Shawnee State University
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| Established | 1986 |
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| Type | Public |
| Endowment | $9.2 million |
| President | Rita Rice Morris |
| Students | 3,820 |
| Location | Portsmouth, Ohio, United States |
| Campus | 52 acres |
| Affiliations | NAIA Division II |
| Colors | Royal Blue and Dove Gray |
| Website | www.shawnee.edu |
Shawnee State University is a public university in Southern Ohio. It is Ohio's newest institution of higher learning and is located on the north bank of the Ohio River. Ted Strickland, Ph.D., the governor-elect of Ohio, is a former SSU professor.
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[edit] History
Shawnee State University was established in 1986. The late Vernal Riffe Jr., the former speaker of the Ohio legislature, is considered the father of the institution. House Bill 739--authorizing the university--became law on July 2, 1986. Vernal G. Riffe also endowed funding for a state of the art "Center for the Arts" which was named in his honor, The Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.
The new university has experienced two faculty strikes--and the ouster of two of its first four presidents--but the institution has neverthess grown and developed.
[edit] Academics
Shawnee State offers more than 80 bachelor’s and associate degree programs. Shawnee State offers degrees in several areas, including Biology, Chemistry, History, International Relations, Psychology, Sociology, Mathematical Sciences, English and Humanities, Accounting, Teacher Education, Graphic Design (Visualist): Print, Web Design, Digital 3D Animation, Digitital Simulation and Gaming, Ceramics, Drawing, and Painting, Plastics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Nursing, Respiratory Therapy,and Occupational Therapy.
SSU Catalog [1]
[edit] Foreign Studies
In the interests of multi-culturalism, SSU has student/faculty exchange programs with several overseas institutions, including Jaume I University[2] in Spain, Al Akhawayn University[3] in Morocco , and Zhejiang University of Technology [4] in China.
SSU also has summer-study programs in Greece, Great Britain, and Ireland.
[edit] Facilities
Shawnee State, located in downtown Portsmouth, has a 52-acre campus, featuring 26 buildings, including the Advanced Technology Center (home of one of only 50 Digistar II planetariums in the world), the Clark Memorial Library (which provides access to the 45.5 million items of the OhioLINK libraries' collections)[5], the 102,000-square-foot Vern Riffe Center for the Arts, which features an acoustically superior 1,139-seat main theatre and one of only a few functioning Virtual Audio Listening Rooms designed (along with main theater) by George Izenour. Other structures include the James A. Rhodes Athletic Center, a modern University Center [6], a Barnes and Nobles'[7] bookstore, and a network of off-campus townhouses for student living.
The university features an ultra-modern computer network. 500 student computers, all of them fewer than 3 years old, are available in 29 labs on campus. The university also offers free Internet services to each student, faculty and staff member, as well as a campus Email account.
Campus Map [8]
[edit] Student Life
The university offers a bi-weekly independent newspaper called The University Chronicle[9] which was once called the The Open Air. It also produces two literary and artistic magazines, the Shawnee Silhouette and Tapestries: Women Weaving our World.
Student organizations include the Other World Society [10], the Shawnee Democratic Society, the Nihilist Club, the Japanese anime Club, the Conservative Student Association, the Gay-Straight Alliance, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, Circle K International, the Priori de Bolo, Delta Sigma Phi (men's national social fraternity), Tau Kappa Epsilon (men's national social fraternity), Theta Phi Alpha (women's national social fraternity), and Omega Pi Mu (women's social fraternity).
The Student Government Association oversees each of the more the forty student organizations. SGA is a member of the National Student Government Association (NSGA).
Many campus activities and events are organized by the Student Programming Board. Popular annual events include SpringFest (which features a concert), "homecoming," which is held in winter, and the week-long "Scare Week," which corresponds to Hallowe'en." Veterans' Recognition Day and Memorial Day activities often include parachuting and other aerial displays. In 2004 SSU's President, Dr. Rita Rice Morris, participated in a parachute jump [11].
Shawnee State University engages in sports as member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The University fields teams in basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, softball, volleyball, golf, and cross country.
SSU is a member the American Mideast Conference.
In 1999, SSU women's basketball team won the NAIA Division II National Championship.
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| Akron • Bowling Green State • Central State • Cincinnati • Cleveland State • Kent State • Medical Ohio • Miami • NEOUCOM • Ohio State • Ohio • Shawnee State • Toledo • Wright State • Youngstown State |
