Framingham State University

Framingham State University
Motto Live to the Truth
Type Public
Established 1839
Endowment $32,763,694 (2014)[1]
President F. Javier Cevallos
Dean Melinda K. Stoops
Administrative staff
167 full-time, 86 part-time
Students 6,429
Undergraduates 4,584
Postgraduates 1,845
Location Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
42°17′52″N 71°26′12″W / 42.297742°N 71.436598°W / 42.297742; -71.436598Coordinates: 42°17′52″N 71°26′12″W / 42.297742°N 71.436598°W / 42.297742; -71.436598
Campus Suburban, 73 acres (0.3 km²)
Newspaper The Gatepost
Colors Black and Gold
Mascot Ram
Affiliations NCAA Division III, New England Football Conference
Website http://www.framingham.edu

Framingham State University (FSU) is a public university located in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, 20 miles from Boston. It offers undergraduate programs in a range of subjects, including art, biology, and communication arts, and graduate programs, including MBA, MEd, and MS.

History

Cyrus Peirce, first president

As the first secretary of the newly created Board of Education in Massachusetts, Horace Mann instituted school reforms that included the creation of an experimental normal school, the first one in the United States, in Lexington, in July 1839. Cyrus Peirce was its first principal or president.[2] A second normal school was opened in September 1839 in West Barre (the school later moved to Westfield) followed by Bridgewater State College the next year. Growth forced the first normal school's relocation to West Newton in 1843, followed in 1853 by a move to the present site on Bare Hill in Framingham.

In 1922, the Framingham Normal School granted its first Bachelor of Science in Education degrees in conjunction with a four-year study program. Ten years later, with degreed teachers becoming the norm, the normal schools were renamed State Teachers Colleges. The name was changed in 1960 to the State College at Framingham when Bachelor of Arts degrees were added. At present, Masters' of Education, Arts, and Science degrees are granted as well. In 2007, the college began offering the Master's of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In October 2010, seven of the state colleges become state universities, unaffiliated with the University of Massachusetts system.[3] The measure was signed into law by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on July 28, 2010.[4][5]

Timeline of name changes

The school has had several names in the past:[2]

Campus

May Hall, 19th-century architectural rendering

The 73-acre campus is located in Framingham, Massachusetts.[7] Seven residence halls house over 1,500 students.[8] The Henry Whittemore Library has over 200,000 volumes, wifi, and access to over 70,000 electronic journals.[9]

Sustainability

In 2007, the school signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. That year, Massachusetts issued Executive Order No. 484, which mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption for all state agencies and institutions. Greenhouse gases must be reduced 80% by 2050. In 2010, the school adopted a plan to convert its heating plant to natural gas and to convert its central chilled water plant to electric chillers.[10]

Framingham State University was named a "Green College" by the Princeton Review in 2010 and 2011. FSU was one of 22 schools in Massachusetts to receive the distinction, and one of 311 nationwide.[11] It was named to the list again in 2013.[12]

Organization

FSU is led by an eleven-member Board of Trustees. The governor appoints nine trustees to five-year terms, renewable once. The FSU Alumni Association elects one for a single five-year term. Finally, the student body elects one student trustee for a one-year term. In addition to five full board meetings each year, which are open to the public, the board also meets in standing committees.[13]

The University’s annual budget is $105 million, and the school has 775 full and part-time employees.[14]

Academics

FSU has offered online courses since 1998.[7]

Undergraduate programs

  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in American Sign Language
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Art History
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Art Studio
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Communications Arts
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Criminology
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Economics
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in English
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Geography
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Global Studies
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in History
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Interdisciplinary Studies (Coordinate Education Major)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Modern Languages
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Politics
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Psychology
  • Bachelor of Arts, Major in Sociology
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Accounting
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Biology
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Business and Information Technology
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Chemistry
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Computer Science
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Environmental Science
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Fashion Design and Retailing
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Finance
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Food and Nutrition
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Food Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Health and Consumer Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Management
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Marketing
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Mathematics
  • Bachelor of Science, Major in Nursing
  • Bachelor of Science in Education, Major in Early Childhood Education
  • Bachelor of Science in Education, Major in Elementary Education

Undergraduate minors

  • American Studies
  • Apparel Design
  • Art History
  • Art Studio
  • Biochemistry
  • Biology
  • Business Administration
  • Chemistry
  • Chinese
  • Communication Arts
  • Computer Science
  • Consumer and Community Services
  • Diversity Studies
  • Earth Science
  • Economics
  • English
  • Finance
  • Food Science
  • French
  • Gender Studies
  • Geography
  • Geology
  • History
  • Information Technology
  • Journalism
  • Latin American Studies
  • Law and Politics
  • Mathematics
  • Museum Studies
  • Music
  • Neuroscience
  • Nutrition
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Professional Writing
  • Psychology
  • Secondary Education
  • Sociology
  • Spanish
  • Statistics
  • Theatre
  • Writing

Graduate programs

Post baccalaureate programs

Certificate programs

Undergraduate

Post baccalaureate

Graduate

Student life

FSU has an Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development.[15]

Clubs

Through work with the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Development and the Student Government Association, students have formed many clubs and organizations, both recreational and academic in nature. Clubs on campus include the Gaming Club, the Anime Club, the Wildlife Club, the Black Student Union, the Catholic Newman Association, Random Jam Music Club, 91.3 FM WDJM Framingham State University Radio,[16] History Club and many others.

Clubs can be created by groups of students with interest in an area that has not yet been explored by another club. For example, the Gaming Club was created due to a lack of social structure for gamers. Since the founding, it has grown to be a very popular and successful club, rivaling some of the older recreational groups on campus.

The campus is fairly small with a very small population of students and therefore many existing clubs have branched to include many different topics and fields of study.

Athletics

A football signed by the 1975 Framingham State Rams football team after defeating Curry College, 16-8.

All Framingham State University teams compete at the NCAA Division III level. All teams compete in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC). Men's programs include baseball, cross country, football, basketball, ice hockey, and soccer. Women's programs include cross country, lacrosse, softball, basketball, field hockey, soccer, and volleyball. All teams compete on campus, except for the baseball and softball teams who play on fields off-campus, as well as the ice hockey team who skates at the Loring Arena in Framingham. FSU also offers a wide variety of intramural programs that include everything from badminton, to golf, to dodgeball. There is also a state-of-the-art athletic and recreation center that includes basketball courts, a volleyball court, and a weight room.[17]

In 2007, the women's soccer team was awarded the NCAA Sportsmanship Award.[18]

The Framingham State football program has seen several successful seasons in recent years. The Rams have won the MASCAC regular season championship four straight years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).[19] In 2011, 2012, and 2013 the team also took the title as NEFC Bogan Division Champions, and outright NEFC Champions in 2012. In 2010, the program won its first ECAC Northeast Bowl. The Rams participated in the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Championships, losing to SUNY Cortland in the first-round.[20]

Notable alumni

References

External links

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