POSTED BY MARTIN KICH

The following is from a news story in the Arizona Republic:

A bill to fundamentally restructure how Arizona’s three state universities are managed passed an Arizona Senate committee Monday as a fast-tracked proposal that won’t receive much public input.

Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, wants to effectively dismantle the Arizona Board of Regents and vastly expand the governor and Legislature’s control of state universities.

Instead of a 10-member board appointed by the governor, Finchem wants a board of elected officials to serve as “trustees” and separate, local boards for each of the three universities.

The bill would put the governor and legislative leaders in charge of setting policies for the universities on issues such as tuition rates, reducing student debt or increasing job placements for students.

Finchem said the bill will rein in the regents, who he claims have stepped outside their authority and into the policy arena, and install local control over the universities.

The measure skipped the ordinary legislative process, which involves hearings before committees and full votes of each chamber, because it came as a 278-page strike-everything amendment to an unrelated bill.

The bill, House Bill 2203, started as a proposal about wildlands and watersheds. Because of that, it was heard by the Senate Natural Resources, Water and Energy Committee, a committee that doesn’t typically hear education bills.

The committee approved the bill on a 5-3 party-line vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. . . .

Finchem attempted to overhaul and dismantle the board last legislative session, though his previous effort didn’t get this far. His initial bill on the topic this session didn’t get a hearing. . . .

Some of the regents’ decisions in recent years have put the board at odds with the conservative Legislature on issues such as leasing and taxation by universities, athletic contract payouts to coaches and tuition rates for students covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA allows young immigrants without serious criminal records who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children to apply for temporary protection from deportation and renewable two-year work permits.

“A lot of people in many halls have voiced significant frustration with a lot of aspects of the university system,” Finchem said.

Finchem thinks universities in the state may have lost their focus on their primary mission of educating students and preparing them for work after college. If the schools are controlled locally, they can adapt better to changes and align better with the real world outside universities, he said.

“I think we’ve asked (the regents) to do an impossible job with the wrong work rules and the wrong expectations,” he said.

The complete news report in the Arizona Republic is available at: azcentral.com/story/news/politics/legislature/2018/03/20/bill-would-dismantle-board-regents-change-arizonas-university- system/442605002