Brunswick campus in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (UNBSJ). We are currently in the midst of a major fight to save our university from being closed to make way for a new polytechnic institution to replace it as well as our local community college. This idea has come from a report produced by an “independent” commission formed by the government to look at post-secondary education options with two commissioners, one of which, Dr. Rick Miner, who is part of an advocacy group that promotes polytechnics in Canada.
My concern that leads me to write to you is that false statements are being made involving your university by these commissioners to support their agenda-driven report. In a radio interview, Dr. Miner claims that Arizona State University is one example of a school that has transitioned from a university to become a polytechnic institute. (To hear it yourself, refer to “The Report on Post Secondary Education” for Sept. 17, external link) This seems to be very incorrect, as quick research on your web site shows that you are indeed still a university, and that only one of your many campuses is a polytechnic. Please correct me if I am wrong here. This is very different from what we would have here in Saint John, as the university would disappear, and be replaced by the polytechnic which would be independent from the other schools. There’s nothing wrong with a polytechnic, but I support only in addition to our existing university.
I would be delighted to hear back from you with your thoughts about these statements, and your response to how your fine university’s name is being used as ammunition against a university on the other side of the continent. I know we certainly wouldn’t like it here if advocacy groups from somewhere else tried to drag our institution into a political debate by twisting facts and presenting a skewed vision of how we operate.
A couple days later, I did receive a reply:
Paul:
Thank you for your e-mail. You are correct that we are a university that encompasses multiple campuses, one of which is a polytechnic. Arizona State University is comprised of four campuses of equal quality and differentiated focus. The Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the Arizona university system, has assigned ASU a specific mandate to enhance access to higher education in our state. As a result, ASU currently absorbs over 90% of the growth in our university system and, in order to accommodate this growth, it was necessary for us to expand beyond our first campus in Tempe. It became imperative to establish additional campuses in the Phoenix metropolitan area and to align our curriculum so that each campus has its own specific areas of academic concentration. We call this strategic approach “One University in Many Places.”
I hope this information is helpful and I thank you again for writing.
Michael M. Crow
President
His message provides reinforcement to my earlier research. Their strategic approach is somewhat similar to what is happening in New Brunswick, in that the government has given directives to a university. The important difference here is that they didn’t close their university in order to open a polytechnic or other type of school. They added new campuses in the same city with their own focused efforts. The same could exist in Saint John with separate polytechnic/college and university institutions.
Tags: n.b., saint john, save unbsj, unb, unbsj