Mount St. Joseph University

College of Mount St. Joseph

Motto	Deo Duce "With God as our Leader"
Type	Private, Coeducational
Established	1920
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Endowment	$21,179,548
President	Dr. Anthony Aretz [1]
Academic staff	240
Undergraduates	2,133
Location	Cincinnati , Ohio , USA
Campus	Suburban, 92 acres (0.4 km²)
Colors	Blue and Gold
Mascot	Lions
Website	www.msj.edu

The College of Mount St. Joseph is a private, Catholic, co-educational college located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Also known as “the Mount,” the College was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of Charity and educates students through interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional curricula emphasizing values, integrity and social responsibility. Total enrollment exceeds 2,100, with over 1,800 undergraduate students and approximately 300 graduate students. The Mount offers 35 undergraduate programs, nine associate degrees, and pre-professional and certificate programs, as well as graduate programs in education, teaching, organizational leadership, religious studies, nursing, and physical therapy.

History

The College of Mount St. Joseph was established by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Ohio, a religious congregation that traces its roots to Elizabeth Ann Seton, North America's first canonized saint. The first Sisters of Charity arrived in Cincinnati from Maryland in 1829 and opened St. Peter’s Academy, then St. Mary’s Academy. By 1853, these schools were replaced by Mount St. Vincent Academy. In 1906 the academy was named Mount St. Joseph after a move to the Mount St. Joseph property in Cincinnati’s Delhi Township, owned by the Sisters of Charity.

Mount St. Joseph Academy offered a four-year high school curriculum but also postgraduate study covering two years of college. In 1920, the Ohio Department of Education granted formal approval for a college curriculum. The College of Mount St. Joseph opened the doors to its first 20 students in September 1920 as the first Catholic college for women in Southwestern Ohio – the same year that American women gained the right to vote.

Within a few years, new construction was underway to accommodate a growing enrollment. By the 1950s, the Sisters of Charity made plans to develop property at the intersection of Delhi and Neeb Roads into a new campus that opened in fall of 1962. By the 1970s, adult education brought a new population of women and men to campus for degree studies, and by 1986, the College was formally declared coeducational. The Sisters of Charity continued to operate the College until 1972 when the Mount was incorporated under a Board of Trustees. The College remains a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Charity.

Academics

The College of Mount St. Joseph offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in a variety of academic and professional fields.

Core Curriculum

At the heart of an education at the College of Mount St. Joseph is the Core Curriculum, an interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. The Core Curriculum fosters thinking critically and creatively, communicating effectively, appreciating the complexity of human behavior, knowing the relation among various ethical systems, and appreciating the relationship of Roman Catholicism to other belief systems. The goal of this curriculum is to equip students with professional skills for the workplace as well as the qualities necessary to thrive in a complex and diverse world.

Undergraduate students complete 52 semester in the Core Curriculum. First-time students begin with a three-credit Foundations Seminar (interdisciplinary studies) course. Later, students take another three credits with an advanced-level interdisciplinary course. A majority of the credits of the Core Curriculum are distributed among discipline-specific courses that expand concepts introduced in Foundations Seminar. Students choose from courses in humanities, social sciences, history, natural sciences, mathematics, religious studies, philosophy, and ethics. Nine credits are electives that give students an opportunity to pursue a personal interest in greater depth and to sample a variety of topics.

Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor's degree programs at the College of Mount St. Joseph include accounting, art, art education, athletic training, biochemistry, biology, business administration, business administration/mathematics, chemistry, chemistry/mathematics, communication studies, computer information systems, criminology/sociology, English, fine arts, general studies, graphic design, history, inclusive early childhood education, interdisciplinary liberal studies, interior design, mathematics, mathematics/business administration, mathematics/chemistry, middle childhood education, music, natural science, nursing, paralegal studies, psychology, religious education, religious pastoral ministry, religious studies, social work, sociology, special education, and sport management.

A wide variety of minors are also offered in addition to preprofessional programs in pre-health, pre-medicine, pre-art therapy, and pre-law. Associate degrees include accounting, art, business administration, communication studies, computer information systems, general studies, graphic design, interior design, and paralegal studies. Certificate programs in gerontology, iDesign (Web and interactive design), nonprofit leadership, and paralegal studies are also available.

For the state of Ohio licensure in education, the College of Mount St. Joseph offers programs in adolescent and young adults, inclusive early childhood education, middle childhood, multi-age, and intervention specialist/special education. Licensure programs for other states are also available.

Graduate Programs

The College of Mount St. Joseph's advanced degree programs specialize in the cultivation of leadership skills in business, depth in ministry, and expertise in the teaching and health professions. Graduate degree programs include a Master of Arts in Education, Master of Arts in Teaching with three accelerated programs, Master of Arts in Religious Studies, Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (M.S.O.L.), Master of Nursing (M.N.), and a Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.).

Service Learning

Service Learning is part of an education at the College of Mount St. Joseph and allows students the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge while volunteering their service in a variety of areas. The purpose of the Service Learning Program is directed toward education and channeling students’ creativity toward solving urban problems and truly building a sense of community in neighborhoods through an experiential, action-reflection model of service learning.

The Plus One Credit Option Program is the main model of service learning used at the College. This model encourages students to take a free, one-hour credit addition to any course in which it is offered. The Plus One Credit Option Program engages students in reflection about the basic citizen responsibilities of service and leadership which are a part of the Mount’s heritage. In addition to this model, students may be engaged in courses which include service as part of their syllabi or individual service experiences. Service experiences occur on a local neighborhood level, in other regions of the country, and in other countries.

Project EXCEL

Project EXCEL is a comprehensive academic support system for students with learning disabilities who are enrolled at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Initiated in 1982, Project EXCEL has proven to be a highly successful intervention program. Students who participate in EXCEL attain academic success through their working partnership with the EXCEL professional staff, faculty, and other study resources at the College.

The program's goals are to assist students in the transition from a secondary program to a college curriculum, and to promote the development of learning strategies and compensatory skills which will enable students to succeed in a regular academic program. Project EXCEL offers students a broad spectrum of support services and accommodations to meet individual specific needs, including professional tutors, monitoring of student progress and academic counseling, scheduled consultations to promote organization and time management skills, writing lab, skills development classes, note-takers, audio-taped texts, access to and instruction in using technology, speech recognition software, accommodated testing, instruction in learning strategies, reading in the content areas and coping skills, faculty liaison, academic advising with attention to students' specific learning needs.

All Project EXCEL students are educated in the broad spectrum of the liberal arts while having the opportunity for an education that provides a career orientation. There are no restrictions with regard to choice of majors for the students in Project EXCEL, other than they must meet established department criteria. Project EXCEL is a for-fee program.

Cooperative Education

Through the Cooperative Education program (Co-op), qualified students have the opportunity to gain career related, paid work experience. Co-ops earn academic credit that will complement classroom training by integrating theory with practice. Credit is granted for the learning gained and not for the experience itself. In the process employers gain creative, eager to learn, para-professional employees. The Mount partners with over 130 co-op employers, and the average co-op hourly rate that students earn is $10.00 an hour.

Honors Program

The Honors Program is open to all students who show a dedication to learning through independent thinking and personal initiative. The program partners highly motivated students with dedicated faculty and features an honors curriculum that spans all majors and is not limited to the walls of a classroom. For more than 20 years, the Honors Program has been enabling students to refine their intellectual skills, learn and think more critically yet creatively, and capitalize on their talents and abilities.

The Honors Program provides opportunities for increased dialogue, questioning, critical thinking, and independent analysis. If an Honors course does not exist, Honors students have the freedom to develop additional course work in a standard class to earn Honors credits. Individual, semester-long projects can also fulfill Honors requirements.

Library

The Archbishop Alter Library at the College of Mount St. Joseph is home to more than 96,000 volumes of books, journals, videotapes, DVDs, and CDs. The Library gives patrons access to more than 140 databases, thousands of electronic books, and hundreds of Web sites, specifically chosen for students, faculty, and staff. A member of OhioLINK, the Library allows patrons to request books and non-print items from every academic institution in the state for 3-5 day local delivery.

Through its wide variety of services, the Library plays an active role in the College’s educational process. Some of these include interlibrary loan, in person and online research help, traditional and electronic course reserves, instructional sessions designed for specific courses, instructional services for students, faculty, and staff, recreational reading and video/DVD collections, group study room, and full World Wide Web access.

Athletics

The College of Mount St. Joseph competes in the NCAA Division III as a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, and its mascot is the Lion. The College offers a full intercollegiate athletic program for men and women, which includes 21 teams.

Men's Athletic Teams

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross country
• Football
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Track & field
• Wrestling

Women's Athletic Teams

• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross country
• Dance
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Soccer
• Softball
• Tennis
• Track & Field
• Volleyball

Intramural Sports

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni also have the opportunity to play intramural sports. Both team and individual activities are provided throughout the school year, with play culminating in a championship round.

Intramural sports include:

• Basketball
• Cornhole
• Flag football
• Indoor soccer
• Racquetball
• Sand volleyball
• Soccer
• Team handball
• Ultimate frisbee
• Volleyball

Campus

The campus grounds of "the Mount" have been appreciated for hosting a diverse representation of landscape material to include mature southern magnolia, ginkgo tree, pagoda tree Styphnolobium, maple, Albizia julibrissin mimosa/silk tree, hardy crape myrtle, cedar trees, Metasequoia, various oaks, laurels, Mahonia aquifolium grape-holly, hardy prickley pear cactus opuntia, yucca, ferns, and various other trees, bushes, and plants. Of particular interest are the hardy orange poncirus trifoliata, the needle palms, and the empress tree Paulownia tomentosa that can be found growing outside with no additional winter protection in "the Quad" area of the campus. Whitetail deer, nearly tame chipmunks, and wall lizards are some of the campus fauna that are commonly observed on campus. Various songbirds and raptors are present and make for great birdwatching between classes. Although the campus landscape has fallen in esteem over the years (at one time each planting was mapped and groups would visit the campus specifically in appreciation of the horticulture), it is still a well maintained campus.

External links

• College of Mount St. Joseph
• Admission Web site
• Visit Web site
• Campus Maps
• Athletics Web site
• Living in Cincinnati
• Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati