Regional centers ‘increasingly occurring’ in higher education

A regional regents center - such as one proposed for Des Moines to offer courses, programs and even housing for students from all three of Iowa's public universities - is a novel idea in the state.

But the concept isn't entirely new in other parts of the country. In Indiana, for example, Purdue and Indiana universities share space on satellite campuses in both Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.

South Dakota created one in Sioux Falls that offers courses from six public institutions. And the State University of New York (SUNY) recently partnered with more than a dozen local colleges, universities and other educational organizations on a collaborative college campus.

'I do think these sorts of regional centers are increasingly occurring, particularly in areas that are underserved in terms of access to higher education,” said Jason Lane, associate vice chancellor for academic programs for SUNY.

Each model varies, but the general concept is the same: More than one institution wants to increase its presence in a particular area, and combining resources sometimes can be the most effective way to do that.

Iowa's potential regional center started as a proposed University of Iowa satellite campus. Officials with Des Moines's AIB College of Business in January announced intentions to gift its 20-acre campus - valued at more than $30 million - to UI in hopes it would become UI-Des Moines, possibly as soon as fall 2015.

But the announcement took many by surprise, and officials had few answers to questions about what would happen to AIB's 1,000-plus students, 180 employees, financial aid packages and programming going forward.

A week later, UI President Sally Mason said the campus would become a regional regents center capable of offering courses from UI, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa. Details around what that means are being worked out, but Regent Bob Downer has said it was 'uncharted territory” for the state.

Iowa has regent centers that primarily offer support and resources to students taking distance courses. This would be 'substantially different,” Downer said.

‘Advantages to being married'

More than a century ago, Indiana University - which runs its flagship campus out of Bloomington - began offering courses in Indianapolis. Purdue University, based in West Lafayette, did the same until 1968, when the Indianapolis mayor called for the two to combine into one campus - Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

A similar situation played out a few years earlier in Fort Wayne, Ind. Both schools were offering courses at separate locations and combined to become Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in 1964.

Indiana University manages the Indianapolis campus, which offers a majority Indiana programs and has a majority Indiana students. Its chancellor reports to the IU president, said Paydar Nasser, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the IUPUI campus.

'At Fort Wayne …

it is completely opposite in the sense that the campus is a Purdue campus,” Nasser said. 'The chancellor reports to Purdue.”

But students can graduate with Indiana or Purdue degrees from both campuses, Nasser said. Students pursue degree programs through one school or another, but the campuses don't separate courses.

Nasser said the partnership isn't always smooth and does come with hoops and hiccups.

'Just like any partnership, like any marriage, you have to work through it,” he said. 'But there are advantages to being marriage, too.”

‘An interesting challenge'

John Kaufeld, Fort Wayne campus spokesman, said some of those hoops are technical.

'We have to update IU records and Purdue records and keep all that straight,” he said. 'It's an interesting challenge.”

And, Kaufeld said, the transition took time. There initially were administrators for both Indiana and Purdue on campus, and mirror-image office suites lined the administrative building.

'But as the campus continued on, the management was merged,” he said.

Combined campuses in South Dakota and New York look different. The Sioux Falls-based South Dakota Public Universities and Research Center offers degree programs from six universities - including South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota.