Arizona State University has campuses in Downtown Phoenix; in Tempe; in Glendale and in Mesa. It has a total enrolment population of 64,394 students. “ASU is a vanguard knowledge and discovery enterprise advancing transdisciplinary teaching and research focused on the major questions of our time and the most pressing challenges that confront global society.
The New American University now emerging at ASU represents a pioneering effort to redefine the American research university, and to provide for the region an institution that addresses its unique demands and dynamics while leveraging its competitive advantage through strategic global engagement. ASU has produced top national scholars; its faculty is composed of honorees and awardees from prestigious award giving bodies. ASU has been moving at an accelerated pace to establish itself as one of the leading centers for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in selected areas, both fundamental and applied.
Consistent with the vision of the research university as a catalyst for societal transformation, ASU favors a research enterprise dedicated to societal relevance and socially optimal outcomes of research. But ASU is also a community of poets, artists, and musicians, a place where the expression of a personal vision is valued as highly as the design of a new molecule. ASU offers outstanding resources for study and research including libraries and museums with important collections, studios and performing arts spaces for creative endeavor, and unsurpassed state-of-the-art scientific and technological research facilities.
In addition to the historic Tempe campus, the university comprises three newer campuses with more specialized missions: ASU at the West campus balances the traditions of a liberal arts education with responsiveness to the dynamics of the workforce. ASU at the Polytechnic campus integrates applied science and technology. And with plans for a campus in downtown Phoenix focused on the public mission of the university, ASU is a key stakeholder in the revitalization of the historic urban core of Phoenix.
The transformation of ASU from a territorial teachers college to a world-class research institution parallels the transformation of metropolitan Phoenix from a frontier settlement to a dynamic and emerging world city. ASU seeks to set a new standard for public service, and is an active partner with the private sector in initiatives to enhance the social well-being, economic competitiveness, cultural depth, and quality of life of metropolitan Phoenix and the state. ” (www. asu. edu) ASU ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Arizona State University offer 250 academic undergraduate programs. The University likewise offers graduate programs and minors, certificates and interdisciplinary studies. BIRGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY IDAHO BYU Background and History: The campus of Birgham Young University Idaho is in Rexburg. It was originally founded as Ricks College. “In the Year 2000, the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a historic announcement: Ricks College would become a four-year university and take the name Brigham Young University-Idaho.
It is a university that “re-thinks education” by breaking new new ground in higher education with unique academic offerings, creative calendaring, and programs focused on the development of students. From its earliest years as a pioneer academy to the modern university we know today, BYU-Idaho has enjoyed a rich heritage of sacrifice, service, improvement, and innovation. BYU is a vibrant university where students and employees are learning and growing together, serving each other and the Lord. A remarkable educational endeavor is underway on this campus and exciting times lie ahead.
At Brigham Young University-Idaho, you will find a legacy of dedicated service and faithful perseverance that began more than 100 years ago on the newly settled plains of the Upper Snake River Valley. In keeping with the belief in education held by the area’s Latter-day Saint pioneers, the Bannock Stake Academy opened in a meager log church building in 1888. By the latter part of the 20th Century, Ricks College had blossomed into the nation’s largest private junior college with a student body of nearly 9,000.
In 2004 BYU-Idaho received accreditation at the baccalaureate level by the Northwest Association on Colleges and Universities. (www. byui. edu) BYU ACADEMIC PROGRAMS “BYU-Idaho’s vast academic offerings are spread across six colleges: o Agriculture and Life Sciences o Business and Communication o Education and Human Development o Language and Letters o Performing and Visual Arts o Physical Sciences and Engineering The instructors in these various disciplines engage in a wide range of scholarly and research activities, but their primary focus is always on the teaching and development of students.
BYU-Idaho operates on a year-round basis that allows more students the opportunity to attend. The academic calendar is divided into three equal semesters: winter, summer, and fall. Students are admitted to one of three tracks: summer/fall, fall/winter, or winter/summer. Students are “off-track” for one semester each year, and they stay on the same track through graduation. “ (www. byui. edu) IN SUMMARY: Arizona State University is much bigger than Birgham Young University Idaho. ASU has a wider range of academic programs, compared to the limited range of the academic program of BYU.
ASU is co-ecumenical in its character as a learning institution, while BYU concentrates its learning and educational process on profound Christian faith. In a report on top schools among national universities, BYU placed 79th and ASU placed 96th (US News & World Report, 2008) In the way the studies and analysis are done by different bodies in assessing the rankings of different educational institutions, the methodology varies. There are indices that define population; retention; popularity; student’s choice; number of programs. However, there are other inert challenges in evaluating university rankings.
“The most significant challenge in this marketplace [of ranking studies] is the growing tendency to separate the content of higher education from its context. The content, of course, is the knowledge acquired by students as they pass through a course of study and earn a degree or other certificate of completion. The context includes the delivery mechanisms (teachers, classrooms, libraries, laboratories) and the setting (campuses, residence halls, student unions, sports programs, social organizations, student life, alumni associations).
Two different forces are at work here. One push emphasizes the value of the context in preparing individuals for economic and social success. Attend the right college, this frame of reference implies, with the right context, containing the right faculty, and providing access to the right alumni, and the student is presumed to benefit substantially more than if they had attended an institution with a lesser quality context. The other push emphasizes the importance of the skills and knowledge acquired.
This frame of reference seeks institutions that provide the student with the most knowledge, the highest possible level of skill in particular useful and occupationally important areas in the shortest amount of time, with the least investment in non-content related activities. The context-focused institutions and the content-focused institutions coincide on the importance of learning, of knowledge acquisition, and on the preparation of students for competitive success after graduation. Where they differ is in the approach to providing this result.
Although we present these as two distinct models, in fact, most institutions present themselves in the marketplace with programs and options that permit students to construct educational programs that include as much context as they need, want, or can afford. However, the effort to tailor college and university programs to match the needs of many different students, and the competition among providers to capture as much of the marketplace as possible, has led to the increased fragmentation or decomposition of the traditional college and university product.” (Lombardi, Capaldi, Abbey, 2007)
References
The Arizona State University Website http://www. asu. edu The Birgham Young University Website http://www. byui. edu National Universities: Top Schools. US News & World Report, 8 April 2008-04-08 http://www. colleges. usnews. rankingsandreviews. com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief. php Lombardi, J. V. , Capaldi, E. D. , Abbey, C. W. “The Top American Research Universities” The Center for Measuring University Performance. 2007 Annual Report http://www. mup. asu. edu/research2007. pdf