New Mexico State University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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New Mexico State University |
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| Established | 1888 |
| Type | Land-grant, space-grant, state university |
| President | Michael Martin |
| Faculty | 698 |
| Undergraduates | 12,656 |
| Postgraduates | 3,416 |
| Location | Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA |
| Campus | Small town, 6000 acres (24 km²) |
| Sports | |
| Colors | Crimson and white |
| Nickname | Aggies |
| Mascot | Pistol Pete  |
| Website | www.nmsu.edu |
New Mexico State University, or NMSU, is a land-grant university that has its main campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The school was founded in 1888 as Las Cruces College, an agricultural college, and in 1889 the school became New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. It received its present name, New Mexico State University in 1960. NMSU has approximately 26,400 students enrolled as of Fall 2005, and has a faculty-to-student ratio of about 1 to 19. NMSU offers a wide range of programs and awards associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through its main campus and four community colleges. For 10 consecutive years, NMSU has been rated as one of America's 100 Best College Buys for offering "the very highest quality education at the lowest cost" by Institutional Research & Evaluation Inc., an independent research and consulting organization for higher education. NMSU is one of only two land-grant institutions classified as Hispanic-serving by the federal government. The university is home to New Mexico's NASA Space Grant Program and is one of 52 institutions in the United States to be designated a Space Grant College. During its most recent review by NASA, NMSU was one of only 12 space grant programs in the country to receive an excellent rating.
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[edit] History
In 1888, an institution of higher learning, based in small adobe buildings, known as Las Cruces College was established in the heart of the then small village of the same name. One year later, a foundation for much growth was established when the Territorial Assembly of New Mexico provided for the establishment of an Agricultural College and Agricultural Experiment Station with bill No. 28 or the Rodey Act of 1889. The bill stated that, " Said institution is hereby located at or near the town of Las Cruces in the County of Dona [sic] Ana,upon a tract of land of not less than one hundred (100) acres, contiguous to the main Las Cruces irrigating ditch, south of said town."
In February of 1891, the university's first building McFie Hall, popularly known as Old Main, opened its doors. Unfortunately, the building burned down in 1910, but it's remains can be seen in the center of Pride Field on the University Horsehoe, or old university center.
The school overcame many hardships, including major financial woes and political pressure during the Depression, but restablished itself as a training ground for Army and Naval forces during WWII.
In a move to better represent its operations, the numerously titled New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts became New Mexico State University as it is presently known.
[edit] Academics
NMSU is broken up into several smaller colleges. These include:
- College of Agriculture and Home Economics
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Business
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Extended Learning
- College of Health and Social Services
- College of Honors
[edit] College of Engineering
NMSU's College of Engineering includes the departments of Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Computer Science, Engineering Technology, Industrial, Mechanical, Surveying, and Engineering Physics. NMSU's College of Engineering consistently ranks high in national ratings. Among its many honors are:
- Conducts more than $15 million of research each year.
- Offers the only degrees in aerospace, surveying, and industrial engineering, and engineering technology and information and communication technology in New Mexico
- Programs are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology in applied science, computing, engineering and technology.
- More than 180 companies have recruited NMSU engineering graduates in recent years.
- Full-time faculty members, rather than graduate assistants, teach all lecture-based engineering courses.
- Named the Telemetering Center of Excellence in the United States by the International Foundation for Telemetering.
- Ranked 13th nationally in federal-funded engineering research in 2002 by the National Science Foundation.
[edit] Agriculture
The university was founded initially as an agricultural institution, and still offers agriculture programs. It hosts the Agriculture Experiment Station, which produces the famous NuMex cultivars, including the onion of that name, and dozens of Numex peppers, like the NuMex Twilight.
[edit] Sports
NMSU's teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. They compete in the Western Athletic Conference. Their mascot was formerly known as "Pistol Pete", but Pete was redesigned in 2005 as part of the university's plan to remake its image on the national stage; his pistol has been replaced with a lasso. NMSU's colors are crimson and white. In 2006, the mascot got his pistol back and is once again known as "Pistol Pete".
NMSU has major rivalries with the University of New Mexico (the NMSU-UNM football game is called "The Battle of I-25"), and the University of Texas at El Paso (called "The Battle of I-10", with the winner of the NMSU-UTEP football game getting the Silver Spade).
NMSU Basketball has seen much success throughout the years,even making an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1970. Aggie Basketball has seen 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 NIT Tournament appearances and 14 conference championships. On March 31, 2005, NMSU hired 13-year NBA veteran Reggie Theus as head men's basketball coach after legendary Hall of Fame coach Lou Henson announced his retirement due to health concerns. In just Theus' second year the Aggies won the WAC tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In one season, Theus turned the Aggies from a 6-24 squad in 2004-05 to a 16-14 team in the 2005-06 season --matching the fifth best turn-around for a Division-I men's basketball team.
At the dawn of the new century, NMSU volleyball also saw great gains, winning its first conference championship in 2003, and making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament that same year. In 2006, the Aggies continued to make school history by becoming the first squad to become nationally ranked at No. 24 after posting a 14-0 record through that point of the season. Adding to their 2006 success, the Aggies became the first team to snap the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine's eight-year, 114-match Western Athletic Conference winning streak.
Some notable former athletes include Roy Gerela, former NFL kicker; Duriel Harris, former NFL receiver; Fredd Young, former NFL linebacker; Randy Brown. former NBA guard, John Whisenant, coach of WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs former Coach of the Year; Lou Henson, noted NCAA basketball coach
[edit] Student media
NMSU has two radio stations, as well as a TV station and a student run newspaper. The radio stations are KRUX, a station run by students, and KRWG, a public radio station.
The TV station is also known as KRWG and serves as the region's PBS affiliate. KRWG-TV, named for New Mexico broadcast pioneer Ralph Wilson Goddard, is one of the few journalism schools to student-produce a weekday newscast. It is also the only local newscast for southwest New Mexico viewers.
The "Round Up" is the student-run newspaper. The Round Up is "The student voice of New Mexico State University since 1907." It's published every Monday and Thursday.
[edit] External links
- New Mexico State University official website
- NMSU Athletics official website
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
| Las Cruces, New Mexico |  |
|---|---|
| Suburbs | |
| Doña Ana | Mesilla | University Park | |
| Doña Ana County | |
| New Mexico State University |
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State of New Mexico Santa Fe (capital) |
|---|---|
| Regions |
Central New Mexico | Colorado Plateau | Eastern New Mexico | Llano Estacado | Northern New Mexico | Sangre de Cristo Mountains | Southwestern New Mexico |
| Major cities |
Albuquerque | Las Cruces | Rio Rancho | Roswell | Santa Fe |
| Smaller cities |
Alamogordo | Artesia | Carlsbad | Clovis | Corrales | Deming | Española | Farmington | Gallup | Grants | Hobbs | Las Vegas | Los Alamos | Los Lunas | Lovington | Portales | Ruidoso | Silver City | Socorro | Sunland Park |
| Counties |
Bernalillo | Catron | Chaves | Cibola | Colfax | Curry | De Baca | Doña Ana | Eddy | Grant | Guadalupe | Harding | Hidalgo | Lea | Lincoln | Los Alamos | Luna | McKinley | Mora | Otero | Quay | Rio Arriba | Roosevelt | San Juan | San Miguel | Sandoval | Santa Fe | Sierra | Socorro | Taos | Torrance | Union | Valencia |
| Western Athletic Conference |
|---|
| Boise State • Fresno State • Hawai'i • Idaho • Louisiana Tech • Nevada • New Mexico State • San José State • Utah State |
(if you guys are putting inaccurate information on this website, you need to stop!!!)
