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.