Thursday, April 11, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Princeton University - Athletics
Princeton University
Athletics
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Princeton supports organized athletics at three levels: varsity intercollegiate, club intercollegiate, and intramural. It also provides "a variety of physical education and recreational programs" for members of the Princeton community. According to the athletics program's mission statement, Princeton aims for its students who participate in athletics to be "'student athletes' in the fullest sense of the phrase."[133] Most undergraduates participate in athletics at some level.[134]
Princeton's colors are orange and black. The school's athletes are known as Tigers, and the mascot is a tiger. The Princeton administration considered naming the mascot in 2007, but the effort was dropped in the face of alumni opposition.[135]
[edit]Varsity
Main article: Princeton Tigers
Princeton is an NCAA Division I school. Its athletic conference is the Ivy League. Princeton hosts 38 men's and women's varsity sports.[134] The largest varsity sport is rowing, with almost 150 athletes.[39]
Princeton's football team has a long and storied history. Princeton played against Rutgers University in the first intercollegiate football game in the U.S. on Nov 6, 1869. By a score of 6–4, Rutgers won the game, which was played by rules similar to modern rugby.[136] Today Princeton is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision of NCAA Division I.[137] As of the end of the 2010 season, Princeton had won 26 national football championships, more than any other school.[138]
The men's basketball program is noted for its success under Pete Carril, the head coach from 1967 to 1996. During this time, Princeton won 13 Ivy League titles and made 11 NCAA tournament appearances.[139] Carril introduced the Princeton offense, an offensive strategy that has since been adopted by a number of college and professional basketball teams.[140] Carril's final victory at Princeton came when the Tigers beat UCLA, the defending national champion, in the opening round of the 1996 NCAA tournament,[140] in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament.[141] Recently Princeton tied the record for the fewest points in a Division I game since the institution of the three-point line in 1986–87, when the Tigers scored 21 points in a loss against Monmouth University on Dec 14, 2005.[142]
The men's water polo team is currently a dominant force in the Collegiate Water Polo Association, having reached the Final Four in two of the last three years. Similarly, the men's lacrosse program enjoyed a period of dominance 1992–2001, during which time it won six national championships.[143]
[edit]Club and intramural
In addition to varsity sports, Princeton hosts about 35 club sports teams.[134] Princeton's rugby team is organized as a club sport.[144]Each year, nearly 300 teams participate in intramural sports at Princeton.[145] Intramurals are open to members of Princeton's faculty, staff, and students, though a team representing a residential college or eating club must consist only of members of that college or club. Several leagues with differing levels of competitiveness are available.[146]
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Princeton University - Academics
Princeton University
Academics
Undergraduates fulfill general education requirements, choose among a wide variety of elective courses, and pursue departmental concentrations and interdisciplinary certificate programs. Required independent work is a hallmark of undergraduate education at Princeton. Students graduate with either the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) or the Bachelor of Science in engineering (B.S.E.).
The graduate school offers advanced degrees spanning the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Doctoral education is available in all disciplines.[74] It emphasizes original and independent scholarship whereas master's degree programs in architecture, engineering, finance, and public affairs and public policy prepare candidates for careers in public life and professional practice.
[edit]Undergraduate
Undergraduate courses in the humanities are traditionally either seminars or lectures held 2 or 3 times a week with an additional discussion seminar that is called a "precept." To graduate, all A.B. candidates must complete a senior thesis and, in most departments, one or two extensive pieces of independent research that are known as "junior papers." Juniors in some departments, including architecture and the creative arts, complete independent projects that differ from written research papers. A.B. candidates must also fulfill a three or four semester foreign language requirement and distribution requirements with a total of 31 classes. B.S.E. candidates follow a parallel track with an emphasis on a rigorous science and math curriculum, a computer science requirement, and at least two semesters of independent research including an optional senior thesis. All B.S.E. students must complete at least 36 classes. A.B. candidates typically have more freedom in course selection than B.S.E. candidates because of the fewer number of required classes. Nonetheless, in the spirit of a liberal arts education, both enjoy a comparatively high degree of latitude in creating a self-structured curriculum.
Undergraduates agree to adhere to an academic integrity policy called the Honor Code, established in 1893. Under the Honor Code, faculty do not proctor examinations; instead, the students proctor one another and must report any suspected violation to an Honor Committee made up of undergraduates. The Committee investigates reported violations and holds a hearing if it is warranted. An acquittal at such a hearing results in the destruction of all records of the hearing; a conviction results in the student's suspension or expulsion.[75] The signed pledge required by the Honor Code is so integral to students' academic experience that the Princeton Triangle Club performs a song about it each fall.[76][77] Out-of-class exercises fall under the jurisdiction of the Faculty-Student Committee on Discipline.[78]Undergraduates are expected to sign a pledge on their written work affirming that they have not plagiarized the work.[79]
[edit]Admissions and financial aid
Princeton's undergraduate program is highly selective, admitting 7.86% of undergraduate applicants in the 2011–12 admissions cycle (for the Class of 2016).[80] In September 2006, the university announced that all applicants for the Class of 2012 would be considered in a single pool. In this way, the early decision program was effectively ended.[81] In February 2011, following decisions by the University of Virginiaand Harvard University to reinstate their early admissions programs, Princeton announced it would institute an early action program, starting with applicants for the Class of 2016.[82] In 2011, the Business Journal rated Princeton as the most selective college in the Eastern United States in terms of admission selectivity.[83]
In 2001, expanding on earlier reforms, Princeton became the first university to eliminate loans for all students who qualify for financial aid.[84] All demonstrated need is met with combinations of grants and campus jobs. In addition, all admissions are need-blind.[85] U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review both cite Princeton as the university that has the fewest of graduates with debt even though 60% of incoming students are on some type of financial aid.[86] Kiplinger magazine ranks Princeton as the best value among private universities, noting that the average graduating debt is US$4,957, "about one fifth the average debt of students who borrow at all private schools."[87]
[edit]Grade deflation policy
In 2004, Nancy Weiss Malkiel, the Dean of the College, implemented a grade deflation policy to curb the number of A-range grades undergraduates received.[88] Malkiel's argument was that an A was beginning to lose its meaning as a larger percentage of the student body received them.[88] While the number of A's has indeed decreased under the policy, many argue that this is hurting Princeton students when they apply to jobs or graduate school.[88] Malkiel has said that she sent pamphlets to inform institutions about the policy so that they consider Princeton students equally,[88] but students argue that Princeton graduates can apply to other institutions that know nothing about it. They argue further that as other schools purposefully inflate their grades,[89] Princeton students' GPAs will look low by comparison. Further, studies have shown that employers prefer high grades even when they are inflated.[90] The policy remained in place even after Malkiel stepped down at the end of the 2010–2011 school year. The policy deflates grades only relative to their previous levels; indeed, as of 2009, or five years after the policy was instituted, the average graduating GPA saw a marginal decrease, from 3.46 to 3.39.[91]
[edit]Graduate
LibrariesPrinceton offers postgraduate research degrees in many fields in the social sciences, engineering, natural sciences, and humanities. Although Princeton offers professional graduate degrees in engineering, architecture, and finance, it has no medical school, law school, or business school like other research universities.[92] The university's most famous professional school is the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, founded in 1930 as the School of Public and International Affairs and renamed in 1948 after university president (and US President) Woodrow Wilson.
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The university's library system houses over eleven million holdings[93] including six million bound volumes.[94] The main university library, Firestone Library, which houses almost four million volumes, is one of the largest university libraries in the world[95] and among the largest "open stack" libraries in existence. Its collections include the Blickling homilies. In addition to Firestone library, many individual disciplines have their own libraries, including architecture, art history, East Asian studies, engineering, geology, international affairs and public policy, Near Eastern studies, and psychology. Seniors in some departments can register for enclosed carrels in the main library for workspace and the private storage of books and research materials. In February 2007, Princeton became the 12th major library system to join Google's ambitious project to scan the world's great literary works and make them searchable over the Web.[96]
[edit]Rankings
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| ARWU[97] | 6 |
| Forbes[98] | 1 |
| U.S. News & World Report[99] | 1 |
| Washington Monthly[100] | 20 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[101] | 7 |
| QS[102] | 9 |
| Times[103] | 6 |
From 2001 to 2012, Princeton University was ranked either first or second among national universities by U.S. News & World Report (USNWR), holding the No. 1 spot for 10 of those 12 years.[104] After being at second place in 2008-9, Princeton returned to the number one spot in 2010, tying with Harvard University.[105] It has been ranked sixth among world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University,[106] In the 2012 Times Higher Education World University Rankings[107]Princeton was ranked 6th in the world. In the 2012 QS World University Rankings[108] it was ranked 9th overall in the world, making it 5th among US universities. Its three highest subject rankings were: 7th in Arts & Humanities, 8th in Natural Sciences, and 12th in Social Sciences.[109]In THE's 2012-2013 World University Ranking of Universities, Princeton placed 2nd above MIT and behind Caltech in Engineering and Technology.[110] Princeton was ranked 7th among 300 Best World Universities in 2011 compiled by Human Resources & Labor Review (HRLR) on Measurements of World's Top 300 Universities Graduates' Performance .[111]
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In the "America's Best Colleges" rankings by Forbes in 2012, Princeton University was ranked first among all national colleges and universities.[112] The Forbesranking also takes into consideration national awards won by students and faculty, as well as number of alumni in the 2008 "Who's Who in America" register.[113]
Princeton Graduate School programs are also highly ranked among universities in the United States.[114] In the 2009 U.S. News & World Report "Graduate School Rankings", all fourteen of Princeton's doctoral programs evaluated were ranked in their respective top 20, 7 of them in the top 5, and 4 of them in the top spot (Mathematics, Economics, History, Political Science).[115]
In Princeton Review's rankings of "softer" aspects of students' college experience, Princeton University was ranked first in "Students Happy with Financial Aid" and third in "Happiest Students", behind Clemson and Brown Universities.[116]
The university's individual academic departments have been highly ranked in their respective fields. The Department of Psychology has been ranked fifth in the nation[117] and its individual graduate programs have received high national rankings as well. The behavioral neuroscience program[118] has been ranked sixth and the social psychology program[119] has been ranked seventh. The Department of History is currently ranked first in the world.[120]
Princeton University - Campus
Princeton University
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall is the oldest building on campus. Begun in 1754 and completed in 1756,[16] it was the first seat of the New Jersey Legislature in 1776,[45] was involved in the battle of Princeton in 1777,[16] and was the seat of the Congress of the Confederation (and thus capitol of the United States) from June 30, 1783 to November 4, 1783.[46] It now houses the office of the university president and other administrative offices, and remains the symbolic center of the campus.[47] The front entrance is flanked by two bronze tigers, a gift of the Princeton Class of 1879.[16] Commencement is held on the front lawn of Nassau Hall in good weather.[48] In 1966, Nassau Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[49]
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[edit]Residential colleges
Princeton has six undergraduate residential colleges, each housing approximately 500 freshmen, sophomores, some juniors and seniors, and a handful of junior and senior resident advisers. Each college consists of a set of dormitories, a dining hall, a variety of other amenities—such as study spaces, libraries, performance spaces, and darkrooms—and a collection of administrators and associated faculty. Two colleges, Wilson College and Forbes College (formerly Princeton Inn College), date to the 1970s; three others, Rockefeller, Mathey, and Butler Colleges, were created in 1983 following the Committee on Undergraduate Residential Life (CURL) report, which suggested the institution of residential colleges as a solution to an allegedly fragmented campus social life. The construction of Whitman College, the university's sixth residential college, was completed in 2007.
Rockefeller and Mathey are located in the northwest corner of the campus; Princeton brochures often feature their Collegiate Gothic architecture. Like most of Princeton's Gothic buildings, they predate the residential college system and were fashioned into colleges from individual dormitories.
Wilson and Butler, located south of the center of the campus, were built in the 1960s. Wilson served as an early experiment in the establishment of the residential college system. Butler, like Rockefeller and Mathey, consisted of a collection of ordinary dorms (called the "New New Quad") before the addition of a dining hall made it a residential college. Widely disliked for their edgy modernist design, the dormitories on the Butler Quad were demolished in 2007. Butler is now reopened as a four year residential college, housing both under- and upperclassmen.
Forbes is located on the site of the historic Princeton Inn, a gracious hotel overlooking the Princeton golf course. The Princeton Inn, originally constructed in 1924, played regular host to important symposia and gatherings of renowned scholars from both the university and the nearby Institute for Advanced Study for many years.[50]Forbes currently houses over 400 undergraduates and a number of resident graduate students in its residential halls. Butler and most of Forbes are in a different municipality, Princeton Township, from the rest of the main campus, which is in Princeton Borough.
In 2003, Princeton broke ground for a sixth college named Whitman College after its principal sponsor, Meg Whitman, who graduated from Princeton in 1977. The new dormitories were constructed in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style and were designed by architect Demetri Porphyrios. Construction finished in 2007, and Whitman College was inaugurated as Princeton's sixth residential college that same year.
The precursor of the present college system in America was originally proposed by university president Woodrow Wilson in the early 20th century. For over 800 years, however, the collegiate system had already existed in Britain at Oxford University and Cambridge University. Wilson's model was much closer to Yale's present system, which features four-year colleges. Lacking the support of the trustees, the plan languished until 1968. That year, Wilson College was established to cap a series of alternatives to the eating clubs. Fierce debates raged before the present residential college system emerged. The plan was first attempted at Yale, but the administration was initially uninterested; an exasperated alum, Edward Harkness, finally paid to have the college system implemented at Harvard in the 1920s, leading to the oft-quoted aphorism that the college system is a Princeton idea that was executed at Harvard with funding from Yale.
Princeton has one graduate residential college, known simply as the Graduate College, located beyond Forbes College at the outskirts of campus. The far-flung location of the G.C. was the spoil of a squabble between Woodrow Wilson and then-Graduate School Dean Andrew Fleming West. Wilson preferred a central location for the College; West wanted the graduate students as far as possible from the campus. Ultimately, West prevailed.[50] The Graduate College is composed of a large Collegiate Gothic section crowned by Cleveland Tower, a local landmark that also houses a world-class carillon. The attached New Graduate College departs in its design from Collegiate Gothic; it is reminiscent of the former dormitories of Butler College, the newest of the five pre-Whitman residential colleges.
[edit]McCarter Theatre
Main article: McCarter Theatre
The Tony-award-winning[51] McCarter Theatre was built by the Princeton Triangle Club, a student performance group, using club profits and a gift from Princeton University alumnus Thomas McCarter. Today, the Triangle Club performs its annual freshmen revue and spring musicals in McCarter. McCarter is also recognized as one of the leading regional theaters in the United States.
[edit]Art Museum
Main article: Princeton University Art Museum
The Princeton University Art Museum was established in 1882 to give students direct, intimate, and sustained access to original works of art that complement and enrich instruction and research at the university. This continues to be a primary function, along with serving as a community resource and a destination for national and international visitors.
Numbering over 72,000 objects, the collections range from ancient to contemporary art and concentrate geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. There is a collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, including ceramics, marbles, bronzes, and Roman mosaics from faculty excavations in Antioch. Medieval Europe is represented by sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass. The collection of Western European paintings includes examples from the early Renaissance through the 19th century, with masterpieces by Monet, Cézanne, and Van Gogh, and features a growing collection of 20th-century and contemporary art, including iconic paintings such as Andy Warhol's Blue Marilyn.
One of the best features of the museums is its collection of Chinese art, with important holdings in bronzes, tomb figurines, painting, and calligraphy. Its collection ofpre-Columbian art includes examples of Mayan art, and is commonly considered to be the most important collection of Pre-Columbian art outside of Latin America. The museum has collections of old master prints and drawings and a comprehensive collection of over 27,000 original photographs. African art and Northwest Coast Indian art are also represented. The Museum also oversees the outdoor Putnam Collection of Sculpture.
[edit]University Chapel
Main article: Princeton University Chapel
The Princeton University Chapel is located on the north side of campus, near Nassau Street. It was built between 1924 and 1928, at a cost of US$2.3 million,[52]approximately US$31.1 million in 2012 dollars. Ralph Adams Cram, the University's supervising architect, designed the Chapel, which he viewed as the crown jewel for the Collegiate Gothic motif he had championed for the campus.[53] At the time of its construction, it was the second largest university chapel in the world, after King's College Chapel, Cambridge.[54] It underwent a two-year, US$10 million restoration campaign between 2000 and 2002.[55]
Measured on the exterior, the Chapel is 277 feet (84 m) long, 76 feet (23 m) wide at its transepts, and 121 feet (37 m) high.[56] The exterior is Pennsylvania sandstone, with Indiana limestone used for the trim.[57] The interior is mostly limestone and Aquia Creek sandstone. The design evokes an English church of the Middle Ages.[58]The extensive iconography, in stained glass, stonework, and wood carvings, has the common theme of connecting religion and scholarship.[53]
The Chapel seats almost 2,000.[59] It hosts weekly ecumenical Christian services,[60] daily Roman Catholic mass,[61] and several annual special events.
[edit]Murray Dodge Hall
Murray Dodge Hall houses the Office of Religious Life (ORL), the Murray Dodge Theater, the Murray Dodge Cafe, the Muslim Prayer Room, and the Interfaith Prayer Room.[62] The ORL houses the office of the Dean of Religious Life, Alison Boden,[63] and a number of university chaplains, including the country's first Hindu chaplain, Vineet Chander; and one of the country's first Muslim chaplains, Sohaib Sultan.[64]
[edit]Apartment facilities
Princeton university has several apartment facilities for graduate students and their dependents. They are Butler Apartments, Lawrence Apartments, and Stanworth Apartments.[65]
[edit]Sustainability
Published in 2008, Princeton's Sustainability Plan highlights three priority areas for the University's Office of Sustainability: reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; conservation of resources; and research, education, and civic engagement.[66] Princeton has committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 without the purchase of offsets.[67] The University published its first Sustainability Progress Report in November 2009.[68] The University has adopted a green purchasing policy and recycling program that focuses on paper products, construction materials, lightbulbs, furniture, and electronics.[69] Its dining halls have set a goal to purchase 20% sustainable food products.[70] The student organization "Greening Princeton" seeks to encourage the University administration to adopt environmentally friendly policies on campus.[71]
Princeton University - History
Princeton University
History
New Light Presbyterians founded the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, in 1746 in order to train ministers.[13] The college was the educational and religious capital of Scots-Irish America. In 1756, the college moved to Princeton, New Jersey. Its home in Princeton was Nassau Hall, named for the royal house ofWilliam III of England.
Following the untimely deaths of Princeton's first five presidents, John Witherspoon became president in 1768 and remained in that office until his death in 1794. During his presidency, Witherspoon shifted the college's focus from training ministers to preparing a new generation for leadership in the new American nation. To this end, he tightened academic standards and solicited investment in the college.[14] Witherspoon's presidency constituted a long period of stability for the college, interrupted by the American Revolution and particularly the Battle of Princeton, during which British soldiers briefly occupied Nassau Hall; American forces, led by George Washington, fired cannon on the building to rout them from it.
Before the construction of Stanhope Hall in 1803, Nassau Hall was the college's sole building. The cornerstone of the building was laid on September 17, 1754.[15]During the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall, making Princeton the country's capital for four months. Over the centuries and through two redesigns following major fires, (1802 and 1855) Nassau Hall's role shifted from an all-purpose building, comprising office, dormitory, library, and classroom space; to classroom space exclusively; to its present role as the administrative center of the University. The class of 1879 donated twin lion sculptures that flanked the entrance until 1911, when that same class replaced them with tigers.[16] Nassau Hall's iconic bell rang after the halls construction however the fire of 1802 melted the bell. The bell was then recast and melted again in the fire of 1855.
James McCosh took office as the college's president in 1868 and lifted the institution out of a low period that had been brought about by the American Civil War. During his two decades of service, he overhauled the curriculum, oversaw an expansion of inquiry into the sciences, and supervised the addition of a number of buildings in theHigh Victorian Gothic style to the campus.[17] McCosh Hall is named in his honor.[16]
In 1879, the first thesis for a Ph.D. was submitted by James F. Williamson, Class of 1877.
In 1896, the college officially changed its name from the College of New Jersey to Princeton University to honor the town in which it resides. During this year, the college also underwent large expansion and officially became a university.
In 1900, the Graduate School was established.[18]
In 1902, Woodrow Wilson, graduate of the Class of 1879, is elected the 13th president of the university.[19] Under Wilson, Princeton introduced the preceptorial system in 1905, a then-unique concept that augmented the standard lecture method of teaching with a more personal form in which small groups of students, or precepts, could interact with a single instructor, or preceptor, in their field of interest.
In 1906, Lake Carnegie was created by Andrew Carnegie.[18] A collection of Historical photographs of the building of the lake is housed at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library on Princeton's campus.[20]
On October 2, 1913, the Princeton University Graduate College was dedicated.[18]
In 1919 the School of Architecture was established.[18]
In 1933, Albert Einstein became a lifetime member of the Institute for Advanced Study with an office on the Princeton campus.
Princeton University
Princeton university
Princeton University is a private, Ivy League, research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.
It is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. Princeton provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.[5] Princeton does not have schools of medicine, law, divinity, or business, but it does offer professional degrees through the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Architecture.
Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, as the College of New Jersey, the university moved to Newark in 1747, then to Princeton in 1756 and was renamed Princeton University in 1896.[6] The present-day College of New Jersey in nearby Ewing Township, New Jersey, is an unrelated institution. Princeton was the fourthchartered institution of higher education in the American colonies.[7] [8] Princeton had close ties to the Presbyterian Church, but has never been affiliated with any denomination[9] and today imposes no religious requirements on its students.[10]
The university has ties with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Westminster Choir College of Rider University.[11] Princeton has been associated with 35 Nobel Laureates, 17 National Medal of Science winners, and three National Humanities Medal winners. On a per-student basis, Princeton has the largest university endowment in the world.[1
Monday, February 25, 2013
Columbia University
Columbia University
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Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is an American privateIvy League research university in New York City. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Collegesfounded before the American Revolution.[5] Today the university operates seven Columbia Global Centers overseas in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, Mumbai,Santiago and Nairobi.[6]
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The university was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain. After the American Revolutionary War, King's College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. The University now operates under a 1787 charter that places the institution under a private board of trustees, and in 1896 it was further renamed Columbia University.[7] That same year, the university's campus was moved from Madison Avenue to its location in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, where it occupies more than six city blocks, or 32 acres (0.13 km2).[8] The university encompasses twenty schools and is affiliated with numerous institutions, including Teachers College, Barnard College, and the Union Theological Seminary, with joint undergraduate programs available through the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as well as the Juilliard School.[9]
Columbia annually administers the Pulitzer Prize and has been affiliated with more Nobel Prize laureates than any other academic institution in the world.[10][11]The university is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities, and was the first school in the United States to grant the M.D. degree.[7][12] Notable alumni of the university include nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court;[13] 20 living billionaires;[14] 26 Academy Award winners;[15]and 29 heads of state, including three United States Presidents.[16]
Columbia University (1896–present)
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In 1896, the trustees officially authorized the use of yet another new name, Columbia University, and today the institution is officially known as "Columbia University in the City of New York." At the same time, university president Seth Low moved the campus again, from 49th Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of Morningside Heights.[31] Under the leadership of Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler, who served for over four decades, Columbia rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting the "multiversity" model that later universities would adopt.[7]
Research into the atom by faculty members John R. Dunning, I. I. Rabi, Enrico Fermi and Polykarp Kusch placed Columbia's Physics Department in the international spotlight in the 1940s after the first nuclear pile was built to start what became the Manhattan Project.[32] In 1947, to meet the needs of GIsreturning from World War II, University Extension was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the Columbia University School of General Studies.[33] During the 1960s Columbia experienced large-scale student activism, which reached a climax in the spring of 1968 when hundreds of students occupied various buildings on campus. The incident forced the resignation of Columbia's then President, Grayson Kirk and the establishment of the University Senate.[34][35] Though several schools within the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983, after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College, an all female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools.[36] Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas authorized by both Columbia University and Barnard College.[37]
Campus
Morningside Heights
The majority of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in Morningside Heights on Seth Low's late-19th century vision of a university campus where all disciplines could be taught in one location. The campus was designed along Beaux-Arts principles by architects McKim, Mead, and White. Columbia's main campus occupies more than six city blocks, or 32 acres (13 ha), in Morningside Heights, New York City, a neighborhood that contains a number of academic institutions. The university owns over 7,800 apartments in Morningside Heights, housing faculty, graduate students, and staff. Almost two dozen undergraduate dormitories (purpose-built or converted) are located on campus or in Morningside Heights.[8] Columbia University has an extensive underground tunnel system more than a century old, with the oldest portions predating the present campus. Some of these remain accessible to the public, while others have been cordoned off.[38][39]
The Nicholas Murray Butler Library, commonly known simply as Butler Library, is the largest single library in the Columbia University Library System, and is one of the largest buildings on the campus. Proposed as "South Hall" by the university's former President Nicholas Murray Butler as expansion plans for Low Memorial Library stalled, the new library was funded by Edward Harkness, benefactor of Yale's residential college system, and designed by his favorite architect, James Gamble Rogers. It was completed in 1934 and renamed for Butler in 1946. The library's design is neo-classical in style. Its facade features an arcade of columns in the Ionic order above which are inscribed the names of great writers, philosophers, and thinkers, most of whom are read by students engaged in the Core Curriculum of Columbia College.[41] As of 2009, Columbia's library system includes over 10.4 million volumes, making it the eighth largest library system and fifth largest collegiate library system in the United States.[42][43]
Several buildings on the Morningside Heights campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Low Memorial Library, a National Historic Landmarkand the centerpiece of the campus, is listed for its architectural significance. Philosophy Hall is listed as the site of the invention of FM radio. Also listed isPupin Hall, another National Historic Landmark, which houses the physics and astronomy departments. Here the first experiments on the fission of uranium were conducted by Enrico Fermi. The uranium atom was split there ten days after the world's first atom-splitting in Copenhagen, Denmark.[44][45][46]
A statue by sculptor Daniel Chester French called Alma Mater is centered on the front steps of Low Memorial Library. McKim, Mead & White invited French to build the sculpture in order to harmonize with the larger composition of the court and library in the center of the campus. Draped in an academic gown, the female figure of Alma Mater wears a crown of laurels and sits on a throne. The scroll-like arms of the throne end in lamps, representing sapientia and doctrina. A book signifying knowledge, balances on her lap, and an owl, the attribute of wisdom, is hidden in the folds of her gown. Her right hand holds a scepter composed of four sprays of wheat, terminating with a crown of King's College which refers to Columbia's origin as a Royalist institution in 1754. A local actress named Mary Lawton was said to have posed for parts of the sculpture. The statue was dedicated on September 23, 1903, as a gift of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Goelet, and was originally covered in golden leaf. During the Columbia University protests of 1968 a bomb damaged the sculpture, but it has since been repaired.[47] The small hidden owl on the sculpture is also the subject of many Columbia legends, the main legend being that the first student in the freshmen class to find the hidden owl on the statue will be valedictorian, and that any subsequent Columbia male who finds it will marry a Barnard student, given that Barnard is a women's college.[48][49]
"The Steps", alternatively known as "Low Steps" or the "Urban Beach", are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. The term refers to the long series of granite steps leading from the lower part of campus (South Field) to its upper terrace. With a design inspired by the City Beautiful movement, the steps of Low Library provides Columbia University and Barnard College students, faculty, and staff with a comfortable and spacious outdoor platform and space for informal gatherings, events, and ceremonies. McKim's classical facade epitomizes late 19th century new-classical designs, with its columns and portico marking the entrance to an important structure.[50] On warm days when the weather is favorable, the Low Steps often become a popular gathering place for students to sunbathe, eat lunch, or play frisbee.[51]
Other campuses
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In April 2007, the university purchased more than two-thirds of a 17 acres (6.9 ha) site for a new campus in Manhattanville, an industrial neighborhood to the north of the Morningside Heights campus. Stretching from 125th Street to 133rd Street, the new campus will house buildings for Columbia's schools of business and the arts and allow the construction of the Jerome L. Greene Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior, where research will occur on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.[52] The $7 billion expansion plan includes demolishing all buildings, except three that are historically significant, eliminating the existing light industry and storage warehouses, and relocating tenants in 132 apartments. Replacing these buildings will be 6,800,000 square feet (630,000 m2) of space for the university. Community activist groups in West Harlem fought the expansion for reasons ranging from property protection and fair exchange for land, to residents' rights.[53][54] Subsequent public hearings drew neighborhood opposition. Most recently, as of December 2008, the State of New York's Empire State Development Corporation approved use of eminent domain, which, through declaration of Manhattanville's "blighted" status, gives governmental bodies the right to appropriate private property for public use.[55] On May 20, 2009, the New York State Public Authorities Control Board approved the Manhanttanville expansion plan.[56]
New York-Presbyterian Hospital is affiliated with the medical schools of both Columbia University and Cornell University. According to US News and World Reports "Americas Best Hospitals 2009", it is ranked sixth overall and third among university hospitals. Columbia Medical School has a strategic partnership with New York State Psychiatric Institute, and is affiliated with 19 other hospitals in the U.S. and four hospitals overseas. Health-related schools are located at the Columbia University Medical Center, a 20 acres (8.1 ha) campus located in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, fifty blocks uptown. Other teaching hospitals affiliated with Columbia through the New York-Presbyterian network include the Payne Whitney Clinic in Manhattan, and the Payne Whitney Westchester, a psychiatric institute located in White Plains, New York.[57] On the northern tip of Manhattan island (in the neighborhood of Inwood), Columbia owns 26-acre (11 ha) Baker Field, which includes the Lawrence A. Wien Stadium as well as facilities for field sports, outdoor track, and tennis. There is a third campus on the west bank of the Hudson River, the 157-acre (64 ha) Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. A fourth is the 60-acre (24 ha) Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York. A satellite site in Paris, France holds classes at Reid Hall.[7]
Sustainability
In 2006, the university established the Office of Environmental Stewardship to initiate, coordinate and implement programs to reduce the university's environmental footprint. The U.S. Green Building Council selected the university's Manhattanville plan for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Design pilot program. The plan commits to incorporating smart growth, new urbanism and "green" building design principles.[58] Columbia is one of the 2030 Challenge Partners, a group of nine universities in the city of New York that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse emissions by 30% within the next ten years. Columbia University adopts LEED standards for all new construction and major renovations. The University requires a minimum of Silver, but through its design and review process seeks to achieve higher levels. This is especially challenging for lab and research buildings with their intensive energy use; however, the university also uses lab design guidelines that seek to maximize energy efficiency while protecting the safety of researchers.[59]
Every Thursday and Sunday of the month, Columbia hosts a greenmarket where local farmers can sell their produce to residents of the city. In addition, from April to November Hodgson's farm, a local New York gardening center, joins the market bringing a large selection of plants and blooming flowers. The market is one of the many operated at different points throughout the city by the non-profit group GrowNYC.[60] Dining services at Columbia spends 36 percent of its food budget on local products, in addition to serving sustainably harvested seafood and fair trade coffee on campus.[61] Columbia has been rated "B+" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives.[62]
Academics
Undergraduate admissions and financial aid
Columbia University's acceptance rate for the class of 2016 (Columbia College and Engineering) is 7.4%,[63] making Columbia the fourth most selective college in the United States by admission rate behind Harvard, Stanford and Yale[64][65] The undergraduate yield rate for the class of 2015 is 60%.[66] According to the 2012 college selectivity ranking by U.S. News & World Report, which factors admission and yield rates among other criteria, Columbia is tied with Yale, Caltech and MIT as the most selective colleges in the country.[67] Columbia is a racially diverse school, with approximately 52% of all students identifying themselves as persons of color. Additionally, 50.3% of all undergraduates in the Class of 2013 receive financial aid. The average financial aid package for these students exceeds $30,000, with an average grant size of over $20,000.[68]
On April 11, 2007, Columbia University announced a $400m to $600m donation from media billionaire alumnus John Kluge to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid. The donation is among the largest single gifts to higher education. Its exact value will depend on the eventual value of Kluge's estate at the time of his death; however, the generous donation has helped change financial aid policy at Columbia.[69] Annual gifts, fund-raising, and an increase in spending from the university's endowment have allowed Columbia to extend generous financial aid packages to qualifying students. As of 2008, undergraduates from families with incomes as high as $60,000 a year will have the projected cost of attending the university, including room, board, and academic fees, subsidized by the university. That same year, the university ended loans for incoming and current students who were on financial aid, replacing loans that were traditionally part of aid packages with grants from the university. However, this does not apply to international students, transfer students, visiting students, or students in the School of General Studies.[70] In the fall of 2010, admission to Columbia's undergraduate colleges Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, formerly known as SEAS, began accepting the Common Application. The policy change made Columbia one of the last major academic institutions and the last Ivy League university to switch to the common application.[71]
Scholarships are also given to undergraduate students by the admissions committee. Designations include John W. Kluge Scholars, John Jay Scholars, C. Prescott Davis Scholars, Global Scholars, Egleston Scholars, and Science Research Fellows. Named scholars are selected by the admission committee from first-year applicants. According to Columbia, the first four designated scholars "distinguish themselves for their remarkable academic and personal achievements, dynamism, intellectual curiosity, the originality and independence of their thinking, and the diversity that stems from their different cultures and their varied educational experiences."[72]
Organization
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Columbia University is an independent, privately supported, nonsectarian institution of higher education. Its official corporate name is "The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York." The university's first Charter was granted in 1754 by King George II; however, its modern Charter was first enacted in 1787 and last amended in 1810 by the New York State Legislature. The university is governed by 24 Trustees, customarily including the President, who serves ex officio. The Trustees themselves are responsible for choosing their successors. Six of the 24 are nominated from a pool of candidates recommended by the Columbia Alumni Association. Another six are nominated by the Board in consultation with the Executive Committee of the University Senate. The remaining 12, including the President, are nominated by the Trustees themselves through their internal processes. The term of office for Trustees is six years. Generally, they serve for no more than two consecutive terms. The Trustees appoint the President and other senior administrative officers of the university, and review and confirm faculty appointments as required. They determine the university's financial and investment policies, authorize the budget, supervise the endowment, direct the management of the university's real estate and other assets, and otherwise oversee the administration and management of the university.[74][75]
The University Senate was established by the Trustees after a university-wide referendum in 1969. It succeeded to the powers of the University Council, which was created in 1890 as a body of faculty, deans, and other administrators to regulate inter-Faculty affairs and consider issues of university-wide concern. The University Senate is a unicameral body consisting of 107 members drawn from all constituencies of the university. These include the president of the university, the Provost, the Deans of Columbia College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, all who serve ex officio, and five additional representatives, appointed by the President, from the university's administration. The President serves as the Senate's presiding officer. The Senate is charged with reviewing the educational policies, physical development, budget, and external relations of the university. It oversees the welfare and academic freedom of the faculty and the welfare of students.[76]
The President of Columbia University, who is selected by the Trustees in consultation with the Executive Committee of the University Senate and who serves at the Trustees' pleasure, is the chief executive officer of the university. Assisting the President in administering the University are the Provost, the Senior Executive Vice President, the Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, several other vice presidents, the General Counsel, the Secretary of the University, and the deans of the Faculties, all of whom are appointed by the Trustees on the nomination of the President and serve at their pleasure.[74] Lee C. Bollinger became the 19th President of Columbia University on June 1, 2002. A prominent advocate of affirmative action, he played a leading role in the twin Supreme Court cases—Grutter v Bollinger and Gratz v Bollinger—that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. A leading First Amendment scholar, he is widely published on freedom of speech and press, and currently[when?] serves on the faculty of Columbia Law School.[77]
Columbia has three official undergraduate colleges: Columbia College (CC), the liberal arts college offering the Bachelor of Arts degree, Columbia Engineering, formerly known as SEAS, is the engineering and applied science school offering the Bachelor of Science degree, and The School of General Studies (GS), in which nontraditional students obtain a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science through either full-time or part-time study.[78] The university is affiliated with Teachers College, Barnard College, the Union Theological Seminary, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, all located nearby in Morningside Heights. Joint undergraduate programs are available through the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as well as through the Juilliard School.[9] Two affiliated institutions – Barnard College and Teachers College – are also Faculties of the university.[79]
Research and rankings
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| ARWU[80] | 7 |
| Forbes[81] | 8 |
| U.S. News & World Report[82] | 4 |
| Washington Monthly[83] | 36 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[84] | 8 |
| QS[85] | 11 |
| Times[86] | 14 |
Columbia was the first North American site where the uranium atom was split. It was the birthplace of FM radio and the laser.[87] The MPEG-2 algorithm of transmitting high quality audio and video over limited bandwidth was developed by Dimitris Anastassiou, a Columbia professor of electrical engineering. BiologistMartin Chalfie was the first to introduce the use of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in labelling cells in intact organisms.[88] Other inventions and products related to Columbia include Sequential Lateral Solidification (SLS) technology for making LCDs, System Management Arts (SMARTS), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) (which is used for audio, video, chat, instant messaging and whiteboarding), pharmacopeia, Macromodel (software for computational chemistry), a new and better recipe for glass concrete, Blue LEDs, and Beamprop (used in photonics).[89] Columbia scientists have been credited with about 175 new inventions in the health sciences each year.[89] More than 30 pharmaceutical products based on discoveries and inventions made at Columbia are on the market today. These includeRemicade (for arthritis), Reopro (for blood clot complications), Xalatan (for glaucoma), Benefix, Latanoprost (a glaucoma treatment), shoulder prosthesis,homocysteine (testing for cardiovascular disease), and Zolinza (for cancer therapy).[90] Columbia Technology Ventures (formerly Science and Technology Ventures) currently[when?] manages some 600 patents and more than 250 active license agreements.[90] Patent-related deals earned Columbia more than $230 million in the 2006 fiscal year, according to the university.[91]
In the Center for Measuring University Performance, administered by Arizona State University, Columbia has been ranked first (tied with MIT, Stanford Universityand Penn) in the United States. The ranking takes into account total research, federal research, endowment assets, annual giving, National Academy members, faculty awards, doctorates granted, postdoctoral appointees, and undergraduate SAT/ACT range.[92] In 2012, Columbia is ranked #8 in ARWU,[93] #11 in QS,[94] and #14 by Times Higher Education in the world.[86] Nationally, the university is ranked #4 by U.S. News & World Report,[82] #6 by HRLR,[95] #7 by ARWU,[93] and #8 by Forbes.[96] Columbia's colleges and schools are also ranked by several independent bodies. For 2011, the College & School of Engineering (undergraduate) is ranked #4 nationally by U.S. News & World Report.[97] the Graduate School of Arts #11,[98] the Columbia Business School #3 by The Wall Street Journal[99] theTeachers College #2 by U.S. News & World Report,[100] the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (graduate) #15,[101] the Columbia Law School #4,[102] the College of Physicians and Surgeons #8 for research and #43 for primary care,[103] the Mailman School of Public Health #5,[104] and the School of International and Public Affairs #29.[105][106] Additionally, Columbia's School of Social Work is ranked #4,[107] its Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation #2,[108] and its Graduate School of Journalism #1.[109][110]
In the last 12 years (1996–2008), 18 Columbia affiliates have won Nobel Prizes, of whom nine are current[when?] faculty members while one is an adjunct senior research scientist (Daniel Tsui) and the other a Global Fellow (Kofi Annan).[111] Columbia faculty awarded the Nobel Prize include Richard Axel, Martin Chalfie, Eric Kandel, Tsung-Dao Lee, Robert Mundell, Orhan Pamuk, Edmund S. Phelps, Joseph Stiglitz, and Horst L. Stormer.[112] Other awards and honors won by faculty include 30 MacArthur Foundation Award winners,[113] 4 National Medal of Science recipients,[113] 43 National Academy of SciencesAward winners,[113] 20 National Academy of Engineering Award winners,[114] 38 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Award recipients[115] and 143 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Award winners.[113]
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