New Institute Tackles Social Science Research

As ASU continues to ramp up innovative research activities, a new unit has been created in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to further amplify active research in the social sciences. Named the Institute for Social Science Research, the unit is designed to facilitate leading-edge thinking by the faculty and to foster new transdisciplinary collaborations, as well as to make ASU's social science research expertise more accessible to the community. A ceremony celebrating the institute's founding and dedicating its new facilities was held March 30 at the Lattie F. Coor Building.

According to Division of Social Sciences Dean Alan Artibise, who also serves as the institute’s executive director, the institute is to serve as an umbrella organization, along the lines of the “small business incubator” model, for a number of promising research projects and centers.

Spring Enrollment Continues To Rise

Enrollment continued its trend upward at ASU, with 54,978 students enrolled in classes this spring, more than last year at this time. Spring enrollment figures just released exceed the 2004 spring enrollment by 752 students.

The East campus showed the most dramatic growth, climbing 10 percent over last spring to 4,022. Enrollment at the campus has continued to rise each semester, while at other campuses the numbers always drop from fall to spring, largely because of December graduation.

The Tempe campus increased slightly from last spring to 46,574, while the West campus essentially held steady at 7,047, down 21 students from last year.

Freshmen retention, a key measurement that colleges keep track of to see how many freshmen return for their sophomore year, continues to climb. A record 76.8 percent of freshmen from fall 2003 enrolled again in fall 2004, up from 68.2 percent in 1995.

Downtown Phoenix Campus Plans Move Forward

ASU and Phoenix staff members recently outlined the key elements of a proposed intergovernmental agreement to begin developing a 15,000-student campus in the city’s downtown area. The agreement was slated to move on to the Phoenix City Council and the Arizona Board of Regents for approval.

According to the proposed agreement, the city will acquire about 20 acres of land within the Downtown Redevelopment Area, bound by Van Buren Street, Filmore Street, First Avenue and Third Street; develop and finance academic and academic support space through the renovation of existing buildings and new construction; and build any necessary public infrastructure. ASU will commit to operate and maintain all Downtown Phoenix campus facilities.

The first phase of the project, to be completed by fall 2006, would involve moving the College of Public Programs — which includes the Schools of Public Affairs, Social Work and Community Resources and Development, and the College of Nursing — downtown. The new University College will operate downtown, and ASU will continue to offer existing extended education programs.

TRiO Programs Get $2 Million Boost

Access and retention programs at ASU’s Tempe and West campuses have received a boost from TRiO with two grants totaling $2,338,648.

The U.S. Department of Education TRiO Student Support Services Division has awarded the ASU Disability Resource Center at the Tempe campus a four-year continuation grant of $233,527 a year (totaling about $934,108) and awarded the ASU TRiO Student Support Services Program at the West campus a five-year continuation grant of $280,908 a year (totaling about $1,404,540).

The federal TRiO programs are educational opportunity outreach programs designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRiO includes six outreach and support programs aimed to serve and assist low-income, first-generation college and disabled students to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs.

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