| California State University, San Marcos | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1989 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | US$13.0 million (as of June 30, 2009)[1] |
| President | Karen S. Haynes[2] |
| Provost | Emily F. Cutrer [3] |
| Academic staff | 246[4] |
| Students | 10,276 (Fall 2011)[5] |
| Location | San Marcos, California, United States |
| Campus | Suburban, 340 acres (140 ha) |
| Colors | Pantone Blue, Black, White |
| Athletics | NAIA Region II |
| Nickname | Cougars |
| Mascot | Tukwut [6] |
| Affiliations | AASCU California State University |
| Website | CSU San Marcos |
California State University San Marcos (also CSUSM or Cal State San Marcos) is a public, coeducational university and one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system.[7] located in San Marcos, California, a suburban town in north San Diego County. It was founded in 1989 as the 20th CSU campus and was the first after nearly 30 years. The first class was admitted in 1990.
CSU San Marcos offers 44 undergraduate programs,[8] 10 graduate programs and a Doctorate in Education[9] in three colleges and one nursing school.[10]
Contents |
Efforts by community and political leaders to attract a state university to North County date back to 1968. In 1978, state legislator William A. Craven (1921–1999) won state funding for a North County satellite campus of San Diego State University. In 1989, Gov. George Deukmejian signed another Craven bill which established a CSU campus in San Marcos.
The state purchased land in San Marcos, including the former Prohoroff Poultry Farms chicken ranch. The hillside site lies approximately 8 miles (13 km) due east of the Pacific Ocean and 35 miles (56 km) due north of downtown San Diego. Today the campus comprises 340 acres (140 ha).
Bill Stacy was appointed president in June 1989. During the 1989-1990 academic year, Stacy hired 12 "Founding Faculty," who played an important role in the university's early years and today are memorialized in Founders Plaza.
CSUSM admitted upper division students and held classes from September 1990 through August 1992 in rented facilities in a San Marcos business park, alongside the North County campus of San Diego State University. Groundbreaking for the permanent campus occurred on February 23, 1990. Classes began at the current campus in August 1992. Craven Hall was the third instructional building opened in December 1992, and the largest building up to that time at 155,000 square feet (14,400 m2).
Since 1992, the campus has been growing steadily. Major additions over the subsequent decade include the Foundation Classroom Buildings (December 1996), University Hall (1998), a second Science building (August 2002) and the Arts building (August 2002). The largest building to date is Kellogg Library, opened January 2004 with nearly 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2). The most recent addition is Markstein Hall (January 2006), home of the College of Business Administration.
For the 2011-2012 academic year, tuition and fees rose to $6,596, a 31% increase attributed to the state's budget crisis; it is the largest such percentage increase in the United States.[11]
Originally, the university admitted only upper division students; enrollment in 1990-1991 was 448. The first freshman students entered in 1995, when enrollment totaled 3,642.
The university's enrollment (as of Fall 2009) was approximately 9,700 students; about two-thirds of the students were from San Diego County. The campus master plan calls for an eventual enrollment of 25,000.
The university has three colleges: Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, and Education as well as a School of Nursing in addition to a robust Extended Learning program.
In less than two decades, the campus has distinguished itself. CSU San Marcos’ programs in teacher education are renowned for their school and community collaboration. The College of Business Administration (COBA) receives national attention for the “Senior Experience” program, which takes teams of students off campus for projects with companies and organizations. Programs in the sciences and in visual and performing arts are regionally acclaimed for academic rigor, innovation, and career preparation.[12]
The university is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) for both Bachelors and Masters degree programs, receiving initial accreditation in 1993. The university is undergoing its seven year review, having just completed the Capacity and Preparatory Review visit in March 2007, and is expected to finalize the process in spring 2009 following the Educational Effectiveness Review. The school reduced the number of units needed to graduate. Some have criticized this policy change stating that students will not receive a liberal and broad education.
| Undergraduate | |
|---|---|
| African American | 2.8% |
| Asian American | 10.8% |
| White American | 49.5% |
| Hispanic American | 21.5% |
| Native American | 0.9% |
| international | 1.8% |
| Ethnicity unreported/unknown | 12.7% |
A large majority of the student population comes from the San Diego and Riverside County areas. Approximately 600 students live in on-campus residence halls. Co-curricular programs and activities are sponsored by Associated Students, Incorporated, Student Life and Leadership, the Clarke Field House/University Student Union, and the University Village Apartments. There are more than 100 student organizations. The school attracts many students from the surrounding community colleges including Palomar College and MiraCosta College, as well as from others located in North San Diego County, Southern Orange County, and Southern Riverside County.
The school paper is called "The Pride."
Cal State San Marcos regularly competes in RecycleMania, a college and university recycling program and competition.[13] In 2010, for the sixth straight year, Cal State San Marcos won first place in the nationwide RecycleMania contest.[14]
According to a local newspaper[15] and the 2007-2008 Clery Report on Crime Awareness and Campus Security,[16] CSU San Marcos is a safe campus with a relatively low crime rate. The University’s police department employs a variety of crime prevention and safety education programs to keep the campus safe.[16] In 2008, seven gang members were arrested at an off-campus, privately-operated apartment complex located next to the University. Originally, there were concerns that this gang was selling drugs to students. However, as a result of the efforts of the local sheriff’s department and the apartment’s new security team, the gang appears to have vacated the apartment complex.[17]
The original mascot of the campus was established as the "Tukwut," the name for the California mountain lion in the language of the Luiseño Native American tribe. However, a 1999 student referendum selected the more generic "Cougars" as the name for all CSUSM sports teams.
The school's athletics department has ten teams (women's and men's in each of the following sports): golf, cross country, track & field, soccer, as well as women's softball, and men's baseball. The official colors of the Cougars are bright/royal blue and white. In the early years, burgundy was used sparingly as an accent. Cougar athletic teams compete as independents in Region II of the NAIA. The school recently hired their first coaches in baseball and soccer; in baseball, Dennis Pugh, who coached at a local high school for decades, and soccer coach Ron Pulvers. In 2007, the softball program's second year, the school hired former UCLA All-American Kelly Warren who was previously the Associate Head Coach at nearby San Diego State University. Steve Scott (aka "The Miler") is the Cougars' Cross Country and Track & Field coach. In Fall 2009, the Women's Cross Country team won their first NAIA National Championship. They went on to defend their title the next year in Fall of 2010. The university also has a surf team that competes in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA). The surf team won the NSSA collegiate national championship in 2009. For the academic year of 2011, women's volleyball, and men's and women's basketball, have all been added to the campus.[18]
The university has had four presidents:
The university opened in 1990 with the 24 faculty. Today it employs 200 tenure-track and tenured faculty out of a total of 980 employees.
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||