Plans for Lake Havasu City campus put on back burner
Chris Coplan - April 17th, 2008Plans to expand NAU’s presence in Lake Havasu City into a full-blown residential campus have been placed on hold after a survey reveals minimal interest in developing that region.
Lipman Hearne, a national marketing company, was hired by NAU to survey parents and students in the Phoenix, Lake Havasu City and southern California regions as to how interested they would be in a potential campus that could be the academic home for up to 7,000 students. A total of 12 percent of parents and 19 percent of students registered interest in a “complete experience” university branch, which would include room and board.
“This market-demand report tells us two things,” said Fred Hurst, NAU’s vice president of distance learning. “One, that it would be difficult to draw in students to make it cost-effective and two that costs would be greater than the resources we think we have now.”
Still, despite the lack of interest now, other NAU officials have said this is not the end of the plans, but rather a delay.
“This survey shows there is definitely potential in that area,” said MJ McMahon, NAU’s executive vice president in the president’s office. “We’re still going to expand the course offerings and 2+2 Program in Lake Havasu, but for now, and maybe with another market survey, we’ll have to look and see what happens in two to three years.”
But others are finding problems with the report. Mark Nexsen, the mayor of Lake Havasu City, found faults in the report’s timeline.
“As far as I know, we’re going ahead with baby steps,” Nexsen said. “But the feasibility report assumes that we are going to build right away. We’ll build one or two buildings, and as enrollment builds, we’ll build additional facilities. The area couldn’t even support a quarter of a billion in capital, it’s only 100 acres.”
Nexsen said it may be up to 20 years before the city would have the full-scale residential campus, but that it is imperative they begin as soon as possible.
“If we don’t start today, the campus will always be 20 years away,” Nexsen said.
Already officials have begun to look at why residents of the area surrounding the proposed site, which would share land with a golf course and mainland marina, are not interested.
Hurst said he thinks the lack of interest stems from the number of choices in the area.
“If you think about it, there are a lot of institutions to choose from,” Hurst said. “You have ASU, NAU’s mountain campus, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and certainly many in SoCal. They’re not interested because they have so many choices with other schools with a tradition.”
Hurst said choosing a college, for some families, maybe like choosing a cup of coffee.
“Some people will hold out for Starbucks,” Hurst said. “But some are not going to drive out of the way, unless they really like Starbucks.”
McMahon said the problem may be that current economic condition of the state.
“NAU never set aside money,” McMahon said. “The money will have to come from Mohave County or Lake Havasu.”
McMahon said a possible solution could be to look to the private sector for donations, but added that could take additional time.
But Nexsen said that regardless of what has to happen, Lake Havasu City is dedicated to adding NAU to their cultural and economic makeup.
“NAU adds $1 billion to the economy of Flagstaff,” Nexsen said. “What we will have to do is fundraise. We had no expectations, so 19 percent is an adequate number, especially since they don’t know what the curriculum is.”