Academics
Located in the southern city of Montgomery, Alabama State University has diverse academic offerings spread across seven schools, colleges, and the Levi Watkins Learning Center. The various programs available are globally oriented and ever-evolving in response to market demands, with core general education requirements designated by the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee for all colleges and universities statewide. Student Success Laboratories provide specialized academic support in areas such as C-STEM and writing, and the Academic Center for Educational Success aims to bolster retention by providing early support for students who are at risk in their learning progress. ASU has top-of-the-line research facilities that allow students to assist in groundbreaking discoveries alongside pre-eminent faculty, such as during the ten-week multidisciplinary summer program Research Experiences for Undergraduates, and ASU partners with other research universities for larger projects and studies. The school’s Center for Leadership & Public Policy conducts research on the impact of education, race relations, and violence on Alabama’s social and economic future. The largest college at ASU is the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences (CLASS), which offers seven different undergraduate majors, as well as a number of interdisciplinary minors including African-American Studies, Legal Studies, and Film Studies.
Career
ASU believes in the entirety of the college experience—both inside and outside the books—and encourages students to take part in its more than 50 sanctioned clubs and organizations, including a number of fraternities and sororities. The Research and Creative Activity Symposium (RCAS) Committee at ASU is dedicated to providing a space for the exchange of creative ideas, and it hosts an annual symposium on campus that merges research and creative work, not just for ASU itself, but with the participation of colleagues from other states. The Office of Student Life was established to foster an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity, and it promotes activities, events and programs that spark academic collaboration, student leadership opportunities, and community engagement. ASU is a school of longstanding traditions that helps students maintain the “Ole ‘Bama State Spirit,” including the Turkey Day Classic (the nation’s oldest Black football classic), the Magic City Classic (the nation’s largest Black college football classic), and Founder’s Day, when the university and the surrounding community join together to acknowledge the work of the Marion Nine and reflect on how far the school has come.
Culture
ASU is an established producer of Black teachers, and a large portion of students matriculate through ASU’s oldest school, the College of Education. ASU’s Career Services program provides individualized support centered around a student’s academic development and desired career path, offering assistance in career assessment, finding internships, and job hunting (including a Fall and Spring Career Fair). Notable alumni include Alabama Senator Quinton Ross, rapper 2 Chainz, and Fred Gray, an attorney who represented Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and later Alabama itself in the House of Representatives.
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