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

Salem State College is a four-year public institution of higher learning located in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. As of 2006, SSC had 7,296 undergraduate and 2,567 graduate/continuing education students, for a total student body enrollment of 9,863. The College offers Bachelors, Masters, MBAs and Post Masters Certificates in more than 40 academic disciplines. Salem State College is the largest state college and fourth-largest public institution of higher education in Massachusetts.

Situated on five campuses. Nearly 1,500 students live in its four residence facilities. Central Campus is also 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.

History

The College was founded as the fourth Normal School in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1854 by the state legislature, thanks largely to the efforts of Horace Mann, and Kevin Daly. Initially a two-year, post-secondary educational school for women, the Normal School welcomed its first class of young ladies on September 13, 1854. Among the second graduating class in July 1856 was Charlotte Forten Grimké, the College's first black graduate.

In 1921, Salem Normal School began offering a four-year course of study and awarding bachelor's degrees. In 1932, the name was changed to Salem Teachers College. In 1955, the College began to offer postgraduate studies and awarding master's degrees. The school's name was changed to the current Salem State College in the fall of 1960, reflecting the diversification of its program offerings. Residence halls were opened in 1966.

As of 2009 the college had more than 48,000 living alumni with 80 percent living in Massachusetts. In 2006, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) named Salem State College "National School of the Year" for the work done by the Residence Hall Association (RHA).

The new President, Dr. Patricia Maguire Meservey, has announced plans to gradually transition the College into a University. In the foreseeable future the school will be offering doctoral programs in nursing and education as well as expanding the school's physical plant.

Campus

The college has five campuses totaling 112 acres with 33 buildings. The main campus is located 1.5 mile south of downtown Salem, Massachusetts about five blocks west of Salem Harbor. The college also has a maritime facility at Cat Cove 2.5 miles north of the main campus. A focal point of the main campus is the George H. Ellison Campus Center which houses the career and counseling staffs as well as student organizations. Nearly 1,500 Salem State students reside in four residence halls, although many students commute. Two of the dorms are traditional corridor style halls, and two are apartment style halls. In the Fall 2010, a fifth residence hall will be completed on Central Campus for sophomores. First-year students are housed in double, triple, and quad rooms at Bowditch and Peabody Halls, while upper-class students select single and double rooms within six-person apartments at the Bates Complex on South Campus and the residence hall on Central Campus. The Central Campus also has a dining hall. SSC will begin construction of a new library in 2010.

Salem State is an increasingly green campus, and has established a flourishing recycling program, cleared its Central Campus tidal marsh channels to boost salinity and water flow, established a soft shell clam propagation and reseeding effort at its Cat Cove aquaculture center, and is increasingly landscaping the campus with native trees and shrubs.

Organization

SSC is lead by an eleven member Board of Trustes. Nine trustees are appointed by the governor for five-year terms, renewable once; one alumni trustee is elected by the Alumni Association for a single five-year term; and a student trustee is elected by the student body for one year. The full board meets five times annually and are open to the public with the exception of executive sessions. The board currently has seven standing committees: Executive Committee, Academic Affairs, Finance and Facilities, Human Resources, Student Life, Long Range Planning, and Institutional Advancement. Meetings usually take place on the Salem State College campus.

The college's annual operating budget for fiscal year 2009 is $118,519,670 million; state appropriations account for approximately 40 percent of this. The Salem State College Foundation's endowment market value is in excess of $12 million at the end of fiscal year 2008.

Salem State College is the second largest employer in the city of Salem and one of the top five employers on the North Shore. The college generated more than $376 million in economic spending in Massachusetts in fiscal year 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.

Tuition and fees

As of Fall 2009:
In-State Undergraduate Day $37.92 per credit $455 full time
Out-State Undergraduate Day $293.75 per credit $3,525 full time
In-State Undergraduate Evening $115 per credit
Out-State Undergraduate Evening $150 per credit
In-State Graduate $140 per credit
Out-State Graduate $230 per credit
Regional $56.88 per credit $682.50 full time

• Full time: consists of 12 or more credits

2009 Mandatory Fees:
All College Fee - Undergraduate Day $245 per credit $2,940 full time
Credit Fees - Undergraduate Evening $105 per credit
Credit Fees - Graduate $135 per credit
Student Government - Undergraduate Day$2.50 per credit $30 full time

Other Fees:
Health Insurance (waviable) $1,017 per year
Orientation - Freshman $175
Orientation - Transfer $75
Student Testing Fee $25
Student Teaching Fee $90

Student body

The undergraduates are 38% male and 62% female. Graduate students are 21% male and 79% female. The undergraduates are 19% people of color and graduates are 4%. Ninety-four percent of undergraduates are Massachusetts residents.

Athletics

Sports are housed at the Richard B. O'Keefe Center. From September 1994 to February 1997, the Marblehead/Swampscott YMCA housed their gymnastics in the multi-purpose room there. 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 15 varsity sports: men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross-country, women's field hockey, men's golf, men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, women's softball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, women's volleyball, as well as men's and women's track and field. Non-varsity club sports include women's lacrosse and women's ice hockey.

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 several art galleries, its full-scale theatre department, and its dance studios.

SSC's theatre department has two theatres, the 730 seat Mainstage Theatre 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.

Two million dollars were recently given to the college to help build a new multimillion-dollar arts complex on Central Campus. Advancement of the project is unknown due to the fiscal crisis in year 2009-2010.

The campus newspaper is The Log , 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 SSC 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.

Library Closing

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

As of late October, the library will be closed indefinitely. This has caused much controversy among the students of the college. Many feel the alternatives are unacceptable. Others feel that part of the tuition paid go toward the access of resources which are now closed to students.

Speaker Series

The college hosts 3 speakers per year. 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

Dr. Patricia Maguire Meservey is the 13th President of Salem State College. Dr. Meservey was elected by a unanimous vote of the college's Board of Trustees on Thursday, May 10, 2007 at a special meeting. The selection will be immediately submitted to the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education for formal approval. Subject to that final ratification, Dr. Meservey assumed the position as of August 2007.

From May 1990 until June 2007, Nancy D. Harrington served as the President of the college.

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

References

1. ^ "Facts & Figures". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
2. "Past Presidents". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
3. "Campus Center". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
4. "Residence Halls". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
5. "Board of Trustees". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
6. http://www.salemstate.edu/5898.php
7. "Salem State College Athletics". Retrieved 2010-01-10.
8. "Club Sports". Retrieved 2010-01-10.

External links

• SSC Homepage

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Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
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