Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey
The Arch at Ramapo College
Established	1969
Type	Public, Liberal Arts
President	Dr. Peter Mercer
Students	6,008
Location	Mahwah, New Jersey, USA
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Maroon & White
Mascot	Roadrunner
Website	http://www.ramapo.edu/

Ramapo College of New Jersey is a public liberal arts and professional studies institution of the New Jersey system of higher education.

Location

A 300-acre (1.2 km²) campus at 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, New Jersey (Bergen County), one mile (1.6 km) from the intersection of Route 17, U.S. 202 and Interstate 287.

• Ramapo College is at coordinates 41.082781°N 74.177923°W / 41.082781; -74.177923 (Ramapo College)

History of the College

Main article: History of Ramapo College

In the late 19th century the Ramapo Valley became the site for development of estates by many wealthy families. One prominent family was the Havemeyer family who arrived in the 1870s. Theodore, a founder of the American Sugar Company, purchased and renovated a home on Route 202 across from what is now the college and turned his one thousand plus acres into a farm. He then built a mansion for one of his daughters which was completed in 1889. The mansion and about 700 acres were later purchased by Stephen Birch, President of the Kennecott Copper Company, and eventually became an administration building for Ramapo College.

The Department of Higher Education authorized the decision to establish a new college in Bergen County, due to its increasing population and suburban setting. The criteria for the new college's location, within Bergen County, was that: there needed to be a sufficient amount of land for the construction at the present time as well as for future expansion, and be in close proximity to at least one major highway. The location of existing public and private institutions in the state were also taken into consideration. In addition to middle, upper middle, and lower middle class families, the college would also cater to economically deprived students from urban areas.

With these factors in mind, the choosing of a location for the new college proved to be a difficult task. In fact, George Potter was appointed the first President of the college before a location had been selected. Just as all possible sites seemed to fall through, William Dator, a Mahwah real estate agent, proposed that the estate of Stephen Birch be considered as a possible site for the new college. After many board meetings it was decided that Mahwah would be the location for the new college. Although, the location of the land was a bit more north than originally desired, close access to routes 17 and 287 made the Birch Estate a prime destination.

The site decision had finally been made, but the purchase process ended up taking longer than had been anticipated. "The final settlement on all of the Birch property was not concluded until November 1972 for $3,133,000 or a little over $10,000 an acre (with $215,000 of total going toward the mansion and other site improvements). Thus, the total cost of the land acquisition was nearly $4,000,000 out of the $15,000,000 allocated for building Ramapo College."

The site for the new college was located in scenic and historic Ramapo River Valley with mountains in the background. On the property was the small 18th century Dutch colonial home of pioneer settler Lucas Kiersted which became the residence of President Potter. Running through the college site was Route 202, a road used during the Revolutionary War by Washington and the Continental Army on several occasions and by the French Army en route to the Battle of Yorktown from New England.

The administration building at Ramapo College, built in 1889, was formerly Birch Mansion

Background/Accreditation

Established in 1968 as a state-supported, co-educational, four-year College of liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1975. Reaccredited in 1981, 1990, 2000 and 2010. The Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The Chemistry Program is approved by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The Nursing Program is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the New Jersey Board of Nursing. The Teacher Certification program is approved by the State of New Jersey. Ramapo College is a founding member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, a national alliance of leading liberal arts colleges in the public sector. The Anisfield School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Enrollment

In fall 2009, nearly 6,026 students attended Ramapo College, including 250 graduate students and 158 undergraduate international students.

Rankings

US News and World Report, ranks Ramapo 25th among Regional Colleges in the Northeast.

Faculty

Ramapo has 213 full-time faculty, of which 95 percent have doctorate or terminal degrees. This faculty is supplemented by adjunct specialists and other visiting scholars.

Degrees offered

Organized into five interdisciplinary schools offering more than 40 programs, the Public College’s offerings are complemented by lectures, performances, and off-campus experiences. Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences, as well as in professional studies programs such as nursing and social work. Five programs are offered leading to a master’s degree: Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS), Master of Arts in Educational Leadership, Master of Science in Educational Technology, Master’s of Science in Nursing Education and a Master of Arts in Sustainability Studies. The college also offers a physician assistant (B.S./M.S.) and physical therapy (B.S./D.P.T.) with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; a B.S./graduate degree program in chemistry with Rutgers University; a B.S./Doctor of Chiropractic with New York Chiropractic College; a B.S./D.D.S. and a B.S./D.M.D. with the New York University College of Dentistry and UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School; a B.S./Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) with SUNY State College of Optometry; and a B.S./Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (D.O.) through UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM).

Facilities

The campus includes modern academic buildings with computer centers, a student life building with an FM radio station, student offices, cafeteria, entertainment and meeting rooms; a library with electronic research facilities; an administration building; athletic playing fields and 12 lighted tennis courts.

The Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts houses performance theaters, art galleries and specialized spaces devoted to fine arts, computer art, photography, theater, dance and music. The Berrie Center includes a number of art galleries that are aligned with the School of Contemporary Arts and display a wide variety of art including faculty artwork and international collections. The visual arts faculty uses the exhibitions as an educational tool to illustrate the creative process to students. The art galleries include the Kresge Gallery, Pascal Gallery, Selden Rodman Gallery, Potter Library Gallery, and the Photo Lounge Gallery. The Potter Library Galleries showcase regional artists and student work.

A campus-wide building program during recent years has resulted in the completion of the Anisfield School of Business, designed by local firm SNS Architects & Engineers, PC [1], which opened in Fall 2007 and the Bill Bradley Sports and Recreation center with its 2,200-seat arena, fitness center, climbing wall, dance/aerobics studio, gymnasium and indoor swimming pool. The center has also been used for live music. A new synthetic outdoor running track was laid down in the summer of 2008, and further refurbishments to the main athletic stadium are ongoing. Three residence halls, the Overlook and Laurel Hall, and the Village, an apartment-style complex, were also completed. A groundbreaking ceremony took place for the Sustainability Education Center. The Salameno Spiritual Center is now open.

Dr. Peter Philip Mercer became the College’s fourth president on July 1, 2005. The College is governed by a Board of Trustees who are appointed by the Governor of the State. A. J. Sabath '93 is the chairman of the board.

The school has an independent FM radio station, WRPR 90.3 FM, a free-form station featuring numerous genres and talk shows.

The Roukema Center for International Education is located in the Anisfield School of Business. Here, advisement is given for those students who want to study abroad. There are more than 50 countries in Ramapo's study abroad program.

Athletics

Ramapo College boasts 8 men's teams and 12 woman's teams. The college is Division III. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country running, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Ramapo College hosted the 2009 Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship last year, seeded fourth in the country and hosted the top 3 Division III volleyball teams in the country. The tournament included Ramapo College of New Jersey (4), UC Santa Cruz (3), Stevens Tech (2), and Juniata (1). Women's athletic teams at Ramapo College consist of basketball, cheerleading, cross country running, dance, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Student supporters of Ramapo College's athletic teams are known as the Ramapo Rowdies.

Affiliations

• NCAA Division III, ECAC
• New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)
• North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA)
• Skyline Conference
• Metro (NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship|NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Division III)

Men's tennis

The Ramapo College Men's Tennis team first emerged in 1974 as a club sport, but eventually became an affiliated sport with the college in 1977. In its history, the team has captured only two NJAC Championships, which were won under the direction of Coach Juan Arroyo in 1986 and 1988. This past season (2010–2011), the team produced a record of 7-2 with Raza Baig as head coach. The Roadrunner roster consisted of Prasanna Fernando at first, Sam Klein at second, Evan Clayton at third, Frank Osolnick at fourth, Matt Giuliari at fifth and Doug Gromack at sixth. The only teams the Roadrunners fell to in the spring were Saint Thomas Aquinas and College of Staten Island.

Notable alumni

• Don La Greca - Sports radio host
• Todd Lowber- Former NFL/current CFL professional football player
• Patrick Stickles of the band Titus Andronicus
• Grace Helbig - Creator and Host of web series Daily Grace
• Fox News Journalist Eben Brown
• Igor Pusenjak - creator of the mobile app game Doodle Jump

References

• US News and World Report College Rankings