In 1996, the Arizona Legislature charged our universities, community colleges, and Board of Regents to collaborate to develop ways for students to seamlessly transfer from community colleges to universities. Meeting the higher education needs of our state was and is a priority of these three bodies. The Academic Program Articulation Steering Committee was formed as the cooperative body to carry out this charge. On behalf of the community colleges and Arizona Board of Regents, it prepares an annual report to the legislature on the progress toward improving articulation and transfer.

In the Arizona University System, research that leads to real innovations translates to technologies and products that improve lives and stimulate the economy. This report provides an in-depth and comprehensive review of Arizona's higher education research enterprise. It is designed to allow the reader to easily locate any single research metric for any of Arizona's three public universities and quickly compare each Arizona university's performance against those of its Board-approved peers.

In the 2009 report entitled "Vision 2020," the Arizona Board of Regents outlined the objective of raising Arizona to the national average of college graduates in the work force and moving Arizona to the status of a large scale center for academic research. This realignment plan outlines how both of these significant goals will be achieved in an era of more modest public investment.

The Arizona Board of Regents presents in this 2020 Vision a framework for the Arizona University System to improve the economic strength of our state and quality of life for Arizonans over the next 12 years. This plan lays out a series of touchstones for this ambition organized around four key themes: Educational Excellence, Research Excellence, Community Engagement and Workforce Impact, and Productivity. This plan builds on a foundation manifested in previous strategic planning efforts of the universities and the Board, including the establishment of a medical college in Phoenix, development of new health professions programs not offered by public institutions in the state, growth in the research enterprise, and increasingly intensive efforts to provide baccalaureate access to all regions of the state.

The TRIF budget provides seed-funding and support for significant research projects at all three universities. The supported research includes projects in bioscience to improve health and projects in sustainability and renewable energy, including water, solar, and forest health. At the UA, TRIF also supports space exploration and optical solutions, while at ASU it supports work with national security systems. TRIF dollars continue to support research critical to the future economic development of the state of Arizona and to a quality educational experience for our students. TRIF supported workforce development projects, especially in Arizona’s high-need areas, including The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix to train more doctors to address the shortage of physicians in Arizona.

In September 2005, some concerned Walker residents contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services in regards to the quality of groundwater in the area. The residents petitioned ADHS to perform well water tests to determine the character of the water, and whether there is any potential health risk associated with consuming or using the water. In response to the concerned community members and in agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, ADHS collected water samples from the site and completed a health consultation. This health consultation evaluates if the levels of lead and other metals in the private wells in Walker area pose any adverse health effects.

From May 2005 to June 2005, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality conducted a study, Potable Well Sampling Task 4.0, to determine if the chromium and chromium VI plume due to the discharge of the Pacific Gas and Electronic Topock Compressor Station has migrated under the Colorado River and impacted water supplies in Arizona. The ADEQ investigated the total chromium and hexavalent chromium (chromium VI) concentrations in (1) public water supply wells, (2) combined industrial and domestic water supply wells, and (3) private domestic water supply wells at Topock and Golden Shores, Arizona. The communities of Topock and Golden Shores have expressed their concerns regarding the findings. Thus, the ADEQ requested the Arizona Department of Health Services to evaluate the potential health effects of exposure to well water contaminated with chromium.

The Stoneridge subdivision is a growing rural community with approximately 5,000 residents. The Prescott Valley Water Company (Prescott Valley, AZ) provides drinking water for residents in this area. A resident in the community indicated that there is a “paint thinner” type odor coming from the tap water. The Prescott Valley Water Company sampled the water due to request of the resident. On July 27, 2004, the resident called the Arizona Department of Health Services to express his/her concern regarding the analytical results of benzene in tap water samples collected from faucets inside the house. As a result, the Arizona Department of Health Services completed a health consultation to evaluate if benzene and other volatile organic compounds in the water supplied by the Prescott Valley Water Company pose any adverse health effects.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the California Department of Toxic Substance Control worked together to assess background levels of naturally occurring metals in groundwater wells at Topock and Golden Shores, Arizona. The communities expressed concerns regarding the findings, thus the ADEQ requested the Arizona Department of Health Services to evaluate whether these naturally occurring metals in groundwater wells are present at levels that may cause adverse health effects.