Arizona's higher ed redesign draws fire: community colleges and other critics want more say-so.

Arizona's population is booming and college planners expect enrollment to follow suit. By 2015 the state's four-year schools with enroll 90,000, up from 55,000 this year. Regent Chris Herstam, along with Arizona State University President Michael Crow and others, drew up a plan this spring to ready the state system for expansion, but not all are happy with the blueprints.

For one, leaders of the state's community college association are upset that they weren't consulted about such possibilities as the relocation of 15 ASU schools or colleges from ASU Tempe into downtown Phoenix, or the renaming and expansion of three other campuses. And they, along with higher ed faculty at the tour-year schools, have sounded off at public hearings. Where, they ask, does the plan leave the 400,000 students being served by the state's 10 community cortege districts?

Critical comments made at a hearing in late June drew a rebuke from Regent Gary Stuart, a former liaison with the community college system. "They want to be an equal partner," Stuart said of the community college system, "Well, everyone wants to be an equal partner." He added that his concern was for baccalaureate education and that his patience was limited for those who would block the redesign process.

Regents have noted that the state's higher education model might mirror Michigan's, with ASU being divided into central, southern, and northern campuses, each offering their own four-year degree programs with the University of Arizona remaining a full-fledged research institution and ASU adding more research efforts.

In mid-summer, Regent Jack Jewett issued a letter to quell discontent and assure faculty and staff that their jobs are safe and that anyone with a counter plan had a 30-day extension to submit it for study. Whether that's enough to calm the critics remains to be seen.