ASU president Michael Crow speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Arizona Center for Law and Society, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in Phoenix. The facility, scheduled to be completed and opened by fall 2016, will host several law-related institutions, including ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. (Photo by Ben Moffat)Members of the Arizona Board of Regents, ASU President Michael Crow and UA President Ann Weaver Hart discussed university progress and their role in job creation Thursday on the Tempe campus.
Crow put into context a strategic enterprise framework he as been working on with ASU over the past several years.
He said the number of full-time freshmen enrolled at ASU increased more this fall more than previous years. He also said there has been a dramatic increase in retention rate, which is now 90 percent.
"We came to this board and said that we would hit these goals," Crow said. "These are unbelievable achievements in my view. There is no way any president of any university can achieve it. It's only possible if the faculty, staff and students believe in it."
Crow contrasted ASU's admittance policy with Ohio State University's, which uses a "weeding out" system with their students. He said he wanted to focus on student success, rather than implementing a similar policy.
"There are morons who say there is a dividing line," he said. "They basically will say, "Just concentrate on the 'A' students; the 'B' students aren’t worth it.'"
This is a policy with which Crow does not agree, and and he believes some colleges have become a home of elitism.
"We do get criticism for taking 'B' students, but we are performing just as well as schools that take only 'A' students," he said. "ASU had 27 Fulbright scholars last year. That’s more than everyone except Michigan and Harvard.”
ABOR president Eileen Klein proposed a tuition and fees policy revision plan to implement across the state of Arizona. She suggested methods for it to be more transparent.
She presented an idea to have a tuition setting calendar and updated student financial aid reports. She said there needs to be more state solutions for financial aid.
"The number of Pell grants has increased by 34 percent financial aid by 50 percent," she said. "That’s only going to grow."
Arizona public universities are planning to raise employment and income growth.
Hart said 100 percent engagement is critical regarding employment in Arizona.
"The more experience they have and applying that knowledge makes them more employable," she said.
Reach the assistant news editor at kgrega@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @kelciegrega
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