Local & Community News Update

After only six years of operation and five years of rankings eligibility, Arizona Online made its first top 10 appearance in the 2021 Best Online Bachelor's Programs rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Arizona Online climbed to No. 7 overall – and No. 6 among public universities – out of 337 programs, further solidifying itself as a national leader in online education.

Pima County has begun administering Phase 1B vaccinations, and starting this week the University of Arizona will be the designated distribution point for the Phase 1B priority subpopulation of teachers and child care workers, including K-12 and higher education teachers and staff, as well as student teachers.

The University of Arizona College of Law, the School of Journalism, and the School of Government and Public Policy have launched a Participatory Democracy Initiative to make a difference in practice by educating and developing students and the community to find ways out of the partisan thicket and share a common foundation for debate and rationally engaging in the challenges that lie ahead.

Arizona researchers are launching a project in Yuma County aimed at understanding the community spread of the coronavirus by studying the area’s wastewater. The project is to be carried out by Yuma County public health officials and the University of Arizona’s Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture.

NASA has awarded $3.1 million to Christopher Hamilton in UArizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory to develop a drone that could act as a "field assistant" to a rover and explore previously inaccessible regions on Mars.

The University of Arizona is partnering with Diné College – a public tribal college in northern Arizona – on a project that aims to provide Native American students with skills, knowledge and confidence to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering, agriculture and math fields.

The University of Arizona Center for Innovation at Oro Valley – an incubator focused on supporting bioscience startups – has officially opened its doors. The center features office, lab and meeting space. The incubator will also offer companies access to shared laboratory equipment like an ultra-low minus-80-degrees freezer, biosafety cabinets and an inverted fluorescence microscope.

The University of Arizona Global Campus, also known as Global Campus or UAGC, today announced the completion of the acquisition of Ashford University from Zovio Inc., and the appointments of Nivine Megahed as chair of the Global Campus board of directors and Paul Pastorek as interim CEO. The Global Campus board of directors has appointed Craig Swenson as Global Campus president.

On November 12, 2020 the University of Arizona held a ceremony to exhibit the flags of all 22 Arizona Native Nations in the lobby of the main Bookstore in the Student Union. The flags will remain on display as a reminder of the rich history and impact that Tribal Nations in Arizona continue to make at UArizona.

With Pima County voter turnout of 82.45%, three new Supervisors were elected to the Pima County Board of Supervisors. By a narrow margin of just 270 votes, Rex Scott (D) edged out Steve Spain (R) to replace the retiring Ally Miller in District 1. District 2 will be represented by Dr. Matt Heinz, a former legislator and longtime community leader. TUSD School Board member Adelita Grijalva was elected to fill the seat of Richard Elias, after his untimely passing earlier this year.

Over the last six months, political insiders from across the state predicted the 2020 election would result in the Democrats controlling at least one chamber of the State Legislature in January.

President-Elect Joe Biden’s term as 46th President of the United States begins January 20th, 2021. Under the Biden Administration, we expect to see significant changes to a number of higher education and research-based policy priorities made public during the campaign.