Mount Mercy College
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Mount Mercy College |
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| Established | 1928 |
| Type | Private |
| President | Christopher R.L. Blake |
| Undergraduates | 1,490 (1,019 full-time) |
| Location | Cedar Rapids, IA, USA |
| Campus | Urban, 40 acres |
| Athletics |  |
| Nickname | Mustangs |
| Affiliations | Roman Catholic |
| Website | [1] |
Mount Mercy College is a four-year, co-educational Catholic liberal arts college located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1928.
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[edit] Mount Mercy College
Intellectual development and strong career preparation are the twin anchors of academic life at Mount Mercy College, a 78-year-old Catholic four-year co-educational college founded by the Sisters of Mercy. Students take a core of liberal arts courses that provide a comprehensive foundation. Areas of study the Mount Mercy faculty considers basic to a well-educated person are English, fine arts, history, mathematics, multicultural studies, natural science, philosophy, religious studies, social science and speech/drama. The college offers over 34 majors in both liberal arts and professional programs.
[edit] Campus
Mount Mercy College's 40-acre campus is located in a tree-lined residential neighborhood in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (population 140,000).
[edit] History
Mount Mercy College was founded as a two-year college for women in 1928 by the Sisters of Mercy of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Sisters of Mercy, whose order was founded in 1831 by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, have been active in Cedar Rapids since 1878. The college was an outgrowth of their concerns about the education of women.
In 1957, the College became a four-year institution and awarded its first bachelor’s degree in 1959. The college received accreditation as a baccalaureate institution by the North Central Association in 1960. In 1968 the Sisters of Mercy transferred their legal authority and responsibility to a self-perpetuating independent board of which three members would always be Sisters of Mercy. Mount Mercy College became coeducational in 1969. While integrating a strong liberal arts component, the college has always emphasized professional development from its early involvement, as a junior college, on business courses and teacher education. The departments of nursing, education and social work were accredited in the 1960s and 1970s as the four-year programs developed. Begun in 1997, the ADVANCE program, a joint Mount Mercy College/Kirkwood Community College accelerated degree completion program for working adults meets an important community workforce development need. The college continues under the spiritual and intellectual auspices of the Sisters of Mercy, whose commitment is to "serve human needs where they exist."
[edit] Presidents
- Sister Mary Ildephonse Holland, 1928-1933, 1946-1961
- Sister Mary Cornelia Burke, 1933 to 1939
- Sister Mary Maura Marron, 1939-1946
- Sister Mary Agnes Hennessey, 1961-1977
- Dr. Thomas R. Feld, 1977-1999
- Dr. Robert Pearce, 1999-2006
- Dr. Christopher R.L. Blake, 2006 – present
[edit] Accreditation
Mount Mercy College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602-2504; phone 800-621-7440), the Council on Social Work Education (1725 Duke Street, Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314-3457), The State Board of Nursing and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036). The college is approved by the Iowa Department of Education (Grimes State Office Building, Des Moines, IA 50319-0146) to offer programs leading to teacher certification in both elementary and secondary education and endorsements in several areas including early childhood education and multicategorical resource room teaching.
[edit] Mission and Goals
As a Catholic college founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Mount Mercy College welcomes women and men of all beliefs to join its community in the pursuit of baccalaureate education and service to those in need. Mount Mercy College promotes reflective judgment, strategic communication, the common good and purposeful living through a core curriculum, liberal arts and professional majors and student development programs. The college strives for excellence in accomplishing our mission through our four interdependent goals:
- Using reflective judgment
The abilities to think clearly and carefully, argue coherently and evaluate competing truth claims critically are fundamental to a college education. Reflective judgment requires a knowledge of basic fact, examination and evaluation of assumptions, adequate justification for drawing a conclusion and understanding implications of drawing that conclusion. With these skills, individuals can solve problems creatively and integrate knowledge across disciplines.
- Engaging in strategic communication
Strategic communication requires selecting from a range of options in order to accomplish a chosen goal in an ethical manner. These options include construction and interpretation of messages in the written, oral and aesthetic forms using appropriate technology.
- Serving the common good
The common good is at the heart of Catholic social teaching. Because persons are social by nature, every individual’s good relates necessarily to the common good, the sum of social conditions that allows all people to reach their human potential more fully. It includes respect for and ethical interaction with every person and the natural environment and, in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy, service for the well-being of all humanity and action in the cause of justice in the world.
- Promoting purposeful living
A liberal education enables persons to achieve a greater degree of freedom upon which to act purposefully. Since development of purpose entails planning for life based on a set of priorities, Mount Mercy College provides opportunities for spiritual growth, intellectual engagement, vocational clarity, social development, physical well-being, emotional maturity and responsible community leadership.
[edit] Enrollment
- 1,482 students; 992 full-time.
- Average high school GPA is 3.43; 74 percent are in the top half of their class.
- Ninety percent of freshmen from Iowa; 10 percent from out of state, primarily in the Midwest.
- One hundred percent of new full-time freshmen receive some form of institutionally-funded financial aid; $5.9 million dollars in scholarship money was awarded in 2005-06.
[edit] Non-Traditional Programs
Mount Mercy offers five accelerated degree programs for working adults. These include a major in Health Services Nursing Home Administration, AP-FASTEP (a degree completion program for RNs) and majors in accounting, business and marketing through ADVANCE at Mount Mercy, a joint program with Kirkwood Community College.
[edit] Library
The 65,000 square foot Busse Library is a bright, plant-filled facility with over 100 computers and 116,000 volumes. Online resources are available 24 hours a day to faculty, staff and students.
[edit] Athletics
Mount Mercy College, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Midwest Classic Conference (MCC), offers intercollegiate competition in men's basketball, baseball, golf, soccer, cross country and track & field, and women's basketball, softball, volleyball, golf, cross country, track & field and soccer. Intramural activities include basketball, volleyball, golf, flag football, softball and cross country.
[edit] Alumni
Of graduates over the past three years, 95 percent are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation, 62 percent remain in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area and 91 percent remain in Iowa.
[edit] Community Service
The Mount Mercy College Campus Ministry Center supports students of all faiths in their personal spiritual journeys through pastoral counseling, spiritual direction and ecumenical worship and fellowship. Catholic Mass and interdenominational services are held weekly. Additionally, Campus Ministry fosters an awareness of social justice and diversity issues through a number of programs and projects, featuring hands-on service in the Cedar Rapids area and beyond. Activities include mentoring high school students and immersion trips during which students work side-by-side with the poor in Appalachia, inner-city Chicago and Mexico. Traditionally a very caring community, members of the Mount Mercy family serve the local community through extensive volunteer involvement in nonprofit organizations.
[edit] Community and Economic Impact
- Approximately $26 million operating budget
- Local officials estimate an economic multiplier of 2.5, which translates into a local economic impact of $65 million.
- Mount Mercy College graduates are an integral part of many essential eastern Iowa businesses, schools, hospitals and community service organizations.
[edit] External link
| Midwest Classic Conference |
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| Ashford • Grand View • Iowa Wesleyan • Mount Mercy • Saint Ambrose • Viterbo • Waldorf • William Penn • Clarke (expected 2007) |
Notable Alumni:
