Franklin Pierce University

This article is about the university in Rindge, NH. For the law school in Concord, NH, formerly known as the Franklin Pierce Law Center, see University of New Hampshire School of Law.
Franklin Pierce University
Motto Ex umbris ad lucem
Motto in English
 Come Out Into the Light
Established 1962
Type Private
President Andrew H. Card
Provost Kim Mooney
Dean Kerry McKeever
Academic staff
 150 full- and part-time faculty
Students 2,267
Undergraduates 1,399
Postgraduates 868
Location Rindge, New Hampshire, United States
Campus Rural
Newspaper Pierce Arrow
Colors Crimson and Grey
         
Athletics Division II, NE-10
Mascot Raven
Website www.franklinpierce.edu

Coordinates: 42°46′56″N 72°03′26″W / 42.7823°N 72.0573°W Franklin Pierce University is a small, private, non-profit, regionally accredited university in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, in the United States. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation. The institutional mission focuses on preparing citizens and leaders of conscience for a new century who make significant contributions to their professions and communities, whether their aspirations are global or local. The school gained university status in 2007 and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). In 2009, Franklin Pierce University was ranked on "Forbes List of America's Top Colleges" in the United States.[1] The university has an enrollment of 1,399 students[2] and overlooks Pearly Pond, just a few miles from Mount Monadnock. The campus covers approximately 1,200 acres (4.9 km2). Andrew H. Card is the current president of Franklin Pierce University, replacing outgoing president Dr. James F. Birge in January 2015. The university also operates The College of Graduate and Professional Studies with campuses in Manchester, Portsmouth, and Lebanon, New Hampshire, as well as Goodyear, Arizona.

The College at Rindge houses three institutes:

History

Franklin Pierce - 14th President of the United States

The school was founded by Frank S. DiPietro in 1962 as Franklin Pierce College, named after Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States and the only U.S. president from New Hampshire. The school opened its doors to its first set of students in the winter of 1963. They began with just under 100 students and 6 full-time professors. The campus consisted of four older buildings known as the Manor, Rindge Hall, The White House, and Ravencroft Theatre. Many classes were conducted in downtown Rindge. Also buildings there were used as residence halls. In the winter of 1964, Crestview Hall was built, and by then the college had 150 students. That building was used for both dorms and classrooms, enabling the college to move completely to its current location. In the winter of 1965, Monadnock Hall was built for more classrooms on the ground floor and residence halls on the above floor. Later that year Edgewood was built. At that time the cafeteria moved from the Manor to the ground floor with residence halls on the two upper floors. Also that year, the DiGregorio building was built and housed a post office along with student lounges, a snack bar, and book store.

Still, despite the additional buildings, the campus remained overcrowded as the student body grew to over 500 students. The school still lacked a library, so in 1967 a resource center was built. The library moved from one of the classroom/dorm buildings to the resource center along with academic and administrative offices. Eventually, the television production center, radio station, computer labs, and the cable TV system headend would be located there. In the fall of 1968, Granite Hall opened as a dormitory with health services in the basement. In 1969, New Hampshire Hall opened for more dormitories with the fire department in the basement. Mt. Washington Hall was built as an extension to New Hampshire in 1969 and also housed the music department. In 1971, Marcucella Hall was built for classrooms, enabling most of the classrooms in Crestview and Monadnock to relocate there. The Manor remained a student center as Rindge Hall became financial aid and registration offices. Franklin Pierce held its first graduation in 1967 and became accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in 1968.

While the college was overcrowded by 1970 despite building projects, the student body began to shrink by 1972. The college stayed roughly the same size throughout the 1970s. In 1975, Frank DiPietro stepped down as college president, and former New Hampshire governor Walter Peterson took over. Under Peterson, the college returned to financial solvency. In the late 1970s to the early 1980s, the focus was maintenance of the student body rather than growth. By the early '80s, the college was ready for expansion. In 1985, the Emily Flint Campus Center began to be built and opened in the fall of 1986. This would house the Post Office, Student Activities, conference centers, Cafeteria, Snack Bar, and Book Store, among other uses. The former cafeteria became residence halls on one side and a workout room on the other side. The Degregorio building became the registrar's and bursar's office. A cable television system was installed in 1986. In 1987, trailers were added to house students.

In 1988, apartment-type residences called Mountainview were added. Throughout the '70s and '80s, satellite campuses were added around New Hampshire mostly for adult education. In the mid-1990s, Northwoods were built for more apartments replacing the 1987 trailers. In 1995, Walter Peterson stepped down and George Haggerty took over as college president. That year North Fields Activity Center, an athletic building also known as "the Bubble", was built, and Crestview was converted into classroom buildings. In 1998, Cheshire Hall was built with suite-style housing and apartment-style housing. In 2002, the library building added a new floor, and this became the Fitzwater Communication Center.

In 2007, the college gained university status and was renamed Franklin Pierce University. In 2008, the White House was torn down, and a new classroom building called Petrocelli Hall was built in its place. In 2009, James F. Birge became the university's fourth president. In 2012, the university welcomed the largest group of new feshmen in its 50-year history, 550 freshmen, 56 transfer students, and 10 part-time students for a total of 616 new students. Also in 2012, the university completed $1 million in renovations to its dining hall as well as completed construction of the Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Health Science and Athletic Training Center to support its new Health Sciences program.

Andrew Card began his tenure as the fifth president of Franklin Pierce University in December 2014.[3]

Accreditation

Franklin Pierce University has been accredited by the NEASC New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1968. This regional accreditation includes both the New Hampshire and Arizona campuses.

Accumulated Accreditation and Approvals: [4]

Doctoral: Doctor of Physical Therapy Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).[5]

Nursing: Fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).

Business Programs: Accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).[6]

Master's: Master of Physician Assistant Studies: The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation - Continued to the Master of Physician Assistant Studies Program sponsored by Franklin Pierce University.

Ranking

Academics

Undergraduate programs

Students enrolled at The College at Rindge (the traditional undergraduate campus) have access to the following areas of study.

  • Anthropology
  • Accounting-Finance
  • Advertising (minor)
  • Biology
  • Business PLUS
  • Chemistry (minor)
  • Computer Information Technology (minor)
  • Creative Writing (minor)
  • Criminal Justice
  • Economics (minor)
  • Education
  • English
  • Environmental Science
  • Environmental Studies
  • Forensic Psychology (minor)
  • Health Sciences
  • History
  • Intelligence and Security Studies (minor)
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Mass Communications
  • Music
  • Philosophy (minor)
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Public History (minor)
  • Public Relations (minor)
  • Social Media and Emergent Technologies
  • Sociology (minor)
  • Sports & Recreation Management

Rindge's town sign with the college name

Graduate programs

Franklin Pierce also offers students master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and a few graduate certificate programs. These programs take place at The College of Graduate and Professional Studies campuses in Manchester, Portsmouth, Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Goodyear, Arizona.

Master's and doctoral degrees

Campuses

Main campus

The College at Rindge (Franklin Pierce's traditional undergraduate campus) is located on 40 University Drive in Rindge, New Hampshire and is situated on 1,200 acres (490 ha) of land. Academic buildings on the Rindge campus include Petrocelli Hall, Marcucella Hall, the Fitzwater Center, the Pappas Center, Monadnock Hall, and Cheney Hall. Residence halls on the Rindge campus include Granite Hall, New Hampshire Hall, Mount Washington Hall, Cheshire Hall, Edgewood Hall, Monadnock Hall, Mountain View and Northwoods Apartments, Lakeview Townhouses, and Sawmill Apartments. With Pearly Pond at the base of campus and Mount Monadnock towering over campus, Franklin Pierce is a picturesque location to live and attend classes.

The view across campus from the Mountain View apartments
Mountain View apartments with Mount Monadnock towering in the rear

Branch campuses

Besides the main campus in Rindge, New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce also operates The College of Graduate and Professional Studies, which has four campuses: three in New Hampshire (Manchester, Portsmouth, and Lebanon) and another campus in Goodyear, Arizona.

Athletics

Franklin Pierce offers 23 varsity sports which compete at the NCAA Division II level and compete in the Northeast-10 Conference (with the exception of the Golf, Rowing, and Sprint Football programs). Those programs include Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Women's Bowling, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Ice Hockey, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Sprint Football, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track and Field, and Women's Volleyball. The university offers men's and women's rugby at the club level, with both programs recognized by the NERFU.

The Rindge campus boasts over a 40% participation rate across 40 intramural sports and also features an active Adventure Recreation program.

The women's soccer team has won five national championships (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999), and the men's soccer team won the 2007 national championship. The women's basketball team has won three regional championships

Athletic facilities on the Rindge campus include Melissa Bisaccia Memorial Softball Complex, Pappas Field, Sodexho Field, and the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Activity Center at Northfields.

Fight song

Go Ravens! Go Ravens!

Ravens, Ravens.
Fight for the crimson and grey.
Ravens, Ravens.
Were sure to win today.
Ravens, Ravens.
Let the call resound.
Ravens, Ravens.
From Monadnock to Pearly Pond.
And when we win this game.
We'll celebrate with this song.
And when we win this game.
We'll sing it to Franklin Pierce all night long.

Go Ravens! Go Ravens! Go Ravens!

Student life

Franklin Pierce University has almost 30 clubs and organizations on campus ranging from academics (Criminal Justice, Education, History, etc.) to community service to performing arts.

Pierce Media Group

The Pierce Media Group, or PMG, is the campus media group that consists of the Pierce Arrow, PMG News Center, FPTV 25, The Talon 105.3FM WFPC-LP, Ravens Sports Network, Four Corners Marketing, and thefitzonline.com.

All the media outlets are a part of the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication. Any student can easily participate in any facet of the PMG, even if they have no experience in marketing, advertising, production, or journalism.

Franklin Pierce University holds an FCC broadcast license for WFPC-LP, The Talon 105.3FM. The station features hourly news briefs that consist of information from the Associated Press news feed and student sources.

The Pierce Arrow, the student newspaper, is the oldest student group on campus.

FPTV 25 offers both student-created content and studio-produced feature-length films. Two feature films are shown monthly. FPTV 25 has a mix of entertainment and sports programming as well as a weekly thirty-minute newscast.

Ravens Sports Network broadcasts games of the varsity athletic programs live, giving complete coverage of the Division II competition.

Student Government Association

The executive board consists of the President of the SGA, the Vice President of Class Senate, the Vice President of Club Senate, the Secretary of the Class Senate, the Secretary of the Club Senate, the SGA Treasurer, and the SGA Parliamentarian.

Franklin Pierce Fire Company

The campus is home to one of the only fully student-run fire companies in the world. Franklin Pierce Fire operates as an engine company under the town of Rindge Fire Department and responds to all fire related emergencies on campus. The company is headed by six student fire officers, as well as a varying number of student members serving as firefighters.

Presidents

Noted alumni

Temple Grandin

References

  1. ↑ "http://www.franklinpierce.edu/about/news/Forbes_top_ugrad_list.htm". Franklin Pierce University. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Facts & Figures". Franklin Pierce University. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Introducing Andrew Card". Franklin Pierce University. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.franklinpierce.edu/about/accreditation.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.capteonline.org
  6. ↑ http://www.iacbe.org/memberpdf/FranklinPierceUniversity.pdf
  7. ↑ Forbes http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/#p_1_s_arank_NH. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Franklin Pierce University | Best College | US News". Colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
  9. ↑ Anthony, Mike (September 20, 2011). "Coach Justin Blood Aims to Build Respect for UHart Baseball". Courant.com (The Hartford Courant). Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.

External links