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University of Northern Colorado

Coordinates: 40°24′17″N 104°41′48″W / 40.404853°N 104.696741°W / 40.404853; -104.696741
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40°24′17″N 104°41′48″W / 40.404853°N 104.696741°W / 40.404853; -104.696741

University of Northern Colorado
File:University of Northern Colorado.svg
Former names
Colorado State Normal School
Colorado State Teachers College
Colorado State College of Education
Colorado State College
MottoSapientia in aeterum est
Motto in English
Wisdom is eternal
TypePublic
EstablishedApril 1, 1889
EndowmentUS $110.56 million [1]
ChairmanDick Monfort
PresidentKay Norton
ProvostAbe Harraf
Academic staff
413[2]
Undergraduates10,799[2]
Postgraduates2,182[2]
Location
Greeley
,
Colorado
,
United States
CampusSuburban
250 acres (1.0 km2)
ColorsNavy blue and gold
   
NicknameBears
AffiliationsBig Sky Conference
Mascot"Klawz"
Websitehttp://www.unco.edu/
Enrollment figures are as of Fall 2005.[3]

The University of Northern Colorado, often called UNC or Northern Colorado is a coeducational public institution of higher education and research located in Greeley, Colorado, USA. The Greeley campus is the primary campus though a satellite campus exists in Lowry, Denver, USA. Establish in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado, the University has a strong background in educating teachers. The State Normal School was the third public institution of higher education in Colorado. In 1970 legislation passed that changed the name of the School to the University of Northern Colorado to reflect the institution's expanded roles and academic offerings. The university offers over 100 undergraduate programs in the fields of arts, sciences, humanities, business, human sciences, and education. Undergraduate degrees are typically 4 year programs and degree programs have a strong emphasis in liberal arts education. The university offers more than 100 graduate programs primarily in the field of education. Academic programs are distributed among 5 colleges[5]

History

The history of The University of Northern Colorado begins in the late 1880, when citizens of the town of Greeley, Colorado petitions the Colorado Government to create a school for the education of Teachers in their community. In April 1889 Governor Cooper signed a Senate Bill establishing the Colorado State Normal School. Classes began in October of the next year. Since then the institution that is now known as the University of Northern Colorado has been through many changes in focus, architecture, and student ideals.[6]

The University of Northern Colorado opened on October 6, 1890, as the Colorado State Normal School to train qualified teachers for the state's public schools, with a staff of four instructors and 96 students, offering certification after completing a two-year course. Greeley's citizens raised the necessary money for the first building. At that time, certificates were granted upon the completion of a two-year course. In 1911 the school's name was changed to Colorado State Teachers College and offered bachelor degrees after completion of a four-year course. In 1935 the name changed again to Colorado State College of Education to recognize the graduate program, which was started in 1913. In 1957 the name was shortened to Colorado State College to recognize the further growth of programs and offerings. Finally, in 1970 the name was changed to the current University of Northern Colorado.

Traditions

Fight song

UNC's Pride of the Rockies marching band

On down the field we go to victory
The colors navy blue and gold.
And to our fighting team, we hold our spirit high.
The mighty Bears are we .... GO BEARS!!
Fight, fight to win each battle fairly,
The only way we e'er shall be,
We shout out the name,
To bring the fame and glory to old U-N-C!!

Alma mater

Ah! Well I Remember is the alma mater of the University of Northern Colorado. It was written by J. De Forest Cline

Ah! Well I Remember, Friends of “Blue and Gold.”
Friends met in September, Pledging their Faith to hold.
Gone, Friends of September, Gone dear friends of old.
Time never shall sever, Friends of “Blue and Gold.”
Time never shall sever, Friends of “Blue and Gold.”

Campus

See also: University of Northern Colorado West Campus

The Campus of the University is divided into three main areas: east, central, and west. The Center for Urban Education in Lowry, Denver, is a satellite campus focused on providing opportunities for working teachers that are unable to travel to Greeley.

UNC's Central Campus was the original part of the campus and currently houses the College of Performing & Visual Arts, Pieces of the College of Natural & Health Science, and the Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business. It all has the Howard Skinner Music Library, Tobey-Kendal Dining Hall and 12 residence halls. Central campus is also the home to administration of UNC.

East campus includes:

  • Jackson Sports Complex
  • Parsons Hall
  • Ropes Course
  • University Apartments

Old Man Mountain is a group of cabins owned by the University located in Estes Park, Colorado.

Organization

The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs.[7] The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado

The Board of Trustees for the University oversees the administration and approves the University's annual budget. Several members of the University's administrative team are ex-oficio members of the Board (for example, the Vice President for Finance & Administration is also the Treasurer to the Board).

Presidents

  • Thomas J. Gray 1890-1891
  • James H. Hayes. Interim 1891, November 11, 1915-1916
  • Zachariah Xenophon Snyder. 1891-1915
  • John Grant Crabbe. Late summer 1916-1924
  • George Willard Frasier. 1924-1947
  • William Robert Ross. 1947-1964 (assumed office December 20, 1947)
  • Darrell Holmes. 1964-1971
  • Frank P. Lakin. 1969, 1971 Interim President
  • Richard R. Bond. 1971-1981
  • Charles Manning, Acting President. 1981
  • Robert C. Dickeson. 1981-1991
  • Richard Davies. 1987 Acting President January 1-August 29, 1987
  • Stephen T. Hulbert. 1991 Interim President July 1-September 30, 1991
  • Herman Lujan. 1991-1996
  • Howard Skinner. Interim President June 1996-June 1998
  • Hank Brown. July 1998-June 2002
  • Kay Norton. July 2002 -

Current trustees

  • Dick Monfort, Chairman
  • Kevin Smith
  • Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Carbajal
  • Jerry Morgensen
  • Dr. Darlene LeDoux
  • Carlotta Lanier
  • Dr. Joan Clinefelter
  • Robert Vincent[8]

Academics

Colleges

The University is organized into five colleges of approximately equal size. Within each college are several schools that administer the various academic programs.

Libraries

The University of Northern Colorado’s main library houses approximately 1.8 million items including books, periodicals, government publications, CDs, videos, DVDs and maps. It is named after author James A. Michener, who received his master's degree from and taught at the university before beginning his writing career. Michener bequeathed the majority of his literary legacy to the university upon his death. The reference desk at the library is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays. Please call (970)351-2562 for assistance.

Skinner Library specializes in curricular support of the School of Music and Musical Theatre Programs. Its collections, comprising more than 90,000 musical scores, books, periodicals and recordings, are housed in a state-of-the-art facility that opened in October 1997.

Student life

Cultural centers

Athletics and traditions

File:NorthernColorado.jpeg
The logo of Northern Colorado athletics, in use since 2004
The university's mascot, "Klawz"

Sports teams at the school are called Bears. Northern Colorado is currently in the fourth year of a four-year process of moving from NCAA’s Division II to Division I (Championship subdivision for football). Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2006. The school mascot is Klawz the Bear and the school colors are Navy Blue and Gold. The Fight Song is simply the “UNC Fight Song”.

The Northern Colorado Bears won national championships in football in 1996 and 1997 while a member of NCAA’s Division II North Central Conference.

Student housing

The University of Northern Colorado has 16 student residence halls; twelve on Central Campus and four on West Campus.

Athletics

UNC is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I and FCS in football (formerly I-AA). The institution was a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference from 1923-1972. Joining the Great Plains Athletic Conference for four years (1972-76). following several years of being conference independent. The University of Northern Colorado joined the North Central Conference from 1979-2003 at which time they began the transition to NCAA Division I.

Mascots

The bear is the mascot of the UNC. Deriving from the gift a totem pole to the campus in 1914 by an alum. The bear officially became the mascot in 1925. The totem pole was kept in the University Center, but under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, the pole was reclaimed by the Tlingit Indians in 2003.

Achievements

Normal school

Founded in 1889 as the State Normal School, Northern Colorado met a vital need to train qualified teachers in the growing state of Colorado, which was then less than 15 years old. More than a century and four name changes later, the institution has grown to become a Doctoral Research university. At Northern Colorado's centennial in 1989, only four universities in the U.S. surpassed it in the total number of teachers trained.Larson, Robert. Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) All current Northern Colorado programs are clustered around an institutional mission devoted to teacher education. Its early dedication to reaching the highest levels of educational excellence, coupled with the generation and dissemination of new pedagogical knowledge, earned Northern Colorado the name “Columbia of the West.”Larson, Robert. Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) In 1985, the Colorado Legislature took the unique step of designating Northern Colorado as “the primary institution for undergraduate and graduate teacher education in the state of Colorado.”[citation needed]

Monfort College of Business

The Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado offers the only program of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region – focused exclusively on undergraduate business education and internationally accredited in business administration and accounting. One of five undergraduate-only programs in the United States to hold such accreditations, Monfort is the sole business school to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the Office of the President of the United States and the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Timberline Award from Colorado Performance Excellence, and the Program of Excellence Award from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Students at Monfort score in the top 5% on nationwide standardized exit exams and earn a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting, computer information systems, finance, general business, management, or marketing.

School of Music

The University of Northern Colorado School of Music is one of the larger and more successful programs within the University and is well-known in the region for its music education and Jazz Studies programs as well as having one of the first full-scale music technology centers in the country. The award-winning Jazz Studies program, reared from infancy by Gene Aitken, is currently led by Grammy-nominated jazz composer/pianist Dana Landry. The program under Landry has received much acclaim in recent years. The Northern Colorado Jazz Lab I under his direction has received the Down Beat magazine award for best college big band in 2005 and 2006. It is also the very first and one of only eight schools in the world to offer a Doctorate of Musical Arts with an emphasis in Jazz Pedagogy.

Notable alumni

Amanda Christian, notable and distinguished actress.

Jeannie Ritter, Colorado First Lady

References

  1. ^ "[1]".
  2. ^ a b c "About Northern Colorado".
  3. ^ "www.unco.edu/acctservices/instanalysis/pdf/Fall06FactBook.pdf" (PDF).
  4. ^ "University of Northern Colorado Alumni and Friends".
  5. ^ "www.unco.edu/about_unc/".
  6. ^ "www.unco.edu/library/archives/arc_previous_names.htm".
  7. ^ "www.unco.edu/about_unc/index.html".
  8. ^ "www.unco.edu/trustees/trustees.htm".

Jeannie Ritter, CO First Lady

Further reading

  • Albert Frank Carter - "Forty years of Colorado State Teachers College, formerly the State Normal School of Colorado, 1890-1930"
  • Larson, Robert W; Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, (1989). Shaping educational change: the first century of the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley". ISBN 0-87081-172-X.
  • Kurt Hinkle - "Northern Light: The Complete History of the University of Northern Colorado Football Program." (1998).
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