A"New Gold Standard" for American universities -- one that measures a university's academic quality by the education that its graduates have received, rather than by the academic credentials of its incoming freshman class -- was proposed by Arizona State University President Michael Crow in his inaugural address delivered Nov. 8 in Tempe, Arizona.

"Most institutions judge their academic quality by who they exclude; we will be judged by who we include," Crow told 3,500 people attending the ceremony, during which he was formally installed as ASU's 16th president. "It is not difficult to turn out well-educated graduates if you only accept the top 10 percent of high school students who apply. Our mission is a very different one."

Crow said ASU would go beyond the traditional math and verbal standards in determining student quality and would also consider other types of intelligence, such as students who have superior technical skills and performing arts abilities. The university would remain accessible to large numbers of students, who would be guided into programs that best suit their interests and skills. ASU would then evaluate itself by the development students have undergone during their time at the university.

"Another aspect of this new university model is that researchers, while pursuing their scholarly interests, would also consider the public good, what is called 'outcome-focused research'," he said. "And this new kind of university would not only engage in community service but also would take on major responsibility for the economic, social, and cultural health of its community."

For a century, Crow said, 15 American institutions, including Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Princeton and great public universities such as California and Wisconsin, have defined the American research university.

"Such has been the influence of these 15 institutions that, to this day, every university in the nation measures itself according to their standards," said Crow. "Make no mistake: these universities represent the gold standard --but it is the gold standard of the past."

Crow believes that universities should redesign themselves to respond to the needs of their larger communities. ASU's larger community is being reshaped by a number of trends: Arizona, America's last frontier, is still a new state and is continuing to evolve; metropolitan Phoenix has had explosive population growth and uncontrolled development has made it environmentally unsustainable; the state economy needs both diversification and growth stimulation; there have been dramatic demographic and cultural shifts; and the K-12 education system is among the poorest performing in the country.

In response to these trends, Crow outlined the key design imperatives necessary to transform ASU into a new kind of leading public metropolitan research university. These imperatives include becoming more entrepreneurial rather than functioning strictly as an agency of the state, and embracing and making the most of the university's cultural, socioeconomic and physical setting.

Through a variety of programs, both mobile and located in various parts of the metropolitan area and state, the university would also become a ubiquitous presence and a driving force -- in local neighborhoods, in the metropolitan region, and statewide, an integral part of the community, and a lifelong presence in the lives of its alumni, as well as the general citizenry.

"Knowledge knows no boundaries," said Crow. "The core disciplines are but one element of our intellectual identity and may not be the optimal way to organize knowledge, or to organize the institution itself, or to teach students, or to solve the social, economic and technological challenges confronting institutions in the regions in which they are located.

"Accordingly, I encourage teaching and research that is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary," Crow said. "I encourage, where appropriate, the convergence of disciplines, a practice that might more accurately be described as 'intellectual fusion,' which is another of our design imperatives."

Perhaps, Crow's most controversial proposal is that ASU would get both larger and better at the same time.

"Size is irrelevant to an academic institution to the extent that a university can attend to students as individuals," he said. "In order to focus on the individual, Arizona State University needs smaller and more focused programs on its Main Campus, and more learning groups within those programs. At the same time we must accelerate the development of new learner-centered programs on our West and East and Downtown campuses, each with its own unique identity."

Part of Crow's plan is to create distinctive colleges and universities within the university. "For example," he said, "on the outskirts of Mesa, Arizona, at the ASU East campus, we will build the nation's first twenty-first century polytechnic to educate writers, teachers, engineers, technologists, business professionals, scientists and a range of other specialists in how to think and solve problems from the perspective of experience-based learning and applications-based problem solving.

"In Metropolitan Phoenix's burgeoning and diverse West Valley, we will create one of the first truly interdisciplinary college campuses yet created in America. And our university-wide program, the Barrett Honors College, will be enhanced, expanded and refined.

"Fifty years ago those involved in the academic enterprise enjoyed a buoyant optimism, and the possibilities that science and technology and art were seen to offer appeared limitless. As we look ahead in this still new century, the world is more complex, and we can speak with less certainty than was possible in the past.

"I believe we should strive to become a true university, not a place for a few, but a force for many. There is much at stake. Our success affects the fortunes of the region, but, if we are successful, if we are able to create a true academic community in the fullest sense of the idea, then we may prove to have more influence than we suspected, perhaps even building the premier new American university -- the university that sets the new gold standard."

Arizona State University was founded in 1885 as the Arizona Territorial Normal School, serving primarily as a teachers college for more than six decades. In 1958, The Arizona electorate voted to name the school Arizona State University, and the establishment of new colleges, doctoral degrees and research programs soon followed. Today, ASU is a Carnegie Foundation Extensive Doctoral/Research University, internationally known for its more than 100 high-quality academic and research programs offered through a multi-campus setting.

President Michael Crow

Newly installed ASU President Michael Crow delivers his inaugural address in Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium as dignitaries, including former ASU presidents, members of the Arizona Board of Regents and the governor listen.

Wearing traditional Native American clothing, Tony Redhouse of Blackhorse Native American Art, Dance & Music, performs for the more than 3,500 attendees at the Nov. 8, inauguration ceremony for ASU's 16th President Michael Crow.

Crow and his wife Sybil Francis enjoy the comments of UofA President Peter Likens during his keynote address. During his speech, Crow commended Francis for her support and commitment to him and to ASU. The university's 14th president, J. Russell Nelson, center, listens in support of his successor.