TUCSON - The Arizona Board of Regents approved a new ASU religious studies doctoral program and established the Institute for Computing and Information Science and Engineering on Friday.
ASU President Michael Crow said although ASU's undergraduate program of religious studies is already one of the largest in the country, he wants to increase the number of doctoral programs offered at the University.
"It's very important that ASU develops [a] world-class humanities department, and religious studies is a place where we have an opportunity to do that," Crow said.
According to the proposal presented to the Regents, the doctoral program has two main goals: to train graduate students for careers as religious scholars and teachers, and to provide graduate students with training in a range of related programs, such as history, anthropology and political science.
Milton Glick, executive vice president and University provost, said most of the money for the program would come from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and would primarily be directed to hiring additional graduate assistants. Glick said he does not know how much implementing the program will cost.
The Institute for Computing and Information Science and Engineering will likely be open at the end of the summer.
Money and equipment from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences will be used to set up the Institute, which likely will be located at the Brickyard on Mill in downtown Tempe.
"We think that in order for the institution as a whole to prosper, we need to have a place with a very strong presence in computer science and engineering," Glick said. "[We hope] the users of this technology can come together and benefit from sharing experiences and develop synergy."
The Regents also approved a Master of Arts degree in teaching Spanish at NAU and an interdisciplinary minor in organizational studies at ASU West.
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Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
