Type | Public university system |
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Location | |
Website | system |
The University of Minnesota System [1] is a public university system with five campuses spread across the U.S. state of Minnesota. [2]
The university system's campuses are in the Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester. The university also operates several research facilities around the state, including some large parcels of land. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). [3] The other public system of higher education in the state is the larger Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (Minnesota State System, previously MnSCU).
The university system receives annual funding from the State of Minnesota.
The flagship Twin Cities campus is the largest in the system, with a total enrollment of 50,943 students (undergraduate, graduate, professional, and non-degree included) in fall 2018. In the same year Crookston had 2,810, Duluth had 11,040, Morris had 1,554, and Rochester had 533, bringing the system-wide total to 66,880. [4]
The colors of the university, which are used system-wide, are maroon and gold.
The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (UMTC) is the largest with locations in Minneapolis and neighboring Saint Paul (actually, the suburb of Falcon Heights). The locations are connected via a dedicated bus transitway. The buildings on each campus are connected by a series of tunnels and above-ground skyways called The Gopher Way. The campus is the oldest and largest in the system and has the ninth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,376 students at the start of the 2021–22 academic year. [5]
The Minneapolis portion is the largest and has a number of colleges dedicated to a variety of subjects. The Twin Cities campus located in Minneapolis can be further subdivided into the East Bank (main portion) and West Bank, as the Mississippi River flows through it. Students become well-acquainted with the double-decker Washington Avenue Bridge that connects the two sections. There are a number of distinguished graduate and professional schools on the Minneapolis campus, notably the College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Law School, Medical School, Carlson School of Management, School of Public Health, and Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. In addition, Minneapolis houses many research facilities such as The Cancer Center.
The Twin Cities campus located in St Paul is home to the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, University of Minnesota College of Design, and University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences programs, the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and a variety of additional programs and student services. The Bell Museum of Natural History is also located on the campus in St. Paul.
The mascot for the Twin Cities campus is Goldy Gopher, and the sports teams are called the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and the football team participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The majority of the teams compete in the Big Ten Conference, however, the women's hockey program competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Among the graduates from this campus are two former U.S. Vice Presidents, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, former NAACP president Roy Wilkins, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, several Nobel prize winners, several athletes such as Ric Flair, Kevin McHale, Dave Winfield, Patty Berg, Brock Lesnar, Curt Hennig, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Jackson of the NBA, and composer Yanni. Folksinger Bob Dylan famously attended the University and was a part of its thriving "West Bank" music scene, but did not graduate. A wide variety of medical and technological innovations have taken place there as well. For instance, the Internet Gopher protocol was created at the Twin Cities campus. A predecessor of sorts to the World Wide Web, it was named after the school mascot.
Campus media includes the Minnesota Daily newspaper, The Wake Student Magazine , and 770 Radio K (KUOM), an AM radio station that is probably the oldest in the state.
The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) joined the university system in 1966. At that time it was known as the University of Minnesota Technical Institute at Crookston. Since 1993 the Crookston campus has offered bachelor's degrees, and it has grown to be a more comprehensive regional college campus. It is known for its focus on experiential learning and technology[ citation needed ], and through fees each student is provided a laptop computer as part of their experience. The campus mascot is Regal the Eagle, and the athletics teams are known as the Golden Eagles.
The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) became part of the system in 1947, though the campus has a history stretching back to 1895 when it was formed as the Normal School at Duluth.
Its men's hockey program competes in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and its women's hockey program competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. UMD baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's track and field, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball are Division II teams. Their teams are nicknamed Bulldogs. and their mascot is Champ.
Among the graduates from UMD are former Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Yvonne Prettner Solon, former Duluth mayor Emily Larson, and former Duluth mayor Don Ness. Brian Kobilka received the 2012 Nobel Prize in chemistry. UMD has produced numerous professional hockey players including John Harrington and Mark Pavelich from the 1980 Miracle on Ice Olympic hockey team, and NHL Hall of Famer Brett Hull.
Campus media includes The Bark newspaper; until 2021, UMD also owned radio station KUMD-FM (now WDSE-FM).
The University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) joined the system in 1960. UMN Morris is a public liberal arts college.
The campus offers 34 majors, 35 minors, and 13 licensure areas, along with the option to create one's own major. The student-to-faculty ratio is 13:1, and students are able to engage in undergraduate research and internships with faculty members. One in five students also participates in NCAA Division III Intercollegiate Athletics as a Cougar athlete.
With tuition a quarter of Minnesota's most expensive private school and 96% of incoming students receiving financial aid, UMN Morris students graduate with the lowest student loan debt in the University of Minnesota system.
The University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) is the public undergraduate health sciences university. UMR is the newest campus of the University of Minnesota system, having been formally established in December 2006 (although the University of Minnesota has offered classes in Rochester as a satellite site since as early as 1966).
UMR has no NCAA athletic teams, but it does have a mascot, the Rochester Raptor.
UMR, located in University Square in downtown Rochester, is neighbor to world-renowned Mayo Clinic.
Programs offered:
The Waseca campus opened in 1971 and closed in 1992. Their mascot was "Ramus" the ram. [7] During its operation, it maintained a college cable-FM radio station with the call letters KUMW. Campus buildings became part of a low-security federal prison for women (see Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca). The University still operates an agricultural outreach program in the city. [7]
Number | Name | Dates |
---|---|---|
1st | William Watts Folwell | 1869–1884 |
2nd | Cyrus Northrop | 1884–1911 |
3rd | George Vincent | 1911–1917 |
4th | Marion Burton | 1917–1920 |
5th | Lotus Coffman | 1920–1938 |
6th | Guy Stanton Ford | 1938–1941 |
7th | Walter Coffey | 1941–1945 |
8th | James Morrill | 1945–1960 |
9th | O. Meredith Wilson | 1960–1967 |
10th | Malcolm Moos | 1967–1974 |
E. W. Ziebarth | 1974–1974 (interim) | |
11th | C. Peter Magrath | 1974–1984 |
12th | Kenneth H. Keller | 1984–1985 (interim) 1985–1988 |
Richard J. Sauer | 1988–1989 (interim) | |
13th | Nils Hasselmo | 1989–1997 |
14th | Mark G. Yudof | 1997–2002 |
15th | Robert H. Bruininks | 2002–2011 |
16th | Eric W. Kaler | 2011–2019 |
17th | Joan Gabel | 2019-2023 |
*interim | Jeffrey Ettinger | 2023-2024 |
18th | Rebecca Cunningham | 2024-Present |
The University of Minnesota was founded in Minneapolis in 1851 as a college preparatory school, seven years prior to Minnesota's statehood. As such, the University of Minnesota enjoys much autonomy from other operations of the state government. The school was closed during the American Civil War, but reopened in 1867. Minneapolis businessman John Sargent Pillsbury is known today as the "Father of the University", and aided the campus through financial troubles as a regent, state senator, and governor. The Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act also helped provide funding for the University of Minnesota.
In 1869 the school reorganized and became an institution of higher education. William Watts Folwell served as the University of Minnesota's first president. An official residence known as Eastcliff has been used by six university presidents since 1958. The 20-room house, originally built by lumber baron Edward Brooks, Sr., was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
During the traditional autumn through spring year, classes are not held on Thanksgiving Day or the Friday after, and the school traditionally has an extended break covering Christmas and New Year's Day. Classes don't resume in January until the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A week-long spring break occurs after the eighth week of the spring term, which sometimes coincides with Easter.
As of 2007, the University of Minnesota maintained an endowment of $2.8 billion. [8] Also, as a public university, the system received an estimated $641 million from the State of Minnesota. [9] The system's total budget for FY 2006 was $2.36 billion. [10]
There are several other research and outreach centers across the state operated by the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities or by the university system. As of September 2004, these areas plus the campuses are spread across 28,300 acres (44 miles² or 115 km2). Other areas owned by the state and university bring this up to a total of 57,200 acres (89 miles² or 231 km2)
Waseca is a city in Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,229 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The Twin Cities campus comprises locations in Minneapolis and Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul, approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) apart.
The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota system. UMD offers 17 bachelor's degrees in 87 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a two-year program at the School of Medicine, and a four-year College of Pharmacy program.
The University of Minnesota Morris (UMN–Morris) is a public liberal arts college in Morris, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts degrees.
WDSE-FM is a 95,000-watt public radio station in Duluth, Minnesota, operated by the Duluth–Superior Area Educational Television Corporation, which primarily carries an adult alternative radio format but also has a number of programs focusing on jazz, blues, and other genres. It is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio network. Programming from national sources includes World Cafe and American Routes.
The University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) is a public college in Rochester, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and focuses primarily on general health sciences. It was formally established by an act of the state legislature in December 2006. UMR currently offers two bachelor's degrees in the health sciences, Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Bachelor of Science in Health Professions.
The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMN–Crookston) is a public college in Crookston, Minnesota. One of five campuses in the University of Minnesota system, UMN Crookston had a fall 2022 enrollment of 1,489 undergraduate students. Students come from 20 countries and 40 states.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
The University of Minnesota Waseca (UMW) was a two-year technical college specializing in agriculture and located in Waseca, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A part of the University of Minnesota system, it operated from 1971 to 1992 and served nearly 20,000 students during that time. Their mascot was "Ramus" the ram. It maintained a college cable-FM radio station with the call letters KUMW. Its campus was previously an agricultural boarding high school known as the Southern School of Agriculture.
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Spirit Squads comprise the cheerleading organization at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Being the first program ever to form worldwide, the University of Minnesota is consequently considered the "Birthplace of Cheerleading". Today, the Gopher Spirit Squads consist of four separate squads: a cheer squad, a dance team, a hockey cheer squad, and the school's mascot, Goldy Gopher. The squads consistently perform well at national competitions including 21 national championships in dance since 2003, a 2nd-place finish for All-Girl in 2013, a fifth-place finish in 2017, and four-time national champion Goldy Gopher in 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2018. The current head coach is Sam Owens.
The Minnesota Public Interest Research Group describes itself as "a grassroots, non-partisan, nonprofit, student-directed organization that empowers and trains students and engages the community to take collective action in the public interest throughout the state of Minnesota."
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Minnesota:
The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey team plays for the University of Minnesota Duluth at the AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minnesota. The team is a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the Division I tier. The Bulldogs have won five NCAA Championships.
The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Minnesota Duluth. They were first named Bulldogs in 1933. Their colors are maroon and gold. The school competes in the NCAA's Division II and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in all sports except ice hockey. The men's team competes in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, and the women's hockey program compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Both hockey conferences are Division I. They are also known for having a strong club sports program, especially in ultimate frisbee, lacrosse, rugby, alpine skiing and ice hockey.
Punchinello Players, founded in 1914, was a theatre organization of the University of Minnesota. When it closed it was the second oldest student-run community theater in the U.S. Punchinello - located on the St. Paul campus - originated for the purpose of improving the lives of the greater community. As a university-associated theater it changed with the times and continued to explore and interrogate the human condition. Punchinello Players closed in 1994 due primarily to its home, North Hall, being slated for demolition.
The University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy is the pharmacy school of the University of Minnesota. It has two campus locations: in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota. The University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy is part of one of the largest Academic Health Centers (AHC) in the United States. This center allows health professionals to train collaboratively during the course of their training programs. The AHC comprises the College of Pharmacy, School of Dentistry, Medical School, School of Nursing, School of Public Health, and the College of Veterinary Medicine:.
Joan T. A. Gabel is an American academic administrator, currently serving as the chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. She previously served as president of the University of Minnesota.
The Minnesota–Minnesota Duluth men's ice hockey rivalry is a college ice hockey rivalry between the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey and Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey programs. The first meeting between the two occurred on 13 December 1952 but wasn't played annually until 1962.