📰 BEST BETS
Enrollment Surpasses 40K for First Time
A record-breaking number of in-state first-year students highlights The University of Alabama’s fall 2024 total enrollment of 40,846, surpassing 40,000 for the first time.
Why This Matters: UA’s unwavering commitment to student success led to the record-breaking enrollment, which includes 3,434 freshmen from Alabama, marking the largest number of in-state freshmen ever. This 7.9% increase in in-state first-year students is UA’s sixth consecutive year with an in-state increase. Second-year retention also reached an all-time high at nearly 90%.
For more information, contact Alex House at alex.house@ua.edu.
Iron Bowl Meets Citizen Science
Fans of The University of Alabama and Auburn University can compete in the realm of citizen science through the annual Marble Bowl by submitting observations of wild plants, animals and fungi to one of two projects on the iNaturalist platform.
Why This Matters: Alabama is blessed with incredible biodiversity — amongst the highest in the nation. Unfortunately, there are also many endangered species and a high extinction rate. With these facts in mind, the increased need for documenting biodiversity around the state is more clear.
For more information, contact Rebecca Johnson at rljohnson8@ua.edu.
The UA Translational Research Injury Prevention laboratory, part of the Institute for Social Science Research, held a ribbon cutting for a new driving simulator, a car frame that interacts with an immersive virtual environment capable of powerful, data-driven research on human behavior and driving.
Why This Matters: One of the features that makes the TRIP lab unique is the ability to connect multiple simulators for an immersive team experience. The lab is currently working on a project to study levels of autonomous driving with human participants working together to complete a task, or mission.
For more information, contact Jessica Nelson at jessica.nelson@ua.edu.
📅 EVENTS
Sept. 17; The EDGE
Sept. 19; 2008 North Lawn Hall
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