Union College (Kentucky)

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Union College is a four-year private college located in Barbourville, Kentucky. The college, founded in 1874, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Union College is a small liberal arts college in the Appalachian Mountains. Barbourville was a largely-impoverished town of 450 and three brick buildings at the time of the college's establishment.

Union's 1000 undergraduate graduate students represent 23 states and several countries. The College's academic program fulfills the goal of a liberal arts education. It also provides students with the skills necessary to complete in a diverse job market. The undergraduate liberal arts curriculum makes available a body of knowledge drawn from the applied sciences, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. Majors and areas of study in pre-professional, technical and skills-oriented fields enhance postgraduate employment opportunities.

Union's 100-acre campus is in southeastern Kentucky. The newest of the College's 20 buildings include a state-of-the-art technology center, academic center and student apartment building. Approximately 44 percent of the students live in three residence halls and the apartments on campus. Dozens of student organizations offer many opportunities for participation in a wide range of extracurricular activities. Union's full-time campus minister organizes various religious activities, including weekly voluntary chapel services.

Intercollegiate sports include basketball, golf, mountain biking, tennis and soccer for men and women; softball and volleyball for women; and baseball and football for men. The College has a coed varsity cheerleading squad, as well as junior varsity teams for men's and women's basketball and men's soccer. Intramural sports vary according to student request. The College recently completed new tennis courts, a softball field, and refurbished the baseball, soccer and football fields.

[edit] Location

Just 17 miles east of Interstate 75, the town of Barbourville sits in the Appalachian Mountains surrounded by four state parks filled with falls, lakes and streams. The campus itself includes more than 100 gently rolling acres covered in overhanging elms, mountain laurel and Georgian architecture. The famous Wilderness Road spans the east side of the campus, and Cumberland Gap National Historic Park is just 30 miles away.

[edit] Majors and degrees

Union College offers the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science degrees. Majors are available in accounting, biology, business administration, chemistry, Christian ministry, criminal justice, education (elementary, middles grades, physical, secondary and special), English/communication, health, history, history/political science, mathematics, psychology, recreation management, religious studies, sociology and sports management.

In addition to majors in the pure disciplines of biology, chemistry, mathematics and their education counterparts, Union has programs in place for professional and health science careers. These programs combine the advantages of the small private college and those of the large university and include dentistry, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, law and veterinary medicine.

[edit] Academic program

Upon admission to the College, students begin a process whereby career counselors and academic advisors help them articulate career goals, select academic courses of study appropriate to those goals, and achieve suitable placement upon completion of their studies.

The College operates on a two-semester calendar, with a May interim session and two summer terms. Students must successfully complete a total of 128 semester hours to earn a bachelor's degree, including 43 hours of required core classes from the four major divisions of study.

[edit] Off-campus arrangements

Union College is a cooperating member of the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS). The College joins with a number of other Kentucky colleges and universities to provide summer study opportunities in ten different locations. The programs in France, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Austria, Italy and Ecuador are open to all Union College students, who may earn credits toward their degree at Union.

[edit] Academic facilities

The Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library contains more than 160,000 books, periodicals, government documents , media materials and on-line reference and full-text databases. Library functions, including the public catalog access (OPAC), circulation and reserves are fully automated through the Sirsi Unicorn Collection Management System. The 20-seat computer lab is the center of campus access to the Internet, including email and the World Wide Web. The College also has a variety of computers accessible to students. The library and Centennial computer labs each contain 20 workstations and a laser printer connected to the campus network. A third lab, the Hensley lab, provides the same type of access with 17 computers. The labs are open a variety of hours each week to support the academic programs and provide student access to the campus network.

The Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides free services to Union College students in several academic support areas. Individual tutoring is available in a variety of subject areas in both upper and lower division classes. Students may work with a tutor to review for classes, refresh study skills, or prepare for professional examinations such as GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, GRE and NTE. Each semester, courses that have been deemed academically challenging are selected for Supplemental Instruction (SI). Students attend group study sessions, which are held a minimum of three times a week with a student leader who has already excelled in that particular course. The SI leaders model good study strategies and encourage collaborative learning.

[edit] Costs

Tuition for the 2005-2006 academic year is $15,290; room and board is $4,600. Books and supplies are estimated at $900 per year.

[edit] Financial aid

In 2003-04, 98% of Union's undergraduate students received financial assistance. Students wishing to be considered for aid must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 15. The Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Federal Work-Study programs of the federal government are sources of aid. Non-need-based academic scholarships range from $1,000 to full tuition. Kentucky residents may apply for the Kentucky State Tuition Grant.

[edit] Faculty

The faculty-to-student ratio 1:13.

[edit] Union College Community Government

Union College students have a vital role and a distinct responsibility in the governance of the College. Union College students, through UCCG, have the responsibility to be self-governing, to seek representation from all sectors of the campus community, to create fair representative government, to project the best aspirations of the community, to provide support to the administration for effective enrichment of college life and to assure the welfare of the student community by identifying important community projects, needs, problems and solutions. Governance shared with the students, faculty, staff and administration is how Union College succeeds in its commitment to being student-centered.

[edit] External links

• Official website