RADFORD UNIVERSITY

'Radford University' is a medium-size public, state-funded university in the City of Radford, in Southwestern Virginia, founded in 1910 as a women's college and coeducational since 1972. It was granted university status by the Virginia legislature in 1979. Radford offers liberal arts curricula for undergraduates, along with numerous graduate programs at the master's degree level, including the M.F.A. and M.B.A.; it plans to offer its first doctoral program in the fall of 2008, in counseling psychology[1]. RU was the first educational institution in Virginia to integrate wireless technology campus wide, an indicator of its commitment to staying up-to-date and offering its students the best possible learning environment.

Contents

Academics

Community and campus

Enrollment

History

Athletics

Presidents

References

External links

Academics

Radford emphasizes teacher education and the liberal arts. The university has a student/faculty ratio of 19:1 with an average class size of 30 to 40. With graduate students teaching less than 5% of classes, undergraduates work more closely with senior faculty than they might at a larger research university. [2]
There are more than 100 undergraduate programs in the Colleges of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, Business and Economics, Education and Human Development, Health and Human Services, Science and Technology, and Visual and Performing Arts. The College of Graduate and Extended Education offers 38 programs at the master's and specialist levels. RU also has pre-professional programs in law, medicine, physical therapy and pharmacy.
Over 80 percent of faculty members hold doctorates or other terminal degrees (M.F.A., etc.) in their fields. Eight Radford professors have received Virginia’s highest honor for faculty since the inception of the state’s Outstanding Faculty Award in 1986. One of them, RU anthropology professor Donna Boyd, was named 2006 U.S. Professor of the Year for master’s level universities and colleges by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching. Since 1981, nine Radford faculty members have been selected as Fulbright Scholars to teach or research in other countries.
''Special programs include'':

Study Abroad

Honors Academy

RU Connections freshmen living/learning communities

Internships, co-ops, practica and service learning

Army ROTC, leading to commission in the U.S. Army

Undergraduate research opportunities
Nearly 93 percent of Radford graduates obtain employment or enroll in graduate school within 3 to 8 months of graduation from the university.
RU was recognized in a national study as an "Institution of Excellence in the First College Year" for the breadth of quality of programs that assist student in their transition to college life.
U.S.News & World Report ranked Radford University in the top 25 master's level public universities in the South in its 2006 Guide to America's Best Colleges.

Community and campus

Radford University is an 177-acre campus located in a residential area of Radford, Virginia. The town is located in the Virginia Highlands, between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains at a spot near the New River. Nearly all of the 20 administrative, academic, student services, and 15 residence hall buildings are located on two large quadrangles in a 76-acre area.
''Student Life''

3,150 students live on campus in 15 residence halls

More than 200 clubs and organizations

NCAA Division 1 Big South Conference athletics

400 intramural sports teams

Events, performances and lectures throughout the academic year
The university Foundation owns a 376-acre tract of land known as the Selu Conservancy. The land borders the Little River and is located about five miles southeast of the campus.
Radford is located on exits 105 and 109 of Interstate 81, with easy accessibility to nearby I-77.

Enrollment

''Fall 2006 Semester statistics'':

Number of students: 9,552

88% undergraduate, 12% graduate

61% female, 39% male

45 states and 47 countries represented

History

Radford was founded in 1910 by Dr. John Preston McConnell as a women's college as the ''State Normal and Industrial School for Women at East Radford''. The college was a normal school and offered a two-year degree in "rural arts".
In 1924 the school was renamed the ''State Teachers College at Radford'' and began an evolution towards a true college. Its primary focus was on training teachers for the rural Appalachian region nearby. In 1943 the college was renamed the ''Women's Division of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute'' and merged into what is now known as the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) which was located 15 miles away in Blacksburg, Virginia.
As the 1960s began, Virginia began to desegregate its gender specific schools, and Virginia Tech began to admit women on its main campus. This led to a "divorce" in 1964 and a renaming as simply ''Radford College''. Over the next decade, the "finishing school" atmosphere of the school was dismantled. In 1972 the school began to admit men. The school developed a graduate school at that time as well.
In 1979 the school became Radford University. Today, the school is a comprehensive state university. Fall semester 2005 enrollment was 9,552. About 45% of the students come from southwestern Virginia, 40% from other parts of Virginia, and 15% from out-of-state.
Penelope W. Kyle, J.D., M.B.A., became RU’s sixth president June 1, 2005, after a career in business and government, including serving as director of the Virginia state lottery for more than a decade.
Radford University also has a wide variety of Greek life. Among it are chapters such as Alpha Sigma Phi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Alpha Chi Rho, and many more.

Athletics

The university's teams are known as the ''Highlanders'' (in honor of the region's Scots-Irish heritage), and compete in the Big South Conference. Radford offers 19 NCAA varsity sports for men and women. The Radford men's basketball team won the Big South Conference tournament in 1998. They also won the Big South Conference Men's Tennis Championship in 2007.
The Dedmon Center is a recreational and convocation complex that opened in 1981. The Dedmon Center features a 1/6-mile indoor jogging track, five racquetball courts, a weight-training room, locker rooms, and several team rooms. The main arena features a main basketball floor and a secondary volleyball arena for intercollegiate competition and four recreational courts for basketball or volleyball. The complex features adjoining facilities, including intermural soccer, football and softball fields, and intercollegiate fields and courts for baseball, softball, field hockey and tennis. The Patrick D. Cupp Stadium adds an intercollegiate soccer and track and field complex.

Presidents

★ Dr. John Preston McConnell, 1911-1937

★ Dr. David Wilbur Peters, 1938-1951

★ Dr. Charles Knox Martin Jr., 1952-1972, Chancellor, 1972-73, President Emeritus, 1973-1987

★ Dr. Donald Newton Dedmon, 1972-1994

★ Dr. Douglas Covington, 1995-2005

★ Dr. Penelope "Penny" W. Kyle, 2005 - Present

References

2007-08 Catalog and resource books provided by Radford University.

External links

★ Radford University official website

★ Radford University Highlanders athletics website

★ The Tartan Radford University school newspaper

★ CRAM (The Roanoke Times college site)

★ Public Radio WVRU official website

★ WHIM (RU's student-run online magazine)

★ Radford University Ice Hockey

★ Radford University College of Information Science and Technology

★ Radford University College of Business and Economics

★ Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

★ International Education Center at Radford University

★ Radford University Museum of the Earth Sciences

★ Radford University Art Museum