Dive Summary:
- Incoming University of California System President Janet Napolitano's time as governor of Arizona provides an idea of what her higher ed priorities are and how she might lead the 10-campus system.
- As a Democratic governor, Napolitano worked with a Republican-controlled legislature to secure a $1 billion bond for new facilities, increase state financial aid contributions and approve a fund to retain professors.
- Napolitano, whose father was also a longtime dean of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, placed significant emphasis on medical and science facilities, increasing their funding and controversially pushing a plan to place a medical school in Phoenix.
From the article:
... "I will bring with me my history as governor, where I spent much of my time investing in Arizona's universities, fighting to keep tuition for students as low as possible, while helping to create a new medical school in downtown Phoenix, a new research organization to foster university [research and development] and loan-forgiveness programs for high-demand fields of study," she said. ...