Salem State University

This article is for the state college in Salem, Massachusetts. For other uses see SSC

Salem State College

Salem State College seal
Type	Public
Established	1854
Academic staff	500
Undergraduates	7,700
Postgraduates	2,400
Location	Salem , Mass. , USA 42.503113°N 70.892643°W / 42.503113; -70.892643
Campus	suburban, 112 acres
Colors	Blue and Orange
Website	www.salemstate.edu

Salem State College is a public institution of higher learning located in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. As one of the largest state colleges in Massachusetts, Salem State College enrolls more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing 27 states and 65 nations, and is one of the largest state colleges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college has four schools: School of Arts & Sciences, Schools of Human Services, the Bertolon School of Business, and the School of Graduate Studies. Salem State offers 30 undergraduate and 50 graduate programs along with continuing education and professional and community enrichment courses. The college offers Bachelors, Masters, MBAs and Post Masters Certificates. Students can enroll in day, evening, weekend and online courses. The top five majors are business administration, nursing, education, criminal justice, and biology. Salem State is recognized for our award-winning athletic and art programs. In addition, the college is home to the Enterprise Center, the Center for Economic Development and Sustainability, the North Shore Alliance, and the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center. Each entity is focused on advancing the economic development of the North Shore.

Situated on five campuses totaling 111 acres, Salem State has 37 buildings and continues to grow. Nearly 1,500 students live in its four residence facilities; a new hall will open for September 2010 and will house another 525 students. Central Campus is the home of an academic building that contains the Bertolon School of Business, the Music Department, and a recital hall. The college also has multiple theater venues, a hockey rink, tennis courts, two gymnasiums, a pool, a recently renovated athletic field and an aquaculture facility located at nearby Cat Cove.

Salem State College's Mission

Salem State's mission is to provide a high quality, student-centered education that prepares a diverse community of learners to contribute responsibly and creatively to a global society, and serve as a resource to advance the region's cultural, social and economic development.

College History

Salem State's over 150-year history reflects the growth of its mission and its vital role in the nation, the Commonwealth and the local community. From its beginnings as a small teaching college for women to the large, diverse and comprehensive academic institution it is today, the college has remained true to the values of its founders, and continually seeks a forward path, adapting to society's changing needs while ensuring the intellectual and material well-being of the North Shore region of Massachusetts and beyond.

Born of the humanitarian endeavors of Horace Mann, the institution originally known as Salem Normal School welcomed its first class of "young ladies who wish to prepare themselves for teaching" on September 14, 1854. Only the fourth such institution in Massachusetts and the tenth in America, the city of Salem welcomed the new school with open arms, and generously endowed its first site at One Broad Street. The city and school quickly developed a mutually beneficial partnership that continues to thrive to this day.

Even in its early stages, Salem Normal School alumnae took community partnership and service beyond Massachusetts' borders. Charlotte Forten, the school's first African-American student and graduate of the class of 1856,was the first African-American teacher to journey south during the Civil War to teach freed slaves on the Sea Islands of the coast of South Carolina. Later, fellow alumnae followed her south to teach in newly-constructed schools for blacks.

By the end of the Civil War, Salem Normal School was becoming well established as a forerunner in public higher education. Its graduates instilled the values they learned in schools throughout Massachusetts, the country, and even as far afield as Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. At this time, the demand for teachers was increasing nationwide, and Salem Normal School prospered.

Following a major renovation of the Broad Street building in 1871, the school's capacity doubled to keep up with the increased demand for admission. In 1896, Salem Normal School moved to an expanded campus in South Salem, which finally allowed for the introduction of a model training school housed in the Sullivan Building. In 1898, the student body became coeducational, although male enrollment remained small until the introduction of a commercial program in 1908. The commercial curriculum, which combined professional business practice with pedagogical instruction, became the first of its kind in American public higher education.

In 1921, the course of study was lengthened from two to four years, and shortly thereafter in 1932, Salem Normal School became Salem Teachers College. To accommodate the burgeoning enrollment, expansion continued and flourished in the mid-1950s, with the addition of new programs and the construction of new buildings, including the Administration Building in 1959 and Meier Hall in 1964. Later that decade, a liberal arts program was added, and the first residence halls were opened in 1966. Renamed Salem State College in 1968, new programs in business administration and nursing led to the acquisition of South Campus, including the former Loring Estate, in 1972.

Over the next several decades, the college responded to the growing needs of the Commonwealth and added numerous academic programs and majors while significantly expanding its physical plant. The O'Keefe Sports Center was constructed in 1976, and the Salem State College Series was inaugurated in 1982, with former President Gerald R. Ford as its first speaker.

The era commencing with the 1990s has been marked by continued expansion and increased diversity throughout campus. In 1997, the college purchased an adjacent 37.5-acre site that formerly contained a GTE Sylvania manufacturing plant.After receiving a $4.8-million grant to renovate the property in 1999, the space was converted into the college's newest campus. Central Campus, as it is currently known, houses the Bertolon School of Business, a recital hall, a 'green' and sustainable residence hall, and a small business incubator for the region. The Northeastern Aquaculture Center at Cat Cove was also established that year.

The past two decades have also seen record breaking increases in fundraising and in the endowment, along with innovative technological advances. The transition to a wireless campus, the laptop initiative, and an online, virtual library have aided the college in meeting the technology expectations of students and the community.

Salem State's evolution into a respected, comprehensive institution of higher education owes its continued success to the vision of its faculty, students and staff, the partnerships between community and college and the accomplishments and loyalties of alumni worldwide. Serving some 10,000 students in graduate and undergraduate programs, Salem State is the largest institution of higher education on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Over 150 years after its founding, Salem State College continues to promote and promise the tradition of excellence envisioned by its founders. As it nears university status, its impact in the Commonwealth and beyond is only expected to increase.

Community Impact

As of fall 2010 the college had more than 50,000 living alumni with 80 percent living in Massachusetts. Salem State is the second largest employer in the City of Salem and one of the top five employes on the North Shore. The college generated more than $376 million in economic spending in Massachusetts (2006); over $210 million of spending in Essex County and over $61 million in the City of Salem. Salem State creates jobs for 3,459 Massachusetts residents, including 593 in Salem and 1,978 throughout Essex County.

Salem State College President, Dr. Patricia Maguire Meservey, has announced plans to gradually transition the college into a university.

Tuition and fees

Undergraduate day students (12 credits/semester) (FY09): Full-time, in-state – $6,520 per year; Full-time, out-of-state – $12,660 per year

Undergraduate evening students (FY09): In-state – $190 per credit; Out-of-state – $225 per credit

Graduate students (FY09): In-state – $250 per credit; Out-of-state – $340 per credit

Room and board begins at $3,942 per semester

Sports

Sports are housed at the Richard B. O'Keefe Center. The Richard H. Rockett Arena is a public skating rink in the winter, and in the summer it is converted to an indoor tennis facility.

The Salem State College Vikings compete in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference in NCAA Division III. Salem State offers 21 sports including: lacrosse, baseball, basketball, cross-country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, softball, soccer, and tennis.

The O'Keefe center also includes its own workout facility, the Wellness Center, which is open to all students.

Theatre and the Arts

SSC hosts many art shows, theatrical productions, and dance shows in its art galleries, full-scale theatre department, and dance studios.

SSC's theatre department has three theatres, the 730 seat Mainstage Theatre, a beautiful recital hall at Central Campus, and the more intimate Callan Studio Theatre in the basement of the Sullivan Building.

The theatre department produces up to six shows an academic year. They are also members of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) and compete regularly. Other groups that perform regularly are:

• The Student Theatre Ensemble (STE) who produce one show each semester and a summer musical.
• Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) have two dance shows a year.
• The Students' Work Theatre Project (SWTP) a student run organization that allows anyone interested in theatre to join in a no-pressure environment to grow, learn, and have fun. The production is made up of entirely student produced, directed, and written 10-minute plays. SWTP performs in the fall of every school year, allowing incoming freshman and any non-theatre students to get involved.
• Human Action Theatre (HAT) an educational theatre group that performs during Freshman Orientation. Brilliant Director Josh Gunerson has served as Artistic Director for the past 9 years at Salem State all the time trying to gratuate.
• Salem State College is also home to the improv/sketch comedy troupe, Grandma's 3rd Leg (G3L), which performs twice a semester and at venues around Massachusetts. And the last major group that produces is Summer Theatre at Salem, a professional theatre set up that produces 3 shows every summer.

The campus newspaper is The Log [1], the alumni magazine is called Salem Statement, the student e-zine is Red Skies, and the campus radio station is 130-watt WMWM, 91.7 FM.

Library

The Salem State library owns over three hundred thousand volumes, twenty-nine thousand microform units, nine thousand maps and subscribes to six hundred ninety-two periodicals. Memberships with other local libraries enable access to over 3.1 million holdings in the north-of-Boston area.

At the recommendation of the state Division of Capital Asset management (DCAM), the Salem State library was closed on October 15, 2007 to address concerns raised by an engineering consultant report over the structural safety of the building.

The college created a temporary library space on Central Campus. Funding has been approved and the college is in the schematic design phase for constructing a new library and learning commons on North Campus; hard construction will begin during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Speaker Series

Since 1982, Salem State Series, a nationally-acclaimed lecture series, has brought U.S. presidents, Hollywood luminaries, animal activists, world leaders, and sports legends—among many others—to the college.Past speakers include 42nd United State President Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Gloria Steinem, Robert Redford and Jesse Jackson. In 2007 the speakers were baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr., 41st United State President George H.W. Bush, and novelist Tom Wolfe.

Leadership

Elected by a unanimous vote of the college's board of trustees, Dr. Patricia Maguire Meservey became the 13th president of Salem State College on July 29, 2007.

The former provost and academic vice president of Suffolk University in Boston, Dr. Meservey is recognized for her work in the advancement of teaching excellence, promotion of faculty scholarship and academic and administrative strategic planning. Prior to Suffolk, Dr. Meservey served as vice provost for faculty and budget at Northeastern University, where she had previously held positions that included professor of nursing, special assistant to the president and interim vice provost for enrollment management. Dr. Meservey also served as executive director of the Center for Community Health Education, Research & Service, and the national director of the Community Partnerships in Graduate Medical and Nursing Education Initiative. Both initiatives were funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Dr. Meservey provided leadership in the transformation of nursing and medical education, bringing students into the fields of community health and primary care. Her work with the neighborhood health centers of Boston provided learning opportunities for students, and improved health care options for patients and community members. She is published in the fields of nursing, health professional education and health policy.

Dr. Meservey holds a PhD in higher education administration from Boston College, an MS in parent-child health nursing and a BS in nursing, both from Boston University, and a diploma in nursing from Faulkner Hospital. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Notable

Alumni

• Demetrius J. Atsalis, (Social Studies Certificate), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1998 - present)
• Arthur J. Broadhurst, (B.A. 1988), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1998 - 2007)
• Michael A Costello, (B.S. 1989), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 2002 - present)
• Robert F. Fennell, (B.S. 1978), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1994 - present)
• John F. Tierney, member of the United States House of Representative (served 1997 - present)
• Jacyn Tremblay, (Presidential Art Scholar) (B.A. 2002), member of Universal Motown recording artists Jada
• Tom Thibodeau, (B.S.), Assistant coach of the Boston Celtics (2007 - present)
• Keith Knight, (B.A.), Cartoonist
• David Willis, (B.A.), Sportswriter
• Mark Parisi, BA, 1984, Cartoonist

External links

• SSC Homepage