Point Park University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Motto | Pro Arte/Pro Communtate/Pro Professione |
| Established | 1960 |
| Type | Private university |
| Endowment | $8,464,663 |
| President | Dr. Paul Hennigan |
| Undergraduates | 3,400 |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Campus | Urban |
| Athletics | NAIA |
| Colors | Green and Gold |
| Website | www.pointpark.edu |
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Point Park University was formerly known as Point Park College; the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the substantial number of graduate programs being offered.
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[edit] Overview
- Point Park was founded in 1960, and currently (Fall 2006) has more than 3,500 students, including hundreds of graduate students. The two largest master's degree programs are the M.B.A. program in the School of Business, and the M.A. in journalism and mass communication in that department.
- The university is on the semester system and has three schools: Arts & Sciences, Business, and The Conservatory Of Performing Arts.
- The University is known primarily for its Conservatory of Performing Arts, which attracts students from around the United States. Its undergraduate dance program has been rated the best and among the best in the United States. Student and professional performances are held at the Pittsburgh Playhouse of Point Park University, which has three separate performance spaces and is located in the Oakland neighborhood.
- The University is home to the Innocence Institute, which was founded by its director William R. "Bill" Moushey Jr. to investigate and challenge possible wrongful criminal convictions so that they might be overturned in the interest of justice. As of mid-2006, it was one of only two journalism-oriented innocence institutes in the United States (the other is at Northwestern University); all of the others are affiliated with law schools. All articles produced by the Innocence Institute are offered for publication to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette daily newspaper. Moushey was the Finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting.
- The University's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication offers the most extensive curricula (more than two dozen courses) in photojournalism and photography of any department or school of journalism/mass communication in the United States.
- The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication is currently home to the quarterly Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, one of the two major, international, scholarly journals published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Its Editor is Dane S. Claussen, who also is Director of the department's M.A. program.
- The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review daily newspaper, runs the Point Park News Service. Undergraduate and graduate journalism students write articles that are offered to, and many published in, the Tribune-Review or its afternoon TribPM. The department is one of only a few journalism programs in the United States, along with U. of Maryland, U. of Missouri, Columbia University, and Northwestern University, with a journalism student-staffed news service.
- The University's independent weekly student newspaper is The Globe.
- The University's student-produced television newsmagazine is "Wood Street Connection."
- The University's student radio station is WPPJ.
- The University's student literary magazine is The Cavalcade.
- The University's journalism course-produced news magazine is The Pioneer.
- On February 1, 2007, The University launched "U-View", Point Park's closed circuit news and entertainment TV station.
[edit] Point Park campus
Point Park is located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is situated about half a mile from Point State Park in the city's Golden Triangle.
The school is in the midst of the business district in the shadow of PPG Place, one of the skyline's most recognizable buildings. The physical campus is mostly vertical, with buildings scattered intermittently among non-school structures. Point Park also owns the Pittsburgh Playhouse in the Oakland neighborhood. There are no green spaces on campus. The school has used the phrase "the city is our campus" in its literature.
Because of its Downtown locale, the school is within walking distance of the Cultural District and the city's sports facilities, PNC Park, Mellon Arena, and Heinz Field. It is also close to Pittsburgh's major nightlife areas on the Southside, in Station Square, and in the Strip District. Approximately 30 percent of full-time undergraduate students live on campus. The majority of Point Park students commute from nearby neighborhoods. Downtown parking is limited, and the school does not own any facilities. However, several city-owned garages are adjacent to the campus.
[edit] History
Point Park University has expanded and grown into a university, but has experienced some challenges and growing pains in its history, facing impending bankruptcy and closure on two separate occasions.
[edit] Beginnings
The university began as a one-room business training college in 1933 with an initial enrollment of 50 students, under the direction of Dorothy Finkelhor, a New York native, and L. Herbert Finkelhor. At the time, it was notable for a woman to found such an institution. Finkelhor provided her students with business and secretarial skills. At the same time, she served in multiple roles as teacher, the dean of women, social chairman, janitor, telephone operator, admissions and finance director, and registrar.
[edit] Becoming a college
By 1960, the business school had grown to nearly 880 students and moved to the university’s current academic center, Academic Hall, on Wood Street in central Downtown Pittsburgh. The Finkelhors’ small secretarial school became Point Park Junior College, named for the city’s historic Point State Park. The junior college added two-year programs in engineering technology, education, and journalism. It also acquired performing arts space at The Pittsburgh Playhouse in the Oakland neighborhood. Five years later, the college was granted four-year status, officially becoming Point Park College.
Thirty-four years after forming the college, Dorothy Finkelhor retired in 1967. The school’s reins remained within the family as son-in-law Arthur M. Blum assumed the presidency. Blum purchased the Sherwyn Hotel, a 20-story building across from Academic Hall, which became David L. Lawrence Hall. The hall currently contains most of the school’s social and entertaining facilities as well as classrooms, offices, and dormitories.
[edit] 1970 financial crisis
Though Blum’s Lawrence Hall investment continues to benefit the school, Blum also established a campus in Lugano, Switzerland and bought a conference center in Sewickley park, and the resulting debt nearly bankrupted the college.
John V. Hopkins succeeded Blum, inheriting a school in arrears and with dwindling admission. By May 1973, desperate faculty members forewent their paychecks as part of a collaborative effort to save the college. Eventually, the sacrifice became success. Hopkins closed the Swiss campus and the conference center and completely reorganized Point Park’s finances.
[edit] Stability
With the budget climbing out of the red, the school began a slow healing process into the 1980s. Enrollment grew beyond 1,000 students as dance and theatre programs were introduced. These programs laid the groundwork for Point Park’s current Conservatory of Performing Arts. At the same time, the school introduced its first postgraduate degree, a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication.
J. Matthew Simon served as the college’s next president from 1985 to 1994, providing nearly a decade of relative calm in the institution’s turbulent history. Simon oversaw the acquisition of a new library, program growth, and the school’s largest endowment. Today, Simon remains at Point Park as a professor in the department of Natural Sciences and Engineering Technology.
[edit] 1994 Crisis
Another crisis came with the election of James Hunter as president. Hunter, Point Park’s most controversial leader, served for a little over a year but managed to garner outcry for an admissions scandal and a breakdown of communication within the school.
At the same time, growth remained slow in the city, and Pittsburgh’s economy still had not recovered from the collapse of the steel industry. The college’s finances suffered, and Point Park again neared bankruptcy. Negotiations began with Duquesne University to sell what remained of Point Park College to the larger school.
Hunter resigned amidst the melee, and Katherine Henderson won the approval of the board of trustees soon after.
[edit] Growth and change
Henderson implemented a strategic plan to revive the drowning college. Plans to sell the school were abandoned as Henderson began another procedural overhaul.
Henderson’s tenure became the most successful for Point Park. During the late ‘90s, budget woes disintegrated as enrollment rose to over 3,000 students and the endowment grew by over 200 percent. Point Park finished major renovations of its existing buildings soon after the turn of the century.
By 2004, the school hit a new high water mark and successfully applied for university status. It was officially renamed Point Park University that year and the administration began an aggressive $1 million branding campaign to attract more enrollment.
Henderson retired in 2006 while on a self-imposed sabbatical.
[edit] Current efforts
The board of trustees named Paul Hennigan as Henderson's successor. Hennigan served as interim president during Henderson's sabbatical.
- Hennigan has continued to formulate a new strategic plan as Point Park University continuously purchases new Downtown property for development.
- Most recently, the school renovated two Downtown buildings to be used as campus housing.
- In addition, construction began on a state-of-the-art dance facility in 2006. The university plans to open the facility in fall 2007.
- Its current marketing slogan is "Get there."
[edit] University statistics
[edit] Accreditation
Point Park University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools Commission on Higher Education and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
[edit] Admissions
Freshmen Admission:
- 2,453 applied
- 1,866 admitted
- 472 enrolled
- Average high school GPA 3.22
Test scores:
- SAT verbal scores over 500 63%,
- SAT math scores over 500 54%
- ACT scores over 18 89%
- SAT verbal scores over 600 19%
- SAT math scores over 600 13%
- ACT scores over 24 31%
- SAT verbal scores over 700 2%
- SAT math scores over 700 1%
- ACT scores over 30 1%
[edit] Degrees
Point Park University offers eight degrees:
- Associate of Art (A.A.)
- Associate of Science (A.S.)
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
- Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)
- Master of Arts (M.A.)
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
[edit] Graduate Programs
- Master of Business Administration (concentrations in Management; International Business; Management Information Systems; and Sports, Arts & Entertainment Management)
- Master of Arts in Journalism & Mass Communication (thesis and non-thesis options; coursework in public relations, print journalism, broadcast journalism, advertising, and other areas of mass communication)
- Master of Arts in Curriculum & Instruction
- Master of Arts in Educational Administration
- Master of Science in Engineering Management
- Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration
- Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts
[edit] Undergraduate programs
Point Park offers the following Undergraduate degree programs:
Arts and Sciences
- Education & Community Services - Early Childhood Education - B.A.
- Elementary Education - B.A.
- Secondary Education – Citizenship - B.A.
- Secondary Education – English - B.A.
- Secondary Education – Mass Communication - B.A.
- Secondary Education – Biology - B.S.
- Secondary Education – Mathematics - B.S.
Humanities & Human Sciences
- Applied History - B.A.
- Behavioral Sciences - B.A.
- English - B.A.
- Global Cultural Studies - B.A.
- Legal Studies (Capstone) - B.A.
- Political Science - B.A.
- Psychology - B.A.
Journalism & Mass Communication
- Advertising and Public Relations - B.A.
- Broadcasting (television and/or radio) - B.A.
- Journalism (print) - B.A.
- Mass Communication/New Media Technology - B.A.
- Photography - B.F.A.
- Photojournalism - B.A.
- Integrating Marketing Communications (accelerated) - B.S.
Natural Sciences & Engineering Technology
- Allied Health - A.S.
- Civil Engineering Technology - A.S.
- Electrical Engineering Technology - A.S.
- Mechanical Engineering Technology - A.S.
- Biological Sciences - B.S.
- Biotechnology - B.S.
- Biotechnology (Capstone) - B.S.
- Civil Engineering Technology - B.S.
- Electrical Engineering Technology - B.S
- Environmental Health Science and Protection - B.S.
- Health Services (Capstone) - B.S.
- Mechanical Engineering Technology - B.S.
Business
- Accounting - A.S.
- Business Management - A.S.
- Information Technology - A.S.
- Public Administration – AS.
- Accounting - B.S.
- Business Management - B.S.
- Business (Saturday Fast) Accelerated - B.S.
- Information Technology - B.S.
- Information Technology & Management Accelerated Program - B.S.
- Management Services (Capstone) - B.S.
- Public Administration - B.S.
- Sport, Arts and Entertainment Management - B.S.
Conservatory of Performing Arts
- Applied Arts (Capstone) - B.A.
- Cinema and Digital Arts - B.A.
- Dance - B.A.
- Dance Pedagogy - B.A.
- Film and Video Production - B.A.
- Theatre Arts - B.A.
Criminal Justice
- Criminal Justice - B.S.
- Criminal Justice (Accelerated) - B.S.
- Criminal Justice (Capstone) - B.S.
- Intelligence and National Security - B.S.
- Law Enforcement - B.S.
- Professional Studies (Accelerated) - B.S.
General Studies
- General Studies (Capstone) - B.S.
- Funeral Service (Capstone) - B.A.
- Human Resources Management - B.S.
- Professional Studies (Accelerated) - A.S.
[edit] Athletics
Point Park University currently sponsors nine National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics teams, called the Pioneers. The school is a member of the American Mideast Conference, the largest conference in the NAIA.
Sports sponsored by Point Park:
- Men - Basketball, Baseball, Cross Country, Soccer
- Women - Basketball, Baseball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball
[edit] Maps and aerial photos of school's location
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- Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
- Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Dennis Miller - comedian
- Melina Kanakaredes - TV star
- Michael Holley - sports journalist
- Bob Pompeani - news reporter for KDKA
- John Stuper - MLB Pitcher
