ASU to break ground on Block 12 on Jan. 24

January 16, 2013

Arizona State University and the surrounding community are invited to the groundbreaking of Block 12 – College Avenue Commons, the future space of the Del E. Webb School of Construction and other university resources.

Taking place at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 24, on 7th St. and College Ave. in Tempe, the event will feature building displays, food and a brief presentation from ASU President Michael Crow about the intentions for the space. Parking is available in the Fulton Center Parking Garage. Download Full Image

The building is part of a longstanding partnership between ASU and the City of Tempe to expand the Tempe campus in order to fulfill the growing need for educational space.

“We are very excited for this collaboration with the City of Tempe. We hope this project will set in motion the future extension of Cady Mall,” said Ed Soltero, assistant vice president, university architect, in the Office of the University Architect.

Aside from classroom and administrative space, Block 12 will house a Grab and Go market, café, bookstore component, study space and the Experience ASU tour group.

“The teaching space and auditorium will be the first glimpse that prospective students and parents have of ASU, so we want it to reflect a very urban, innovative and sustainable design,” said Soltero.

The development of College Avenue between 6th and 7th streets into a flexible urban space to support special events also will feature sustainability initiatives.

Keeping in mind the hot Arizona summers, Soltero assures there will also be plenty of shaded areas for students to socialize and study. Future plans include retail space and a roof deck. The project is set to be completed by July 2014.

Block 12 joins a list of acquired educational space by ASU. The university recently purchased the University Center in Tempe and the Centerpoint Office Building to accommodate research and administrative needs.

ASU ranked by U.S. News as one of best places to earn an online degree

January 16, 2013

Arizona State University, recognized as one of the top major public research universities in the country, is quickly becoming one of the nation’s best universities for students wishing to earn an online degree.

The just-released U.S. News & World Report 2013 "Best Online Education Programs Rankings” list ASU 40th for best online bachelor’s degree programs. The university is 15th among public universities offering online bachelor’s degree programs and the only Pac-12 school making the list. student working on a computer Download Full Image

Four online graduate degree programs also were ranked among the nation’s best, including:

• Business – 2nd overall

• Nursing – 17th overall

• Engineering – 23rd overall

• Education - 49th overall

This is the first year U.S. News has ranked online degree programs overall. The full list and more detailed information on each online program can be viewed here.

“Over the past three years, ASU has assembled an exceptional array of program offerings, quality services and dedicated resources for online students,” said Phil Regier, executive vice provost and dean of ASU Online. “Students who choose an online program with ASU learn from the same excellent faculty, engage with the same rigorous content and earn the same degree as students who attend on ground.

"The result is unprecedented access to a leading Research-1 university and opportunity for students anywhere to benefit from all that ASU has to offer.”

U.S. News defines the online degree programs in its rankings as “a program for which all the required coursework for program completion is able to be completed via distance education courses that incorporate Internet-based learning technologies.”

The program rankings included strength in these over-arching categories:

• student engagement (including graduation rate and class size)

• faculty credentials and training (including doctoral and tenure-track faculty and formal training for faculty in distance education)

• student services and technology (including student debt upon graduation, technologies/services available to students)

• admissions selectivity (for graduate programs, including GPA scores of admitted students and acceptance rate)

ASU currently offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs entirely online, with additional programs expected by fall 2013. Learn more at ASU Online: http://asuonline.asu.edu/.