Arizona State University reorganizes into 3 enterprises to serve all learners

PHOENIX — Arizona State University is looking to serve all learners at every stage of life, not just those pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees.

To do so, the university is reorganizing into three enterprises.

The academic enterprise encompasses degree-seeking students. The knowledge enterprise represents research activities. And the new learning enterprise seeks to offer learning options to anyone, whether they are attending a K-12 school or recently retired.

“These are high school courses, these are college pathway courses, these are training courses, software coding courses — anything we can assemble for any learner, anywhere, in any family and at any age,” Michael Crow, ASU president, said during a virtual webinar hosted by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce last week.

The learning enterprise is headed by Maria Anguiano. She developed the initial conceptual design for the enterprises and is now in charge of implementing it.

“The initial work of learning enterprise requires conceptualizing how a research university might best serve any learner, whether they are just starting their educational journey or are embarking in a postretirement learning journey and everything in between,” Anguiano recently said.

“No major research university has ever attempted to take this on, and it will require working across the entire ASU enterprise, with every school, with every institute, with every partner we have to advance this vision.”

Crow said with the creation of the three enterprises, ASU is “in the middle of the largest reorganization” since the founding of the university in 1958.

“We’ve got an unbelievable transformation of the institution, and I think we’re going to be of even greater service,” he said.

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