As the future-ready flagship, The University of Alabama is making great progress on its priorities to be the university for Alabama, for leaders and for the future. UA President Peter J. Mohler shared the latest progress in an address to faculty and staff at the fall campus assembly on Sept. 22.
For Alabama
Mohler emphasized enrollment, especially the 18,652 students who are Alabama residents, and UA’s climb of 13 spots in U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings, as well as the University’s rating as the top-ranked Best Value School for in-state students in Alabama. He also highlighted the exceptional preparation of the incoming class, with an average high school GPA of 3.86. Mohler noted that the UA six-year graduation rate reached 75.5% this year, which is the highest since UA started tracking six-year graduation rates in 1988.
Mohler acknowledged the UA undergraduate nursing program’s rise to a national ranking of 19 by U.S. News & World Report, and ongoing plans to double nursing enrollment to meet the state’s need. He also highlighted the new Wiregrass Hub and announced three additional Future-Ready Hubs that would serve various parts of Alabama, connecting research to needs and opportunities in specific communities.
Crimson Compass, Mohler noted, has served nearly 1,100 students from almost every county in Alabama, and through the Tide to Success program, every Alabama high school student now has access to free ACT preparation through the University. Additionally, he said, Early College enrollment grew by double digits this year, giving high school students the opportunity to earn college credit before they graduate.
The president then stressed the importance of entrepreneurial activity on campus and said that the undergraduate business program is now ranked among the nation’s top 50 by U.S. News & World Report.
For Leaders
Mohler drew attention to the launch of the Office of Internships through the Career Center, created to ensure that every UA student can have access to a meaningful internship. The formation of the new President’s Cabinet Scholars Program, Mohler added, will allow future leaders to connect with accomplished business, industry and community leaders while they are still enrolled in college.
For the Future
To address the need for AI literacy, UA has launched the new UA AI Experience, where every student, faculty and staff member can learn to use AI technology responsibly, ethically and well. To date, more than 1,700 members of the UA community have completed courses, including 1,100 students.
Mohler also expressed appreciation for the completion, in October, of the Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign, the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of the state.
To conclude, he returned to the importance of serving students, even ones who will enroll at UA fifty years from now.
“We do not know exactly what their world will look like,” Mohler said.
“But we do know what we want The University of Alabama to be for them: a university that prepares them for whatever lies ahead, challenges them, believes in what they can become, and gives them the opportunity to do something meaningful with what they learn here.”