CORRECTION RAN JANUARY 21, 2004 A2
The subject Patricia Bolle teaches was incorrect in a story on A1Monday. Bolle teaches seventh-grade science at Mansfeld MiddleSchool.
A growing number of Tucsonans are becoming Lumberjacks withoutever leaving home.
Enrollment in the distance learning programs Northern ArizonaUniversity offers in Tucson increased 14 percent in the last schoolyear, and last fall 809 students were enrolled in a variety ofevening, accelerated and online courses.
'We're offering a lot of new programs that we haven't offered inthe past in Tucson, and that's going to increase enrollment,' saidFred Hurst, NAU's vice president for extended programs and dean ofdistance learning.
Far from siphoning students from either NAU's mountain campus orthe University of Arizona, the distance courses offered in Tucsonand 27 other places statewide attempt to meet the growing demand fornon-traditional education - typically older students, careerchangers and work force needs.
NAU offers 44 programs in Tucson, ranging from undergraduate andgraduate degrees to a variety of certificates and endorsements.
'We've probably doubled the number of programs we're offering inthe last five years,' Hurst said.
Much of the growth has been in undergraduate programs that areideal for students who spend their first two years at a communitycollege, then transfer to NAU for their upper-division study.
NAU has long offered graduate education degrees in Tucson andfound a niche developing programs, like hotel and restaurantmanagement, that the UA didn't offer. Then last spring the ArizonaBoard of Regents abolished geographic boundaries as part of itsChanging Directions initiative to give the universities morefreedom, essentially freeing NAU to offer any programs statewide.
'Anything the university system can do to encourage individualsto pursue a four-year degree is incredibly valuable to the future ofthis state's economy, and I'm delighted to see NAU being soaggressive,' Regent President Chris Herstam said.
Pima Community College Chancellor Roy Flores, who is working withUA officials on ways to help more Tucson students earn bachelor'sdegrees, called it 'a very, very positive thing to have NorthernArizona University here. I don't think we need to be worried aboutthere being duplication or too much education taking place downhere,' he said. 'From our perspective, it's important to have otheruniversities here that are providing access for the kinds ofstudents that wouldn't perhaps go to the University of Arizona.'
Distance learning accounts for nearly 6,000 students, or 32percent, of NAU's total enrollment. The main campus has suffered asteady decline in enrollment since the mid-1990s, and distancelearning had been on pace to surpass it within the decade until fall2003, when distance learning and on-campus each lost 500 students -bringing total enrollment down to 18,824.
Those off-campus losses, felt most acutely in rural Arizona andthe education master's program in Maricopa County, made Tucson evenmore of a bright spot for NAU as the fastest-growing of 28 sitesstatewide, Hurst said. Tucson accounts for 14 percent of NAU's off-campus enrollment.
The Lumberjacks see big potential in Tucson.
'We believe the market will continue to expand for distancelearning,' Hurst said. 'Most of the research says the average personwill have five different jobs or careers in their lifetime. Whatthat means is the need for adult education, to allow people toadvance in careers or move to a new career, continues throughoutlife, especially with the growth in population in Arizona.'
NAU officials crunched census data and found that 26,500 peoplewith associate's degrees and 63,000 with bachelor's degrees livewithin a 20-mile radius of Tucson's center. 'Those are all potentialstudents for NAU or another educational institution,' Hurst said.
That's not even counting the students who come from throughoutSouthern Arizona - from Sells to Sierra Vista and south to Nogales.'We're going to continue to grow,' said Debra Castelan, NAU'srecently hired student recruitment specialist.
Susie Townsend, who directs NAU Tucson's Alternative TeacherCertification Program, logs hundreds of miles visiting her studentsin classrooms from Toltec to Douglas. Her post-baccalaureateteaching program, which has grown to more than 100 students since itstarted in 2001, appeals to working professionals like PatriciaBolle, who had already earned her bachelor's degree in nutritionalsciences and a master's in public health from the UA when shedecided she wanted to teach.
Bolle was in the first class, and finished in less than two yearsby taking evening and online courses while substitute teachingduring the day.
'I thought it was excellent. It's very flexible. You can stillhave a 40-hour-a-week job and go to school at night,' said Bolle,who teaches seventh-grade math at Mansfeld Middle School and feelsshe was well- prepared. 'I love it,' she said.
Adriana Manrique, 26, was also in that first class but went on tocomplete her master's degrees in elementary education - she visitedFlagstaff only for last month's commencement, where many of theother graduates 'graduated the same way I did, through the extensionprograms.'
It was also a homecoming of sorts because Manrique had attendedNAU as a freshman, although she earned her bachelor's degree infamily studies in May 2001 as a Wildcat.
Manrique, who today teaches kindergarten at Safford MagnetSchool, was so happy with NAU Tucson that she encouraged her brotherto transfer from the UA when he had trouble getting the courses heneeded to finish his business degree. 'This is his second semester,and he's going to graduate in May,' she said, noting her dad is alsoan NAU alum.
The bachelor of science degree in business administration is oneof the programs NAU added since the change in regents policy.
NAU offices are at Pima Community College's Community Campus, 401N. Bonita Ave., and most of its advertising so far has been donethrough word of mouth - especially among teachers. Classes aretaught at Pima College campuses and schools throughout Tucson.
'You know you're going through NAU,' Manrique said. 'You log onas a student - you have your own e-mail,' she said. 'The people atthe front desk are very helpful. They know you by name,' she said.
Arizona State University also has offices at the community campusand has offered a master's degree in social work in Tucson for manyyears.
However, ASU Provost Milt Glick said the state's largestuniversity has no plans to bring new programs into Tucson.
How to enroll
NAU's distance learning program offers a mix of ongoing degreeand certificate programs. For course availability and registration,call 879-7900. Many courses are offered in accelerated eight-weeksessions, or in the evenings.
HOW MUCH IT COSTS:
NAU's distance learning courses have the same admissionsrequirements as the main campus. Students pay the same tuition -currently $183 per credit hour for Arizona undergraduates and $194for Arizona graduate students - but they don't have to pay feesspecific to the main campus such as for the recreation center.
