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Western Connecticut State University

Encyclopedia : W : WE : WES : Western Connecticut State University

Western Connecticut State University (Western, WestConn or WCSU) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, WestConn has an arts and sciences curriculum, a business school, and several professional programs, including elementary and secondary education, nursing, music performance, and social work. It is also home to The Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies.

Contents

History

WestConn started as a teachers' college, training the primary and secondary school educators for Connecticut's Fairfield County and surrounding areas. The school's name has changed over the years as it has focused on additional areas of study. In the 1950s, it was called the Western Connecticut State Normal School, later the Western Connecticut State Teachers College, then Western Connecticut State College, and finally, Western Connecticut State University.

Structure

Schools

Campus

Western has two campuses located five miles apart. The Midtown Campus is the original campus, located near Downtown Danbury. It is home to the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Professional Studies, and most of the school administration. There are also some housing facilities, the student center, and the only dining facilities until the new student center opens in 2007.

The West Side Campus is located on land purchased in the 1970s on the outskirts of Danbury. This 439 acre lot is home to the Ancell School of Business, the sports facilities, a nature center, an amphitheater, and several housing facilities. Ground was broken in 2005 for a second student center.

Located on the campus of Naugatuck Valley Community College is the "Western at Waterbury" program. This program offers undergraduate courses and the Master of Health Administration (M.H.A.).

Student body

As of 2003, WestConn has approximately 3,000 full-time undergraduates and 3,000 graduate or part-time students.

Most of the students at WestConn come from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Nearly all commuter students come from western Connecticut or Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester Counties in New York.

Student Activities / Student Life

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association or "SGA" as it is more commonly known is the sole governing body of the student organizations at Western Connecticut State University. The SGA, serving as the voice of the student body, speaks on behalf of students to university administration, faculty, and public officials. Student viewpoints are represented through SGA on almost every decision-making body governing CSU and university policy, student activities, and student life. SGA provides a channel of communication among various members of the university population, develops and funds student run campus activities, and protects the rights and freedoms of individual students and student groups in academic and social areas.

The SGA is recognized and empowered by Connecticut State University policy and the Connecticut General Statutes to distribute, in cooperation with the university, the Student Activity Fee paid by each enrolled student.

SGA Legal Clinic

Western Connecticut State University is one of the few schools in the nation to have a fully funded center to provide legal counseling to students. Funded by the Student Government Association, the purpose of the legal clinic is to prevent, amerliorate, or assist in the resolution of legal problems that confront students by providing initial legal counseling and advice. The clinic does not provide representation of students in court, but may make referrals for such a purpose.

The legal clinic seeks to educate students about their rights and responsibilities through the sharing of information and legal resources, various informational programs and presentations, as well as individualized student counseling. Established in 1998 the advisor to the legal clinic has been Dr. Harold B. Schramm, Professor of English and Justice and Law Administration.

WXCI - a pioneering alternative rock radio station

The college radio station is WXCI, 91.7 FM, obtained its FCC license to operate on 28 February 1973. Initially transmitting at 10 watts of power, WXCI upgraded to 760 watts in 1978. In 1982, WXCI was one of the first FM stations to focus on alternative rock, a format now common among US college radio stations. As one of a handful of stations playing alternative rock in the US in the early 1980s, WXCI helped popularize new bands such as U2, Culture Club, Duran Duran, and Black Flag.

WXCI now broadcasts to Connecticut and New York at 3,000 watts with a stereo transmitter on WCSU's Westside Campus. It also streams its broadcasts on the Web.

The Echo - WCSU Student Newspaper

The college newspaper run by students for students to inform and enlighten them with news and issues about the campus community, state, nation and the global community. The Echo was founded in 1955. Production is subsidized by student fees and advertising income. Articles are written by students and student editors. There is no censorship by the school administration.

The Echo is published weekly in tabloid format, though in the past it has been published in broadsheet format.

Athletics

WestConn is a member of the NCAA Division III and the Eastern College Athletic Conference and fields teams in baseball, basketball, lacrosse, football, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball.

WestConn also fields several nationally competitive club sports on campus including Men's Rugby, Women's Rugby, Cheerleading, and Men's Hockey.

Greek Life

Westconn has a growing Greek community whose purpose is to promote, among its members, each groups own ideals and values. WestConn's Greek community is made up of three fraternities and three sororities. They are Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Zeta Beta Tau, Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Gamma Phi, and Kappa Chi Alpha. Membership in a Fraternity and Sorority not only provides social benefits on campus, it can help one develop a sense of personal morality, history, responsibility, and ethics. These groups perform projects to better their campus and community, provide school spirit, and give students an outlet for social activities. At this time, none of the Greek fraternities or sororities have an established on-campus house for their members to inhabit.

National/International Groups Sigma Chi(fraternity) Tau Kappa Epsilon(fraternity) Zeta Beta Tau(fraternity) Alpha Delta Pi(sorority)

Local Groups Delta Gamma Phi(sorority) Kappa Chi Alpha(sorority)

Roger Sherman Debate Society

The Roger Sherman Debate Society is WestConn's debate team. They host parlimentary and policy debate on campus, moderate debates, and participate in competitive team debate tournaments sanctioned by the Cross Examination Debate Association. They are an organization promoting better debate among the WestConn campus and throughout the nation. Debate competition includes travelling to universities across the nation and competing against peers from almost every school in the country. As a member of the North East conference, the Roger Sherman Debate Society faces off against top academic institution including: NYU, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Boston College, and the United States Military Academy.

Noteworthy Faculty

The following faculty are noteworthy for their published works or field work or both.

Meteorological/Weather Center

WestConn has recently introduced a brand-new science building to the Midtown campus. The school Weather Center has been moved into the state of the art building. Student meteorologists and long standing Assistant to the Director of Meteorological Studies, Gary Lessor, work together to offer weather forecasts and other information to the general public. The official Weather Center [homepage] has also recently gone under some revisions and additional weather information can be found there.

Other schools in the Connecticut State University system

Its three sister schools are Eastern, Central, and Southern Connecticut State University.

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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