Freshmen seeking a university will have one more option, as the Arizona International Campus of the UA is now accepting applications for its fall semester.

AIC is actively recruiting students from southern Arizona high schools, said Lori Tochihara, director of recruitment and orientation. She has been traveling to high schools to get students statewide to enroll at AIC.

"Right now we're working with high schools because that's where the captive audience is," Tochihara said.

AIC will only be accepting applications for beginning college students, because the curriculum is designed for incoming freshmen, Tochihara said. The AIC application deadline is April 15.

When classes start, AIC is hoping to have between six and eight full-time faculty members who will be teaching core interdisciplinary courses.

Core courses will include natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, Spanish and Latin American studies, fine and performing arts, and mathematics, Clausen said.

A course introducing AIC to the students will also be offered.

"It's an intellectual course in which students are going to look at the most pressing issues of education in the past and present, locally and globally, and how AIC will address these contemporary problems in education," Clausen said.

Classes will meet at the South Rita Road and Interstate 10 site, which now houses offices for IBM.

"This first year there will be little renovation, as classrooms, conference rooms, a library and a beautiful lobby area already exist," said Celestino Fernandez, AIC executive vice president and provost.

"In future years we may have to do some renovations as our student body increases, but right now we're looking forward to moving in as soon as possible," he said.

The 1996 budget for AIC is almost $2 million, which covers all expenses for the college, Fernandez said.

Funding for AIC comes from within the University of Arizona's overall budget, said David Gnage, senior officer for finance and administration at AIC.

Tuition at AIC will be the same as tuition at the UA, Tochihara said.

Financial aid will also be available for students attending AIC.

"We're working on our recognition for financial aid right now," Gnage said. "It won't be a problem, just routine paperwork."

The search committee for faculty hires, which includes three full-time tenured faculty members from the UA and a faculty member from Pima Community College, is still looking over applications for staff.

Over 500 applications came in for just four to five positions, said Clausen, who is also the chair of the search committee.

"Candidates are coming from everywhere € from the University of California at Berkeley to upstate New York. Applicants are from the best major universities in the Midwest and the best colleges in the country," Clausen said.

Faculty at AIC will be hired on one- to five-year contracts.

Clausen said the primary criterion for professors at AIC is dedication to undergraduate education. He said the committee also wants candidates who show they have integrity, a "global perspective," can speak a second language, have demonstrated involvement with the community in which they live, and could develop internships for students.

AIC administrators are hoping the Arizona Board of Regents will decide that AIC is strong enough to be self-supporting in two to five years, Fernandez said.