University of Vermont

University of Vermont
Latin: Universitas Viridis Montis
University of the Green Mountain
Motto Studiis et Rebus Honestis (Latin)
Motto in English For studies and other honest pursuits
Established 1791
Type Public university
Endowment $272 million[1]
President Daniel Mark Fogel
Admin. staff 1,185
Undergraduates 9,454[2]
Postgraduates 1,600 (incl. 410 medical)
Location Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Campus Burlington, 450 acres (1.82 km²)
Colors Green and Gold          [3]
Athletics NCAA Division I, 9 men's varsity teams, 11 women's UVM Athletics
Nickname Catamounts
Website www.uvm.edu
Uvmlogo.jpg
Old Mill, the oldest building of the university

The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, more commonly known as the University of Vermont, is a national public research university and the state of Vermont's land-grant university. Known to many as "UVM," the university has also been named a Public Ivy. UVM serves students from across the United States and more than 30 countries.

The university's 451-acre (1.83 km2) campus is located in Burlington, Vermont. Features of the UVM campus include the historic University Green district; the Dudley H. Davis Center, the first student center in the nation to receive U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold certificaton; the Robert Hull Fleming Museum; and the Gutterson/Patrick athletic complex, home to UVM's Division I athletic teams and extensive recreational sports programs. The largest hospital complex in Vermont, Fletcher Allen Health Care, has its primary facility adjacent to the UVM campus and is affiliated with the UVM College of Medicine.

Contents

History

The University of Vermont was founded as a private university in 1791, the same year Vermont became the 14th state in the union. In 1865, the university merged with Vermont Agricultural College (chartered November 22, 1864, after the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act), emerging as the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College. Today, the university blends the traditions of both a private and public university. UVM draws 17 percent of its general fund (approximately 10 percent of its current operating budget) from the state and Vermont residents make up 35 percent of enrollment; 65 percent of students come from other states and countries.[4]

Much of the initial funding and planning for the university was undertaken by Ira Allen, who is honored as UVM's founder. Allen donated a 50-acre parcel of land for the University's establishment. Most of this land has been maintained as the university's main green, upon which stands a statue of Allen.[5]

The citizens of Burlington helped fund the university's first edifice, and, when fire destroyed it in 1824, also paid for its replacement. This building came to be known as "Old Mill" for its resemblance to New England mills of the time. The Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who became a commander in the American Revolution, toured all 24 US states in 1824/5 and while in Vermont laid the cornerstone of Old Mill, which stands on University Row, along with Ira Allen Chapel, Billings Center, Williams Hall, Royall Tyler Theatre and Morrill Hall. A statue of Lafayette stands at the north end of the main green.[5]

The University of Vermont has often led the way in demonstrating commitment to fairness and equality. It was the first American college or university with a charter plainly declaring that the "rules, regulations, and by-laws shall not tend to give preference to any religious sect or denomination whatsoever."[5]

In addition, the university was an early advocate of both women's and African-Americans' participation in higher education. In 1871, UVM defied custom and admitted two women as students. Four years later, it was the first American university to admit women to full membership into Phi Beta Kappa, the country's oldest collegiate academic honor society. Likewise, in 1877, it initiated the first African-American into the society.[5]

Justin Smith Morrill, a Representative (1855–1867) and Senator (1867–1898) from Vermont, author of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act that created federal funding for establishing the US Land-Grant colleges and universities, served as a trustee of the university from 1865-1898.

Prior to 1970, UVM's winter carnival celebrations for many decades included a widely attended competition known as Kakewalk ("Walkin' fo' de cake"). The event involved males wearing bright suits and blackface performing athletic dance routines in imitation of Black minstrel shows. Greater awareness of and sensivity toward Black Americans promoted by the Civil Rights Movement led the University of Vermont to abolish Kakewalk in 1969. The University also was a leading center for eugenics in the early 1900s.

Academics

UVM research vessel docked near ECHO Aquarium, in Burlington harbor along Lake Champlain.
University rankings (overall)
USNWR National University[6] 88

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or schools.[7]

Bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Social Services, the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the Graduate College, the School of Business Administration, and The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

The university's Division of Continuing Education offers certificate programs, a post-bac pre-medical series, credit courses for both degree and non-degree seeking students, and specialized training programs for businesses. Courses are presented in classroom, online, and/or interactive television formats.[8]

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) offers programs in animal science (early admission to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University is available); biochemistry; biological science; community entrepreneurship; community and international development; dietetics, nutrition and food sciences; ecological agriculture; environmental science; environmental studies; microbiology; molecular genetics; plant biology; public communication; and sustainable landscape horticulture. The college is also home to the Center for Rural Studies.

As a land grant college, UVM receives an annual grant under the Cooperative extension service to provide agricultural research services to the state of Vermont.

College of Arts and Sciences

The largest of UVM's schools and colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences offers 45 areas of study in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences.

School of Business Administration

UVM's School of Business Administration is accredited by the AACSB International and offers concentrations in accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, human resource management, international management, management and the environment, management information systems, marketing, and production and operations management.

College of Education and Social Services

UVM's College of Education and Social Services offers teacher education, early childhood development and social work studies.

The College comprises the Department of Integrated Professional Services, Department of Education, Department of Social Work, and the Center for Disability and Community Inclusion. Studies leading to a masters degree or doctorate are offered.

College of Engineering and Mathematics

In the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS), the phrase "in service to humanity" has become the organizing principle for all programs of study: engineering, computer science and mathematics. Indeed, a sense of social relevance and social responsibility is pervasive throughout the College. The College is composed of vibrant departments and programs, all working together in an interdisciplinary manner.

CEMS is home to one school, the School of Engineering, two academic departments, the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and two research centers — the Complex Systems Center and the Vermont Advanced Computing Center.

The College has about 750 undergraduate students, 150 graduate students and 85 faculty members.

The Williams Science Hall at the University of Vermont today houses the departments of Fine Arts and Anthropology.

College of Medicine

In 1804, John Pomeroy began teaching students in his house in Burlington, as the first medical department at a State College or University. In 1822, the College of Medicine was established as the seventh medical college in the United States, founded by Pomeroy and the medical educator Nathan Smith.

UVM enrolls approximately 100 medical students in each class; there are approximately 400 medical students total. Fletcher Allen Health Care is the primary clinical resource. Additional training takes place at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine.

The UVM College of Medicine ranked 5th for overall quality in primary care training among the country’s top 125 medical schools according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 graduate school rankings.[9]

Charles A. Dana Medical Library

The largest medical library in Vermont, the Charles A. Dana Library is the Vermont Resource Library of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and serves the information needs of the Academic Health Center at the University of Vermont. The Academic Health Center is composed of the faculty, staff and students at UVM's College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, as well as the physicians and other health care providers at Fletcher Allen Health Care. The Library also meets the health sciences information needs of the University of Vermont’s undergraduate and graduate programs and is open to the citizens of the state of Vermont with health sciences information questions.

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences at UVM comprises three departments: Nursing, the Medical Laboratory and Radiation Sciences, and Rehabilitation and Movement. Students in the college major in athletic training, exercise and movement sciences, medical laboratory science, nuclear medicine techonology, nursing, or radiation therapy, or they prepare to enter a doctor of physical therapy program.

Honors College

The Honors College sponsors opportunities for students to participate in co-curricular programs and extracurricular activities — special symposia, dinners with visiting scholars, trips to museums and theaters in Montreal and Boston.

Faculty is selected from throughout the university to participate in the Honors College as lecturers in a first-year ethics course and advanced seminars, participants in reading groups, speakers at the Plenary Lecture Series, and mentors to honors students conducting research.

Through a required ethics course, small seminars, informal gatherings, and special research projects, students work alongside scholars from a section of the university's academic disciplines in the humanities, the sciences, engineering, nursing, medicine, education, business and more.

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources seeks to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of ecological and social processes and values aimed at maintaining the integrity of natural systems and achieving a sustainable human community in harmony with the natural environment.

In 2007, the university won a $6.7 million grant to research the pollution problems of Lake Champlain.[10]

Davis Center, the new student resource center of the university completed Fall 2007.

Financial

Undergraduate tuition for the 20010-11 academic year was set by the university's board of trustees at $12,180 for Vermont residents; $30,744 for out-of-state residents, plus room and board (average: $9,675)

The university's total operating budget was $571 million in fiscal year 2008-09. In June 2009 UVM's endowment was $269 million.[11]

Athletics

UVM offers 20 varsity sports. Women's teams include basketball, cross-country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, swimming and diving, and track and field (indoor and outdoor). Men's teams include basketball, cross-country, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, soccer, and track and field (indoor and outdoor), and the teams are known as the Catamounts. All teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. Most teams compete in the America East Conference. Men's and women's hockey teams compete in the Hockey East Association. The alpine and Nordic ski teams compete in the E.I.S.A. (Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association).

The Gutterson Fieldhouse, built in 1963, houses UVM's hockey rink.

UVM’s athletic teams have won five straight America East Academic Cups (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) for the best overall combined GPA among its student-athletes. UVM is the first school in the America East Conference to win three straight years and four times overall.

The UVM ski team has won six national championships and 31 EISA titles.[10]. The team has had 52 individual national champions, over 273 All-Americans, and 66 US Ski Team members.

UVM’s men's hockey team has produced 14 NHL players in its history. UVM alumni currently in the NHL include Viktor Stålberg '09 (Toronto Maple Leafs), Torrey Mitchell '07 (San Jose Sharks), Patrick Sharp '02 (Chicago Blackhawks), Martin St. Louis '97 (Tampa Bay Lightning), Éric Perrin '97 (Atlanta Thrashers), Brayden Irwin '10 (Toronto Maple Leafs), and Tim Thomas '97 (Boston Bruins). St. Louis, Perrin, and former NHL All-Star John LeClair '91 won the Stanley Cup in their careers. In 2004, St. Louis was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's MVP, the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, the Lester B. Pearson Award as the league's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players Association, and the Bud Light Plus/Minus award. Thomas was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 2009. UVM is the only NCAA program in history to count alumni who have won both the Hart Trophy and the Vezina Trophy, as well as the only NCAA program to generate an Art Ross winner.

Highlights of the past two varsity athletic seasons include the men's hockey teams trip to the Frozen Four in 2009 and Women's and Men's basketball teams league wins and advance to the 2010 NCAA tournament.

The men's and women's basketball programs have produced over 20 professional players who have continued their careers overseas. Between 2003-2007 the men's basketball team made five consecutive trips to the America East Championship game and won the title three straight years from 2003-2005. In 2005 the 13th seeded UVM men's basketball team defeated 4th seeded Big East champion Syracuse University 60-57 in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, their first ever win in the tournament. In 2007 UVM Men's beat then 13th ranked Boston College in regular season play. In 2010 the men's and wonen's team both won the America East Championship both earning a spot in the NCAA Basketball Tournament The men's lost to #1 Syracuse but the women's upset #7 Wisconsin and moved on to the second round losing to #2 Notre Dame

In 2007, the UVM men's soccer team won the America East Conference title.

Thirty-six former UVM athletes have competed in 16 Olympic Games (13 winter, 3 summer) and combined have won six Olympic medals.

UVM sponsors several club sports teams. The UVM crew team competes in the Head of the Charles Regatta and Dad Vail Regatta. The Cycling Team competes against other collegiate varsity teams. The UVM sailing team was competitively ranked 8th in the nation as of November 15, 2009.[12][13]

The University of Vermont discontinued participating in football in 1974. In 2007, a club football team began participating in the Northeast Independent Football League (NIFL) Semi Pro Football League. In 2008, the club team will play an independent Division III Junior Varsity schedule. Since 2007 home games have been played at Burlington High School[14]

There have been 32 Catamount baseball players that continued their playing careers with MLB programs including Kirk McCaskill who won 110 games during his Major League career. Prior to the cuts of 2009, Vermont baseball was the winningest program at Vermont with a .532 winning percentage (1485-1306).

In the winter of 2009, college president Dan Fogel announced that after the 2009 season, the UVM baseball and softball teams would be cut in order to bridge a severe budget gap the college was facing. Proposed budgets for 2009-2010 show much of the money from the cut programs has been re-allocated to Women's hockey, men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse programs.

Arts

UVM's Lane Performing Arts Series and Music Department sponsor instrumental and choral performances featuring national and international performers throughout the year. The Robert Hull Fleming Museum hosts traveling exhibits and displays of the museum's extensive fine art and ethnographic collections. The Royall Tyler Theatre presents mainstage productions of varied themes, often featuring Equity actors along with student talent. The Vermont Mozart Festival concept evolved at UVM. Though it has been incorporated as a separate non-profit organization in 1976, its ties to UVM have remained.

In addition to the Department of Theatre's three mainstage shows each year, a group of student-directed one acts, and The Toys Take Over Christmas, a holiday tradition in Burlington, are also performed. Past mainstage shows have included:

2003 - Remember the Children: Terezin, 2003 - Metamorphoses (play), 2004 - The Art of Dining, 2004 - Antigone (Anouilh play), 2004 - Rumors, 2005 - A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2005 - Beyond Therapy, 2005 - Hair (musical), 2006 - Ring Round the Moon, 2006 - The Underpants, 2006 - Macbeth, 2007 - La Ronde, 2007 - Found a Peanut (play), 2007 - The Miss Firecracker Contest, 2008 - Compleat Female Stage Beauty, 2009 - Godspell [15]

Student life

Student clubs and organizations, totaling more than 100, span student interests and receive sponsorship from the Student Government Association. Clubs with longstanding history and the largest memberships include: Volunteers in Action, the UVM Outing Club, Ski & Snowboard Club. Hillel also has a strong presence on the UVM campus.[16]

UVM has a long history of student activism. There are many student organizations with focuses in social and environmental justice, attempting to make change both at UVM, as well as around the world.

Student-Run Organizations

Sustainability

UVM is currently developing a proposal for the Lewis Foundation to transform the University into a “a driving force that leads society by design to a sustainable and desirable future.”[27]

The University of Vermont has an active environmental council, and the sustainability staff include a full-time environmental coordinator and a green building coordinator. In 2006, two students led a drive to change university policy so that all copier paper would be 100% recycled and chlorine–free.[28] Recently, UVM started operating 2 new buses on compressed natural gas.[29] Because of these innovative initiatives and others, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the University of Vermont an “A-” on its College Sustainability Report Card 2008.[30]

The Lawrence Debate Union

The university's debate team,[31] has sent students abroad to promote cultural understanding. In 2007, students traveled to Slovenia, Malaysia, and Thailand.[32]

Concerts

The University’s Concert Bureau (a.k.a. SA Concerts) is responsible for bringing live musical entertainment to the UVM community. SA Concerts features acts from across the country as well as local bands. The SGA funded club comprises an elected bureau of students who learn about the various aspects of the music industry by putting on shows and working with local sound and production professionals. Students are in charge of choosing and booking bands and are responsible for all production aspects on the day of show.

UVM’s Concert Bureau was established in 1971 and has brought in artists such as R.E.M., Phish (whose members attended UVM in the 1980s), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sting, Lou Reed, Primus, String Cheese Incident, James Brown, Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers Band, Death Cab for Cutie, Jurassic 5, the Disco Biscuits, The Grateful Dead, Guster, and the The Flaming Lips.

Since 2001, SA Concerts has organized an annual festival known as SpringFest, held in April. SpringFest headliners have included Vida Blue, The Roots, Cake, Keller Williams, Gov't Mule, co-headliners Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Ziggy Marley, and in 2008, Talib Kweli. Other acts to perform at various SpringFests have included The Meditations, Toots & the Maytals, Soulive, Rjd2, Apollo Sunshine, Ratatat in 2009, and MSTRKRFT in 2010.

Publications

Greek life

The University of Vermont Greek Community is one of the oldest in the nation with the first fraternal organization starting in 1836. The 5 pillar values of the University of Vermont Greek community are citizenship, leadership, lifelong learning, friendship, and cornerstone value is social justice. The University of Vermont values its Greek Community for their strong commitment to collaboration and relationship building. Over 7% of students at UVM join a Greek Life organization and are very strongly represented in student government.

Fraternities

Sororities

Notable alumni and graduates

References

  1. http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/research/2009_NCSE_Public_Tables_Endowment_Market_Values.pdf
  2. http://www.uvm.edu/~facsen/FPPC2008annualreport.pdf retrieved July 21, 2007
  3. http://www.uvm.edu/~pmc/printservices/styleguideimages/essentials.pdf
  4. Sourcebook : Publications : University of Vermont
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 [1]
  6. "National Universities Rankings". America's Best Colleges 2011. U.S. News & World Report. 2010. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search. Retrieved August 29, 2010. 
  7. http://www.uvm.edu/academics/catalogue2007-08/ retrieved April 4, 2008
  8. UVM website
  9. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/brief/mdprank_brief.php
  10. UVM wins $6.7M lake-research grant. Burlington Free Press. September 28, 2007. 
  11. http://www.uvm.edu/~ofabweb/sbfy10web.pdf
  12. UVM Sailing Team Website
  13. Sailing Collegiate National Top 20
  14. Football Club
  15. Department of Theatre : University of Vermont
  16. http://www.uvmssc.com
  17. http://www.uvm.edu/~cycling/
  18. http://www.uvm.edu/~sailing/
  19. http://www.uvm.edu/~aphio/
  20. The Translating Identity Conference website http://www.uvm.edu/~tic/
  21. http://www.cems.uvm.edu/~cssa
  22. http://www.uvmssc.com/
  23. http://www.uvm.edu/~spapadog/womensclubhockey/
  24. http://www.uvm.edu/~rescue/
  25. www.Facebook.com/UVMSASS
  26. http://www.wruv.org/
  27. "The Integrative Center for Sustainable Solutions". The University of Vermont. http://www.uvm.edu/~sstnblty/?Page=about.html. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
  28. "University Communications article by Joshua E. Brown". The University of Vermont. http://www.uvm.edu/%7Euvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=8127&SM=newssub.html. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
  29. "Press Release by Jeffrey R. Wakefield". The University of Vermont. http://www.uvm.edu/greening/?Page=News&storyID=10196. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
  30. "College Sustainability Report Card 2008". Sustainable Endowments Institute. http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
  31. The Lawrence Debate Union
  32. Tournament Schedule of Lawrence Debate Union
  33. Sigma Phi Epsilon Vermont Gamma Chapter Website
  34. Pi Kappa Alpha Official website
  35. Phi Delta Theta Official website
  36. [2]

External links