Mississippi University for Women

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Mississippi University for Women
Image:MUWLogo.jpg

Established	1884
Type:	Public
President:	Claudia A. Limbert
Location	Columbus, Mississippi, United States
Colors:	Cardinal Blue and Navy Blue
Nickname:	The W
Affiliations:	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Website:	http://www.muw.edu

Mississippi University for Women, also known as MUW or simply the "W" is a four-year coeducational public university located in Columbus, Mississippi. It was formerly known as Industrial Institute and College (II&C) and later Mississippi State College for Women (MSCW). Men have been offered admission to MUW since 1982.

[edit] History and mission

Upon its establishment in 1884, Mississippi University for Women became the first public women's college in the United States. Then known as the Industrial Institute and College, the institution was created by an act of the Mississippi Legislature on March 12, 1884, for the dual purposes of providing a liberal arts education for women and preparing them for employment. The first session began October 22, 1885, with an enrollment of approximately 250 students on a campus formerly occupied by the Columbus Female Institute, a private college founded in 1847.

The name of the institution changed to Mississippi State College for Women in 1920 to reflect an emphasis on collegiate, rather than vocational, education. The name changed again in 1974 to Mississippi University for Women to better reflect the nature of the academic programs, including graduate studies. All other Mississippi state colleges were also designated universities at this time.

In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan that the nursing school's single-sex admissions policies were in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Following this decision, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning ordered the university to change its policies to allow the admission of qualified males into all university programs. In 1988, the Board of Trustees reaffirmed the mission of MUW as an institution providing quality academic programs for all qualified students, with emphasis on distinctive opportunities for women.

[edit] Academics

The University offers academic programs in more than 50 areas of study ^[1].

In 2006 MUW awarded 481 undergraduate degrees. The following were the top ten degrees awarded and the percentage of the graduates that came from that program^[2]:

Nursing 16%
Elementary Education 10%
Psychology 6%
Business Administration and Management 5%
Visual and Performing Arts 5%
Family Systems 4%
Accounting 4%
Paralegal 3%
Social Sciences 3%
English 3%

The remaining degrees awarded were in the following subjects: Art Education, Biology, Chemistry, Communication, Culinary Arts, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Studio Arts, Theatre, History, Health & Kinesiology, Exercise Science, Sport Management, Mathematics, Microbiology, Music, Physical Science, Political Science, Spanish, Speech-Language Pathology /Audiology and Pre-professional degrees. MUW offers Pre-Professional degrees in Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Engineering, Pre-Law, Pre-Medical Technology, Pre-Medicine, Pre-Occupational Therapy, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Physical Therapy, and Pre-Veterinary.

In 2006 MUW awarded 81 Master's degrees from its eight different graduate programs. The following are the percentages of graduates that came from each program^[3]:

Master of Science in Nursing 43%
Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology 17%
Master of Education in Reading/Literacy 17%
Master of Science in Health education 12%
Master of Education in Differentiated Instruction 4%
Master of Education in Gifted Studies 4%
Master of Arts in Teaching 2%

[edit] Campus Demographics

^[4]^[5]

[edit] Students

Total Enrollment: 2428

Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 2280
Total Graduate Enrollment: 148

Freshman: 587 Sophomores: 353 Juniors: 487 Seniors: 834 Graduate Students: 148

[edit] Faculty

Average Faculty Salary: $46,184 Student to Faculty Ratio: 12 to 1

Total Faculty: 207

Administrative: 9
Part-Time Faculty: 132
Full-Time Faculty: 66
- Male Full-Time Faculty: 49
- Female Full-Time Faculty: 83

Faculty Rank

Professor: 30
Associate Professor: 16
Assistant Professor: 35
Instructor: 51

[edit] Student Demographics 2006-2007

Average Age of Students: 25

Female: 85% Male: 15%

Full-time: 83% Part-time 17%

White: 64% Black: 32% Other: 4%

Mississippi Resident: 91.56% Other United State Resident: 7.66% International: 0.78%

[edit] Freshman Admissions

Number of freshman applicants: 1381 Number of freshman admitted: 683

ACT minimum score: 16 ACT mean score: 21.5

[edit] Colleges and Schools

[edit] Business

MUW’s College of Business is accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.^[6] Business majors in the 2006-2007 school year represented 8% of the total MUW student body^[7]

The MUW College of Business offers degrees in the following areas^[8]:

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Accounting
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) with concentrations in
- General Business
- Management
- Management and Information Systems
- Marketing

[edit] Education and Human Sciences

The MUW College of Education and Human Sciences is divided into three departments, the Department of Education, the Department of Psychology and Family Studies, and the Department of Health & Kinesiology. ^[9]

[edit] Education

The MUW Department of Education offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[10]

The MUW Department of Education offers graduate degrees in the following areas^[11]:

[edit] Psychology and Family Studies

The Department of Psychology and Family Studies offers undergraduate degrees in each of the following areas^[12]:

[edit] Health and Kinesiology

The MUW department of Health and Kinesiology offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[13]:

The MUW Department of health and Kinesiology offers a graduate degree in^[14]:

Masters of science in health education

[edit] Nursing and Speech Language Pathology

The MUW College of Nursing and Speech Language Pathology offers degrees in the following areas^[15]^[16]:

[edit] Arts and Sciences

The MUW College of Arts and Sciences is divided into six departments; those departments are Sciences and mathematics, Music and theater, Art and design, Languages, literature, and philosophy, Communication, and History, political science, geography, and paralegal.

[edit] Sciences and mathematics

The MUW Department of Sciences and Mathematics offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[17]:

Biology
Biology with Teacher Certification
Microbiology
Mathematics
Mathematics with Teacher Certification
Pre-Engineering
Chemistry
Physical Science with Teacher Certification

[edit] Music and Theater

The MUW Department of Music and Theater offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[18]:

[edit] Art and Design

The MUW Department of Art and design offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[19]:

Art
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Art Education
Fine Arts with emphasis in Graphic Design, Interior Design or Studio Art

[edit] Communication

The MUW Department of Communication offers both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in communication^[20].

[edit] Language, literature, and philosophy

The MUW Department of language, literature, and philosophy offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas ^[21]:

[edit] History, Political Science, Geography, and Paralegal

The MUW Department of history, political science, geography, and paralegal offers undergraduate degrees in the following areas^[22]:

[edit] Culinary Arts Institute

The MUW Culinary Arts Institute offers a Bachelors of Science in Culinary Arts and a minor in Culinary Arts. Students in the Bachelors program can emphasize their degrees in the following areas:

[edit] Alumni

Main article: MUW Alumnae Association

Alumni of MUW are known collectively as "The Long Blue Line" and are known for their loyalty to their school.^{[citation needed]}

Notable MUW alumni include:

Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush, secretary of the Democratic National Committee (1944-1989) and the youngest person and first woman to be elected as an officer of either the Democratic or Republican party^[23]
Cheryl Coopper, prize winning marketer and mother to Cyrus Cooper.
Denise Dillard, award-winning playwright^[24]
Elizabeth Lee Hazen, co-discoverer of nystatin^[25]
Valerie Jaudon, award-winning artist^[26]
Evelyn McPhail, co-chair of Republican National Committee (1994-1997)^[27]
Lenore Prather, first female Mississippi Supreme Court justice^[28]
Eudora Welty, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Blanche Colton Williams, author and first editor of the O. Henry Prize Stories

Currently, there is tension between MUW's administration and its alumni.^[29] ^[30] The announcement of the University's decision to disaffiliate from the 117-year-old MUW Alumnae Association^[31] called public attention to the conflicts; however, the decisions to end the University's athletic program^[32], consider changing the name of the university^[33], and dismiss the Alumni Association's director and assistant director^[34] have also contributed to the current relationship problems.

There are some questions as to how the president can dismiss the director and assistant director of the alumnae association as they were not appointed by her.^{[citation needed]} Some students feel that reprimands to the university's president, Claudia Limbert, are in order for her diassociation of the century old alumnae group.^{[citation needed]} Debates are currently raging over a university president's authority to appoint a new alumnae association, as well as appoint the officers of the new group.^{[citation needed]} In the previous organization, the officers of the association were democratically appointed by the members of the association.^{[citation needed]} With their large monetary donations which account for a large portion of the university's budget, the alumnae are upset over the questionable authority underwhich Limbert diassociated the institution and self appointed a new association and corresponding officers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Mississippi University for Women Admissions: Degrees. Retrieved on 2007-03-01.
^ Degreebook: AY2003-AY2006 Degrees Awarded and Top Ten Degrees & September 2006 Program Inventory. Jackson, MS: Board of Trustees State Institute of Higher Learning, 8.
^ Degreebook: AY2003-AY2006 Degrees Awarded and Top Ten Degrees & September 2006 Program Inventory. Jackson, MS: Board of Trustees State Institute of Higher Learning, 8.
^ Mississippi's Universities, February 24, <http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/universities.html>
^ (2006) Mississippi University for Women Fact Book 2006-2007. Jackson, MS: Mississippi University for Women.
^ Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ Office of Institutional Research (2006). Mississippi University for Women Fact Book 2006-2007. Jackson, MS: Mississippi University for Women.
^ Business Programs of Study. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - College of Education and Human Sciences. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - College of Education and Human Sciences - Teacher Education Undergraduate Programs. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - College of Education and Human Sciences Graduate Studies in Education. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - Psychology and Family Studies. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - College of Education and Human Sciences Health and Kinesiology BS. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - College of Education and Human Sciences Health and Kinesiology M.S. Degree in Health Education. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
^ MUW - Department of Nursing.
^ MUW - Department of Speech.
^ MUW - Department of Science and Math.
^ MUW - Department of Music and Theater.
^ MUW - Department of Art and Design.
^ MUW - Department of Communication.
^ MUW - Department of Language Literature and Philosophy.
^ MUW - Department of History, Political Science, Geogrphy, and Paralegal.
^ CNN/AllPolitics.com - Election 2000 - The Democratic National Convention.
^ Kennedy Center: ACTF - National Student Playwriting Award Description and Winners.
^ Hall of Fame Inventor Profile, Elizabeth Lee Hazen.
^ Valerie Jaudon on artnet.
^ Washingtonpost.com: Politics Evelyn McPhail Dies at Age 68.
^ Chief Justice Lenore Prather Supreme Court of Mississippi.
^ MUW defends action against alumni group.
^ MUW alumni group rips leader's action.
^ Overby to chair MUW Alumni Association Advisory Committee.
^ Board to approve discontinuation of MUW's intercollegiate athletic program at January meeting.
^ Limbert to address MUW name change in the spring.
^ Ousted MUW alumni director resigns from library position.

[edit] External links

Mississippi University for Women

		Mississippi University for Women
	Academics:	College of Business • College of Education and Human Sciences • College of Nursing and Speech Language Pathology • College of Arts and Sciences • Culinary Arts Institute • Southern Women’s Institute
	Related Institutions:	Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, Mississippi Governor’s School, Eudora Welty Writer’s Symposium, Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi
	Administration:	Community Living, Campus, Campus Organizations, 2-year Social Clubs, 4-year Social Clubs, History, Student Life, Alumni, Institutional Advancement

v • d • e

Women's colleges that became coeducational

Became coeducational
Adelphi University • Albertus Magnus College • Andrew College • Beaver College • Bennington College • Carlow University • Cazenovia College • Chestnut Hill College • Chowan College • Columbia College • Connecticut College • Drexel University College of Medicine • Elmira College • Emmanuel College • Florida State University •Georgia College & State University • Goucher College • Greensboro College • Hood College • Hunter College • Immaculata University • James Madison University • Keuka College • LaGrange College • Lake Erie College • Lasell College • Lesley College • Longwood University • MacMurray College • Mississippi University for Women• Marymount Manhattan College • Moravian College • Notre Dame College •Ohio Dominican University • Queens University of Charlotte • Radford University • Randolph College • Regis College • Rivier College • Sarah Lawrence College • Seton Hill University • Shorter College • Skidmore College • Silver Lake College • Texas Woman's University • Tift College • Trocaire College • University of Mary Washington • University of North Carolina at Greensboro • Vassar College • Villa Julie College • Viterbo University • Washington College of Law • Wells College • Wheaton College
Coordinate colleges
Douglass (merged with Rutgers University) • Evelyn College for Women (with Princeton University; closed) • H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College (merged with Tulane University) • Margaret Morrison Carnegie College (merged with Carnegie Mellon University) • Pembroke (merged with Brown University) • Radcliffe College (merged with Harvard University)