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Northern Arizona University

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Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University
TypePublic
Established1899
PresidentJohn D. Haeger
Academic staff
1,492[1]
Undergraduates15,569[2]
Postgraduates5,783[2]
Location
Flagstaff
,
Arizona
,
USA
CampusUrban, 738 acres (2,986,580 m²)
Athletics11 varsity teams
ColorsBlue, Sage, and Gold
NicknameLumberjacks
MascotLouie the Lumberjack
Websitehttp://www.nau.edu/

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public university in Flagstaff, Arizona in the United States.

The university's mission is to provide an outstanding undergraduate residential education strengthened by research, graduate and professional programs, and sophisticated methods of distance learning. NAU is known for its specialties in the education program and its hotel and restaurant management programs. It is also well known for the forestry, natural science, engineering, and business programs.

As of Fall 2007, the university has 21,352 students, 13,989 of these are situated in the main Flagstaff campus.[2] Average class size is 38 students (100 level courses), 34 (200 level courses), 22 (300 level courses), 17 (400 level courses), and 12 (graduate courses). Average cost of tuition for an on-campus, full-time, Arizona resident student for two semesters is $4,845.

The campus sits at an elevation of 6950 feet (2118 m) above sea level.

History

File:Nauaerial.jpg
NAU campus

Initially named the Northern Arizona Normal School, the institution was formed on September 11, 1899. In 1925, the State of Arizona recognized the school, allowing it to grant the Bachelor of Education degree. Following this change, the school renamed itself Northern Arizona State Teacher's College. In 1929, the name was changed to Arizona State Teacher's College at Flagstaff.

In 1945, its name changed once again to the Arizona State College at Flagstaff. A year later the college began offering the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science. On May 1, 1966, the school was granted full university status and changed its name to the current Northern Arizona University (or NAU).

More information on the university's history can be found on the NAU Alumni Association website.

Academics

There are 91 different academic programs at Northern Arizona University that let students tailor their education to any career. The university also has pre-professional programs in law, medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and optometry put students on the fast track to graduate school.

The university consists of six colleges:

College of Arts and Letters

College of Education

College of Engineering and Natural Sciences

College of Health and Human Services

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

The W.A. Franke College of Business

College of Arts and Letters

The College of Arts and Letters encompasses everything from philosophy to music education, from theatre to teaching tolerance. The college creates an outstanding academic environment in which students, faculty, and the community experience the arts and letters as intellectual and aesthetic adventure. Programs include Asian studies, English, history, humanities, arts, and religion, modern languages, philosophy, theatre, art, music, and liberal studies. The college hosts many productions every semester in opera, voice, dance, theatre, and more.

College of Education

The College of Education is the unit primarily responsible for preparing professional educators at the university. In collaboration with other colleges, the college has articulated this vision: “Our vision is to prepare educational professionals who create tomorrow’s opportunities.” In addition to preparing future teachers, it prepares counselors, school psychologists, and administrators. The vision involves drawing on the best practices of the past, experimenting with and researching new ideas, and helping professionals to accept their roles as leaders in education. The college's mission is to prepare competent and committed professionals who will make positive differences for children, young adults, and others in schools.

The college's plans are accredited by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and NAU was ranked 7th in the nation for providing degrees in education to all minorities.

Fields of study include teaching and learning (includes early childhood, elementary, secondary, and science education), educational leadership, educational psychology, and educational specialties(includes bilingual and multicultural education, career and technical education, educational technology, and special education).

College of Engineering and Natural Sciences

The College of Engineering and Natural Sciences promotes undergraduate and graduate learning experiences that integrate science, engineering, and mathematics, sustained by a commitment to research, scholarship, and the creative application of knowledge. The faculty, staff, and students collaborate to engage actively in the possibilities and practicalities of their fields.

The college has 11 departments and a Quaternary Program, 13 centers and two institutes, and supports 300 baccalaureate degrees. It continues to expand its degree programs. Programs include Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Construction Management, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Education, Geology, Mathematics and Statistics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics and Astronomy, Quaternary Studies, Master of Engineering, and Master of Science in Engineering.

College of Health and Human Services

The College of Health and Human Services promotes excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service, provides students with a broad educational background, and prepares students to assume professional responsibilities as providers of health and human services.

NAU's College of Health and Human Services, the only one of its kind within the state of Arizona university system, consists of the School of Nursing, and three departments:

Rehabilitation sciences: physical therapy, athletic training, and communication sciences and disorders

Health sciences: physical education and school health, community health, bachelor of interdisciplinary studies (BIS) in speech-language sciences and technology (SST), diagnostic medical imaging and therapy, respiratory care, physical therapist assisting, paramedic care and medical assisting, and a BAS in health sciences for allied health professionals

Dental Hygiene: a residential degree program and a degree completion program for licensed hygienists

The School of Nursing offers the following undergraduate degree programs: bachelor of science in nursing and registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing. The School of Nursing also offers the a master of science (MS) family nurse practitioner specialty, MS nursing education specialty, and MS public health nursing specialty.

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) teaches, discovers, disseminates, and applies knowledge in the social and behavioral sciences. The focus of the college is on human connections: between students and faculty, academic disciplines, the college and communities, and people and their cultures. SBS helps students to understand the diversity and complexity of human experience, via perspectives that are informed by the scholarship of the social and behavioral sciences.

Programs include anthropology, applied indigenous studies, criminology and criminal justice, ethnic studies, geography, planning, and recreation, political science, psychology, communication, sociology/social work, and women's and gender studies.

Many renovations are being done to the college's buildings, including a new science lab building and the Applied Research and Development building.

The W.A. Franke College of Business

The W.A. Franke College of Business strives to be a leading provider of personalized business education. The primary focus is undergraduate education, although it also offers a master’s level education and research opportunities.

The commitment of $25 million, the largest in NAU's history, was given by Bill Franke in 2007, and the business building is named in his honor. In January 2006, the college found a new home in a 111,000 square foot building on south campus. The W.A. Franke College of Business was fully reaccredited November 5, 1998 by the national accrediting body, AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The NAU program is one of approximately 400 programs that are accredited out of over 1,000 offered throughout the nation.

In the 2008, The Princeton Review ranked the MBA program in three top-10 categories: No. 4 for Best Professors, No. 9 for Best Campus Facilities, and No. 10 for Greatest Opportunity for Minority Students. NAU also was ranked in the 2007 edition.

The college also houses the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, which prepares students for leadership responsibilities in hospitality-related enterprises. The undergraduate degree curriculum is designed to provide intellectual growth, communication skills, ethical awareness, appreciation of values and society, and professional knowledge of the hospitality industry.

NAU's School of Hotel and Restaurant Management is ranked among the top ten hotel/restaurant schools in the United States.

School of Forestry

The NAU School of Forestry offers a program that is nationally regarded for its unique approach to undergraduate education and is accredited by the Society of American Foresters. The school is deeply committed to further understanding and protecting the environment, and the integrated, multidisciplinary approach prepares students for a broad range of careers.

Athletics

File:NorthernArizonaLumberjacks.png
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks logo

NAU's athletic teams have gained national prominence with their accomplishments, and student athletes go on to compete at national, international, and professional levels in football, basketball, track and field, tennis, and swimming and diving. The university participates in 15 intercollegiate sports programs.

The Lumberjacks compete at the NCAA Division 1 level (Division 1-AA for football). NAU competes in the Big Sky Conference in all sports except swimming and diving, which is part of the Western Athletic Conference. All NAU students receive free admissison to regular-season home contests by presenting their student ID cards at the door.

The Northern Arizona mascot is Louie the Lumberjack. The Lumberjack nickname dates back to the early history of the school. According to Harold P. Blome, who is the younger son of R.H.H. Blome, the second president of Northern Arizona Normal School, the name was taken from the men who were called Lumber Jacks.

On Campus Activities

NAU has more than 150 recognized professional, academic, service and social organizations, an intramural sports program, the Lumberjack student newspaper, and active residence hall organization. For a current list of organizations, visit NAU's student life website.

Lumberjack, KJACK, and NAU Live!

The university's award-winning, weekly newspaper is an independently student-run publication called The Lumberjack.[1] Founded in 1914, it is the second-oldest newspaper in Northern Arizona. In May 2007, the newspaper won a Society of Professional Journalists national award in the editorial writing category for articles printed during 2006. [2]

KJACK is available in Flagstaff on 1680 AM or online [3]. KJACK reports to the College Music Journal [4] and specializes in new music. NAU's televised news program, NAU Live! airs bi-weekly in Flagstaff on NPG cable channels 4 and 59 at 5pm MST, and on Dish Network's UniversityHouse Channel (9411) 9pm MST.[5]

Choirs

The Northern Arizona University Choral Union consists of eight ensembles: Men's Chorale, Women's Chorale, University Singers, two Vocal Jazz Ensembles, Vocal Chamber Ensemble, the Harold M. Harter Memorial Handbell Choir, and the Shrine of the Ages Choir.

Recreation Services

The NAU Recreation Center provides opportunities for all students, including a fully equipped weight room, a two-court basketball/volleyball gymnasium, five glass-back racquetball courts, an aerobic/dance studio, a six-station climbing wall, locker rooms with dry saunas, and conference rooms for meetings, classes, or activities.

Intramural Sports

Intramural sports are organized for teams and individuals and include flag football, soccer, volleyball, softball, racquetball, and backgammon. Sports clubs include sports such as rugby, hockey, lacrosse, and judo. To learn more, visit nau.edu/imsports.

Movies and Other Events

Unions and Student Activities offers many services and events for the campus community, such as Prochnow Movies and the popular Friday night AfterHours program produced by SUN Entertainment. SUN also presents several concerts and special events each year and coordinates Welcome Week concerts.

Alumni

The NAU Association represents more than 96,509 alumni from the US.

Famous alumni include:

Notable faculty

Other Information

The Arizona Cardinals of the NFL conduct their summer training camp at NAU.

References

  1. ^ a b Northern Arizona University Employees Northern Arizona University Office of Planning and Institutional Research, accessed 2007-09-21.
  2. ^ a b c Enrollment Highlights Northern Arizona University Planning, Budget and Institutional Research Office, accessed 2007-09-21.

See also

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