In Brief: Provost Prelock outlines enrollment strategy, Safety Stroll returns, Humanities Festival reaches 'Everywhere'
Prelock op-ed highlights student-centered enrollment approach
Provost and Chief Academic Officer Patricia Prelock outlined the university's new enrollment strategy in an opinion column published Oct. 6 in the Arizona Daily Star.
Patricia Prelock
"Our new enrollment management strategy prioritizes student preparedness and long-term success," Prelock wrote. "We are confident that when students arrive ready to engage, they will seize the unique opportunities we offer and thrive as part of our community."
The official fall census reflects that approach, restoring traditional first-year class sizes and increasing the percentage of Arizona students. Total enrollment is 54,384, including 43,294 undergraduates and 11,090 graduate students. Arizona residents make up 62.5% of the first-year class, up from 52.7% in 2024.
"For students at one of America's leading research universities, receiving a rich education, acquiring lifelong skills and successfully completing a degree are what matter most," Prelock wrote. "Student success will always be our North Star."
Read more about Prelock's vision for success for every student in a story posted on the university's employee news website.
Employee Safety Stroll returns Oct. 14
University of Arizona Police Department Chief Chris Olson explains the function and operation of one of the 233 emergency blue light phones on the U of A main and health sciences campuses during a Safety Stroll for faculty and staff. The phones allow people who need help to make direct contact with UAPD and other emergency services.
University Communications/Jason Ground
Faculty and staff will have another opportunity to share their input directly with Chief Safety Officer Steve Patterson and other public safety leaders during the Oct. 14 "Safety Stroll." The one-hour walks across main campus give participants a chance to highlight areas of concern and suggest ways to strengthen campus safety.
Patterson and other members of the safety team will also provide an overview of resources including emergency blue light phones, classroom safety tools, the Threat Assessment and Management Team and the new Safecats mobile app, which launched in August.
Those interested should register online and meet at the Main Library Starbucks at 5:15 p.m. Read more about the Safety Stroll program in this Lo Que Pasa story.
Employees looking to take a deeper dive into campus safety can participate in the University of Arizona Police Department Community Academy. The free series of classes gives participants insight into every facet of UAPD operations and allows them to share feedback about public safety.
Tucson Humanities Festival returns with 'Everywhere' theme
A faculty salon, a poetry reading by former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and the creation of a sand mandala – a Tibetan Buddhist ritual artform – are all part of the 16th annual Tucson Humanities Festival this month. Coinciding with National Arts and Humanities Month, the Tucson Humanities Festival began in 2009 as Humanities Week and has grown into a monthlong series of guest speakers and special events.
The Tucson Humanities Festival theme of "Everywhere" illustrates how the study of human cultures, ideas and languages is woven throughout all fields of study and can provide insight in unexpected places.
Festival events are listed below.
Tibetan Sand Mandala by Lama Losang Samten
Public Viewings: Oct. 12-17, from 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Dissolution Ritual: Oct. 18, 2 p.m.
Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, 1502 E. Mabel St.
The Humanities Are Everywhere: Faculty Salon & McCauslin-Smith Gardens Opening
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m.
U of A Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St.
To celebrate the opening of the new McCauslin-Smith Gardens at the Helen S. Schaefer Building, College of Humanities faculty members will give brief presentations highlighting their exciting global research and teaching.
Poetry in Perilous Times: A Reading with Tracy K. Smith
Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
Health Sciences Innovation Building, 1670 E. Drachman St.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, memoirist, editor and translator, Tracy K. Smith is the author of eight books and served as the U.S. poet laureate from 2017 to 2019.
Soundtracks Far & Wide: Faculty Guest DJs on KXCI
Fridays in October, 5 p.m.
91.3 FM or kxci.org
Humanities professors will join KXCI Community Radio host Hannah Levin throughout October as guest DJs during "The Home Stretch."
- Oct. 10: Lillian Gorman, Spanish & Portuguese
- Oct. 17: Alain-Philippe Durand, College of Humanities
- Oct. 24: Rob Stephan, Religious Studies & Classics
- Oct. 31: DeAnna Daniels, Africana Studies