Laserfiche WebLink
<br />_____________________________________________________________________________________________ <br />City of Arden Hills <br />City Council Meeting for March 20, 2017 <br />P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2017\PC 17-006 - Higher Education Study\CC Packet_03202017_17-006\Memo.docx <br />Page 3 of 11 <br />would like to be able to pursue opportunities for building new or acquiring existing buildings off <br />of their campus as well. <br /> <br />Northwestern stated they cannot meet their growth expectations on their current campus. <br />Northwestern is looking for sites in Arden Hills, Roseville or Shoreview to build additional <br />facilities which would be designed for adult and graduate students and would not include student <br />housing. <br /> <br />Costs <br /> <br />During the Planning Commission’s review of the application from Northwestern regarding the <br />Smiths Medical property on November 9, 2016, the President of Northwestern stated that it <br />would cost about $150 per square foot to renovate the Smiths Medical buildings into a STEM <br />facility while new construction would be closer to $400 per square foot. Staff at Bethel noted <br />similar experiences with the cost savings associated with renovation versus new construction. <br />Both universities stated that the cost savings outweighs the separation for their existing campus, <br />particularly if they intend to use the facilities for adult or graduate courses in which the students <br />typically would not live on campus. <br /> <br />End of the Joint Engineering Program with the University of Minnesota <br /> <br />The University of Minnesota recently ended its 3-2 engineering program with all of its partner <br />colleges and universities. The 3-2 program allowed students to attend three years of college at <br />their first college or university (including Bethel and Northwestern) and then transfer to the <br />University of Minnesota for the final two years of the engineering program. The University of <br />Minnesota has terminated these agreements, but has agreed to honor any students that have <br />started the program before the agreement expired. This means that Bethel and Northwestern will <br />need to have their own junior and senior level engineering programs established by Fall 2018. <br />The President of Northwestern stated that the university will need to find a temporary facility by <br />May 2018 and a permanent facility to house the engineering program by Fall 2019. <br /> <br />Increasing Student Enrollment through Technology and Graduate Programs <br /> <br />Bethel has a total of 4,267 students, of which 1,153 are graduate level. Northwestern has a total <br />3,231 students, of which 213 are graduate level. Bethel plans on increasing the Continuing Adult <br />and Professional Programs enrollment to 4,000 students. Northwestern plans on growing their <br />total enrollment to 7,000 students while they have room for only about 2,500 full time traditional <br />students on campus. Both universities plan on adding enrollment through increasing the number <br />of programs that they offer. These new programs are expected to include a significant amount of <br />online instruction. <br /> <br />In addition to the mathematic, science, and engineering courses, Bethel plans on adding physical <br />therapy, occupational therapy, athletic training and doctorate of nursing programs at the <br />Anderson Center within the next five years. Northwestern plans on adding bachelor of science in <br />data analytics, master of biology, master of data analytics, master of nursing, engineering,