University of Northern Colorado

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 It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with University of Northern Colorado Central Campus and University of Northern Colorado West Campus (Discuss)
University of Northern Colorado
University of Northern Colorado
Motto: Sapientia In Aeterum Est (Latin for "Wisdom is eternal")
Established: April 1, 1889
Type: Public
President: Kay Norton J.D.
Provost: Dr. Abe Harraf
Faculty: 413[1]
Undergraduates: 10,799[2]
Postgraduates: 2,182[3]
Location: Greeley, Colorado, USA
Campus: Suburban, 250 acres (1 km²)
Athletics: 19 varsity teams
Colors: Navy blue and Gold            
Nickname: UNC / Northern Colorado
Mascot: Bear
Affiliations: Big Sky Conference
Website: http://www.unco.edu/
Logo is a trademark of University of Northern Colorado.
Enrollment figures are as of Fall 2005.[4]

University of Northern Colorado (also referred to as UNC or Northern Colorado) is a public institution of higher education and research. The University of Northern Colorado offers baccalaureate (arts, sciences, humanities, business, human sciences, and education) and graduate (primarily in the field of education) degrees. Located in Greeley, Colorado, USA, UNC was the third school in the state of Colorado. In 2006, total enrollment was 13,775 students.

Contents

[edit] History and traditions

[edit] Brief history

The University of Northern Colorado opened on October 6, 1890, as the Colorado State Normal School to train qualified teachers for the state's public schools, with a staff of four instructors and 96 students, offering certification after completing a two-year course. Greeley's citizens raised the necessary money for the first building. At that time, certificates were granted upon the completion of a two-year course. In 1911 the school's name was changed to Colorado State Teachers College and offered bachelor degrees after completion of a four-year course. In 1935 the name changed again to Colorado State College of Education to recognize the graduate program, which was started in 1913. In 1957 the name was shortened to Colorado State College to recognize the further growth of programs and offerings. Finally, in 1970 the name was changed to the current University of Northern Colorado.

[edit] Fight song

UNC's Pride of the Rockies marching band
UNC's Pride of the Rockies marching band

On down the field we go to victory The colors navy blue & gold. And to our fighting team, we hold our spirit high. The mighty Bears are we .... GO BEARS!! Fight, fight to win each battle fairly, The only way we e'er shall be, We shout out the name, To bring the fame and glory to old U-N-C!!

To listen to an audio version of the fight song visit: http://uncbears.cstv.com/trads/ncol-fightsong.html

[edit] Organization

The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs.[5]. UNC has a satellite campuses at Lowry in Denver, CO

The Board of Trustees for the University oversees the administration and approves the University's annual budget. Several members of the University's administrative team are ex-oficio members of the Board (for example, the Vice President for Finance & Administration is also the Treasurer to the Board).

[edit] Presidents

  • Thomas J. Gray 1890-1891
  • James H. Hayes. Interim 1891, November 11, 1915-1916
  • Zachariah Xenophon Snyder. 1891-1915
  • John Grant Crabbe. Late summer 1916-1924
  • George Willard Frasier. 1924-1947
  • William Robert Ross. 1947-1964 (assumed office 12/20/1947)
  • Darrell Holmes. 1964-1971
  • Frank P. Lakin. 1969, 1971 Interim President
  • Richard R. Bond. 1971-1981
  • Charles Manning, Acting President. 1981
  • Robert C. Dickeson. 1981-1991
  • Richard Davies. 1987 Acting President January 1-August 29, 1987
  • Stephen T. Hulbert. 1991 Interim President July 1-September 30, 1991
  • Herman Lujan. 1991-1996
  • Howard Skinner. Interim President June 1996-June 1998
  • Hank Brown. July 1998-June 2002
  • Kay Norton. July 2002 -

[edit] Current Trustees

  • Dick Monfort, Chairman
  • Kevin Smith
  • Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Carbajal
  • Jerry Morgensen
  • Dr. DARLENE LeDoux
  • Carlotta Lanier
  • Dr. Joan Clinefelter
  • Mason Smith

[6]

[edit] Academics

[edit] Colleges

The University is organized into five colleges of approximately equal size. Within each college are several schools that administer the various academic programs.

[edit] Libraries

The University of Northern Colorado’s main library houses approximately 1.8 million items including books, periodicals, government publications, CDs, videos, DVDs and maps. It is named after author James A. Michener, who received his master's degree from and taught at the university before beginning his writing career. Michener bequeathed the majority of his literary legacy to the university upon his death. The reference desk at the library is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays. Please call (970)351-2562 for assistance.

Skinner Library specializes in curricular support of the School of Music and Musical Theatre Programs. Its collections, comprising more than 90,000 musical scores, books, periodicals and recordings, are housed in a state-of-the-art facility that opened in October 1997.

[edit] Campus

The Campus is divided into three main areas: east, central, and west.

[edit] Central Campus

UNC's Central Campus was the original part of the campus and currently houses the College of Performing & Visual Arts, Pieces of the College of Natural & Health Science, and the Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business. It all has the Howard Skinner Music Library, Tobey-Kendal Dining Hall and 12 residence halls. Central campus is also the home to administration of UNC.

[edit] University of Northern Colorado West Campus

Main article: University of Northern Colorado West Campus

[edit] East Campus facilities

  • Jackson Sports Complex
  • Parsons Hall
  • Ropes Course
  • University Apartments

[edit] Old Man Mountain

A group of cabins owned by the University located in Estes Park, Colorado.

[edit] Student life

[edit] Student Government

Students at the University of Northern Colorado are represented by Student Representative Council.

[edit] Cultural centers

[edit] Athletics and traditions

The logo of Northern Colorado athletics, in use since 2004
The logo of Northern Colorado athletics, in use since 2004
UNC Mascot - Klawz
UNC Mascot - Klawz
UNC's Football helmet logo
UNC's Football helmet logo

Sports teams at the school are called Bears. Northern Colorado is currently in the fourth year of a four-year process of moving from NCAA’s Division II to Division I (I-AA for football). Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2006. The school mascot is Klawz the Bear and the school colors are Navy Blue and Gold. The Fight Song is simply the “UNC Fight Song”.

The Northern Colorado Bears won national championships in football in 1996 and 1997 while a member of NCAA’s Division II North Central Conference.

[edit] Student housing

The University of Northern Colorado has 16 student residence halls; 12 on Central Campus and four on West Campus.

[edit] Student groups

[edit] Greek life

[edit] Social

[edit] Fraternities

[edit] Sororities

[edit] Cultural

[edit] Fraternities

[edit] Sororities

[edit] Athletics

 It has been suggested that University of Northern Colorado Rugby Football Club be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

UNC is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I and FCS in football (formerly I-AA). The institution was a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference from 1923-1972. Joining the Great Plains Athletic Conference for four years (1972-76). following several years of being conference independent. The University of Northern Colorado joined the North Central Conference from 1979-2003 at which time they began the transition to NCAA Division I.

[edit] Mascots

The bear is the mascot of the UNC. Deriving from the gift a totem pole to the campus in 1914 by an alum. The bear officially became the mascot in 1925.

[edit] Achievements

[edit] Normal school

Founded in 1889 as the State Normal School, Northern Colorado met a vital need to train qualified teachers in the growing state of Colorado, which was then less than 15 years old. More than a century and four name changes later, the institution has grown to become a Doctoral Research university. At Northern Colorado's centennial in 1989, only four universities in the U.S. surpassed it in the total number of teachers trained.Larson, Robert [1889]. Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley.  All current Northern Colorado programs are clustered around an institutional mission devoted to teacher education. Its early dedication to reaching the highest levels of educational excellence, coupled with the generation and dissemination of new pedagogical knowledge, earned Northern Colorado the name “Columbia of the West.”Larson, Robert [1889]. Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley.  In 1985, the Colorado Legislature took the unique step of designating Northern Colorado as “the primary institution for undergraduate and graduate teacher education in the state of Colorado.”[citation needed]

[edit] Monfort College of Business

The Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado offers the only program of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region – focused exclusively on undergraduate business education and internationally accredited in business administration and accounting. One of five undergraduate-only programs in the United States to hold such accreditations, Monfort is the sole business school to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the Office of the President of the United States and the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Timberline Award from Colorado Performance Excellence, and the Program of Excellence Award from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Students at Monfort score in the top 5 percent on nationwide standardized exit exams and earn a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting, computer information systems, finance, general business, management, or marketing.

[edit] School of Music

The University of Northern Colorado School of Music is one of the larger and more successful programs within the University and is well-known in the region for its music education and Jazz Studies programs as well as having one of the first full-scale music technology centers in the country. The award-winning Jazz Studies program, reared from infancy by Gene Aitken, is currently led by Grammy-nominated jazz composer/pianist Dana Landry. The program under Landry has received much acclaim in recent years. The Northern Colorado Jazz Lab I under his direction has received the Down Beat magazine award for best college big band in 2005 and 2006. It is also the very first and one of only eight schools in the world to offer a Doctorate of Musical Arts with an emphasis in Jazz Pedagogy.

[edit] Notable alumni

Amanda Christian, notable and distinguished actress.

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Northern Colorado
  2. ^ About Northern Colorado
  3. ^ About Northern Colorado
  4. ^ "[1]".
  5. ^ "[2]".
  6. ^ "[3]".

[edit] Further reading

  • Albert Frank Carter - "Forty years of Colorado State Teachers College, formerly the State Normal School of Colorado, 1890-1930"
  • Larson, Robert W; Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, (1989). Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley". ISBN 0-87081-172-X.
  • Kurt W. Hinkle - "Northern Light: The Complete History of the University of Northern Colorado Football Program." (1998).

[edit] External links

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