"Since the school is only in its third year of being opened, you have so many opportunities to get involved, to start new traditions and to find who you are."”

Justice Hardy, Student Body President OUAZ

By Jason Stone
Twitter: @thestonecave

Shelby Clitso is one day hoping to open her own business in her hometown of Kayenta, a Navajo Reservation city in northern Arizona.

But instead of attending college classes closer to home, she picked a fledgling school 4-1/2 hours away instead.

“Enrolling into Ottawa University was by far the best decision that I could have made,” the sophomore business administration major said. “The Surprise community is a place that I am proud to call a second home.”

Ms. Clitso is one 819 students on the OUAZ campus in its third year in Surprise. This year’s total is a 33% increase over last year and part of a rise that could see 3,000 to 5,000 students by the late 2020s.

With its unique FlexTerm scheduling and emphasis on Personal Growth Days and Spirit Life celebrations, OUAZ is poised to grow fast, President Dr. Dennis Tyner said.

He recently spent time detailing the university’s past and future plans at a breakfast for the Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce, calling OUAZ a blend of a “liberal arts institution with types of things important in the world.”

“We have been truly blessed here in Arizona and are grateful for the response to our efforts here,” Chancellor Kevin Eichner said in a news release to announce the enrollment numbers. ”It’s especially rewarding to see the response to our new residential campus in Surprise that is just now entering its third full year of service.”

How it started

While Kansas-based Ottawa might be new to Surprise, the Ottawa system is nowhere near a baby as it first opened its doors at its Kansas campus 155 years ago.

“ wonder if we know how to do education, but we do know how to do education because we’ve been doing it for a long, long time,” Mr. Tyner said.

The university began adult campuses in the early 1970s -- and including Surprise has branched out to eight locations and online.

Since the beginning, members of the Ottawa tribe have received free tuition, room and board and all fees to attend one of them. About 350 students are taking advantage of that offer across all Ottawa campuses, which isn’t bad considering the Ottawa tribe claims a population of about 3,000.

“We’re proud of that heritage,” Mr. Tyner said.

Ottawa is affiliated with the Baptist Church, but students who attend aren’t required to even be Christians.

The campus in Kansas is the only other one that has a residence hall like Scholar Hall, which is opening to students in Surprise next month.

“We have this tremendous opportunity for a students who went to a large school,” Mr. Tyner said “Today, there are a lot of students who can’t survive in that environment. Those are the connections that students need to help them feel like they’re part of the institution. Our task is to make the feel that way a big fish in a little pond.”

Justice Hardy, who serves as the student body president, said that’s exactly why she chose to come to such a new school.

“Since the school is only in its third year of being opened, you have so many opportunities to get involved, to start new traditions and to find who you are,” Ms. Hardy said. “Everyone on campus makes you feel like you are a part of a family, and that is something other colleges cannot compete with.”

More choices

With an emphasis on business and science classes, FlexTerm scheduling is helping students have more choices for their studies by offering sessions in four-, eight- and 16-week modes.

The classes are a little more rigorous since they are accelerated, but Mr. Tyner said it has helped its mostly sports-centric campus adjust to its season schedules.

“An athlete can lessen up in the season and load up in the offseason,” Mr. Tyner said.

The campus’ first year saw 430 students enroll, with a good three-fourths of them on one of the dozens of NAIA and NCCAA sports teams it offers. However, that percentage is expected to drop dramatically as the school’s enrollment stretches into a couple thousand over the next few years.

Flexible scheduling also allows students to take a breather from studies when they need it.

“They can take a trip somewhere without losing time toward graduation,” Mr. Tyner said.

Work ethic

OUAZ is big on personal growth because as Mr. Tyner puts it, students today “are not critical thinkers.”

“They’ve been hand-fed everything in their life,” Mr. Tyner said at the Chamber breakfast. “That’s the new generation.

“Everybody is looking for great workers. That’s what we’re trying to develop great workers with a great work ethic.

Classes focus not only on work-ready skills but “world”-ready skills.

“Most wouldn’t even know where to find the spare tire on their vehicle, let alone change it,” Mr. Tyner said.

Learning how to change a tire is literally one option for students to help them with life skills.

“They don’t know the most basic of skills that are important to being successful in the world,” Mr. Tyner said.

Ms. Clitso said she feels OUAZ will give her skills to open her business.

“My dream is to one day be able to return home and to open a business that will cater those who are self-made entrepreneurs and the young adults who have a love for business and would like to have experience,” Ms. Clitso said. “I chose to attend Ottawa University because it offers the courses that I need in order to accomplish my goals.”

Ms. Clitso said she atmosphere and diversity of OUAZ made her transition from high school not as bad as it could have been so far away from home.

”I believe that this is where I am meant to be,” Ms. Clitso said.

Chief Enrollment Officer Dr. Brian Sandusky said in news release he believes OUAZ’s unique offerings is what will lead to growth.

“It is evident that our special value proposition is resonating with traditional-aged students, their parents, and adult-learners,” Mr. Sandusky said. “We now have a greater, more diverse student body participating in a wide variety of activities in Surprise.”

Ms. Hardy said she believes her OUAZ experience will pay off soon.

“OUAZ has set me up with skills that I will use after graduation and has even allowed me to work full time for the school and get my masters,” Ms. Hardy said. “It is very hard to get this much 1-on-1 training and preparation anywhere else.”

Jason Stone can be reached at 623-445-2805, on email at jstone@newszap.com or on Twitter at @thestonecave.