Towson University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Towson University |
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| Established | 1866 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | $50,000,000 |
| President | Robert L. Caret |
| Faculty | 1,257 (full-/part-time) |
| Undergraduates | 14,495 |
| Postgraduates | 3,516 |
| Location | Towson, Maryland, United States |
| Campus | Suburban, 328 acres (1.33 km²) |
| Colors | Black █ Gold █ |
| Nickname | Tigers |
| Mascot | Tiger  |
| Website | http://www.towson.edu |
Towson University, formerly Maryland State Normal School (1866-1935), Maryland State Teachers College at Towson (1935-1963), Towson State College (1963-1976), Towson State University (1976-1997), is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. TU was originally a training school for teachers in Baltimore, and over the years it has expanded into a 4-year degree granting institution with 8 colleges with over 20,000 students enrolled. Towson is also the second largest public university in Maryland, and still produces the most teachers of any university in the state.
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[edit] History
See also Chronology of Towson University
[edit] Commission of State Normal School (1866)
In 1865—the final year of the Civil War—the legislature allocated funds for Maryland’s first teacher-training school, or a normal school. Shortly thereafter, in 1866, the Maryland State Legislature passed a bill to standardize Maryland's school system, and began to build the training facility for the new teachers. Since TU's original mission was to train teachers, it was originally commissioned as the Maryland State Normal School by its first principal, McFadden Alexander Newell. The first building that the school was housed in was Red Man's Hall in downtown Baltimore.
[edit] Movement and Name Change (1915-1976)
In 1872 the school moved to another building, the Athenaeum, to accommodate the growing school body. By then, the school integrated more programs and courses into the curriculum. The new building however proved to be crumbling, including the ceiling falling in on one of the classrooms after classes. So in 1875 the school moved into another building in Baltimore on Mulberry Street, but the building was in such poor condition when they moved, the entire roof began to fall in after the first day of classes. In light of what happened on Mulberry Street and the Athenaeum, the school moved in to a building specifically designed for it on Carrollton and Lafayette streets in Baltimore.
[edit] The Move to Towson
In order to cement a permanent location for the school a committee was formed in 1910 to search for a suitable location. The president of this committee was J. Charles Linthicum, a graduate who served in the House of Representatives and pushed the bill to make the Star Spangled Banner the national anthem. Also on the committee were Dr. M. Bates Stephens, State Superintendent, and Sarah Richmond, who had become the principal of the Normal School.[1]
Land was surveyed in around Maryland in Roland Park, Lutherville, Mount Washington, Pimlico, Glencoe, and many other areas before Towson was selected.
Once a location was chosen, the school was renamed the State Teachers College at Towson. On November 19, 1915, a dedication of the first three buildings was held in Towson,. By 1935, it had become a degree-granting institution. In 1963, following expansion of programs in the arts and sciences, its name was changed to Towson State College.
[edit] Joining the University System (1988)
In 1988, Towson State University joined 10 other public institutions in the University of Maryland System. On July 1, 1997, another name change took effect. Towson dropped the designation "state" from its name in 1976 to become Towson University. The new name recognizes shifts in funding and the development and growth of Towson as a metropolitan university.
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[edit] "TU 2010"
TU 2010: Mapping the Future outlines President Robert Caret’s roadmap for the university’s future.[2] Developed with input from campus focus groups, advisory groups and the presidential transition advisory team, the plan identifies five themes that are guiding Towson’s future growth and development:
- Guiding Principles
- Enrollment Management, Growth and Mix
- Student Experience and Success
- Partnerships Philosophy
- Resources for Success
- Telling and Selling the Story
The plan also aims to make considerable renovations and improvements to the campus. The largest aspect of TU 2010 is a new building for the College of Liberal Arts, which current estimated costs total over $120 milion USD. More parking garages and spaces, and major renovations to the Towson Center (approximately 30 million dollars-worth) are other major aspects of the plan.[3]
[edit] Life at Towson
[edit] Enrollment
More than 20,000 full-time and part-time students are enrolled in the University. Their numbers include over 800 international students from 100 nations. There are more than 15,000 undergraduates; approximately 13% are minority students. Also, in 2006 Towson achieved more enrollment in its business school than any college in the state of Maryland.[4]
[edit] Housing
About 77% of the freshman class, and over 3,900 students among all four classes, resides on campus. The University has 12 residence halls, which include apartment complexes, modern high-rise towers, and more traditional two- and three-story residential buildings.:[5]
While on campus, students have access to a counseling center, an academic advising center, a health center, and a career center. Grub Street, the university's nationally recognized literary magazine, showcases the writers, poets, and artists that make up TU's diverse body of students.
[edit] Food and Recreation
Campus life at Towson offers opportunities in many areas; academic, athletic, cultural, and social opportunities are some of the staples of the university. Students tend to gather at the University Union, which houses the school bookstore, the university store, dining facilities, the post office, the video/DVD renting center (Tiger Reels), ATM machines, and Paws, a student center with billiards, food, music and a cyber cafe:[6]
- Glen Marketplace - This recently renovated dining facility features a brick-oven pizza station and offers a wide variety of popular all-you-care-to-eat menu options, including vegetarian and vegan. All of these choices are showcased in a contemporary atmosphere with a window-wall view of the Glen.
- Newell Dining Hall - Features a Mongolian Grill, spectacular salad bar, Kosher Corner, and a wide variety of all-you-care-to-eat menu options.
- Susquehanna - Offers Chick-fil-A, University Deli, Pazzeli's Pizza, Grill, Tigerfresh Bakery, Krispy Kreme, and Bamboo Asian Cuisine.
- PAWS - An extended-hours facility with popular food and entertainment choices, which include its custom grilled selections to Sweet Sensation bakery and Starbucks Coffee. New this year is Stacker's Deli; made to order sandwiches on specialty breads. Paws' entertainment offers a stage for music and comedy events. Pool tables, and large screen TVs are everywhere, and private personal or small-group seating is available away from the stage. PAWS also offers three beers on tap: Budweiser, Michelob Ultra Light, and Amber Brock.
- Starbucks- A selection of premium bakery products, sandwiches, salads and coffee, espresso beverages, etc. Located in Cook Library.
- Brick Street Cafe - Offers those on the go Seattle's Best Coffee, personal-pan pizza, Outtakes grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, plus custom-made deli delights from Leo's.
- Newell Den - Known by the TU population as "The Den", this is another extended hours facility. Featured menu items include Sbarro pizza and pasta specialties, a coffee shop, and popular items from the Fresh Grill and York Road Deli.
- Patuxent - This facility is a favorite lunchtime location for students, faculty, and staff. It includes custom-made hot or cold sandwiches, and specials of the day, to the pasta, salad, and dessert stations.
- 7720 Cafe - Managed by Towson's catering chef, the 7720 cafe offers hot and sweet breakfast selections, and specially made deli for lunch.
- The University Club at Towson - It is inside the Burkshire Hotel owned by Towson University but managed by Marriot, it serves rare Trappist beers like Bières de Chimay.
[edit] OneCard
Students get access to their meal plan,[7] dorm buildings, and computer labs through the use of their OneCard. They can also go to all of the school sporting events (which are many times free of charge to students) and several on campus events with the use of their card. It also serves dually as identification on campus.
[edit] Towson UnPlugged
Towson Unplugged is one of the largest wireless networks in the Baltimore metro area, and spans the campus’ 328 acres (except inside residence halls).
The value of the updated wired network and new wireless network is $3.2 million. Wireless coverage extends across majority of the size of the TU campus and there are 28 academic and administrative buildings that are wireless with approximately 400 access points in those buildings, with each access point having a range of 300 feet.
TU Unplugged uses 802.11 b/g standard Wi-Fi protocols with 11 MBPS is the approximate shared connection speed for Towson Unplugged users with 802.11b wireless adapters and 54 mbps is the approximate shared connection speed for Towson Unplugged users with 802.11 g wireless networking.[8]
[edit] Academics
Towson educates undergraduate and graduate students in thirty academic departments which are subdivided into eight colleges:
- College of Business and Economics
- College of Education
- College of Fine Arts and Communication
- College of Health Professions
- College of Liberal Arts
- Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
- Honors College
- College of Graduate Studies and Research
The university provides 64 undergraduate majors, 37 master's degree programs and 4 doctoral programs.[9][10]
Once students have determined a program of study, they become a member of the academic college administering the program.
[edit] Buildings and Structures
- Main article: Towson University Buildings and Structures.
[edit] Campus Lore
[edit] The Tiger Statue
- Main article: Towson University Tiger Statue
- See also: Doc (mascot)
According to Towerlight the school newspaper, when the Student Government Association first bought the tiger statue that sits outside Cook Library in 1996, the organization hoped to boost school spirit. Instead, it became subject to vandalism and disrepair.
The police reports said Aramark estimated the cost of repair at $1,500. Since then the statue has been removed. These incidents were not the only acts of vandalism on the tiger statue. Since it had found its home on "The Beach", the tiger has lost part of its tail, and a few teeth. There was even an attempted robbery.
The idea of bringing the tiger to Towson started with the introduction of a bill on February 28, 1995. The SGA allocated $3,000 though it was purchased for $2,500 for a fiberglass tiger to create a more positive campus atmosphere. Donna Garrison, an SGA senator at the time, had heard student complaints of Towson lacking school spirit.
The tiger was erected and placed on the campus at the end of the Spring 1996 semester.
The following September it lost its tail to vandals. The damage totaled $500. The tiger was repaired and was fine for six months until March 17, 1997. On that evening, police aide Ron Bond saw seven males pushing the tiger off its platform, but upon police arrival, the seven fled the scene. Three were apprehended, one of whom was not a TU student. The statue had been bolted to the platform by its three paws, and the paws were damaged in the attempt to move the tiger. One of the tiger's canine teeth was also broken off in the act.
In February, the university looked into repairing or replacing what the students called an eyesore. She asked Jeff Ellis of Scenic Artistry & Custom Finishes and Joseph Clarkson of Fiberglass Specialties to appraise the statue. "It looked pretty much beyond repair," Ellis said in an interview. "It's one of those things where you don't know where to start and where to finish",[11]
In September 2006, the Towerlight reported that a new bronze tiger statue had been unveiled as the centerpiece of the university's "Capital Campaign" to raise $50 million dollars. The primary difference between the new statue and previous one is that the new one is made of bronze and all of the legs are on the ground and the tail is wrapped around its legs rather than raised, so it won't get damaged by vandals.[12]
The new statue is outside Stephens Hall and was unveiled on February 8, 2007 where Caret said it would be "visible to passersby on York Road as well as students".[13][14]
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[edit] "The Beach"
During the warm months in the Spring and Summer, students will often sunbathe on the grass in front of the Cook Library.
[edit] The Mascot
Main article: Doc (mascot)
Before the 1960’s, the name of the sports teams at Towson were known as the "Towson College Knights". Towson student John Schuerholz pushed for a new mascot, and the tiger was officially adopted in 1962. Now a Towson alumnus, John Schuerholz is the General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, and the baseball complex is named in his honor.[15]
[edit] Donald "Doc" Minnegan
Donald Minnegan is widely considered to be the most recognized name in Towson athletics, on and off campus. He was best known for coaching championship soccer teams, but he was also athletic director, and coached baseball, track, and basketball. Minnegan coached through one name change (Maryland State Normal School becomes Maryland State Teachers College) and two presidents (Lida Lee Tall and M. Theresa Wiedefeld) until 1941, when World War II began. The war took away his team, but he still found a way to coach them even overseas. Minnegan was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach in 1992, and his plaque is displayed in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y. The school renamed their mascot "Doc" in his honor.[16]
[edit] A President's Blog
Towson University is one of the first, if not the first, college in the United States to have a president who has his own internet blog[17] and Podcast on Apple's iTunes.[18]
[edit] Community Outreach
[edit] The Cherry Hill Learning Zone
The initiative is a partnership among the Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore City government, Towson University and Cherry Hill's community organizations. Together, the programs are trying to rebuild the Cherry Hill neighborhood in southern Baltimore. The program interacts with Cherry Hill’s civic leaders, community organizations and citizens, the Learning Zone hopes to serve as a resource for the academic progress of Cherry Hill’s young residents and improvement of the overall environment in the community.[19][20]
[edit] Baltimore Urban Debate League
The Towson Speech and Debate team have close ties with the Baltimore Urban Debate League and often volunteers people from the team and the university to judge and facilitate the running of the tournaments. Co-founders Chris Baron and Elizabeth Skinner are coaches on the Towson Team. Chris is also the Director of Programs, and Elizabeth is faculty liaison for the league as well.
The university often acts as a host for league tournaments at least once a year.
Towson also has what they call an Urban Debate Scholar award that they give to one graduating senior every year. The scholarship pays for full tuition and fees at TU. They also offer varying awards between $2,000 - $4,000 to other graduating seniors.[21]
[edit] Adopt-A-Campus
President Caret has also established a program called Adopt-A-Campus, which gives local businesses, organizations and others an opportunity to help beautify the TU campus. Every group will be assigned a certain section of the campus, and will be encouraged to pick up litter and help keep the area clean of trash and debris.[22]
[edit] Student Organizations
TU is home to more than 150 campus organizations and student clubs, fraternities, sororities, social clubs, professional clubs and club sports.
| SGA Affiliated | Cultural Organizations | Recreation and Sport Clubs | Religious Organizations | Community Service |
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[edit] Media and Publications
Towson has several media outlets, including a radio station that named the Best "College" Radio Station in Baltimore in 2003.[23]
| Television | Radio | |
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[edit] Greek Life
| Sororities | Fraternities | Honor and Recognition | Religious | Service |
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[edit] Trivia
- Towson is the second-largest public university in Maryland, with the University of Maryland, College Park as first.
- U.S. News & World Report ranked Towson University 40th in the Public Universities-Master’s (North) category for its 2007 America's Best Colleges issue.[24]
- The campus has become a major regional conference destination, playing host each year to approximately 800,000 visitors and 10,000 meetings, conferences and special events.
- Towson University has had five Fulbright Program scholars: one each to Spain, France, Belize, Japan and Iceland.
- Towson is Maryland's largest producer of teachers.
- Towson’s gerontology program is one of only 100 undergraduate programs offered in the United States.
- WTMD Radio (89.7), the university radio station, has one of the largest listening audiences of any public radio station in Maryland.[25]
- Chipotle, on York Road, is the school's most visited restaurant by the students and faculty. It is ranked as one of the top dining destinations for visitors.[26]
[edit] Famous Attendees
See: List of Towson University people
[edit] See also
- Main article: Pages related to Towson University
- List of presidents of Towson University
- Towson University colleges
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Renovations build on history of Towson University
- ^ TU 2010: Mapping the Future
- ^ Towson Center renovation budget doubles to $30 million
- ^ Increased enrollment results in 2,995 undergraduates in CBE for Fall 2006
- ^ HOUSING and RESIDENCE LIFE
- ^ DineOnCampus.com
- ^ Towson OneCard Access
- ^ Towson UnPlugged
- ^ Towson Degree Programs
- ^ Towson Undergraduate Studies
- ^ Tiger Statue Takes a Beating
- ^ Tiger Statue Debuts
- ^ The Future of Towson University
- ^ Towson's new Tiger built to last
- ^ The Meaning of a Mascot
- ^ Memories of Minnegan
- ^ President Caret's Internet Blog
- ^ President Caret's Podcast
- ^ The Cherry Hill Learning Zone
- ^ Videos of the Cherry Hill Learning Zone
- ^ Towson Debate Scholarships
- ^ Adopt-A-Campus
- ^ Best "College" Radio Station - WTMD
- ^ US News and World Report - Universities-Master's (North): Top Schools
- ^ Top 10 with a bullet - WTMD gaining listener, industry ears
- ^ Towson's Best 9
| University System of Maryland |
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| State universities: Bowie • Coppin • Frostburg • Salisbury • Towson • Baltimore University of Maryland: Baltimore • Baltimore County • College Park • Eastern Shore • University College Joint campuses: USM at Hagerstown • Universities at Shady Grove Research centers: Biotechnology Institute • Center for Environmental Science |
