University of Minnesota Morris

University of Minnesota Morris
Seal of the Regents of the University of Minnesota
Motto	A Renewable, Sustainable Education[citation needed]
Established	1960[1]
Type	Public Liberal Arts College[citation needed]
Endowment	$8,173,097[citation needed]
Chancellor	Jacqueline Johnson[citation needed]
Dean	Bart Finzel (interim)[2]
Students	1,932[3]
Location	Morris, Minnesota
Campus	Rural
Colors	Maroon & Gold
Mascot	Pounce the Cougar[citation needed]
Affiliations	UMAC[citation needed]
Website	http://www.morris.umn.edu

University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) is a public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges located in Morris, Minnesota, United States. A part of the University of Minnesota system, it was founded in 1960 as a public, co-educational, residential liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts degrees.

History

Although UMM officially opened its doors in 1960, the history of what became the current institution reaches back further. In the 1887, the Morris Industrial School for Indians, an American Indian boarding school, was formed on the site and run by the Roman Catholic Church and later the US government.^[4][5] The school closed in 1909 and the campus was transferred to the State of Minnesota under the agreement that American Indians would always be admitted free of tuition, the current UMM still follows this agreed policy. In 1910, the University of Minnesota (at the time only the Twin Cities campus), established a boarding school on the campus called the West Central School of Agriculture. In the 1950s, the University of Minnesota began phasing out its regional agricultural school and the people of the Morris region were able to convince the school to develop the campus into a liberal arts college. The current UMM opened in September 1960.^[6]

Several historic buildings of the West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station are listed in the National Register of Historic Places^{[7] [8]}. The Minority Resource Center, the oldest building on campus, dates back to 1899.^[9] It was previously the Music Hall of the West Central School of Agriculture, and the boys' dormitory of the Morris Industrial School for Indians. Camden Hall, Spooner Hall, the Horse Barn, Welcome Center, Behmler Hall, Blakely Hall, Imholte Hall, Education Building, Pine Hall, and the Recycling Center all contribute to the Register. Most of these buildings were designed by Clarence H. Johnston Sr. in the Craftsman and Prairie School style.^{[citation needed]}

Academics

Morris offers 35 majors and minors and eight pre-professional programs in education, the humanities, science and mathematics and social sciences.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the five most popular majors on campus are English language and literature, business administration and management, psychology, human services and political science and government.^[10]

In 2011, Forbes ranked UMM 90th in the "America’s Top Colleges" list, and 16th in the "Best in the Midwest".^[11] US News listed UMM at #6 in "Top Public Schools" for Liberal Arts Colleges.^[12] In May 2011, Consumers Digest ranked UMM in the Top 5 Values in Public Colleges and Universities.^{[13][14][Third-party source needed]} During the fall of 2010, both U.S. News and World Report and Forbes ranked UMM among their “Best College” lists.^[15] Morris was ranked sixth in the Top Public Schools in the National Liberal Arts Colleges category and made the Top 100 list of Best Colleges: Most Students Studying Abroad in U.S. News.^{[16][Third-party source needed]}

Music Discipline

The music discipline provides performing opportunities such as choir, symphonic winds, jazz ensembles, and recitals.^[17]

The annual jazz festival was founded by Jim "Doc" Carlson in 1979.^[18] World-renowned jazz artists are invited to host clinics and master classes for high school, community, and college jazz ensembles . Each night of the festival concludes with performances by student jazz combos, ensembles, and the guest artists backed by Morris Jazz I.^[19]

The following guest artists have performed at the Annual Jazz Festival:

• 2011- 33rd- Eric Alexander on saxophone, and Todd Coolman on Bass. ^[20]
• 2010- 32nd- Adam Rapa on trumpet, Jeff Rinear on trombone, Mike Tucker on saxophone, and Bill Carrothers on piano. ^[21]
• 2009- 31st- Robin Eubanks on trombone, Adam Rogers on guitar, and Kenni Holmen on saxophone.^[18]
• 2008- 30th- Byron Stripling on trumpet and Eric Marienthal on saxophone.^[22]
• 2007- 29th- Chris Vadala on saxophone, and Allen Vizzutti on trumpet. ^[23]
• 2006- 28th- Reggie Watkins on trombone and Nestor Torres on flute.^{[citation needed]}
• 2005 - 27th- Jane Bunnett on saxophone, Sarah Jane Cion on piano, Sherrie Maricle on drums, and Sarah Morrow on trombone.^{[citation needed]}
• 2004 - 26th- Wayne Bergeron on trumpet, and Kim Park on saxophone, flute and piano.^{[citation needed]}
• 2002- 24th- Vaughn Nark on trumpet, and Butch Thompson on piano.^{[citation needed]}
• 2001- 23rd- Chris Vadala on saxophone, and Allen Vizzutti on trumpet.^{[citation needed]}
• 2000- 22nd- Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and Bruce Paulson on trombone.^{[citation needed]}

Green campus

In August 2009, Mother Jones Magazine chose the University of Minnesota Morris as one of its top 10 "cool schools" in the United States, stating that the school is great for alternative energy enthusiasts.^[24]

UMM is known for its commitment to alternative sources of energy. In April 2005, a wind turbine was installed east of campus on a ridge over the Pomme de Terre river. The turbine currently provides about 60% of the campus' electricity (however the only building currently being supplied completely with this power is the new "Welcome Center"), in addition to providing a source for research.^{[25][Third-party source needed]} The second wind turbine was just completed in April 2011. The two wind turbines now stand only a few hundred feet apart.^[26] UMM has also completed the construction of a biomass plant for research and energy purposes which has been inefficient in its purpose.^{[27][Third-party source needed]}

In addition, UMM has recently installed solar panels around campus.^[28]

Athletics

UMM's athletic teams have experienced varied success during the school's history. The 1970s were marked by success in basketball and football. Olympic wrestler, Dennis Koslowski, wrestled for the Cougars in the early 1980s. After a move in the early 1990s as a non-scholarship Division II and a brief experiment with athletic scholarships, Cougar athletics found a more appropriate home in NCAA Division III's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. They are the first member of the UMAC to be a public, state-supported institution - all other members over the years were private institutions, usually with a religious affiliation.

Under then-head-coach Ken Crandall, UMM ended a major college football losing streak on September 20, 2003, by defeating Principia College, a Division III team, in Elsah, Illinois 61-28. UMM holds the NCAA Division II record with 46 games lost consecutively, with the previous win before September 20, 2003 being November 14, 1998.

UMM was, in 1993, the first college in the United States to sponsor women's wrestling as an official varsity sport. The program was cut in 2003 due to budget constraints. In 2006, a new men's soccer team was announced.

In 2006, UM Morris opened a new football stadium named Big Cat Stadium, just south of the school's Regional Fitness Center. BCS is also used by the Morris Area High School Tigers. The new stadium replaced Cougar Field which had been used from 1970 to 2005. The school's first football field, named Miller Field, was used from 1961 to 1969.

In 2006, The Cougars captured their first UMAC championship in the Hubert H. Humphry Metrodome signaling the end of coach Ken Crandall's coaching career at UMM. The last conference title for the Cougar football program was the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC) title in 1987, the second of two straight NIC titles. Over the next three years, the Cougars suffered losing records under coach Todd Hickman. In 2010 the team overcame their preseason rating (tied for last) to end the season with a winning record (5-4) and ending in a three way tie for 3rd in the conference.

Media

The university operates the radio station " the U-90 alternative, the prairie's only alternative" 89.7 FM (KUMM), and produces at least three television programs that air on PBS stations in the state. Pioneer Public Television carries Prairie Yard and Garden,^[29][30] Academic Challenge and Minnesota Rivers and Fields.^[31] UMM also has a student-run publication: The University Register, a newspaper which is published weekly.

Since 2005, the university has held an annual film festival, referred to as the UMMys, in the spring. Past winners include: "The Amazing Adventures of Beeman", "Rumspringa: The Musical" (a story about the forbidden love between a young Amish girl and a robot), and "The Chancellor's Daughter".^[32][33]

Residence halls

The residence halls on campus are

• Clayton A. Gay Hall (Gay Hall) - Underclassmen Residence Hall also home to Student Health Services.
• David C. Johnson Independence Hall (Indy Hall) - Underclassmen Residence Hall
• Pine Hall - Underclassmen Residence Hall
• Blakely Hall – Upperclassmen Residence Hall
• Spooner Hall - Upperclassmen Residence Hall
• On-Campus Apartments - Upperclassmen Apartment Housing

^[34]

Notable people

Alumni

• Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea 1983 - Chief Justice for Minnesota Supreme Court
• Tim Goodmanson 1986 - Emmy winning art director for "As the World Turns"
• Bruce Johnson 1971 - president and CEO, Porchlight Entertainment
• Rusty Kath 2003 - stadium emcee, Tampa Bay Rays baseball
• Tony Williamson 1987 - founder, Ajasa Technologies. Selected as the 2009 Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) Charles W. Poe Jr. Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
• Dennis Anderson 1973 - journalist, Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Bruce Helmer 1982 - owner, Wealth Enhancement Group. WCCO radio personality
• Duane Koslowski 1982 - Olympic athlete
• Dennis Koslowski 1981 - team chiropractor, Minnesota Vikings. Owner, Koslowski Chiropractic Inc.
• Cy Thao 1995 - State of Minnesota House of Representatives
• Joseph Basel 2009 - Arrested at Senator Landrieu's office for phone-tampering, then convicted of entering federal property under false pretenses.
• Aaron Perrine 2002 - Music composer
• Dana Veth 2006 - Bahamian footballer

Faculty

• PZ Myers - Associate professor of biology, prominent atheist blogger^[35]
• John Stuart Ingle - Artist^[36]
• Vicente Cabrera Funes - Author

Staff

• Jim Hall - Director of Information Technology/CIO^[37][38]

References

1. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/about/history/
2. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/newsevents/view.php?itemID=11780
3. ^ http://www.oir.umn.edu/student/enrollment/term/1119/current/12319
4. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station Historic District". University of Minnesota Morris. 2008. http://www.morris.umn.edu/preservation/WCSA_NRform.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
5. ^ "City of Morris – Morris Human Rights Commission: Morris Indian Boarding School". City of Morris. http://www.ci.morris.mn.us/mhrc/articles/mrsIndSchl.shtml. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
6. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/about/history/
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ [2]
9. ^ http://2010.morris.umn.edu/docs/Hist_Bldgs_of_WCSA.pdf
10. ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/morris-mn/minnesota-morris-2389/@@Academics_overview.html
11. ^ Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/. 
12. ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/top-public
13. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/newsevents/view.php?itemID=11735
14. ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-digest-names-top-100-college-values-121078479.html
15. ^ "America's Best College Buys". Forbes. August 11, 2010. http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/01/best-buys-colleges-money-opinions-colleges-10-value.html. 
16. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/newsevents/view.php?itemID=10961
17. ^ [3]
18. ^ ^{a b} [4]
19. ^ [5]
20. ^ [6]
21. ^ [7]
22. ^ [8]
23. ^ [9]
24. ^ http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/mojo-mini-college-guide
25. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/greencampus/
26. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/research/
27. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/greencampus/
28. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/sustainability/research/
29. ^ http://pyg.morris.umn.edu/
30. ^ http://www.pioneer.org/pyg_About.php
31. ^ http://mnrf.morris.umn.edu/
32. ^ http://stonekite.com/2009/04/24/at-the-ummys/
33. ^ http://www.observethebanana.com/2009/02/28/robot-love-in-the-big-city/
34. ^ [10]
35. ^ http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/about.php
36. ^ http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/106862423.html
37. ^ http://www.morris.umn.edu/newsevents/view.php?itemID=10952
38. ^ http://sourceforge.net/userapps/wordpress/jhall1/2010/06/11/im-moving-soon/

External links

• University of Minnesota Morris
• KUMM: The U-90 Alternative
• The University Register
• Minnesota Rivers and Fields

Coordinates: 45°35′23″N 95°54′10″W / 45.58972°N 95.90278°W / 45.58972; -95.90278