ASU launches programs for students at ASU California Center

New ASU center offers bridge to California communities

Arizona State University graduate students in law and public programs are now pursuing internships and other opportunities in Southern California, operating out of the new ASU California Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Advanced journalism students will soon be at the center, covering Pac-12 sports.

ASU also is reaching out to California high school and community college students to let them know about programs at the university offered at four distinct campuses in the Phoenix area. Two recruiting events at the center in late September drew more than 200 students and parents.

The center, which opened at 725 N. Arizona Ave. in Santa Monica in March, unveiled new event space at a ceremony on Oct. 22. California is home to many ASU alumni and prospective students. Upcoming events for high school students and their parents will be held in October and November. A larger ASU information fair will be held Nov. 24 in Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Among the ASU units which have a presence in the ASU California Center are the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, College of Public Programs, Center of Social Cohesion, W. P. Carey School of Business, ASU Online, Undergraduate Admissions, Arizona Technology Enterprises, ASU Alumni Association and the ASU Foundation for a New American University.

A fruitful partnership

California communities stand to benefit from the presence of ASU in their midst. ASU graduate students in public administration are working with municipalities in southern California to help devise innovative solutions to challenges they share, operating in partnership with the California Civic Innovation Project and the Alliance for Innovation.

Students from ASU’s College of Law are acting as externs in Los Angeles-area nonprofit organizations. An ASU law professor teaches two courses at the center in the evening and the university plans to expand the law externship program to allow students to make connections with possible employers.

The highly-ranked ASU Cronkite School plans to launch a Cronkite Sports Network bureau at the ASU California Center, producing TV and digital stories on sports, focusing heavily on the Pac12. The bureau will have a full-time professor of practice who will work with advanced journalism students, partnering with major TV and digital media outlets to air the stories across California.

"Arizona and California have deep social, economic and educational connections,” says ASU President Michael M. Crow. “It’s important to the future of ASU – and the state of Arizona – that we look to enhance those linkages in ways which provide California students the opportunity to participate in the dynamic education experience provided by ASU. The center also gives our students and the rest of Arizona new pathways for accessing all that California has to offer.”

Other ASU journalism students will focus their research and writing on sustainability issues, working at Zócalo Public Square, which is located in the center. Zócalo is a full-fledged "ideas exchange" and media outlet that blends live events and humanities journalism, and whose mission is to build community around ideas.

Last year, Zócalo hosted 70 events in 11 cities and published over 600 original features. Topics have included the foreclosure crisis, global warming and internet freedom. Zócalo syndicates articles to more than 100 publications, including Time magazine and USA Today.

“The ASU California center is offering our students in the School of Public Affairs an opportunity to engage the complex challenge of managing cities in another vibrant metropolitan area,” says Jonathan Koppell, dean of the ASU College of Public Programs. “It’s a set of opportunities and issues distinct from those encountered in Arizona. This platform will ultimately serve to enrich the educational and research activity across our public service programs.”

Access to ASU

Santa Monica College entered into a guaranteed program for admission to ASU in 2012. Students at Santa Monica College who are interested in continuing their education at the bachelor's degree level can sign up for the guaranteed admission program with ASU, provided they meet GPA requirements and complete general studies requirements.

The Phoenix metro area is just a six-hour drive from the Los Angeles area – close to home, but not too close. And the cost of living is substantially lower, often off-setting non-resident tuition.

“Santa Monica College is working directly with ASU to explore the possibility of expanding transfer degree opportunities in public policy, public affairs and nursing,” says Jeffery Shimizu, Santa Monica College vice president for academic affairs.

Another unit at the center is Arizona Technology Enterprises, ASU’s exclusive intellectual property management and technology transfer organization. The plan is to build relationships with entrepreneurs, investors, companies and southern California research universities.

Other organizations co-located at the ASU California Center are the Arizona Commerce Authority and California Chicano News Media Association.

For more information on upcoming events for students at the ASU California Center or to RSVP, visit students.asu.edu/santamonica.

To register for the “Dream it-Do it” expo and information fair Nov. 24, visit visit.asu.edu/SoCalEXPO.

Registration for a Nov. 10 event for transfer students is here.