President Michael Crow spoke to a group of 200 faculty members, administrators and investors Tuesday night, outlining the University’s accomplishments and its road ahead in a presentation sponsored by the ASU Foundation.

Crow labeled his lecture a status report on the evolution of ASU, calling on citizens of Tempe and the state to help guide the University as it continues to gain a positive reputation around the world amidst tightening budgets.

In 2009, Forbes ranked ASU 28th on the list of 100 of “America’s Best Colleges,” based on value, quality and delivery.

“As citizens, you all have to decide whether we are on the right track,” Crow said. “What we need is to be pushed more by the citizenry, we need more voices pushing us.”

Rudi O’Keefe-Zelman, vice president of policy for ASU’s Undergraduate Student Government, said citizens should contact their legislators to reaffirm the importance of higher education.

“Citizens matter, and if they care, which they should — after all, the University drives things like job creation — then they should become advocates and talk to their legislators,” O’Keefe-Zelman said.

In his annual presentation, Crow defined ASU as an institution that drives change.

“We do not sit still, we think of new ways of organizing, new ways of solving problems and new ways of attracting students,” he said.

ASU has added 31 new schools and a total of 98 new degrees for students since his arrival in 2002, according to an informational packet distributed at the meeting.

“I’m really proud of ASU, we are leading the way in a lot of different areas,” O’Keefe-Zelman said. “We offer programs in just about everything.”

Crow also said that the University has made strides in recent years.

“Call it what you will, this institution has achieved a level of recognition,” he said. “But producing a college graduate is no easy feat.”

In the 2008-2009 academic year, ASU awarded 15,610 degrees, a 38 percent increase since 2002.

As enrollment has increased, state funding no longer covers the costs it used to.

Since 2003 there has been an 873 percent increase in low-income freshmen, as financial support from the state has decreased in recent years. State aid accounts for 20 percent of ASU’s total operating budget.

O’Keefe-Zelman said the decrease in state funding has hurt the University.

“When stimulus dollars run out, it is going to be difficult to keep up the quality without raising tuition,” she said.

The University is likely to see a tuition increase as early as next year, Ernest Calderón, president of the Arizona Board of Regents announced last week.

ASU started as a territorial teachers’ academy, Crow said, offering limited degrees and programs all the way up until the 1970s.

“We had no funded research until the 1980s,” he said. “From 1999 to 2009, research expenditures spanned from under $100 million to over $350 million.”

Crow said even in the direst of economic projections, the University can operate successfully.

“The road ahead of us has some challenges,” Crow said, stressing the importance of education to help drive the economy upward. “We can operate in all those places, we just need time.”

Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu