William Paterson University

Infobox University
name = William Paterson University of New Jersey
established = 1855
type= Public University
president = Dr. Arnold Speert
city = Wayne Township
state = New Jersey
country = United States
endowment =
students = 10,500
undergrad = 8,830
postgrad = 1,613
staff = 1,111
colors = Orange & Black
mascot = Pioneers
campus = 370 acres
website = [http://www.wpunj.edu www.wpunj.edu]

William Paterson University is a public university located in Wayne, New Jersey, an affluent suburb of New York City. [Brooks, Rick; and Tippett, Karen L. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB86112262217307000.html?mod=googlewsj "Extended-Stay Hotels Find"] , "The Wall Street Journal", April 16, 1997. Accessed September 25, 2008. "Also last month, Extended Stay abandoned plans for a 110-room hotel in Wayne, N.J., a suburb of New York City, following protests by hundreds of parents whose kids go to school near the proposed site."] It is set on 370 wooded acres in northeast New Jersey and the campus is located just 20 miles west of New York City. The University has 10,970 students. During the Fall 2007 semester, 8,830 undergraduate students and 1,613 graduate students were enrolled. It has 1,111 full-time employees, including 373 faculty members. The average class size is 20.5 with a student to faculty ratio of about 15.0 to 1.

History

The school was founded in Paterson, New Jersey in 1855 as the Paterson City Normal School to provide professional preparation for teachers. In 1875, the school started to provide a one year program for teachers, which later expanded into a two-year program. By 1936, the school accepted those that did not intend to become teachers, later expanding offerings in nursing and business. The name of the school was changed in 1937 to the New Jersey State Teacher's College at Paterson.

In 1950, the college moved to its current hill-top location in Wayne, New Jersey. The school dropped the word "teachers" from its title in 1958 before being renamed The William Paterson College of New Jersey in 1967, in honor of the New Jersey statesman and patriot, William Paterson.

The college was renamed William Paterson University of New Jersey in 1997 after sufficiently expanding its program. In 2005, the school celebrated its' 150th year of operation.

Academics

William Paterson offers 42 undergraduate and 22 graduate programs through its five colleges: Arts and Communication, Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Health. Certification is available in early childhood, elementary, secondary, and special education. Preprofessional programs in dentistry, law, medicine, and veterinary medicine are arranged at the request of students.

Like nearby Montclair State University, William Paterson is largely a commuter school; most of the students live off campus and commute to the school every day by car or other means. As such, parking is ever an issue. Many of these students, although not living on campus, still participate actively in many on-campus activities, such as sports, clubs, and other social activities.

Athletics

The University has 12 intercollegiate sports teams in the NCAA Division III, five for men and seven for women, including successful NCAA teams in men’s baseball and women’s softball. The men's baseball team has won the national championship of Division III baseball twice. Campus facilities include a competition-size indoor pool, outdoor tennis courts, and a lighted athletics field complex. All teams are named "The Pioneers."

The school also has four club-level sports teams, which consist of bowling, ice hockey, equestrian, and rugby.

Growth and renovation

William Paterson has been experiencing an increase of students, causing a demand for newer facilities and expanding residence hall facilities. The most drastic and noticeable of these changes has been to the Machuga Student Center, which in 2003 began extensive renovations and additions. It was completed in the Summer of 2007.

Another addition has been the newly completed "High Mountain" Residence Halls, which took the place of incoming freshman residence halls in the Fall 2006 semester. The Towers,which had been the freshman residence halls since their completion in the mid-70s, experienced a partial shutdown in the 2006 semester due to lack of interest in staying there. The South Tower has undergone renovations while the North Tower remained open and functional for students' use.

Parking issues

Much like Rutgers University and Montclair State University, William Paterson has experienced a burst in student growth, which has led to parking pains. Currently, the University has only two large scale parking lots (Lots 5 and 6), however, Lot 5 is restricted to between 2:00 AM and 7:00 AM. All lots other than Lots 2 and 6 are closed between the hours of 2:01 AM and 6:59 AM. Many students, both commuters and those residing on campus, have voiced their concerns about the situation of the lack of parking, which has largely been dismissed as an issue by the President.

Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business

**1600 Valley Road is home to the Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business, Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales, the E*TRADE Financial Learning Center, and is primarily used as the university's business and teaching education facility. It also has a cafeteria inside for students' use. In May 2001, William Paterson University, named its business school the Cotsakos College of Business in honor of Dr. Cotsakos former CEO of E*TRADE.

Academic facilities

*Shea Center for the Performing Arts
**Shea is the premiere auditorium of the school. It features seating for upwards of nine hundred people, a full orchestra pit, and a lifting platform under the stage to raise and lower musicians and actors to and from. Many productions are produced there every year and classes are frequently held in the lower floors for music majors.

*Hobart Hall
**Hobart Hall is a large telecommunications education building, used primarily for TV, radio and movie production classes. It features a live TV Studio, a radio station (WPSC-FM), screening and editing rooms, video/teleconferencing rooms, and is home to The Pioneer Times, the communication department newspaper.

*Coach House
**The Coach House is the current home to the Computer Science Department

*Wightman Gym
**Wightman Gym is the smaller of the two on-campus gymnasiums. It is used primarily for athletic and health academic courses, and can be used as a "party hall" of sorts for hosted events. It also has a large-scale pool used mainly for the swim team.

*Hunziker Hall and Hunziker Wing
**Hunziker Hall originally started out as a local high school and was absorbed into the college campus as it grew and other facilities were built. It is used primarily for the humanities and social sciences courses. Its addition, Hunziker Wing, is used for Philosophy and includes the Academic Support Center, where one can go for tutoring. Hunziker Wing also has an auditorium for production of plays and concerts.

*Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts
**The heart of the university's painting, sculpting and liberal arts education can be found here. Many famous painters' art can be found on display in the galleries during various parts of the year, alongside students' work.

*David and Lorraine Cheng Library
**The resident library of the university features private study rooms, an auditorium for guest speakers, and over 350,000 books and reading material. Mounted alongside the library is a live webcam where students may view the construction progress of the Machuga Student Center.

*Raubinger Hall
**Raubinger Hall is where the executive vice president, provost, academic services, and financial aid are all located. The upper floors hold classrooms where languages, history, and anthropology are mainly taught.

*Science Hall
**Science Hall is where all science and most mathematics classes are normally held. Ground has been broken for a new laboratory annex for this facility, and professors' offices, labs, and classrooms that are housed in the building are currently rotating through renovations, while the building is still occupied. This requires that many science lectures be held and computer-based labs be located in other campus facilities.

*Atrium
**The Atrium is a large, narrow building at the front of the campus. It has four computer labs, features many professor offices, and a Graduate Studies Lounge. It also had an auditorium used mainly for lectures and important briefings by the university president.

*Power Arts Center
**Located on Power Avenue in Wayne, just off of Hamburg Turnpike, Power Arts is one of the newest acquisitions by the university. The building has replaced the Ben Shahn Center as the center of all studio classes. Painting, sculpture, woodworking, printmaking, and ceramics studios can be found there, along with several darkrooms for photographic use and a state-of-the art lighting studio. Power Arts Center has become something of a mecca for the fine arts majors at the college.

Administrative buildings

*Hobart Manor
**Originally known as Alisa Farms when first constructed, this forty room mansion originally belonged to John McCullough, a Scottish immigrant who made a fortune in the wool industry, constructed a two-story fieldstone castle with two octagonal turrets facing the valley to the East. When he returned to Scotland, the family of Garret A. Hobart, the Twenty-Fourth Vice President of the United States, who had served under William McKinley purchased the house. His son expanded the original design of the house greatly, to its' present day size. In 1948, the building was sold to the University for $200,000, which then converted most of the rooms to offices, three classrooms, and the library. During the celebration of the Bicentennial, the building was listed on the New Jersey and National Registers for Historic Places and, in recognition of its history, was renamed Hobart Manor. In 1985, the Manor was emptied and a major renovation began. Partitions were removed, and much-needed electrical and plumbing repairs were made. The leaded glass windows, beautiful marble fireplaces, and original hardwood floors were all restored. Today, the Manor houses the offices of the President, Institutional Advancement, Development, and Alumni Relations. Its refurbished public rooms include the original dining room, drawing room, library, billiards room, and central foyers. Furnished with period reproductions, the rooms once again offer a reminder of life in another era.

*Morrison Hall
**Morrison Hall is the center for Campus Outreach activities. It is primarily used for students who are looking for jobs in the area, students looking for internships, and students interested in foregin exchange and study abroad programs.

*College Hall
**College Hall is home to administrative offices, the Bursar and Registrar offices in particular.

*Admissions Hall
**Located behind Hobart Hall, the admissions hall is where all things pertaining to actual admission to the university are handled.

tudent life buildings

*John Victor Machuga Student Center

The Student Center of William Paterson had been a point of contention for years as construction hampered services offered to students for a time. Ground broke in late 2003, and construction was promised to have finished in 2005. However, the project continued through that and the following school year, leading to its' completion in 2007.

Highlights of the renovated facility include a new information desk, expanded space for events, a new 500-seat ballroom, new meeting rooms, a redesigned food court, and several outdoor patios and lounges. A glass-enclosed bridge on the second floor links the Student Center to the new ballroom and new meeting rooms, all equipped with multimedia capability. Students now have easier access to student development services, activities, meeting rooms, and dining venues.

The Machuga Student Center houses the offices for campus activities, hospitality, dining services, and more than fifty student clubs and organizations. Other offices include commuter services, conference services, the vice president for student development, career development and advisement, and disability services.

*Wayne Hall

Wayne Hall, William Paterson's central dining facility for resident students, has received various improvements including a student lounge on the ground floor. The Pioneer Restaurant, previously located on the second floor of the Student Center, is now located on the renovated second floor of Wayne Hall.

*The Rec Center

Far larger than Wightman Gym, the Rec Center is an all-inclusive recreational facility, including a gymnasium, an exercise machine room, and various other recreational services.

Residence halls

William Paterson features many on-campus living facilities, both old and new.

*High Mountain East and High Mountain West
**The most recently constructed residence halls, completed in Summer 2006 feature card-key locking mechanisms on the doors. They are designed to accommodate 372 students.

*The Towers
**The North and South Tower complex were originally the complex for the housing typically of and freshman students. The North Tower can hold 526 students while the South Tower can hold 486. Currently, due to lack of interest and budget cuts, the South Tower is closed for renovation.

*Hillside Hall
**Hillside Hall currently holds all students, but is typically for upperclassmen. It can hold 247 students.

*Century Hall
**Century Hall currently holds all students, but is typically reserved for upperclassmen. It can hold 287 students, and features an in-hall "W Store" which is the campus' convenience store. It is also the only fully serviceable residence hall all year round.

*White Hall
**White Hall is currently open to students that are of age 21 or older, due to the alcohol permittance in this building. It is a smaller residence hall, holding only 73 students.

*Matelson Hall
**Matelson Hall is currently open to students with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. Its current capacity is 138 students. The fourth floor is typically reserved for biology, nursing, and health majors as a quiet study floor, due to the intensity of these areas of study.

*Pioneer and Heritage Halls
**Commonly referred to simply as "The Apartments", Pioneer Hall and Heritage Hall are reserved for upperclassmen age 21 or older, or age 20 and have obtained at least 58 credits of study (thus attaining Junior status.)

Notable alumni

*Raymond Arthur, president of Toysrus.com.Fact|date=July 2008
*Kevin Burkhardt, on-air Personality and Jets Beat Reporter for Sports Radio 660AM, WFAN.Fact|date=July 2008
*Wendy Coakley-Thompson, writer, "Back to Life".Fact|date=July 2008
*Christos Cotsakos, former CEO of E*TRADE Group.Fact|date=July 2008
*Rod Daniels, Anchorman for WBAL-TV Channel 11 in Baltimore.Fact|date=July 2008
*Horace Jenkins, former NBA player.Fact|date=July 2008
*Clinton Wheeler, former NBA player.Fact|date=July 2008
*Dan Pasqua, Major League Baseball player.Fact|date=July 2008
*William Pesce, president and CEO of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
*Joseph D. Pistone, class of 1965, a.k.a. "Donnie Brasco", FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family.Fact|date=July 2008
*Eileen Scott, CEO of Pathmark Stores, Inc.Fact|date=July 2008
*Ian Ziering, class of 1987, cast of Beverly Hills 90210.Fact|date=July 2008
*Tom Fitzgerald, journalist, emmy award winner.Fact|date=July 2008
*Dick Vitale, legendary sports broadcaster (graduate degree).Fact|date=July 2008
*Cora-Ann Mihalik, broadcast anchor/journalist.Fact|date=July 2008
*Tiffany Riddick, background vocalist for Beyonce.Fact|date=July 2008
*Eric Alexander, jazz musician.Fact|date=July 2008
*Joe Louis Clark, Former principal of Eastside High School, Paterson, NJ.Fact|date=July 2008

References

External links

* [http://ww2.wpunj.edu/ William Paterson University website]
* [http://wpshrm.org/ William Paterson University SHRM]