Montclair State University

Montclair State University is a public university located in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair, the Great Notch area of Little Falls, and the Montclair Heights section of Clifton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of October 2014, there were 20,022 total enrolled students: 15,885 undergraduate students and 4,137 graduate students. Montclair State currently sizes at approximately 500 acres (2.0 km²), inclusive of the New Jersey School of Conservation, which attracts students statewide. More than 250 majors, minors and concentrations are offered.

The university is a member of such professional organizations as the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Council of Graduate Schools.

§History

Plans for the building of what was to be a State Normal school was initiated in 1903, and it took a year for permission to be granted for the approval of the state for building the school. It was then established as New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair, a normal school, in 1908 approximately 5 years after the initial planning of the school. At the time, Governor John Franklin Fort attended the dedication of the school in 1908, and the school was to have its first principal Charles Sumner Chapin that same year. The first building constructed was College Hall, and it still stands today. At the time, however, the school only offered two year programs which were meant to train and develop school teachers. At the time, the campus was around 25 acres (100,000 m²), had 8 faculty members and 187 students. The first graduating class, which numbered at 45 students, contained William O. Trapp, who would then go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1929. The first dormitories were then built five years later, in 1915, and is known as Russ Hall.

In 1924, Dr. Harry Sprague was to become the first president of Montclair, and shortly afterwards the school began being more inclusive of extracurricular activities such as sports, which are still an important sect in the culture of the school. In 1927, however, after studies had emerged concerning the number of high school teachers in the state of New Jersey (only 10% of all high school teachers received their degrees from New Jersey), the institution became Montclair State Teachers College and developed a four-year (Bachelors of Arts) program in pedagogy, becoming the first US institute to do so. In 1937 it became the first teachers college accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 1943, during World War II, several students, under permission from the president, Harry Sprague, had joined the US Navy as volunteers, to train for the war. It was also a time when students and faculty would sell war bonds to support US American troops.

Then in 1958, the school merged with the Panzer College of Physical Education and Hygiene to become Montclair State College. The school became a comprehensive multi-purpose institution in 1966. The Board of Higher Education designated the school a teaching university on April 27, 1994, and in the same year the school became Montclair State University. It has offered Master of Arts programs since 1932, Master of Business Administration since 1981, Master of Education since 1985, Master of Science since 1992, Master of Fine Arts since 1998, Doctor of Education since 1999, Doctor of Environmental Management since 2003 and Doctor of Science since 2005.

In 2004, New Jersey Transit opened Montclair State University Station at Little Falls, which links the university to New York City. The building of the MSU Station cost $26 million to complete, including a 1,500-space parking deck.

§Rankings

Rankings of Montclair State University are mixed depending on the rating criteria and scope. In 2015, U.S. News & World Report ranked Montclair State University #50 for "Regional Universities North Rankings." According to the 2009 Forbes magazine 's annual list of "Americas Best Colleges", Montclair State is ranked as the number one public institution in the state of New Jersey and third overall. In addition, the university was also added as a "Best Buy" university compiled by CCAP and Forbes. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report ranks Montclair State University's graduate programs in secondary teacher education and elementary teacher education in the top 20 in the nation while the School of Business consistently earns its placement on the Princeton Review’s annual list of "Best Business Schools". The university's Department of Fire Safety received a perfect score on the Princeton Review, one of only twenty-two other schools in the Nation to receive this honor.

§Campus Life

§Demographics

Undergraduate enrollment for Fall 2014 recorded 6177 male students and 9708 female students.

• Non-Resident Aliens are excluded from other racial designations.

§Crime

From 2010 to 2012, there have been no murders reported at Montclair State University. In 1976, a fatal school shooting occurred outside of Bohn Hall following a dispute over a missing basketball.

The frequent crimes are burglary, liquor law violations, and drug abuse violations. The tables below show crime statistics for the locations on-campus (including student housing), student housing, public areas adjacent to the university, and non-campus locations that are owned by the university. From 2004 to 2013, Montclair State University reported 56 rape cases; it had the fourth highest number of rape reports of New Jersey's 43 public and private institutions.

§Colleges and Schools

Montclair State University contains six colleges and/or schools, each with its own Dean. For the most part these schools organize and conduct academic programs individually (i.e. Bachelor's Degree Programs, Master's Degree Programs, Certificate Programs, etc.), but occasionally work cooperatively to offer interdisciplinary programs. For example, a student may pursue a degree in Psychology with Teacher Certification in Social Studies - a program that is offered jointly by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Psychology) and the College of Education and Human Services (Teacher Certification).

MSU offers a PhD in Environmental Management, one of the very few universities in the United States to offer a doctoral degree in that area. It also offers students the opportunity to pursue a PhD in biomedicine with its joint degree program with UMDNJ. The university also offers articulation agreements with UMDNJ's Medical, Dental and Physical Therapy programs. The school also offers such articulation agreements with Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, combining a Bachelor's degree from Montclair with a Pharmacy Degree from the school.

§College of the Arts

Majors within the department range widely. Music and Art are the most popular majors within the department and are broken down into concentrations. Television and Digital Media are popular too and Montclair State has one of the best schools in the nation for this field. The Department of Theatre and Dance offers degrees in acting, dance and technical theatre.

The John J. Cali School of Music is part of the College of the Arts. The Cali School of Music provides a wide range of study and performance opportunities to approximately 400 undergraduate and 60 graduate students. These include undergraduate and graduate concentrations and minors, as well as professional certification programs in Music Education and Music Therapy, and the Artist's Diploma and Performer's Certificate degrees in classical and jazz performance. In addition, the noted string quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, has been in residence at MSU since 2002.

Included in the College of the Arts is the School of Communication and Media, which was founded July 1, 2012. The school unites the former departments of Communication Studies, Broadcasting, and Filmmaking to create a program of studies that better prepares its graduates for careers in communication and media. Focused coursework, hands-on internships, and mentoring by a top-tier faculty are designed to equip students with the skills to make them more appealing to organizations and industries. In August 2012, Merrill Brown became the school’s first director. The mission of the school is to be an active thought leader in its field by focusing on contemporary aspects in media and training students to be future leaders in the industry.

§School of Business

The School of Business has several majors available for pursuing. It offers both undergraduate as well as MBA programs. One could either choose the Bachelor of Arts approach or the Bachelor of Science one. The Bachelor of Arts degree will supply degrees in Economics and Business Economics. The Bachelor of Science degree will give degrees in Marketing, Retail Merchandising & Management, Sports, Events and Tourism Marketing, Accounting, Finance, International Business, Management, Real Estate and some other concentrations. The MBA program is recently redesigned and offers concentrations in Accounting, Marketing, Finance, International Business, and Management.

The building that houses the Business Department, Partridge Hall, will be replaced by a new building in 2015. The School of Business also offers post-MBA certificate programs. The International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, published by Emerald, is edited by Dr. Avinandan Mukherjee and academically housed in the Marketing Department.

§College of Education and Human Services

The College of Education and Human Services also houses the Teacher Education program. Majors in other colleges with a teacher certification component are administered jointly by the Teacher Education program and the college or school responsible for the major's subject matter. Within the majors the school supplies, students gain an understanding of not only the subject they strive to teach, but also the understanding of the classroom. In order to receive a degree, students must take many psychology related courses.

§College of Humanities and Social Sciences

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State offers all liberal arts degrees. Most of the majors deal with the social sciences. Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology give students backgrounds in human adaptations to society, while Communication Sciences and Disorders, Linguistics, and Spanish/Italian give an understanding of speech related problems and languages. Other majors students could pursue include Classic and General Humanities, English, History, Justice Studies, Philosophy and Religion, and Political Science.

§College of Science and Mathematics

The College of Science and Mathematics has a wide variety of programs from which to choose. Located in Richardson Hall are the Department of Mathematics and Physics, the Department of Computer Science, and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Science Hall houses the Department of Biology and Molecular Biology. Degrees available in these departments include mathematics with concentrations in discrete applied mathematics, statistics, and finance, physics, computer science, information technology, science infomatics, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmaceutical biochemistry, biology, molecular biology, and marine biology and coastal sciences. Each degree also has teaching certification options. The Department of Mathematics also offers an Ed.D. in Mathematics Education. Located in Mallory Hall is the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, which offer degrees in Geography, Geoscience, Urban Studies, Environmental Studies, Sustainability Science, an interdisciplinary PhD in Environmental Management, a Professional Science Masters (PSM) in Applied Sustainability, and certificate programs in Water Resource Management, Geographic Information Science and Environmental Forensics. Mallory Hall is also the administrative home of the Passaic River Institute, the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies, the Health Careers Program and the Upward Bound Project.

§Graduate School

All of the six schools at Montclair offer Masters and/or Doctorate degrees in various fields. A good portion of the graduate degrees are within education. Some include Early Childhood Education, Educational Psychology, Teaching (Elementary, Middle, and High School), and Counseling. There are also four doctorate degrees within the teaching field, and those are in Audiology, Counselor Education, Mathematics Education, and Teacher Education and Development.

Within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, there are some graduate programs one could pursue, notably English, History, and Spanish and Italian. Increasing numbers of degree candidates take the M.A. as a stepping-stone or gap-filler to strengthen applications for PhD admissions. Some of the Bachelor degree programs within the departments lead to Master degree programs within the education sector.

The College of Arts has graduate degree programs in Art and Music. But if a student wants to take up Art or Music Education, the Education Department has graduate programs in it for those concentrations.

There are many Master's degree programs in the College of Sciences and Mathematics. These include Mathematics, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Physics, with several concentrations. In the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, Master's degree programs include Environmental Studies and Geoscience. There is also a PhD program in Environmental Management.

The School of Business has graduate degree programs in a lot of the concentration. The most popular Master's program is the MBA program in Business Administration. There are also graduate programs in Accounting, Management, and International Business.

§Athletics

Montclair State University's athletic teams have played under many names in the school's history. From the late 1920s to '30s, the school played as the "Big Red," and featured a large scarlet "M" on its uniforms. Next, Montclair State Teacher’s College competed as the Indians, using a logo with a Native American chief's profile with the initials "MSTC" emblazoned on the caricature's headdress. The initials were changed to "MSC" when the school became Montclair State College in 1958. At one point in the 1980s, the school's baseball team used the cartoon Native American used by the Cleveland Indians. Finally, in 1989, in response to the growing concerns voiced by many Native Americans, the school changed its nickname to the Red Hawks, named after the Red-tailed Hawks that are indigenous to the area.

§Division III Sports

Montclair State University athletics are in the NCAA Division III in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). The university currently offers the following sports:

§Club sports

• Men's Ice Hockey (ACHA Division II)
• Men's Rugby (MetNY RFU Division II)
• Men's Volleyball (Middle Atlantic Collegiate Volleyball Conference)
• Baseball (National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division II Central)

§Sports Fields and Facilities

• Sprague Field
  • The 6,000-seat field is home to the MSU football team, men's and women's lacrosse and field hockey teams.
• Panzer Athletic Center Gymnasium
  • The 1,200-seat arena is home to the MSU men's and women's basketball teams and volleyball team.
• Panzer Athletic Center Pool
  • The 500-seat Panzer Pool is home to the Red Hawk men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
• MSU Soccer Park
  • The 1,100-seat natural grass field, which opened in 1998, is the main home for both the men's and women's soccer teams.
• Yogi Berra Stadium
  • The 3,400-seat stadium is home to the MSU baseball team as well as the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League.
• MSU Softball Stadium
  • The 300-seat stadium opened its doors in 2004 and is home to the MSU softball team, and also hosted the 2009 NCAA Division III Women's College World Series.
• Floyd Hall Arena
  • The ice skating arena opened in March 1998 with two NHL size rinks, an off-ice training area, meeting rooms, concession stand, pro shop, and facilities for birthday parties. Floyd Hall Arena now attracts over 500,000 visits per year and has become the home to many groups including The MSU Hockey Club, the Montclair Hockey Club, The North Jersey Figure Skating Club, the Clifton HS Mustangs and Nutley and Passaic Valley High School Hockey Teams.
• Student Recreation Center
  • The 77,000-square-foot facility is home to two fitness floors, a six-lane swimming pool, two racquetball courts, a full-size basketball court with an overhead track, and two multi-purpose rooms. Montclair State University's Student Recreation Center hosts 13 intramural sports, a variety of fitness classes, and many special events throughout each year.

§Growth

The old campus of Montclair State consisted of College Hall, Russ Hall, Chapin Hall and Morehead Hall, all built between 1908 and 1928. Near the end of World War II, housing for returning soldiers was added. Between 1950 and 1980, Montclair State acquired a significant amount of land in Little Falls that had previously been a rock quarry, and added at least 23 buildings to its campus during that time.

Additions to the campus slowed after this, with the dormitory Blanton Hall the only major addition to campus before Montclair State began aggressively pushing growth again in the late 1990s.

Dickson Hall was dedicated to David W.D. Dickson, the first African American president of Montclair State, in 1995. The Floyd Hall Arena, an ice skating rink, was built in 1998. In 1999, Science Hall was opened. In 2001, the Red Hawk Diner was added to the campus, making it the first diner on a university campus in the United States.

§Recent Additions (2002-2011)

In recent years, MSU committed itself to a $250 million capital construction program. Some major projects achieved under this program are:

• The Red Hawk Deck, MSU's first parking structure, opened in spring 2003
• The Village Apartments at Little Falls, a new apartment complex accommodating 850 students, opened in fall 2003.
• The Women's Softball Stadium, opened in 2004.
• The 500-seat Alexander Kasser Theater, opened in fall of 2004.
• The New Jersey Transit Rail Station & Parking Deck was opened in Fall 2004. It provide direct access to and from New York Penn Station, the city's main public transportation hub. This is also the major parking and transfer point on the Montclair-Boonton Line.
• The Children's Center, opened in fall 2005.
• University Hall, the largest building on campus, opened in spring 2006, and is the new home of the College of Education and Human Services.
• The George Segal Gallery, located on the fourth floor of the Red Hawk Deck, opened in spring 2006.
• Cafe Diem, a cafe attached to Sprague Library, opened in January 2007.
• Chapin Hall, nearly 100 years old, was completely renovated and expanded in order to house the newly created John J. Cali School of Music.
• A 77,000-square-foot (7,200 m²) Student Recreation Center opened in spring 2008.
• Sinatra Hall, a new suite style residence hall near the Village, housing 300 undergraduate students, opened in August 2010.
• CarParc Diem, the largest parking structure at MSU, with approximately 1,600 spaces, also opened in August 2010.
• The Heights, two new housing complexes, holding approximately 2,000 students, with a brand new dining facility, opened August 2011.

§New Capital Master Plan (2013-2017)

MSU has once again committed itself to a new campus master plan, estimated at about $650 million in capital construction and improvements. The major projects under this new program are:

Completed Projects

• Two new student housing and dining complexes, The Heights, are adjacent to the Student Recreation Center and CarParc Diem Garage. Opened in August 2011, they house approximately 2,000 students, increasing the on-campus housing capacity to 5,500, the second largest college residential population in New Jersey after Rutgers University in New Brunswick. They have also increased dining capacity at MSU by 25,000 gross square feet.

On-Going Projects

• A 143,000 square feet (13,300 m²) building is to be built to house the new School of Business (SBUS), adjacent to University Hall. It is scheduled to open in Spring 2015.
• A 107,500 square feet (9,990 m²) new building, located adjacent to Richardson Hall, to house the new Center for Environmental and Life Sciences, scheduled to open in 2015. It will contain expanded research labs, house the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies and interdisciplinary institutes such as the Margaret and Herman Sokol Institute for Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, the Passaic River Institute, and the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Science. The majority of the funding for this facility will come from a bond issue passed by statewide referendum on November 6, 2012.
• A 60,000 square feet (5,600 m²) expansion of Morehead Hall, will form the Communication and Media Studies Center, which is scheduled to open in 2014.
• A 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) building, located across from the Red Hawk Parking Deck, will house the Visual Arts and Design Center, greatly expanding the capacity for these arts and allowing extensive repairs to be made to Calcia Hall (which was initially going to be torn down, as per the master plan). The new facility is scheduled to open in 2014.
• Various expansions, improvements and renovations of current residential buildings and athletic facilities, College Hall, Richardson Hall, Science Hall, Partridge Hall (current home of SBUS), Mallory Hall, Life Hall, the Bond House, Student Center, and the New Jersey School of Conservation (240 acre campus, the site of major environmental education and research facilities in Stokes state forest, Sussex County) are all planned for this period as well.
• Upgrades to the entire campus physical plant, maintenance (i.e. a new facility on the north side of campus), heat and power generation (i.e. a new and improved facility near Floyd Hall arena, which is scheduled for completion and to be in full operation by Fall 2013), public safety (i.e. a new Public Safety building), roads and traffic, surface parking, etc., are all scheduled projects in this capital master plan.

§Parking

Increased enrollment along with new construction and limited expansion options have caused a parking crunch at Montclair State University. The school has responded to the parking demands by constructing three garages: The Red Hawk Deck, the NJ Transit Deck (located at the Montclair State University NJ Transit train station), and CarParc Diem.

§Residence facilities

The current residence facilities at Montclair State University are:

• Blanton Hall
  • This five-story coed complex houses 640 residents in all double rooms connected by a bathroom. Only four residents share each "suite" bathroom.
• Bohn Hall
  • The tallest building at MSU, housing approximately 700 co-ed residents in double rooms. Each wing has its own community bathroom facility. Floor heads such as "RAs" have their own personal room to conduct their business. Bohn Hall is also an all freshman dorm residence hall.
• Hawk Crossings
  • These co-ed apartment units house 350 upperclassmen. Each apartment has two bedrooms, housing four residents. Each apartment has a kitchen and bathroom. Previously known as Clove Road Apartments, this complex was renamed Hawk Crossings in Fall 2010.
• Freeman Hall
  • Housing approximately 235 co-ed residents, the Freeman community is home to mainly students of music or athletic training. Residents live in a "suite" style double rooms, in which two rooms share a bathroom.
• Russ Hall
  • Russ Hall is a coed upperclassmen community and houses the international community, housing 91 residents in a "suite" style community. Russ Hall was converted from an administrative building into a residential facility in the late 1990s.
• The Village at Little Falls
  • Consists of four separate residential buildings: Williams Hall, Basie Hall, Fenwick Hall, and Alice Paul hall.
  • A fifth building, the Abbott & Costello Center, contains a gym facility and police sub-station.
  • 848-beds in an apartment style (a set of bedrooms that share a common kitchen, living room, and dining area)

• Sinatra Hall
  • A new 6-floor suite-style residence hall located between Hawk Crossings Apartments and The Village at Little Falls opened in the Fall of 2010. The hall is set up suite style with a single, a double, and a triple all sharing a bathroom and a common area.
• The Heights: Hillside and Rec Center Sites
  • New construction on campus, two H-shaped buildings, to house 2,000 students, opened in August 2011 in the area of the Rec Center. Taking advantage of recent legislation, it was privately built and operated, with students paying rent directly to the developer, but consistent with the cost at The Village. The new dorm is located next to CarParc Diem. The Heights are divided into two H-shaped buildings. The Lower (Dinallo) Heights, and the Upper (Machuga) Heights. Both H-shaped buildings consist of four connected halls. The Lower Heights consists of Basilone, Whitman, Einstein, and Parker Halls; while the Upper Heights consists of Mills (Hall and Dining Hall), Gordon, Gibson and Barton Halls.

§Alumni and people associated with MSU

• Kim Barnes Arico, current head women's basketball coach at the University of MichiganWomen's Basketball Halls of Fame; current General Manager and President of the New York Liberty
• Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame baseball player, catcher for the New York Yankees
• Jason Biggs, actor; briefly attended as an English major
• Carol Blazejowski, basketball player and member of both the Naismith Memorial
• Edna Buchanan, reporter and famed mystery writer
• Marco Capozzoli, arena football player
• Kevin Carolan, actor and comedian
• Mark Casale, American football player
• Andrew R. Ciesla, New Jersey State Senator, 10th District
• Kevin Cooney, college baseball coach at Montclair State and Florida Atlantic
• Marion Crecco, member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1986 to 2002.
• Barbara Buono, former New Jersey State Senator, and former New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial nominee
• Lesley Choyce, author of novels, non-fiction, children's books, and poetry
• Wendy Coakley-Thompson (Class of 1989), writer, studied broadcasting
• Steve Covino, radio personality
• Warren Farrell, author
• Amod Field, American football player
• Mike Fratello, NBA head coach, sports commentator
• Scott Garrett, New Jersey Congressman, 5th District
• Allen Ginsberg, poet; icon of the Beat Generation, briefly attended before transferring to Columbia University
• Camille Grammer, reality television personality
• Fred Hill, Rutgers University basketball coach
• Sharpe James, former mayor of Newark
• Ajit J. Khubani, founder, president and CEO of Telebrands Corp.
• Paul J. Lioy, Professor, UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Eugene Maleska (Class of 1937), New York Times crossword editor
• Tom Malloy (Class of 1997), film actor, writer, producer
• Brenda Miller Cooper, operatic soprano
• Jay Alders (Class of 1996), fine artist
• Brian Jude (Class of 1995), film director, writer, producer and actor
• Sam Mills, NFL linebacker, coach, member of College Football Hall of Fame
• Melba Moore, singer
• Connie Myers, New Jersey Assemblywoman, 23rd District
• Christine Nagy, radio personality, studied broadcasting
• Reggie Noble a.k.a. Redman, rapper
• J. J. North, actress
• Chris Opperman, composer
• Michael Price (Class of 1981), television writerâ€"producer
• Dania Ramirez, film and television actress
• Oscar Ravina, professor emeritus, classical violinist, concertmaster
• Lorene Scafaria, screenwriter and playwright
• Herman Sokol, a co-discoverer of tetracycline and president of Bristol-Myers Company graduated from Montclair State College
• Ray Toro, lead guitarist of My Chemical Romance
• Joan Voss, New Jersey Assemblywoman, 38th District
• Dave White, Derringer Award-winning mystery author
• Bruce Willis, actor; attended as a theatre major

§See also

Allen B. DuMont

§References

Notes

Sources

• Moore, Joseph Thomas. Montclair State University: A Century of Triumph Over Circumstance. (Montclair, New Jersey: Montclair State University, 2008). (ISBN 978-0-615-20116-0)

§External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• The Montclarion student newspaper
• WMSC Radio

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