Northern Arizona University NAU

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 36 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

As of fall 2012, 26,002 students were enrolled, 18,292 at the Flagstaff campus. The average cost of tuition and fees for a full-time, Arizona resident undergraduate student for two semesters is $9,271. For the Fall 2013 school year, out-of-state undergraduates will pay an estimated $30,947 for tuition, fees, and housing. Since 2007, tuition and fees have increased 92 percent for new undergraduate students.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education classifies NAU as a research university with high research activity. NAU is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Website: http://www.nau.edu/

Initially named the Northern Arizona Normal School, the institution was established on September 11, 1899. The first graduating class, in 1901, consisted of four women who received credentials to teach in the Arizona Territory. In 1925, the Arizona State Legislature allowed the school, which was now called the Northern Arizona State Teacher's College, to grant Bachelor of Education degrees. In 1929 the school became Arizona State Teacher's College.

Enrollment dropped sharply, however, as World War II dawned. ASTC became a Navy V-12 program training site.

Campuses: 

Flagstaff campus

Perched at 6,950 feet (2,120 m) above sea level, the main campus is surrounded by the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest on the North American continent and enjoys a four-season climate. Snow is common in winter, with accumulations most prevalent in December and January. Winter skiing is accessible at Arizona Snowbowl, an alpine ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Flagstaff.

Extended Campuses program

Northern Arizona University maintains campuses throughout Arizona with its Extended Campuses program. The program offers alternatives to the traditional learning experience, including evening, weekend, and accelerated classes, and offers more than 100 degree, certificate, and endorsement programs in person and/or on the web. Extended Campus students may take in-person courses in classrooms across the state at 36 different locations. Northern Arizona University served 7,710 students through the Extended Campuses program.

Academics: NAU is ranked 78th on Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Public Colleges" list and is ranked 460th overall on Forbes "America's Best Colleges 2010" list. It has 93 academic programs; and consists of six colleges.
In the fall of 2010, the top undergraduate degrees by enrollment were elementary education, biology, hotel and restaurant management, nursing, and criminology and criminal justice.

Arizona State University ASU

Arizona State University (commonly referred to as ASU or Arizona State) is a national space-grant institution and public metropolitan research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest public university in the United States by enrollment. Founded in 1885 as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory, the school came under control of the Arizona Board of Regents in 1945 and was renamed Arizona State College. A 1958 statewide ballot measure gave the university its present name. In 1994 ASU was classified as a Research I institute; thus, making Arizona State one of the newest major research universities (public or private) in the nation. Arizona State's mission is to create a model of the “New American University” whose efficacy is measured “by those it includes and how they succeed, not by those it excludes”.

ASU awards bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees, and is broadly organized into 16 colleges and schools spread across four campuses: the original Tempe campus, the West campus in northwest Phoenix, the Polytechnic campus in eastern Mesa, and the Downtown Phoenix campus. All four campuses are accredited as a single institution by the Higher Learning Commission. The University is categorized as a Research University with very high research activity (RU/VH) as reported by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, with a research expenditure of $385 million in 2012. Arizona State is one of the appointed members of the Universities Research Association, a consortium of 86 leading research-oriented universities.

Website: http://www.asu.edu/

Originally named the Tempe Normal School, the institution was founded on March 12, 1885, after John Samuel Armstrong first introduced House Bill 164, "An Act to Establish a Normal school in the Territory of Arizona to the 13th Legislative Assembly of the Arizona Territory. Instruction was instituted on February 8, 1886 under the supervision of Principal Hiram Bradford Farmer. Land for the school was donated by Tempe residents George and Martha Wilson, allowing 33 students to meet in a single room.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the school's name was changed from Tempe Normal School to the Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe. Before becoming a college, the Normal School enrolled high school students with no other secondary education facilities. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews the school was given all-college student status. The first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision. Of the 18 buildings constructed while Matthews was president, six are still currently in use. Matthews envisioned an "evergreen campus," with many shrubbery brought to the campus. He also implemented the planting of Palm Walk, now one of the feature landmarks of the Tempe campus. His legacy is being continued to this day with the main campus having the honor of being declared a nationally recognized arboretum.

Campuses and locations: ASU's academic programs are spread across campuses in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area; however, unlike most multi-campus institutions, ASU describes itself as "one university in many places," explaining that it is "not a system with separate campuses, and not one main campus with branch campuses." The university considers each campus "distinctive" and academically focused on certain aspects of the overall university mission. The Tempe Campus is the university's research and graduate school center. Undergraduate studies on the Tempe campus are research-based programs designed to prepare students for graduate school, professional school, or employment. The Polytechnic campus is designed with an emphasis on professional and technological programs for direct workforce preparation. The Polytechnic campus is the location of many of the university's simulators and laboratories dedicated for project-based learning. The West campus is focused on interdisciplinary degrees and the liberal arts, while maintaining professional programs with a direct impact on the community and society.  The Downtown Campus focuses on direct urban and public programs such as nursing, public policy, mass communication, and journalism. ASU recently relocated some nursing and health related programs to its new ASU-Mayo Medical School Campus. Inter-campus shuttles and light rail allow students and faculty to easily travel between the campuses. In addition to the physical campuses, ASU's "virtual campus", housed at the university's SkySong Innovation Center, provides online and extended education.

Admission to any of the public universities in Arizona is ensured to residents in the top 25% of their high-school class with a GPA of 3.0 in core competencies. In 2012-2013, ASU admitted 87% of all applicants and is considered a "selective" university by U.S. News & World Report. Average GPA of high school graduates enrolling full-time is 3.42. All freshman are required to live on campus.

Barrett, The Honors College is ranked 1st in the nation among peer institutions (1300-1400 minimum SAT), 4th in Honors Factors, and 5th in Overall Excellence among all universities. Like most of ASU's colleges and schools (e.g. Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, W.P. Carey School of Business, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, etc.), Barrett College maintains much more strict admissions standards. Furthermore, Barrett College provides a more rigorous curriculum with smaller classes and increased faculty interaction. Although there are no set minimum admissions criteria for Barrett College, the average GPA of incoming freshmen was 3.84, with average SAT scores of 1314/1600 and ACT scores of 29. The Honors college enrolls 3523 undergraduate students, 613 of whom are National Merit Scholars.

ASU currently enrolls 5,137 international students, 6.1% of the total student population. The international student body represents 118 nations and more than 60 student clubs and organizations exist at ASU to serve the growing number of students from abroad. The growth in the number of international students in 2012 at ASU is a 16% increase over the 2011 figure.

University of Alaska Southeast UAS

The University of Alaska Southeast is a public, four year university that is part of the University of Alaska System. The main campus is located in Juneau, Alaska and the university has extended campuses in Sitka and Ketchikan. The University of Alaska Southeast is abbreviated as UA Southeast, Alaska Southeast, or UAS.

UAS was established on July 1, 1987 with the restructuring and consolidation of the former University of Alaska Juneau, Ketchikan Community College, and Islands Community College (Sitka).

UAS is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

Website: http://www.uas.alaska.edu/

To provide further direction for plans and actions, the University of Alaska Southeast dedicates itself to the following core values:

• Achieving distinction as a learning community.
• Developing programs and services rooted in its unique natural setting.
• Developing educated citizens with a sense of personal ethics.
• Serving as a center for culture and arts with a focus on Alaska Native traditions.
• Contributing to the economic development of the region and the state through basic and applied research and public service.
• Using technology effectively in all programs and services.
• Forging dynamic partnerships with other academic institutions, governmental agencies and private industry.

Campuses:  
Juneau
The University of Alaska Southeast’s main campus is located in Juneau. The majority of the campus lies between Auke Bay and Auke Lake. The campus consists of classrooms, studios, teaching and research labs, the Anderson Science building (North Pacific Marine Lab), the William A. Egan Library, housing, the Student Recreation Center (Charles Gamble Jr.-Donald Sperl Joint Use Facility), a bookstore, and office and administrative spaces. UAS also has a Technical Education Center, located in downtown Juneau, which consists of technical, construction and mechanical labs, a mine simulator, and classroom and office space. The Juneau campus offers Occupational Endorsements, Certificates, Associate, Baccalaureate, and Graduate degrees.
Sitka
The Sitka campus was founded as Sitka Community College in 1962. The campus awards Occupational Endorsements in administrative office support, network support technician, web development, network administration, healthcare information technology, residential and light construction, law enforcement, and welding; Certificates in computer information and office systems, accounting technician, healthcare privacy and security, small business management, fisheries technology, pre-nursing and pre-radiologic technician qualifications, and health information management coding specialist; and Associate degrees in health information management, general education, nursing (in partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage), fisheries technology, apprenticeship technology, and health sciences.
Ketchikan
The Ketchikan campus is the oldest campus in Southeast Alaska, and was originally established as Ketchikan Community College in 1954. The campus awards Occupational Endorsements in administrative office support, network support technician, web development, network administration, marine transportation, residential and light construction, and welding; Certificates in computer information and office systems, accounting technician, small business management, fisheries technology, pre-nursing and pre-radiologic technician qualifications; and Associate degrees in general education, nursing (in partnership with the University of Alaska Anchorage), fisheries technology, apprenticeship technology and health sciences.

University of Alaska Anchorage UAA

The University of Alaska Anchorage (commonly referred to as UAA) is a public research university and currently enrolls the most students within the University of Alaska System. With over 17,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, it is also the largest institution of higher learning in Alaska. UAA's main campus is located in Anchorage, approximately four miles southeast of its downtown area in the University-Medical District, adjacent to the Alaska Native Medical Center, Alaska Pacific University and Providence Alaska Medical Center. Nestled among an extensive green belt, close to scenic Goose Lake Park, UAA has been recognized each of the past three years as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The campus is connected by a network of paved, outdoor trails, as well as an elevated, indoor "spine" that extends east to west from Rasmuson Hall, continuing through the student union and terminating inside the Consortium Library. UAA is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. U.S. News and World Report has ranked UAA in the top 20 public regional universities in the West and 58th overall.
UAA is divided into six teaching units at the Anchorage campus: the colleges of Education, Health and Social Welfare, Arts and Sciences, Business and Public Policy, the Community and Technical College, and the School of Engineering. Included with UAA for administrative purposes are four satellite campuses: Matanuska-Susitna College, Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, and Prince William Sound Community College. UAA offers Master's Degrees and Graduate Certificates in select programs, and the ability to complete certain PhD programs through cooperating universities through its Graduate Division. As of May 2012, the university is accredited to confer doctoral degrees.
The university's history in Anchorage began in 1954, when the Anchorage Community College opened, using the West Anchorage High School building during evenings. Anchorage Senior College began teaching upper-division classes in 1969, and then it became the four-year University of Alaska Anchorage in 1976. UAA, the community college, and the rural extension units were merged in 1987 to form the present institution.

Website: http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/

The UAA sports teams are known as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves and the school colors are green and gold. UAA, which sponsors 11 sports programs, is a NCAA Division I school for gymnastics and hockey, and a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. UAA is a Division II member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in men's and women's basketball, volleyball, men's and women's cross country and men's and women's outdoor track and field. Other conference affiliations are the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (gymnastics) and the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. UAA also hosts the nationally known Great Alaska Shootout college basketball tournament every Thanksgiving, and the Kendall Hockey Classic in October.

The Union of Students of the University of Alaska Anchorage or USUAA is the student governing body for University of Alaska Anchorage. Each student pays $1 per credit hour for students registered in 3 or more credits. Maximum charge $12 and maximum credit hour is 12.

The President, Vice President and 23 Senators are elected at-large to serve on the Assembly. Four representatives (Residence Hall Association, Club Council, Greek Council and Graduate Student Association) complete the rest of the board. The President and Vice President are elected in the spring for one year terms.

The union has co-sponsored political debates in Anchorage, including a 2004 debate held at the university between Senatorial candidates Tony Knowles and Lisa Murkowski.

University of Alaska Fairbanks UAF

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, is a public research university located in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It serves as the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF.

UAF is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution, as well as participating in the sun-grant program through Oregon State University. It is also the site where the Alaska Constitution was drafted and signed in 1955 and 1956. UAF was established in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, first opening for classes in 1922.

UAF is home to seven major research units: the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; the Geophysical Institute, which operates the Poker Flat Research Range; the International Arctic Research Center; the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center; the Institute of Arctic Biology; the Institute of Marine Science; and the Institute of Northern Engineering. Located just 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Fairbanks campus's unique location is situated favorably for Arctic and northern research. The campus's several lines of research are renowned worldwide, most notably in Arctic biology, Arctic engineering, geophysics, supercomputing, and aboriginal studies. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is also on the Fairbanks campus.

Website: http://www.uaf.edu/

The University of Alaska was established in 1917 as a college, but its origins lie in the creation in 1906 of a federal agricultural experiment station in Fairbanks, the sixth in Alaska. The station set the tone for the university that developed later, which is strongly research-oriented. In 1915, the U.S. Congress approved funds to establish a school of higher education and transferred land from the station for the purpose. The federal land grant was accepted by Territorial Governor John Strong in 1917. That year, on a bluff above the Chena River, a cornerstone for the college was laid by Territorial Delegate James Wickersham. The site became known as College Hill. Charles E. Bunnell was appointed the university's first president, serving for 27 years. The new institution was established as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines in 1922, offering 16 classes to a student body of six (at a ratio of one faculty member per student). In 1923 the first commencement produced one graduate, John Sexton Shanly.

In 1931, the rest of the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station was transferred to the college, and the Alaska Territorial Legislature changed the name in 1935 to the University of Alaska. As the university began to expand throughout the state, the Fairbanks campus became known as the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975; the two other primary UA institutions are the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.

University of Alaska Fairbanks sports teams are the Alaska Nanooks, with the word Nanook derived from the Inupiaq "nanuq." Though often known as UAF within the state, the university prefers to be called simply "Alaska" for athletics purposes. The school colors are blue and gold. The Alaska Nanooks compete at the NCAA Division I level for hockey as a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Nanooks play their home games at the 4,500 seat Carlson Center located in downtown Fairbanks. The Alaska Nanooks also have a Division I rifle team which has won ten NCAA National Rifle Championships (1994, 1999–2004, 2006–2008). The men's and women's basketball, cross country running, and women's volleyball teams are Division II members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while the women's swim team is a member of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference (PCSC) and the men's and women's Nordic skiing teams are members of the Central Collegiate Ski Association (CCSA). Partly due to its isolation from the lower 48 and lack of a dome to protect against the harsh elements, Alaska does not currently have a football program, as is true for all three branches of the University of Alaska.

The Alaska Constitutional Convention was held on the university campus from November 1955 to February 1956. The student union building, which was completed the same day the convention opened, was used for the convention's sessions. The University's Board of Regents named the building Constitution Hall the same month as the convention's opening. The campus library and gymnasium building, where the constitution was signed, was named Signers' Hall in the 1980s. Today, Signers' Hall houses the Office of Admissions and the Registrar, the Business Office, the Provost's Office and the Office of the Chancellor.

University of West Alabama UWA

The University of West Alabama (abbreviated as UWA) is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States.

Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston Female Academy was selected in 1836, and four of the seven board members were Presbyterians.

The university serves students in several academic colleges and divisions on a 600-acre (2.4 km2) campus in west-central Alabama. UWA offers a wide arrangement of degree programs including associate, bachelor's, master's, and educational specialist degrees. The university hosts concerts, lectures, fall and spring theatrical productions, fall and spring commencement exercises, and intercollegiate athletic events.

Its athletics teams – known as the UWA Tigers — are members of the Gulf South Conference and compete in the NCAA's Division II in all sports except two. The men's and women's rodeo teams compete in the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

Website: http://www.uwa.edu/

The University of West Alabama began as Livingston Female Academy in 1835. As a church-related female academy, it admitted its first students in 1839. The school was established by ethnic Scots-Irish Presbyterians, who controlled the majority of seats on the first board of trustees selected in 1836. The purpose of the school was to educate future teachers, while also offering course work in art, music, languages, and home economics. Tuition at this time was $20 annually with an additional $25 charged for piano lessons and $10 for French language and embroidery.[8] Jones Hall was the first building constructed on the campus in 1837, and was located near what is now Brock Hall. (The building was lost to fire in the 1890s). On January 15, 1840, state lawmakers incorporated Livingston Female Academy, granted it tax-exempt status, and gave the board the authority to establish rules and regulations.

Academics: The mission of the University of West Alabama is "to provide opportunities for students to pursue a quality education and assist in developing the important qualities of independent thinking, respect for the ideas of others, personal integrity and character in order to realize their quests for a philosophy of life and self-fulfillment."

UWA offers more than 60 undergraduate programs and 10 graduate programs through its academic colleges and divisions at the bachelor's, master's, and educational specialist levels.

Degrees in each academic college and division are awarded at the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Business Administration, Master's degree and Educational specialist levels. Students are awarded an Associate's degree from the Ira D. Pruitt School of Nursing. Upon graduation from the University of West Alabama, students may choose to earn a Bachelor's degree in nursing through a partnership with the University of Alabama.

Campus: The University of West Alabama is a single-campus university located in the heart of downtown Livingston on U.S. Highway 11. The campus is on the western border of Alabama. Larger cities close by include Meridian (30 minutes), Tuscaloosa (50 minutes), and Birmingham. The small population in the city of Livingston and Southern hospitality give UWA its small-town atmosphere that many students come to appreciate. The 600-acre (2.4 km2) UWA campus includes nature trails, a 54-acre (220,000 m2) lake, and sculptures. Recent campus beautification projects have enhanced the natural beauty that can be found on campus.

Troy University

Troy University is a comprehensive public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It is founded on February 26, 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System by an Act of the Alabama Legislature. It is the flagship university of the Troy University System with its main campus enrollment of 9,000 students and the total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 31,000. Troy University is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) to award associate, baccalaureate, master's, education specialist, and doctoral degrees.

In August 2005, Troy State University, Montgomery; Troy State University, Phenix City; Troy State University, Dothan; and Troy State University (Main Campus) all merged under one accreditation to become Troy University to better reflect the institution's worldwide mission. Prior to the merger, each campus was independently accredited and merging of these campuses helped to create a stronger institution by eliminating overlapping services and barriers to students. The merger combined talents and resources of staff, faculty, and administrators into a single highly effective and competitive university.

Troy University is a public university with its main campus located in Troy, Alabama. It was founded as a normal school in 1887 with a mission to educate and train new teachers. The school has since evolved into a state university, located in four sites across the State of Alabama: Troy, Montgomery, Phenix City and Dothan. The university also has various sites located throughout the United States and in international locations. Troy University is known for its innovation in offering in-class and online academic programs in servicing traditional, nontraditional, and military students. The main campus enrollment as of the fall of 2010 is 9,000 students. The campus itself consists of 36 major buildings on 650 acres (1.9 km²) plus the adjacent Troy University Arboretum. 

At least three prominent political figures have been associated with Troy University. George Wallace, Jr., son of the late Governor George C. Wallace, is a former administrator at the university. Max Rafferty, the California Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1963 to 1971, was dean of the education department from 1971 until his death in 1982. Former Governor John Malcolm Patterson, an intra-party rival of George Wallace, taught U.S. history at the institution during the 1980s.

Campus: Troy University's campus is located near downtown Troy. The campus sits along rolling hills with many old oak trees present along the streets and throughout campus. A very small lake named Lake Lagoona sits in front of university's Sorrell Chapel.
The university closed the Trojan Oaks Golf Course in order to build a new basketball arena, but remnants of the course are still present and are utilized freely for practice.

University of South Alabama USA

The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public, doctoral-level university in Mobile, Alabama, USA. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama.
USA is the only major public institution of higher learning on the upper Gulf Coast. With Alabama's two older universities more than 200 miles distant, the University is strategically located in the greater Mobile area, which has a population of more than a million within a 100-mile radius.
Currently, USA is divided into ten colleges and schools and includes one of Alabama's two state-supported medical schools. The university has an enrollment of about 15,000 students. To date, the University has awarded over 70,000 degrees.
USA has an annual payroll of $404 million (US), with over 5,500 employees, and is the second largest employer in Mobile, Alabama. It has remained one of Alabama's fastest growing universities for the past several years. South Alabama also has an annual economic impact of US$2 billion. South Alabama owned hospitals treat over 250,000 patients annually.

Website: http://www.southalabama.edu/

Academics: The university offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in ten colleges and schools. Several programs offer masters level degrees in addition to undergraduate degrees. Doctoral level degrees are offered in several areas, including Business Administration, Nursing, Medicine, Basic Medical Sciences, Instructional Design, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Audiology, Marine Science, Psychology, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree offered in collaboration with Auburn University.
The university will add doctoral programs in Business and Engineering beginning in 2013, with the business doctorate being the state's first doctorate in business administration.
The psychology doctoral program was initiated in 2009 and is one of a handful of such programs nationwide that offers a Combined degree, emphasizing both Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology. Significant research is done by faculty members in the above fields.
In all, undergraduate students at South Alabama can choose from more than 50 bachelor’s degree and certificate programs while there are more than 40 master’s degree programs. As of 2011, USA ranks as the 22nd best public university in the southern United States, and 52nd overall (in the South). It has an acceptance rate of 86.5%.
The student-faculty ratio at USA is 22:1, and the school has 41.5 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. USA students are 57% female and 43% male.

Administration: The University is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by and including the governor of Alabama. The Board appoints a president of the University. Since the founding of the University, there have been two presidents: Frederick Palmer Whiddon (served 1963–1998) and V. Gordon Moulton (served 1998-2013).

Campus life: USA Housing & Residence Life: The University of South Alabama department of Housing & Residence Life is committed to providing safe, reasonably priced, well maintained residence halls and interacting with students in a courteous and efficient manner. We endeavor to support the academic mission of the University by creating purposeful residential communities that are conducive to the academic and personal success of students.
Residence Life staff members are in the building and available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Resident Assistants, Community Directors, Desk Assistants, and Area Coordinators. Remember, just one charge a semester covers all of your housing expenses including extended basic cable, wireless Internet, electricity, water, garbage, pest control, campus post office box, free maintenance, and unlimited laundry.
Beta/Gamma Community consists of fifteen small buildings containing one-person, two-person, and four-person apartments.
Epsilon Community contains both traditional and non-traditional residence halls. Epsilon 1 and Epsilon 2 are both traditional halls housing our first-time freshmen Learning Communities (LCs). Both Epsilons have a TV Room, study room, and professional Residence Life staff offices. The non-traditional residence hall of Delta 6 has the added advantage of a kitchenette in every room for freshmen and upperclassmen. A total of 471 residents live in this community with 156 in Delta 6 and the remaining 315 residents in Epsilon 1 & 2. Just down the hill from the state of the art Student Recreation Center and a sidewalk away from the Dining Hall (Fresh Food Co.).
Delta Community is made up of four non-traditional residence halls that house 535 residents: Delta 2 – 5. Both freshmen and upperclassmen live in this community. Laundry Rooms are located at one end of Delta 2, Delta 3, Delta 4, and inside the Delta Commons.
Stokes Hall Community opened Fall of 2011 and features 330 suite-style rooms. Stokes Hall features one (1) classroom, eight (8) study lounges, two (2) multipurpose rooms, interior hallways, and a large laundry room. You'll find 330 Freshmen and Upperclassmen residing in this hall that has an added academic focus with Learning Communities and a Faculty-In-Residence.
New Hall Community opened Fall 2013! This four-story traditional residence hall is home to 350 first-time freshmen two students per room. Each of these freshmen will be a member of a Learning Community. Each room contains its own bathroom while students will have their own personal lavatory in the living area of each room. The new building will include one classroom that seats 25, two large study lounges, two community lounges, a large laundry room, 2 Community Director offices, and 1 Faculty member office.
Fraternity & Sorority Housing Community consists of 5 sororities and 4 fraternities for a total of 9 Greek chapter houses on-campus

University of North Alabama UNA

The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university.

Occupying a 130-acre (0.5 km2) campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. The four cities comprise a metropolitan area with a combined population of 140,000 people.

The University of North Alabama, which celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2005, has undergone numerous sweeping changes in the course of its long history. Originally founded as LaGrange College in 1830, it was reestablished in 1872 as the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. A year later, it became one of the nation's first coeducational colleges.

Within the last half century, the University of North Alabama has developed into a comprehensive regional university exerting a major influence over the cultural, social and economic life of Northwest Alabama and providing educational opportunities for students pursuing undergraduate and graduate majors offered through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Nursing and Health.

UNA has strong commitment to improving academic quality, an effort perhaps reflected in the 2008 edition of U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges, which ranked the university as a top tier public university.

UNA also underwent continued growth in 2009, with 7,243 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for the fall semester.

Website: http://www.una.edu/

The University of North Alabama first opened its doors as LaGrange College on January 11, 1830, in a mountain hamlet a few miles south of Leighton in northeast Franklin County, Alabama. LaGrange means "The Place" in French. Twenty-one local college trustees were listed in Acts of Alabama, Eleventh Annual Session.The monument marking the site of LaGrange College.

Today only a nine-ton stone monument silently guards the ghosts of the once bustling little town of LaGrange and its vibrant college, both of which were sacked and burned by Union troops in 1863. But by then, however, the college, as such, had moved north across the Tennessee River to Florence. The section of Franklin County containing LaGrange Mountain is now Colbert County. LaGrange College, which became Florence Wesleyan University in 1855, is now the University of North Alabama.

Campus: The University of North Alabama and the surrounding residential area share a rich history. The UNA campus is adjacent to the Seminary-O'Neal Historic District, named for the street on which the Synodical Female College was located and for two Alabama governors. The district, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, also is noted for its residential structures, built between 1908 and 1943 and representing a wide array of architectural styles.
UNA's initial campus facilities master plan was developed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the same architectural firm that designed New York City's Central Park. A copy of the original Olmsted plan is permanently displayed in the President's Office in Bibb Graves Hall.
The modern campus is distinguished by its shaded walkways, spacious green lawns, fountains, sculptures and historic buildings. UNA also is noted for its three antebellum structures: Wesleyan Hall; Rogers Hall; and Coby Hall. All three buildings are listed in the National Historic Register.
Gifts from friends and alumni and federal grants made possible a massive renovation of the UNA campus to conform with the landscape design originally formulated by Olmstead brothers. The university was transformed into an almost entirely pedestrian campus, with a brick walkway added to simulate the nearby Tennessee River and accented with fountains designed by Hugo Dante, of the Hill and Jangaard architectural firm, of Florence.

The University of North Alabama encompasses two campuses, following a decision in June, 2006, by the university's Board of Trustees to purchase J.W. Powell School from the Florence City Schools. The East Campus houses several academic units, including the Office of Continuing Studies and Outreach and the Human Environmental Sciences' state-of-the-art Culinary Facility. The Culinary Arts program is the first and only four-year Culinary Program in a public institution of higher learning in Alabama.

The University Honors Program: The University of North Alabama Honors Program  was founded in 2005 and recently graduated its first entering cohort, the Class of 2009. The Honors Program is a distinguished degree option for exceptional students from all majors and colleges on campus. Open primarily to first year students and transfers on a limited basis, the Honors Program consists of 27 credit hours of coursework, social and cultural enrichment programming, a residential home, a civic engagement component, travel opportunities, scholarships, and a capstone project during the senior year. The Capstone Project consists of a final project in the major field of study through independent research and/or through junior and senior seminars. Honors faculty are selected for the enthusiasm for teaching, knowledge in their discipline, and dedication to student learning. Student applicants are recruited from throughout the southeast and evaluated on a holistic basis using standardized test scores, GPA, community service, leadership, and writing ability. Students accepted into the Program must maintain a 3.25 grade point average and participate in Program events. Graduates are entitled to receive diplomas bearing the distinction of "Honors Program" and receive special designation on their transcripts.

University of Montevallo

The University of Montevallo is a four-year public university located in Montevallo, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1896, it is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the prestigious Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Programs are offered through the Michael E. Stephens College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education, College of Fine Arts, and graduate studies in Business, Education, English and Speech-Language Pathology. Its current president, John W. Stewart III, was formerly Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. Dr. Stewart succeeded Philip C. Williams, who left after four years of service to the university.

The University of Montevallo continues to receive accolades through the rankings of “America’s Best Colleges,” published by U.S. News & World Report. According to rankings for the 2013 edition, released September 12, 2012, UM is once again ranked as the No. 1 public master’s-level university in Alabama, a distinction it has held each year since 2008. For 2013, Montevallo is listed as the 14th best public university in the South in its division and 37th overall in the South, up 22 spots from its 2007 ranking. Schools in 12 states make up the South geographic region. Montevallo is also recognized in the 2013 edition as one of the top four Southern universities that graduates students with the lowest average debt loads. Montevallo earned high marks for academic reputation, freshman retention rate, graduation rate, entering freshmen test scores and class rank, small class sizes and low student-faculty ratio.

Website: http://www.montevallo.edu/

The University of Montevallo opened in October 1896 as the Alabama Girls’ Industrial School (AGIS), a women-only technical school that also offered high school-level courses. AGIS became the Alabama Girls’ Technical Institute in 1911, further adding "and College for Women" in 1919. The school gradually phased into being a traditional degree-granting institution, becoming Alabama College, State College for Women in 1923.

The school's supporters lobbied the Alabama Legislature which passed a bill on January 15, 1956 that dropped the designation "State College for Women", effectively making the school coeducational (though its student body still maintains a 7:5 ratio of women to men). The first men entered the school that same month. In 1965, the board of trustees authorized President D. P. Culp to sign the Certificates of Assurance of Compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[2] In the fall of 1968, three African American women, Carolyn Buprop, Ruby Kennbrew, and Dorothy (Lilly) Turner, enrolled in the university. On September 1, 1969, Alabama College was renamed the University of Montevallo.

The Life Raft Debate is an annual event sponsored by the Philosophy Club. The debate has occurred each fall semester since 1998, making it the longest continually-held debate of its type.[citation needed] The debate occurs on the second Thursday in October during the university's Founders’ Day commemoration.

In the Life Raft Debate, the audience is asked to imagine that there has been a nuclear war and that they, as the survivors, are setting sail to rebuild society from the ground up. There is a group of professors vying to win the coveted Oar and get on the raft, and only one seat is left. Each professor has to argue that his or her discipline is the one indispensable area of study that the new civilization will need to flourish. At the end of the debating, the audience votes and the lucky winner claims the Oar and climbs aboard, waving goodbye to the others. Each professor gets to give an introductory account of his or her discipline, then give a brief rebuttal to the others, and, finally, the audience votes all but one panelist off. Often, a seventh participant, the Devil's Advocate, appears and tries to convince the audience that the entire panel is unworthy and that all should be left behind to drown. In the following year, the defending champion faces five new challengers in a new debate. To date, no one has successfully defended the Oar.

The first event was held in 1998 before an audience of roughly 200 people. Michael Sterner of the Mathematics Department carried the day with an impassioned defense of his discipline, touting both its usefulness and beauty and promising that, if he were to be saved, there would be "no more word problems ever." In the subsequent years the debate's popularity grew to attract more than 800 audience members per year. Following years saw victories by professors from a variety of academic disciplines.

College Night: The oldest tradition at Montevallo is called College Night, an intramural competition between the Purple Side and the Gold Side. The tradition officially began on March 3, 1919, in honor of the school adding the name "college" to its title.
The homecoming competition consists of sports events, management of the side finances, and spirit. While these are key to the game of College Night, the primary focus is two student written, produced, and performed musicals—one for each competing side. For a small University in which the student-to-faculty ratio is only about 16-to-1, participation is key. A noticeable number of people participate in bringing the tradition together; at least 400 actually participate in the activities, but it is a tremendous success that draws those who do participate back after many years of being out of college. Each year, the school's Palmer Auditorium, which boasts a large stage, orchestra pit and seating for 1200, is standing room only as alumni and spectators gather to witness the unique tradition that is College Night.
"First designed to celebrate the introduction of a 4-year college curriculum, the early celebrations were competitions between classes. In 1921, to celebrate UM’s 25th anniversary, students divided into two teams, the Gold Side and the Purple Side."[14] The two colors of the school, purple and gold, compete for the title of either "PV" (purple victory) or "GV" (gold victory). The student involvement is all-inclusive: there are athletic intramurals that count for points toward victory, cheerleading competitions, signs designed and painted by students to be judged and even community efforts and fund raising drives to gain points toward a victory.
College Night is known as the oldest Homecoming tradition of its kind in America. An exhibit about College Night is housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C

University of Arizona UA

The University of Arizona (also referred to as UA (spoken as U of A), or Arizona) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885 (twenty-seven years before the Arizona Territory achieved statehood). The university includes the University of Arizona College of Medicine which is one of three medical schools and the only MD granting medical school in Arizona. As of Fall 2010, total enrollment was 39,086 students. The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents. The mission of the University of Arizona is, "To discover, educate, serve, and inspire." Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities (an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group. Arizona has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies," a publicly funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League.

Known as the Arizona Wildcats (often shortened to "'Cats"), the athletic teams are members of the Pacific-12 Conference in the NCAA. UA athletes have won national titles in several sports, most notably men's basketball, baseball, and softball. The official colors of the university and its athletic teams are Cardinal Red and Navy Blue.

Website: http://www.arizona.edu/

The University of Arizona was approved by the Arizona Territory's "Thieving Thirteenth" Legislature in 1885. The city of Tucson had hoped to receive the appropriation for the territory's mental hospital, which carried a $100,000 allocation instead of the $25,000 allotted to the territory's only university (Arizona State University was also chartered in 1885, but at the time it was created as Arizona's normal school, and not a university). Tucson's contingent of legislators was delayed in reaching Prescott due to flooding on the Salt River and by the time they arrived back-room deals allocating the most desirable territorial institutions had already been made.

Academics: The University of Arizona offers 334 fields of study leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. Academic departments and programs are organized into colleges and schools. The university maintains a current list of colleges and schools at http://www.arizona.edu/index/colleges.php. The University of Arizona is the only remaining Pac-12 conference school to not award plus and minus grades for courses. Currently, grades are given on a strict 4-point scale with "A" worth 4, "B" worth 3, "C" worth 2, "D" worth 1 and "E" worth zero points. In 2004, there were discussions with students and faculty that may lead the UA towards eventual usage of the plus-minus grading system in future years. As of June 2013 the university still uses the 4-points scale.

Campus: The main campus sits on 380 acres (1.5 km2) in central Tucson, about one mile (1.6 km) northeast of downtown. There are 179 buildings on the main campus. Many of the early buildings, including the Arizona State Museum buildings (one of them the 1927 main library) and Centennial Hall, were designed by Roy Place, a prominent Tucson architect. It was Place's use of red brick that set the tone for the red brick facades that are a basic and ubiquitous part of nearly all UA buildings, even those built in recent decades. Indeed, almost every UA building has red brick as a major component of the design, or at the very least, a stylistic accent to harmonize it with the other buildings on campus.
The science and mathematics buildings tend to be clustered in the southwest quadrant; the intercollegiate athletics facilities to the southeast; the arts and humanities buildings to the northwest (with the dance department being a major exception as its main facilities are far to the east end of campus), with the engineering buildings in the north central area. The optical and space sciences buildings are clustered on the east side of campus near the sports stadiums and the (1976) main library.
Speedway Boulevard, one of Tucson's primary east-west arterial streets, traditionally defined the northern boundary of campus but since the 1980s, several university buildings have been constructed north of this street, expanding into a neighborhood traditionally filled with apartment complexes and single-family homes. The University has purchased a handful of these apartment complexes for student housing in recent years. Sixth Street typically defines the southern boundary, with single-family homes (many of which are rented out to students) south of this street.

Auburn University (AU or Auburn

Auburn University  is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1872, the college became the state's first public land-grant university under the Morrill Act and was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1892, the college became the first four-year coeducational school in the state. The curriculum at the university originally focused on arts and agriculture. This trend changed under the guidance of Dr. William Leroy Broun, who taught classics and sciences and believed both disciplines were important in the overall growth of the university and the individual. 

Website: http://www.auburn.edu/

Academics: Auburn has traditionally been rated highly by academic ranking services, and has been listed as one of the top 50 public universities for 20 consecutive years. The 2011 edition of U.S. News and World Reports ranks Auburn as the 82nd university in the nation among public and private schools and 37th among public universities. Auburn was the only college or university in Alabama included in the inaugural edition (1981) of the widely respected Peterson's Guides to America's 296 Most Competitive Colleges.

Auburn is a charter member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which is currently composed of 13 of the largest Southern public universities in the US and one private university, Vanderbilt. Among the other 12 peer public universities, only the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, and the University of Alabama are ranked ahead of Auburn in the 2011 edition of U.S. News & World Report. This high ranking and reputation for academic quality is in spite of the fact that Auburn's $378.6 million endowment is currently the second smallest of the 13 SEC universities. An attempt to increase the endowment by $500 million began in 2005 with the "It Begins at Auburn" campaign. As of August 2006, the campaign had raised $523 million, making it the largest campaign in university history.

SEC Academic Initiative:  Auburn University is a member of the SEC Academic Consortium. Now renamed the SECU, the initiative is a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship, and achievement among the member universities in the Southeastern Conference. The SECU formed its mission to serve as a means to bolster collaborative academic endeavors of Southeastern Conference universities. Its goals include highlighting the endeavors and achievements of SEC faculty, students, and member universities and advancing the academic reputation of SEC universities.

In 2013, the Auburn University participated in the SEC Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, which was organized and led by the University of Georgia and the UGA Bioenergy Systems Research Institute. The topic of the Symposium was "Impact of the Southeast in the World's Renewable Energy Future."

Campus arrangement: The Auburn campus is primarily arranged in a grid-like pattern with several distinct building groups. The northern section of the central campus (bounded by Magnolia Ave. and Thach Ave.) contains most of the College of Engineering buildings, the Lowder business building, and the older administration buildings. The middle section of the central campus (bounded by Thach Ave. and Roosevelt Dr.) contains the College of Liberal Arts (except fine arts) and the College of Education, mostly within Haley Center. The southern section of the central campus (bounded by Roosevelt Dr. and Samford Ave.) contains the most of the buildings related to the College of Science and Mathematics, as well as fine arts buildings.

Several erratic building spurts, beginning in the 1950s, have resulted in some exceptions to the subject clusters as described above. Growing interaction issues between pedestrians and vehicles led to the closure of a significant portion of Thach Avenue to vehicular traffic in 2004. A similarly sized portion of Roosevelt Drive was also closed to vehicles in 2005. In an effort to make a more appealing walkway, these two sections have been converted from asphalt to concrete. The general movement towards a pedestrian only campus is ongoing, but is often limited by the requirements for emergency and maintenance vehicular access.

Jacksonville State University (JSU)

Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a regional public coeducational university located in Jacksonville, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in five academic units leading to Bachelor's, Master's, Education Specialist, and Doctorate in addition to continuing and distance education programs. In the Fall semester of 2011, JSU began offering the school's first doctoral degree, Doctor of Science in Emergency Management.

The university was founded as Jacksonville State Normal School, and in 1930 the name changed to Jacksonville State Teachers College, and again in 1957 to Jacksonville State College. The university began operating as Jacksonville State University in 1967. In 2008, the university celebrated its 125th anniversary.

JSU currently has an enrollment of nearly 9,500 students, with nearly 500 faculty members (more than 320 of whom are full-time). Jacksonville State's Business School was ranked within the nation's top tenth percentile by the Princeton Review. The current University President is Dr. William A. Meehan.

With a focus on providing a quality education, Jacksonville State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). In addition, 40 academic programs (79% of programs that can be accredited) earned specialized programmatic accreditations. These programs include business, education, engineering and technology, nursing, social work, drama, art, music, computer science, family and consumer science, and communication.

Campus: On January 1, 2012, the school's marching band and dance team, The Southerners and the Marching Ballerinas, led the New Year's Day Parade in London, England which also kicked off the year-long celebration of both Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The invitation to lead the parade came in September 2010, just as the Southerners learned that they had been awarded the nationally recognized George Washington Honor Medal for their patriotic 2009 show, "Of Thee I Sing."
In spring 2008, the website GetEducated.com ranked the Master of Science in Computer Systems and Software Design as second on its list of "best buys" among 67 online master's programs in computer science and information technology offered by regionally accredited institutions in the United States. In spring 2010, they followed this with a third-place ranking for JSU's online nursing master's program  and a sixth-place ranking for the online nursing bachelor's degree .
In October 2007, the College of Commerce and Business Administration was named one of the 290 best business schools in the world by The Princeton Review and ranked second in providing the greatest opportunities for women.
In 2007, the school broke ground for the 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) Little River Canyon Center. The building houses National Park Service offices, an exhibit hall, meeting space, classrooms, and comfort stations and is the site of the JSU Little River Canyon Field School, which sponsors dozens of activities, seminars and programs each year. In 1992, the canyon was designated a national preserve. During the summer months, the staff includes 15 park rangers.
In February 2006, Jacksonville State University was named the "winner" of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Speech Code of the Month. At the time, FIRE called the University Code of Conduct “illegally overbroad.” They considered the code to be in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution which protects offensive speech. The policy has since been changed.
In August 2007, University President Dr. William Meehan was implicated in a plagiarism scandal related to his periodic column entitled "Town & Gown," which was actually written by the school's news bureau. These columns were written by the recently retired Director of JSU’s News Bureau who was working part-time to ghostwrite the weekly “Town & Gown” column. A committee appointed by the President found no wrongdoing on the part of Meehan other than a lack of administrative oversight, and it was decided that responsibility for the plagiarism was that of the writer.