Jump to content

Shawnee State University

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 96.11.145.10 (talk) at 18:55, 23 January 2010 (→‎Student Organizations). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Shawnee State University
TypePublic
Established1986
Endowment$11,454,144
PresidentRita Rice Morris
Students4,300
Location
Portsmouth
,
Ohio
,
United States
Campus52 acres (210,000 m2)
AffiliationsNAIA Division II
ColorsRoyal Blue and Dove Gray
Websitewww.shawnee.edu

Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university located in southern Ohio. It is Ohio's newest state-supported university and is located on the north bank of the Ohio River in the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County.

Shawnee State University was established in 1986. The late Vernal Riffe Jr., the former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, sponsored House Bill 739 authorizing the university, which became law on July 2, 1986. Vernal G. Riffe also endowed funding for a state of the art "Center for the Arts," which was named The Vern Riffe Center for the Arts in his honor. [citation needed]

SSU has a low student/faculty ratio 18:1, and provides more than $1.5 million in scholarships. In the 2008-2009 academic year, enrollment reached 4,300 students.

The campus is the former Ohio University Southern Campus. The university moved to Ironton (Lawrence County) in the early 1980s.

Academics

Shawnee State offers more than 80 Bachelor's and associate degree programs[1], and had its first Master's degree graduate in June 2007.[2] Shawnee State offers degrees in several areas, including Biology, Chemistry, History, International Relations, Psychology, Sociology, Mathematical Sciences, English and Humanities, Accounting, Computer Programming, E-commerce (Business/IS), Computer Networking (Business/IS), Health Management, Teacher Education, Photography, Graphic Design (Visualist): Print, Web Design, Digital 3D Animation, Digital Simulation and Gaming, Ceramics, Drawing, and Painting, Plastics Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering Technology, Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technology, Respiratory Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. Shawnee State University’s federally funded TRIO programs prepare qualified individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds for programs of post-secondary education. The University features five TRIO programs including Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Center, and Upward Bound Math Science.

Massie Hall is the oldest building used by Shawnee State University

Shawnee State will receive $250,000 from H.R. 2829 Financial Service and General Government Appropriations Acts in FY2008 for new Immersion Technology and Arts Center Motion Capture Facility. The system uses 24 cameras to record movement, store it digitally, and allow it to be converted into animation.[3]

Shawnee State University is also home to the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (OACHE), an organization that sponsors projects in 40 partner, public school districts and ten member institutions. Its goal is to break down the barriers to access and success in higher education. Twenty-nine Ohio Appalachia counties are in the project area, and OACHE-sponsored projects have been responsible for increasing the college-going rate in the school systems in these counties. [citation needed]

SSU Catalog

Foreign Studies

In the interests of multi-culturalism, SSU has student/faculty exchange programs with several overseas institutions, including Jaume I University[1] in Spain, Al Akhawayn University[2] in Morocco , Zhejiang University of Technology [3] in China, and Ludwigsburg University[4] in Germany.

SSU also has summer-study programs in Greece, Great Britain, and Ireland.

Shawnee State offers, on a regular basis, many travel/study abroad courses to an ever increasing choice of destinations such as Greece, Britain, Spain, and Ireland in order to increase global awareness among its students. Some of these courses are funded by the Hodgden Travel Fund and many others are funded, in part, by the Center for International Programs Abroad (CIPA).

Shawnee offers a BA in International Relations which aims to provide its graduates with the conceptual and substantive tools necessary to function more advantageously and effectively in a "shrinking " world; the global village concept. The degree consists of courses from many academic disciplines such as government, economics, business, history, and sociology, and contains an SSU-first-ever foreign language requirement. This degree also places SSU in an exclusive group of four-year colleges and universities in the United States that offer this major and is listed by US News and World Report in the top 200 US best colleges offering this degree [3]

Shawnee also has over 50 international students and faculty representing over 20 countries creating an international atmosphere in the small campus.

Facilities

The Clark Memorial Library

Shawnee State, located in downtown Portsmouth, has a 52-acre (210,000 m2) campus, featuring 36 buildings, including the Advanced Technology Center (former home of one of only 50 Digistar II planetariums in the world and now home to the first Konica Minolta MediaGlobe II system in the United States), the Clark Memorial Library (which provides access to the 45.5 million items of the OhioLINK libraries' collections)[5], the 102,000-square-foot (9,500 m2) Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, which features an acoustically superior 1,139-seat main theatre and one of only a few functioning Virtual Audio Listening Rooms designed (along with main theater) by George Izenour. Other structures include the James A. Rhodes Athletic Center, which offers a gymnasium that is home to the Shawnee State Bears, weight rooms, racquetball courts, a dance classroom, and a junior Olympic-size swimming pool. A modern University Center [6], a bookstore operated by Barnes & Noble, and a network of off-campus townhouses for student living are also features of the SSU campus. Up to 600 students, opting for an on-campus experience, may choose from several newly renovated housing complexes.

Shawnee State’s Children’s Learning Center serves area pre-school children and is a lab school for teacher education students at the university.

The university features a run-of-the-mill computer network. 560 student computers, all of them fewer than 3 years old, are available in 30 labs on campus. The university also offers free Internet services as well as a campus e-mail account to each student, faculty, and staff member. One major criticism that students often have with the Shawnee State University computer network is severely throttled bandwidth on all university wifi networks (capped at a 40kBps download speed). University Information Systems (UIS) also requires the Cisco Clean Access client to be installed in order to access computer networks with Windows-based systems. One alternative to this approach is using Firefox and the User Agent Switcher extension to spoof the agent string of the computer to one of Linux or MacOS.

The Shawnee State University Board of Trustees voted in April 2006 to establish three new centers on campus. The Board established a Teaching and Learning Center, a Women's Center, and a Community Service Center.[4]

Campus Map

Clark Planetarium

The Clark Planetarium was made possible by $900,000 raised as part of "Reach for the Stars", Shawnee State University's second capital campaign. The effort raised $5.9 million in cash and deferred gifts, $5 million of which form an endowment for the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.

The funds for the planetarium purchased the original equipment – the Digestar II – which made the facility possible. The remaining funds form an endowment to help ensure its continued vibrancy and vitality. Mrs. Clyde (Maycel) Clark was the principal donor and gave the funds in memory of her husband Clyde Clark.

Currently, the Clark Planetarium features a Konica Minolta Mediaglobe I/II system using a central digital projector with a fisheye lens to provide full dome video. The planetarium consists of five computer systems and two development systems to support 3D rendered show creation, as well as the capability to play high-definition video in a scaled aspect ratio. Student groups and educational institutions can reserve the planetarium for no charge for a variety of activities including planetarium shows (operator included for free), video games, movies, class presentations with PowerPoint or other media, and music enjoyment. Non-profit, non-educational groups can reserve the planetarium for a nominal fee of $50 per hour, and business can reserve it for $100 for an hour.

Student life

Student Organizations

Student organizations include the AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian, Native American), Art Works, Association for Greek Life, Beta Beta Beta (Biology Honor Society), Calliope Club, Campus Crusade for Christ, Campus Ministry, Chemistry Club, Cross Walk, Environmental Club, Fantanime, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Gamer's Guild, Greek Council, Innermission, International Forum, Model Arab League, MucisUS, Paralegal Association, Pre-Med Club, Resident Life Council, S.C.U.G. (Shawnee Computer Users Group), Silhouette Literary Magazine, Society of Plastic Engineering, Sports Management Club, SSU Pep Club, Student Occupational Therapy Association, the Other World Society, the Shawnee Democratic Society, the Nihilist Club, the Conservative Student Association, the Gay-Straight Alliance, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, Circle K International, the Priori de Bolo, Tau Kappa Epsilon- Tau nu chapter (men's international social fraternity), Theta Phi Alpha (women's national social fraternity), and Omega Pi Mu (women's social fraternity).

The Student Government Association oversees each of the more than forty student organizations. SGA is a member of the National Student Government Association (NSGA).

SSU's top news source is the student newspaper: the University Chronicle. The university's Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs provides news and information about SSU-sponsored events. theSSUspot.com is an unofficial website for Shawnee State Students.

Campus Housing

Shawnee State University is unique in that all residence halls on campus are apartment-style. New students, who are not living at home, are required to live on campus for at least their first year. Residence halls are staffed with undergraduate student Resident Assistants, supervised by full-time, Master's-level Hall Directors. The Office of Student Activities and Housing manages the residence halls. There is a full-service, all-you-care-to-eat, dining facility on campus, currently managed by Sodexho Food Services.

Campus Events

Many campus activities and events are organized by the Student Programming Board. Annual events include SpringFest, which features a concert; "homecoming," which is held in winter; and the week-long "Scare Week," which corresponds to Halloween." Veterans' Recognition Day and Memorial Day activities often include parachuting and other aerial displays.

Athletics

Shawnee State University has a rich tradition of success in athletics. A member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, SSU has participated in 24 National Championships in 6 of 11 sponsored sports. The SSU women’s basketball team won the NAIA Division II National Championship on March 16, 1999. A member of the American Mideast Conference since 1991, formerly the Mid-Ohio Conference, the Shawnee State Bears have won 17 championships. [citation needed] The university also fields teams in basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, softball, volleyball, golf, and cross country.

Athletic highlights

  • 1992 - softball team finishes 10th in NAIA National Tournament[5]
  • 1995 - softball team finishes 8th in NAIA National Tournament[5]
  • 1995 - women's basketball, NAIA National Tournament Final Four[6]
  • 1996 - softball team finishes as NAIA National Tournament Runners-up[5]
  • 1998 - softball team finishes 9th in NAIA National Tournament[5]
  • 1999 - women's basketball team won the NAIA Division II National Championship[6]
  • 2001 - softball team finishes 9th in NAIA National Tournament[5]:
  • 2008 - men's cross country team finishes 11th in NAIA National Championships[7]:
  • 2008 - women's cross country team finishes 13th in NAIA National Championships[8]:

Future

Shawnee's Board of Trustees recently approved a new university master plan, a plan for the "university's growth over the next 20 years. The plan looks to reshape the campus, including new structures and renovations.[9] An extensive renovation to the University's Student Center ("University Center") of $15million is underway.[10]

Notable alumni, coaches, and faculty

  • Robin Hagen-Smith is the current women's basketball coach. Among her many accomplishments, she guided the Bears to a NAIA National Championship in 1999. On February 13, 2008, Hagen-Smith won her 500th game at the NAIA level, as the Bears defeated conference-rival Wilberforce 100-61.

References

  1. ^ Shawnee State University Academics
  2. ^ Ryan Scott Ottney. ""SSU graduates first master's student"". Portsmouth Daily Times. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  3. ^ a b Ryan Scott Ottney. "Shawnee funding passes House". Portsmouth Daily Times. Retrieved 2007-07-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "ITAC" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Emily Salmon (2006-04-22). "SSU to establish three centers". Portsmouth Daily Times. Retrieved 2007-07-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e SSU Athletic Department. "SSU Softball - Quick Facts". Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  6. ^ a b SSU Athletic Department. "SSU Women's Basketball - Quick Facts". Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  7. ^ SSU Athletic Department. "SSU Men's Cross Country - Quick Facts". Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  8. ^ SSU Athletic Department. "SSU Women's Cross Country - Quick Facts". Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  9. ^ Wayne Allen (2007-07-22). "Trustees Approve Master Plan, Renovations". Community Common (communitycommon.com). Retrieved 2007-07-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Monica Bradbury (2007-06-12). "SSU to renovate university center". SSU. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
  11. ^ "Shawnee State Alumna Appears in Playboy" by Jimmy Davis. University Chronicle

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shawnee_State_University&oldid=339576171"