Минесота штатының Манкато университеті

Public university in Mankato, Minnesota, US

Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. It was established as the Second State Normal School in 1858 Minnesota State University, Mankato is a significant contributor to the local and state economies, adding $827 million annually. Across seven colleges and schools, Minnesota State offers over 130 undergraduate programs of study, over 80 master's programs, and 4 doctoral programs. It hosts Minnesota's only nationally, regionally, and state accredited aviation program. Students are served by 750 full time faculty members, creating a 21:1 student to faculty ratio. The Minnesota State Mavericks compete in 21 intercollegiate sports, most at the NCAA Division II level in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In 1860, it chartered the development of state run normal schools to serve areas outside of Winona. The largest and fastest growing cities outside of Saint Paul, Saint Cloud and Mankato were selected for the sites, dependent on local fundraising to establish the schools with seed money. Through the efforts of local attorney and state legislator Daniel Buck, the newly formed City of Mankato donated $5,000 raised from the community and sold $5,000 in bonds to found the second state normal school, Mankato Normal School. It was chartered in state law in 1860 and held its first classes in 1868, with an enrollment of 27. The school's original mission was to train and educate teachers for rural schools in southern Minnesota. Early coursework included mathematics, science, civil engineering, agriculture, western classics, and basic pedagogy. The first Normal School owned building's cornerstone was laid on June 22, 1869. George M. Gage served as Mankato Normal School's principal from 1868 to 1872. During this period, Mankato Normal School provided educational certificates that allowed graduates to become schoolteachers, and most of the students were women. In relation to this focus on women's education, Mankato Normal School is noted as the first public college in the U. S. to be headed by a woman, suffragette Julia Sears, in 1872. In 1873, the State Normal Board demoted Sears to assistant principal, replacing her as principal with David C. John. Sears's salary as assistant principal was reduced from $1,500 to $1,200 and resulted in a letter to Gage that it was doubtful that she would see him again in Minnesota. In response, the assistant principal position was offered to Cornelius Hyde. Both Sears and Hyde arrived for work on September 1, 1873. After it was determined that Hyde would receive the position, 41 students refused to attend classes and 32 were expelled for failing to return after three days. 60 residents signed a petition requesting that Hyde return to his position as instructor and that Sears be reinstated as assistant principal. This became known as the "Sears Rebellion", which lasted until Sears left the school for a professorship at Peabody Normal School. These events were commemorated when a new residence hall was dedicated in honor of Sears in 2008 and a commission on the status of women was founded to support the advancement of women's education at the institution in the 1990s.

By 1921, the school had grown to the point that it began to offer four year bachelor's degrees. As a result, it was renamed Mankato State Teachers College. The original Old Main building was destroyed in a fire in 1922 and a new building was completed on April 4, 1924. Enrollment dipped during World War II and the college refocused its extension programs on providing education to members of the Works Progress Administration and Naval Corps.

By 1957, the institution's mission had broadened to comprehensive four year college education, and the legislature changed the school's name to Mankato State College. By the 1960s the institution had grown so rapidly that a bill was proposed in the state legislature to elevate it to university status. Originally, Mankato State was to have been renamed the University of Southern Minnesota; a later amendment would have renamed it Minnesota State University. (These were proposed long before the television show Coach aired.) It was to be a second and independent state university equal in stature to the University of Minnesota at a time when there was only one research institution. There was significant opposition from the University of Minnesota and from Governor Karl Rolvaag at the time. In 1975 the college successfully made the case for university status and was renamed Mankato State University. This change reflected a further 40% growth in the student body to 12,000 students by 1972. This name change was also intended to broaden recognition of the university in the Midwest. Richard Rush, then the president of the university, said of the name change, "Our goal is to make this university the other great public university in Minnesota." This marked a significant change in direction in the institution's history, one that would later be realized as it fought to be authorized to award doctoral degrees. It was during this time that the institution began to call itself Minnesota State. In 2007, in another major milestone, the university was authorized to begin offering applied doctoral degrees.

MNSU offers over 130 undergraduate programs of study, 13 pre professional programs, and over 85 graduate programs. It provides a comprehensive education: each undergraduate program of study includes general requirements in mathematics, writing, cultural diversity, speech, information technology, and the environment. Each year, over 3,000 students graduate from MNSU. The Office of the Registrar confers around 3,000 bachelor's, 600 master's, 50 specialist, and 10 doctoral degrees. MNSU's Career Development Center reports that 85% of graduates find employment in an area related to their field, and 90% were employed or continuing their education within 12 months of graduation. The university is accredited by 26 national and regional accrediting agencies, including the Higher Learning Commission, American Association of University Women, American Board of Engineering and Technology, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

The university is organized into seven discipline specific colleges. Academic programs, schools, and extended learning are divided among them:

Minnesota State's undergraduate student body includes a large proportion of residential full time students. It attracts the second largest number of incoming Minnesota freshmen each year. For 2013–2016, the institution had rolling admissions with an acceptance rate of 65.5%, and the average accepted student ACT score ranged from 20 to 25. Since the fall of 2012, the university has been the largest university in the Minnesota State system according to the total number of full year equivalent students (14,443). St. Cloud State (13,938) has a significantly larger percentage of PSEO and part time students that makes its headcount higher.

Minnesota State's main campus contains 30 buildings spread over 303 acres. The Minnesota State Mavericks men's and women's hockey teams also use and have administrative space at the Verizon Center and the All Seasons Arena off campus.

Minnesota State has five residence communities, housing up to 2,900 students: McElroy Hall, Crawford Hall, Preska Hall, Julia Sears Hall, and apartment style Stadium Heights. On campus housing is optional. There are over a dozen Learning Community programs that range from academic to hobby based interests.

This campus is at 7700 France Ave. S. in Edina, and serves a diverse student body from the southwest Twin Cities metropolitan area. Programs at this campus include 12 undergraduate programs, including bachelor's degrees, bachelor's completion programs, undergraduate minors, and teaching licensure. The College of Graduate Studies offers 23 graduate programs, including master's degrees in accounting, engineering, education leadership, and other specialty areas.

The state established Owatonna College and University Center on 27 acres on Owatonna's southwest side to meet the needs of college graduates in the Owatonna area. This site is a collaboration of Minnesota State University, Mankato, South Central College, and Riverland Community College to provide lower division liberal arts, career, and technical education, and upper division and graduate level studies in one location. On average 4,000 students do for credit coursework at this location.

In 2012, a partnership center was established to offer several targeted bachelor's degree in the southwest Twin Cities area at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. Several trial programs originally offered at the Normandale Center, such as the Twin Cities engineering program, were expanded to other Minnesota State system community colleges in 2016.

Students can join over 200 academic student groups, intramural sports, leadership and religious organizations, honorary and professional fraternities and sororities, and special interest groups. There is an active Panhellenic Council and Intrafraternity Council. Active fraternities include Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Nu, Lambda Chi Alpha, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Chi, and Phi Delta Theta. Active sororities include Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and Zeta Phi Beta.

Founded in 1926, The Reporter is the university's student run newspaper. It covers Minnesota State athletics and campus happenings and publishes editorials and thought pieces. Weekly editions come out during the fall and spring academic terms. Its office is in the Centennial Student Union.

89.7FM KMSU "The Maverick" is MNSU's official radio station. It was founded in 1963. Its office is in the Alumni Foundation Center. Student Events Team hosts campus wide events including homecoming concerts and the annual CSU Haunted House Takeover.

MNSU is home to the nation's second oldest LGBT resource center for students. Originally called the "Alternative Lifestyles Office", the center was founded by Minnesota State alumnus James Chalgren in 1977. Located in the Centennial Student Union, it is an independent office within the university's division of Student Affairs. According to The Advocate, Minnesota State was voted one of the nation's top 100 campuses for LGBT students.

The Student Senate provides leadership and policy action as an advisory council to the student body. It oversees student activity fee allocations, hires a student legal aid, communicates with the university faculty and leadership, provides grade appeals, awards a yearly scholarship, and partners with the Memorial Library to operate a textbook rental/reserve program for commonly requested books. The Student Government (formerly the Minnesota State Student Association) represents Minnesota State University, Mankato students at the institutional, local, state, and federal governing levels by listening to and voicing their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. It advocates on behalf of university students along with Students United.

The Minnesota State Mavericks consists of eight men's and ten women's varsity teams. More than 650 students participate in athletics each year for the university. It offers teams in men's and women's hockey and basketball, football, baseball, golf, women's swimming, track, cross country, women's tennis, wrestling, soccer, golf, volleyball, and softball. The men's and women's ice hockey teams both compete in NCAA Division I—the men in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and the women in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). The men's team had competed in the WCHA through the 2020–21 season, but was one of the seven men's WCHA members that left after that season to reestablish the CCHA, leading to the WCHA disbanding its men's division. Other university athletic teams began competing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference of NCAA Division II in 2008–09 following the disbandment of the North Central Conference. The school mascot is Stomper the Maverick, a caricature of a wild steer. He is known for helping to rally the fans and crowds at sporting events through various antics. He can be seen as part of giveaways and other competitions and is often playfully waving to children. The school colors are purple and gold. Minnesota State athletics teams have placed favorably in national competitions in NCAA Division II athletics in several sports including hockey, football, baseball, women's basketball, men's basketball, men's track & field, wrestling, women's soccer and softball. Since 1993, the Mavericks have captured the most individual national championships out of all sixteen colleges and universities in the Northern Sun Conference. The 2015 season marked the 14th straight year that the Mavericks finished in the top 25 in the country in the national standings, and the seventh time Minnesota State had posted a top five placing for the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. It has also won the NSIC US Bank All Sports Award four times and placed second twice during the last six year period of the 2008–2015 competition seasons. The Minnesota State fight song is "The Minnesota State Rouser," also known as the "Maverick Rouser." It is played at all the athletics events as well as other events, along with the school song, "The Minnesota State Hymn". The Minnesota State University Marching Band is called the "Maverick Machine," and drives enthusiasm and school spirit at athletics events. Minnesota State hosted the Minnesota Vikings summer training camp from 1966 to 2017. Each year over 60,000 fans traveled to Blakeslee Stadium to watch the team practice, attend signing events and meet and greets, followed by a fireworks show. In 2017, the Vikings ownership announced they would move the annual tradition to Eagan, Minnesota, following the construction of a new facility. The Vikings have since established a scholarship for Minnesota State students.

The Taylor Center opened in 2000, and was made possible by the donations of alumnus Glen Taylor. The 4,800 seat facility houses Maverick basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams. The MNSU Admissions office is also there, and the 5,000 square foot Hall of Champions showcases the university's history. In addition to Minnesota State Mavericks events, the Taylor Center hosts commencement ceremonies, concerts and lectures. In 2008, expanded outdoor athletic facilities were constructed on the campus's southern portion. These additions include over 20 acres of baseball fields, a soccer field, a jogging track, walking trail, and experimental wind power facilities.