Milwaukee zoning committee votes against for-profit nursing college

Contradicting advice from the Office of the City Attorney, a Milwaukee zoning committee on Thursday voted to effectively deny a request to allow the Arizona College of Nursing, a for-profit out-of-state school, to operate out of a building in the city.

The Arizona College of Nursing has already taken several steps to open a school at 9000 W. Chester St. in western Milwaukee. Because college or university isn't listed among the "permitted uses" for the building, the college has been following a three-step city approval process so it can begin holding classes.

Last month, the City Plan Commission voted to put the college's zoning change request "on file" rather than approve it. A meeting of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Thursday ended similarly with a vote to put the request to "on hold."

Presenting roadblocks to the Arizona College's plans are advocates in Milwaukee against for-profit colleges, who along with circulating a petition spoke at Thursday's meeting. Charlie Dee, a retired professor at Milwaukee Area Technical College, urged the zoning committee to vote against the request even if it means a lawsuit.

"If you don't, you will be enabling these educational profiteers in their quest to exploit, defraud and impoverish Milwaukee's most vulnerable taxpayers who are struggling desperately for their ticket to the middle class," Dee told the zoning committee.

Nick Mansour, chairman of the Arizona College of Nursing, appeared in person before the zoning committee in Milwaukee on Thursday alongside several other college representatives who argued on behalf of the institution's intentions, track record and plans for Milwaukee.

In a statement via email, Mansour said the Arizona College of Nursing is "committed to educating Wisconsin’s future nurses in Milwaukee."

"Arizona College of Nursing is proud to provide additional educational opportunities to address the growing nursing need as well as of the outcomes of our curriculum, like our students’ nursing exam (NCLEX) pass rate of 89%, which is in line with Wisconsin’s average pass rate," Mansour's statement reads.

Vote goes against advice from the City Attorney's Office

The Thursday vote by the zoning committee contradicted advice by Milwaukee's Department of City Development, which argued the zoning question was limited in scope and related only to land use. City staff, including those with the city attorney's office, reviewed letters written in opposition to the Arizona College of Nursing and considered the city's ability to take those letters into account.

Lawfirm Husch Blackwell is representing Greywolf Partners, Inc., the property manager for 9000 W. Chester St. Greywolf has logged more than $500,000 related to the Arizona College's plans, according to documents submitted to the zoning committee.

Husch Blackwell legal partner Rodney Carter argued a zoning change is not necessary, according to documents submitted to the zoning committee. Lakeland University and Strayer University had previously been granted certificates of occupancy at the building, he said.

Lakeland University had likely been classified as a "personal instruction school," which is an allowed use for the building, DCD staff member Kristin Connelly wrote in an October email.

"Different people were in the position of reviewing the application back in 2014 so I do not have the benefit ofinstitutional knowledge as it relates to that tenant/use, but from what we can ascertain, it was determined to be more akin to a personal instruction school, which is allowed per the (building zoning)," Connelly wrote.

In an email to Deputy City Attorney Todd Farris, Carter said attorneys hesitated to file an appeal that would attempt to block the request for a zoning change in the first place. The hope was that the issue would be resolved through the Common Council process.

He also signaled that, if the request were denied, attorneys would argue the zoning change was unnecessary in the first place and the city "erred" in denying the Arizona College of Nursing an occupancy certificate.

"There are appropriate venues to challenge the fittness of a particular academic instititon. But this committee, and through a land-use approval, is not one of those appropriate challenges," Carter said at the meeting.

Arizona College defends student outcomes, plans for Milwaukee campus

Both Mansour and Tamara Poole, associate provost of experiential education at the Arizona College, told the Milwaukee zoning committee Thursday that the institution enrolls students who might otherwise not be admitted to nursing school.

"We are here to be a good community partner," Mansour said at the meeting. "Our purpose at the Arizona College is to provide people an opportunity to improve their lives and their education."

The college submitted to a document outlining a response to criticisms about its operations to the zoning committee.

"Unlike other for-profits that have not delivered on their promises to the Milwaukee Community, AZCN has a 30 year history without closures. Our Milwaukee campus will focus solely on nursing, providing a three-year path to a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) degree with our curriculum and student support system which have a long track record of driving strong student outcomes," the document reads reads.

The college also clarified that it does not have a 60% dropout rate, but that 60% of its students who drop out do so for "personal reasons." It previously had noted that dropout rate in a document submitted to the Wisconsin Board of Nursing.

Higher Education Regional Alliance sent letter in opposition to Arizona College

Leadership from various colleges and universities in Wisconsin, organized as the Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA), this week signed a letter asking Milwaukee officials to vote against the Arizona College's zoning request. Chair of the HERA is Vicki Martin, who is also president of Milwaukee Area Technical College.

"We ask you to consider the expected outcomes from a 'for-profit' institution, should such an entity be granted an approval to open a west-side Milwaukee program," the letter reads, pointing to a report by the U.S. Senate on for-profit colleges.

"The owners, operators and boards of a for-profit college are expected to maximize profits and return that benefit to investors. When we consider the source of revenue to provide the needed profit, we expect that Milwaukee’s low income students who pay tuition through grants and loans would ultimately bear this burden," the letter reads.

The letter says there is a need for more graduates of nursing programs. But, it argues adding another nursing school is "solving the wrong problem." Instead, the "limiting factor" to increasing the nursing workforce is the ability to find staff for clinical placements, HERA argued.

The letter includes signatures from leadership of colleges and universities in the area, including:

• Milwaukee Area Technical College

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Carroll University

• Carthage College

• Alverno College

• Milwaukee School of Engineering

• Bryant & Stratton College

• Mount Mary University

• Concordia University

• University of Wisconsin-Parkside

• Gateway Technical College

• The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

• Herzing University

• Waukesha County Technical College

• Marquette University

• Wisconsin Lutheran College

• Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. Support her work with a tax-deductible donation at bit.ly/RFADonation.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: For-profit Arizona College of Nursing blocked by zoning committee