Regents to Consider UA Plans for Honors College Housing Community
The Arizona Board of Regents [1] will discuss the University of Arizona's plan to develop and construct new Honors College [2] housing during this week's meeting at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
The University is seeking approval to execute a ground lease and associated agreements as part of a public-private partnership with American Campus Communities to create the UA's first full-service, living-learning community. The 1,056-bed residence hall will serve first-year Honors College students and, space permitting, upper-class Honors College students who wish to remain on campus.
The facility will include 24,500 square feet of academic space, including faculty and administrative offices, classrooms, study spaces and academic learning spaces. It will also include a 14,600-square-foot dining facility, which will primarily serve residents of the Honors College community, but will also be open to all UA students, staff, faculty and the public.
Additionally, the plan calls for the UA to develop and ACC to construct a 370-space parking garage and a 49,700-square-foot campus recreation center with space for Campus Health services.
The planned development calls for the UA to build three detention basins to capture storm runoff and reduce flooding, replace sidewalks around the project, and pave Park Avenue from Adams Street to Speedway Boulevard. The project also includes setbacks for the buildings and additional green space. The Tucson City Council and the Arizona Legislature's Joint Committee on Capital Review both voted to approve the project on Sept. 19.
In addition to the Honors College development plan, the UA is seeking approval for a variety of improvements to its athletics facilities, including upgrades to Arizona Stadium, Hillenbrand Softball Stadium, Hillenbrand Aquatic Center and a multipurpose indoor practice facility.
Other items on the agenda (PDF [3]) include:
- ABOR will discuss its Annual Personnel Report for the Arizona University System. Each university compares its average faculty salaries to the average faculty salaries of its ABOR-approved peer institutions using the latest American Association of University Professors data. The report shows that the three state universities are behind peer institutions and relevant markets in average faculty salary.
- The UA will seek ABOR approval to ratify the appointment of Philip Pearthree as the director of the Arizona Geological Survey and state geologist. The previous state geologist, M. Lee Allison, passed away in August 2016. Pearthree has been serving as interim director since December. Pearthree studied at Oberlin College as an undergraduate and earned his master's and doctorate from the UA. He has worked with the Arizona Geological Survey since 1988.
- The Regents will consider multiple-year contracts for UA softball coach Mike Candrea and baseball coach Jay Johnson.