| California State University, Long Beach |
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|---|---|
| Motto | Vox Veritas Vita (Latin) |
| Motto in English | "Voice, Truth, Life" |
| Established | 1949 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | US $31.1 million (2009)[1] |
| President | F. King Alexander |
| Provost | Don Para |
| Academic staff | 1,996 (1,098 full time)[2] |
| Students | 33,417 (Fall 2010)[3] |
| Undergraduates | 27,437[3] |
| Postgraduates | 5,980[3] |
| Location | Long Beach, California, United States |
| Campus | Urban, 323 acres (131 ha) |
| Former names |
|
| Colors | Gold and Black |
| Athletics | 18 varsity teams, NCAA Division I |
| Nickname | 49ers, Dirtbags, The Beach |
| Mascot | Prospector Pete |
| Affiliations | California State University system; Big West Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, AASCU, ASAIHL |
| Website | http://www.csulb.edu/ |
California State University, Long Beach (also known as Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach State, CSULB, LBSU, or The Beach) is the second largest campus of the California State University (CSU) system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment.[4] The University is located at the southeastern coastal tip of Los Angeles County, less than one mile from the border with Orange County.[5]
CSULB has been recognized repeatedly as one of "America's Best Value Colleges" by the Princeton Review. More than 30 factors are considered to rate the colleges in four categories: academics, tuition GPA (the sticker price minus average amount students receive in gift aid scholarships and grants), financial aid (how well colleges meet students' financial need) and student borrowing. The university attained its highest ranking in the 2007 edition: the No. 3 best value public college in the nation.[6] Every year that CSULB has been included in the Review's "Best Value Colleges" rankings, it was the only university in the CSU system to receive such recognition.[7][8]
Long Beach State has also been ranked as one of the top five public Master's Degree-granting institutions in the West by U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges Guide" in every year's edition from 2005 to 2011.[9][10][11]
In addition, Long Beach State is one of the West Coast's top universities in student body racial diversity, being named the 5th most diverse university in the West by U.S. News & World Report.[12][13] It is also home to the largest publicly funded art school west of the Mississippi. The university currently operates with one of the lowest student fees in the country at US $6,240 per year for full time students having California residence.[14]
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The College was established in 1949 by California Governor Earl Warren, to serve the rapidly expanding post-World War II population of Orange and Southern Los Angeles counties. Since then, CSULB has grown to become one of the state's largest and most well respected universities.
The institution was first known as Los Angeles-Orange County State College. It offered 25 courses, taught by 13 faculty members, in two apartment buildings at 5381 Anaheim Road in Long Beach. In June 1950, the citizens of Long Beach voted overwhelmingly to purchase 320 acres (130 ha) as a permanent campus for the college, then known as Long Beach State College. The purchase price was nearly $1,000,000. Student enrollment grew rapidly in this new, permanent location.
By 1960, the student body exceeded 10,000 students, and by 1966, 20,000. In 1964, LBSC changed its name to California State College at Long Beach to conform to the state system and enhance its prestige (it was renamed California State College, Long Beach in 1968).
In 1965, CSCLB hosted the first International Sculpture Symposium to be held in the United States and the first such symposium to be held at a college or university. Six sculptors from abroad and two from the United States created many of the monumental sculptures present on the campus. The event received national media attention from newspapers around the country, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Art in America and a six-page color spread in Fortune Magazine.
The school acquired university status in 1972, along with 12 other state college campuses. The promotion was decided by the Board of Trustees of the California State University system, according to total enrollment, size of graduate programs, complexity and diversity of majors and number of doctorates held by faculty at each college. CSCLB thus became CSULB.
Also in 1972, the campus became the home of the largest library facility in the then 19-campus CSU system: a modern six-story building with a seating capacity of nearly 4,000 students.
In 1995, President Robert Maxson initiated the privately-funded President's Scholars Program, providing selected qualified California high school valedictorians and National Merit finalists and semi-finalists with a full four-year scholarship package, including tuition, a book stipend, and housing. As of May 2010[update], over 1000 students have accepted the scholarship.[15] For applicants for Fall 2010, National Achievement Program Semifinalists/Finalists and National Hispanic Recognition scholars were also considered.[16]
As of Fall 2008[update], CSULB had 37,890 students in attendance, making it the most populous campus of the CSU system.
The campus spans 323 acres (131 ha) across 84 buildings, and is located 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It has its own U.S. Postal Zip code: 90840. CSULB is located at 1250 Bellflower Boulevard. It is bounded by East 7th Street to the south, East Atherton Street to the north, Bellflower Boulevard to the west, and Palo Verde Avenue to the east.
The architecture of the campus is mostly of the International style (designed primarily by noted architect Edward Killingsworth) and is very minimalist, placing emphasis instead on the landscaping that surrounds it. This naturalistic, park-like layout has earned the campus numerous design awards, as well as other awards from gardening societies. Recent construction maintains the characteristic glass-and-brick style. The integration of landscaping and architecture is apparent at the school's theater complex, where a dense grove of ficus trees is planted in such a way that it forms a continuation of the pillar-supported canopy at the theater's entrance. The University's registration offices are located in the open courtyard of Brotman Hall, which is "roofed" by a similar jungle-like canopy. The Psychology building is also notable for its soaring, airy courtyard planted with tall Eucalyptus trees.
The University Student Union (USU) building is located at the center of campus. The three-story glass building occupies roughly 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2), housing numerous offices, and offering more casual attractions, including a study lounge, a ballroom, a food court, a bowling alley, an arcade, and a movie theater.
49er basketball and volleyball games are currently played in the iconic, eighteen-story Walter Pyramid (formerly known as the Long Beach Pyramid) located on north campus. The Pyramid is a state-of-the-art sporting complex that can accommodate over 5,000 fans, including temporary seating and standing room. Two sections of interior stands are fitted with large hydraulic lifts which can lift the seating elements forty-five degrees into the air, creating room for five volleyball courts or three basketball courts.[17] The Pyramid is home to the Southern California Summer Pro League, a noted showcase for current and prospective NBA basketball players.
The University Art Museum (UAM) ranks in the top 10% of the nation's over 6,000 museums. Its permanent collection contains primarily abstract expressionist paintings, works on paper, and an outdoor sculpture garden that began in 1966. The UAM was the first accredited museum in the CSU system.[18] In addition, the museum's Gordon F. Hampton collection is housed at the Downtown Los Angeles law offices of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.[19]
The campus is also home to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, a 1,074-seat theater named after CSULB alumni Richard and Karen Carpenter.
The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is an artistic retreat of solitude and beauty. Among its many picturesque attractions, The Garden features a large pond populated with koi.
One of the newest areas that has become integral to student life in the Parkside dormitories is The Circle. The Circle was formed as part of the central landscaping of the Parkside Commons outdoor common area when a group of students moved the 4 'S' shaped stone benches residing there into a circle formation in the Fall of 2008. Since then, The Circle (also known as the Late Night Circle, due to its high concentration of nighttime denizens) has become the defining marker of the Parkside experience, and it continues to provide a fun hangout for the residents of Parkside Commons.
The campus is believed to be the location of an ancient Tongva village and burial site known as Puvunga, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. CSULB has challenged this designation, claiming they were not consulted when the application was filed. From 1992 to 1995, when the university attempted to build a strip mall and student housing on the last undeveloped portion of the campus, the Tongva people filed a lawsuit and initiated a protest, which involved physically occupying the land day and night to stave off bulldozers.[20]
In the Spring of 2007, the student body voted to approve the construction of a student recreation and wellness center on campus. Slated for completion by Fall 2010, the Rec and Wellness Center was planned to be an extensive all-purpose athletic center covering about 125,000 square feet (11,600 m2) on North Campus. Plans included facilities for fitness programs and aerobics classes, courts for volleyball, basketball and badminton, rock climbing walls, an indoor track, a student lounge, and much more. This program is funded and managed by CSULB's Associated Students, Incorporated. This project has been completed and had its first opening the week before the fall semester of 2010.[21]
The University, in its push to support climate sustainability, installed solar panels on the Brotman Hall building and the Facilities Management canopy parking in 2007.[22] The University has been taking steps in addressing the challenge of sustainability, with the support of its student government, student body, and organizations, such as the Environmental Science & Policy Club.
The Environmental Science & Policy Club (ES&P Club)[23] has brought support to environmental awareness and sustainability through club activities, such as coastal clean-ups, hikes, plant-restoration project, tabling, conferences, guest speakers, & Kaleidoscope. In 2006, the ES&P Club supported the installation of waterless urinals in the University's men's restrooms.[24] The ES&P Club hosts an annual Earth Week celebration each April, including documentary screenings, discussions, and speaker series.[25][26]
The University "has a comprehensive energy management program incorporating real-time metering and energy-saving technologies such as the EnergySaver, which provides a more sophisticated alternative to turning off the lights by automatically varying the voltage to the ballasted fixtures and reducing the power consumed, while maintaining appropriate lighting levels."[27]
The campus is currently serviced by:
In September 2008, President F. King Alexander announced the school's new "U-PASS" program in conjunction with Long Beach Transit. Under the new partnership, students with a valid CSULB I.D. card ride any Long Beach Transit bus for free during school months.[28]
CSULB comprises eight academic colleges:
Together, the colleges offer a total of 81 baccalaureate degrees, 67 master's degrees, 16 education-related credential programs, and three doctoral degrees (two joint and one independent).[29]
The University's educational goals reflect its large population of students and faculty. Among the numerous classes and majors, Liberal Arts and Sciences represent the General Education (GE) core, while a variety of classes make up GE electives; all GE classes focus on the development of writing and critical thinking skills.
CSU Long Beach's College of the Arts has more art and design majors than any other public university in America. CSU Long Beach also produces the most master of science in nursing (MSN) graduates in the 23-campus CSU system.[30]
U.S. News and World Report has repeatedly ranked CSULB engineering program as one of the Top 50 undergraduate programs in the nation (amongst master's level universities), and even commended the University's programs for first-year students as "stellar examples of academic programs that lead to student success."[31][32] In 2008, CSULB's engineering program received its highest ever ranking at number 38 Long Beach's programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Geography, History, Nursing, and Art are also well respected in the industry.
In addition, according to the National Science Foundation, CSULB is the top campus in the nation amongst Master's level-granting universities for producing students who go on to earn doctoral degrees in the Sciences.[30]
In March 2008, the music department was renamed the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music in honor of an endowment gift of $16.4 million from his estate. Cole, a Long Beach real estate investor, long-time music lover, and amateur pianist, died in 2004. The gift benefits the students of the conservatory in the form of scholarships and other awards.[33]
Fall Freshman Statistics[34][35][36][36][37]
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants | 49,775 | 47,709 | 45,786 | 48,561 | 45,220 |
| Accepted | 15,122 | 16,428 | 14,543 | 20,391 | 21,245 |
| % Admitted | 30.4 | 34.4 | 31.8 | 42.0 | 47.0 |
For the Fall 2010 semester, CSULB received 79,715 applications for admission, by far the highest total in school history and continuing the increasing trend of recent years. The total also was the highest in the CSU system, as well as one of the highest among all universities in the nation. The campus also had the highest number of first time freshman and transfer applicants in the CSU.[38] Despite the growing number of applications, the lack of state funding due to California's continuing budget crisis meant that CSULB could only offer admission to 25,142 (31.5%) of the applicants; that again marked the lowest percentage in school history. In turn 8,920 (35.5%) of those offered admission did in fact enroll, meaning the total application yield rate for the Fall 2010 semester was 11.6%.[35]
The average high school GPA of incoming freshmen for Fall 2010 was 3.60, and the average SAT score for Fall 2010 was 1031/1600 (the writing section is not considered).[39][40] In recent years, the university has been forced to limit admit rates to about one-third of all applicants. CSULB had the lowest admit rate in the CSU system in Fall 2009, and the third lowest in Fall 2010 (behind San Diego State's 30% and Cal Poly's 32.5%). CSULB's average SAT score was the 7th highest in the CSU.
For the Fall 2011 semester, CSU Long Beach retained its status as one of the most applied to schools in the CSU system with a record of nearly 50,000 freshman applicants. In fact, the 49,775 freshman applications received was the 6th highest total in the nation, and the highest among regional universities.[41] And even though the number of transfer applicants dropped to 20,039, it was still only the second time in school history that the number topped 20,000. With a Fall 2011 acceptance rate of nearly 30.4%, CSU Long Beach once again had the lowest admit rate in the CSU system.
| Undergraduate | |
|---|---|
| African American | 4.2% |
| Asian American | 21.0% |
| White American | 26.3% |
| Hispanic American | 29.7% |
| Native American | 0.6% |
| International | 9.1% |
| Ethnicity unreported/unknown | 9.2% |
CSULB hosts over 350 events annually, welcoming more than 150,000 patrons to its performance halls, conference centers, and exhibit venues.
National sororities on campus are governed by the Panhellenic Association and are members of the National Panhellenic Conference. Eleven general fraternities and two fraternity colonies are members of and governed by the Interfraternity Council.
The university has two student publications: the Daily 49er[42] and the Union Weekly[43] (formerly The Long Beach Union Newspaper). The first issue of the Daily 49er, the campus newspaper, was published on November 11, 1949. It publishes Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters, and once weekly during the summer sessions. It was one of the first college newspapers in the country to have an Internet edition, starting in August 1994.
The Union Weekly, which is partially student-funded, and affiliated with ASI, publishes every Monday during fall and spring semesters. It began on April 22, 1977, when it was formed in response to the Daily 49er. The Union Weekly focuses on being an alternative voice on campus and features a satirical section called "The Grunion" (not to be confused with the Long Beach paper the Grunion Gazette). At one time in the early 1980s, the Union was a daily newspaper, giving heavy competition to the Daily 49er.
The California State University Long Beach Foundation owns the KKJZ non-commercial broadcast license of 88.1 FM, a jazz and blues radio station. Global Jazz, Inc., an affiliate of Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc., programs and manages the radio station. KJAZZ Official Website
Kbeach Global Radio, also known as KBeach.org, is a free format, student run internet radio station at CSU, Long Beach. The radio station is operated during the fall and spring semesters. The station has been around in various forms since the mid-1970s, then known as KSUL (which went defunct after 1981). KBeach is a department of Associated Students, Incorporated at CSULB and is both funded and regulated by them.[44]
Each March since 1970, the University has hosted the largest pow-wow in Southern California. This free two-day event, which attracts more than 6,000 persons each year, features Native American dancing, arts, craft and native foods.
Alumni have written and directed screenplays that have attracted Oscar-caliber talent. David Twohy (BA[45]) co-wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award winning film The Fugitive.[46] Linda Woolverton (BA 1974[45]) wrote the screenplays for the Academy Award winning,[47][48] Disney animated films Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, and the live-action 2010 film Alice in Wonderland directed by Oscar-nominated director Tim Burton and starring Oscar-nominated actor Johnny Depp . J.F. Lawton (BA[49]) wrote the screenplay to Pretty Woman, starring the Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts. Mark Steven Johnson (BA 1989[45]) has co-written and directed the films Daredevil, starring Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck, and Ghost Rider, starring Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage.
Former students have won at least five Academy Awards. Steven Spielberg (Class of 1969, BFA 2002[50]) won two Oscars for Best Directing for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan and has directed a number of other successful movies such as Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park. Former industrial design major John Dykstra, who has been nominated five times for Academy Awards,[51] won two Oscars for his special effects work on the George Lucas film Star Wars and the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 2. Deborah L. Scott (BA[52]) won[53] an Oscar for costume design for the James Cameron film Titanic.
Emmy Award-nominated director Chris Carter (BA 1979) created the series The X Files, which garnered several awards during its nine seasons on television. Former student Steve Martin, whose philosophy classes at the university inspired him to become a professional comedian,[55] is an Emmy Award winner and a Disney Legend.
Alumni and former students have also participated in the world of sports. Jason Giambi, Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki, Harold Reynolds, Jered Weaver and Steve Trachsel have all been selected to play in the Major League Baseball All Stars games. Golfer Mark O'Meara (BA 1980) won the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.[56] Craig Hodges is a two-time NBA Champion, Terrell Davis is a two-time Super Bowl champion and Billy Parks played five seasons in the NFL. Diver Pat McCormick[56] won four gold medals in two consecutive Olympics (Helsinki and Melbourne), and Misty May-Treanor (BS 2002) won two gold medals in women's beach volleyball in two other consecutive Olympics (Athens and Beijing ).
Former students Karen Carpenter and Richard Carpenter (Class of 1972, Honorary Doctorate 2000[54]) of The Carpenters are the nameakes of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, a 1,065-seat performance hall on the campus of the university[57] that also houses an exhibit on the Carpenters.[58] Richard Carpenter's college instructor and choir director Frank Pooler inspired him in choral arrangement,[59] and both Karen and Richard participated in Pooler's choir. Pooler also introduced Richard to fellow undergraduate and future song-writing collaborator John Bettis.[59] Another undergraduate, Wesley Jacobs,[59] would join the Carpenters as a musical instrumentalist. The Carpenters sold over 100 million records,[54] won three Grammy Awards[54] out of eighteen nominations, and created numerous gold and platinum albums. One of Pooler's personal poems formed the basis for Merry Christmas Darling,[60] which went to #1 on the Billboard charts for three years.[61] Bettis, who later would win an Emmy Award himself,[62] also successfully collaborated on songs with other artists, such as Human Nature performed by Michael Jackson,[62] Crazy for You performed by Madonna,[62] and One Moment in Time performed by Whitney Houston.[62]
In 2011, CSULB graduate Stephanie Bryson became the university's first Rhodes Scholarship recipient.[63]
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