Franklin Pierce University is a small, private, non-profit, regionally accredited university in rural Rindge, New Hampshire, in the United States. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation. The institutional mission focuses on preparing citizens and leaders of conscience for a new century who make significant contributions to their professions and communities, whether their aspirations are global or local. The school gained university status in 2007 and is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). In 2009, Franklin Pierce University was ranked on "Forbes List of America's Top Colleges". The university has an enrollment of 1,399 students and overlooks Pearly Pond, just a few miles from Mount Monadnock. The campus covers approximately 1,200 acres (4.9 km2). Kim Mooney is the current president of Franklin Pierce University, replacing outgoing president Andrew Card in August 2016. The university also operates the College of Graduate and Professional Studies with campuses in Manchester, Portsmouth, and Lebanon, New Hampshire, as well as Goodyear, Arizona. The College at Rindge houses three institutes: the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication, named for Marlin Fitzwater; the Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place, and Culture; and the New England Center for Civic Life.
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History
The school was founded by Frank S. DiPietro in 1962 as Franklin Pierce College, named after Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States and the only U.S. president from New Hampshire. The school opened its doors to its first set of students in the winter of 1963. They began with just under 100 students and six full-time professors. The campus consisted of four older buildings known as the Manor, Rindge Hall, The White House, and Ravencroft Theatre. Many classes were conducted in downtown Rindge. Also buildings there were used as residence halls. In the winter of 1964, Crestview Hall was built, and by then the college had 150 students. That building was used for both dorms and classrooms, enabling the college to move completely to its current location. In the winter of 1965, Monadnock Hall was built for more classrooms on the ground floor and residence halls on the above floor. Later that year Edgewood was built. At that time the cafeteria moved from the Manor to the ground floor with residence halls on the two upper floors. Also that year, the DiGregorio building was built and housed a post office along with student lounges, a snack bar, and book store.
Still, despite the additional buildings, the campus remained overcrowded as the student body grew to over 500 students. The school still lacked a library, so in 1967 a resource center was built. The library moved from one of the classroom/dorm buildings to the resource center along with academic and administrative offices. Eventually, the television production center, radio station, computer labs, and the cable TV system headend would be located there. In the fall of 1968, Granite Hall opened as a dormitory with health services in the basement. Also that year, the Fieldhouse was built to accommodate sports programs. In 1969, New Hampshire Hall opened for more dormitories with the fire department in the basement. Mt. Washington Hall was built as an extension to New Hampshire in 1969 and also housed the music department. In 1971, Marcucella Hall was built for classrooms, enabling most of the classrooms in Crestview and Monadnock to relocate there. The Manor remained a student center as Rindge Hall became financial aid and registration offices. Franklin Pierce held its first graduation in 1967 and became accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in 1968.
While the college was overcrowded by 1970 despite building projects, the student body began to shrink by 1972. The college stayed roughly the same size throughout the 1970s. In 1975, Frank DiPietro stepped down as college president, and former New Hampshire governor Walter Peterson took over. Under Peterson, the college returned to financial solvency. In the late 1970s to the early 1980s, the focus was maintenance of the student body rather than growth. By the early '80s, the college was ready for expansion. In 1985, the Emily Flint Campus Center began to be built and opened in the fall of 1986. This would house the post office, Student Activities, conference centers, cafeteria, snack bar, and book store, among other uses. The former cafeteria became residence halls on one side and a workout room on the other side. The Degregorio building became the registrar's and bursar's office. A cable television system was installed in 1986. In 1987, trailers were added to house students.
In 1988, apartment-type residences called Mountainview were added. Throughout the '70s and '80s, satellite campuses were added around New Hampshire mostly for adult education. In the mid-1990s, Northwoods were built for more apartments replacing the 1987 trailers. In 1995, Walter Peterson stepped down and George Haggerty took over as college president. That year North Fields Activity Center, an athletic building also known as "the Bubble", was built, and Crestview was converted into classroom buildings. In 1998, Cheshire Hall was built with suite-style housing and apartment-style housing. In 2002, the library building added a new floor, and this became the Fitzwater Communication Center.
In 2007, the college gained university status and was renamed Franklin Pierce University. In 2008, the White House was torn down, and a new classroom building called Petrocelli Hall was built in its place. In 2009, James F. Birge became the university's fourth president. In 2012, the university welcomed 550 freshmen, the largest group in its 50-year history, as well as 56 transfer students and 10 part-time students, for a total of 616 new students. In the same year, the university completed $1 million in renovations to its dining hall as well as completed construction of the Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Health Science and Athletic Training Center to support its new Health Sciences program.
Andrew Card began his tenure as the fifth president of Franklin Pierce University in December 2014. On August 28, 2015, President Card announced the demolition of the Ravencroft Theatre and Crestview Hall, two buildings which had been closed and vacant since 2003 and 2008 respectively. Although not officially announced, the university has plans to build a new science center to support its growing health and natural sciences division on the site of the soon to be demolished Crestview Hall. This new building would replace Marcucella Hall, which currently functions as the university's science center. The university completed the demolition of the Ravencroft Theatre in October 2015, and Crestview Hall in June 2016.
Following his relatively short tenure as president, Andrew Card announced his intent to step down from his post on August 1, 2016. With the Board of Trustees anticipating this transition due to Andrew Card's agreement to lead the institution for a limited duration, they named Kim Mooney, the institution's current provost and vice president for academic affairs, as the institution's sixth president. When Mooney began her tenure as president on August 1, 2016, she was the first alumna and woman to lead the institution.
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Academics
Franklin Pierce offers undergraduate programs in a variety of arts, sciences, and professional disciplines. The university also offers students master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and graduate certificate programs in business, education, and health sciences.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Franklin Pierce University 125th in the list of Regional Universities (North).
Franklin Pierce University has been accredited by New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) since 1968. This regional accreditation includes both the New Hampshire and Arizona campuses.
Campuses
Main campus
The College at Rindge, Franklin Pierce's traditional undergraduate campus, is located on 40 University Drive in Rindge, New Hampshire, and is situated on 1,200 acres (490 ha) of land. Franklin Pierce's main academic buildings include Petrocelli Hall, Marcucella Hall, the Fitzwater Center, the Pappas Center, Monadnock Hall, Cheney Hall, and the Yvonne S. Boice Performing Arts Center. The Frank S. DiPietro Library serves as the main library on campus and also houses additional classrooms and student support services.
The Emily Flint Campus Center is the main student activities building on campus which houses the Marketplace Cafeteria (main dining hall), Raven's Nest (late-night dining), post office, and a number of other student services.
The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Activity Center at Northfields or "The Bubble" is the hub of the university's Campus Recreation program. The Bubble serves as a recreation area for the entire campus population, as well as both a weight room and inclement-weather practice facility for Franklin Pierce's intercollegiate athletic programs. The Bubble is home to a complete cardio-strength area, a free weight area, two full tennis courts, two full basketball/volleyball courts, a 50-yard turf field and a two-lane track.
Franklin Pierce currently houses all on-campus students in a variety of residence halls, from large dormitory-style to apartment-style living. Residence halls on the Rindge campus include Granite Hall, New Hampshire Hall, Mount Washington Hall, Cheshire Hall, Edgewood Hall, Monadnock Hall, Mountain View and Northwoods Apartments, Lakeview Townhouses, and Sawmill Apartments.
Pearly Pond is at the base of campus, and Mount Monadnock overlooks the area.
Branch campuses
Besides the main campus in Rindge, Franklin Pierce also operates the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, which has four campuses: three in New Hampshire (Manchester, Portsmouth, and Lebanon) and another campus in Goodyear, Arizona.
Athletics
Franklin Pierce offers 26 varsity sports which compete at the NCAA Division II level and compete in the Northeast-10 Conference (with the exception of the Golf, Rowing, and Sprint Football programs). Those programs include Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Women's Bowling, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Ice Hockey, Men's and Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Sprint Football, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track and Field, Women's Volleyball and Women's Swimming. The university offers men's and women's rugby at the club level, with both programs recognized by the NERFU.
The Rindge campus boasts over a 40% participation rate across 40 intramural sports and also features an active Adventure Recreation program.
Student life
Franklin Pierce University has almost 30 clubs and organizations on campus ranging from academics (Criminal Justice, Education, History, etc.) to community service to performing arts.
Pierce Media Group
The Pierce Media Group, or PMG, is the campus media group that consists of the Pierce Arrow, PMG News Center, FPTV 25, The Talon 105.3FM WFPC-LP, Ravens Sports Network, Four Corners Marketing, and thefitzonline.com.
All the media outlets are a part of the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication. Any student can easily participate in any facet of the PMG, even if they have no experience in marketing, advertising, production, or journalism.
Franklin Pierce University holds an FCC broadcast license for WFPC-LP, The Talon 105.3 FM. The station features hourly news briefs that consist of information from the Associated Press news feed and student sources.
The Pierce Arrow, the student newspaper, is the oldest student group on campus.
FPTV 25 offers both student-created content and studio-produced feature-length films. Two feature films are shown monthly. FPTV 25 has a mix of entertainment and sports programming as well as a weekly thirty-minute newscast.
Four Corners Marketing offers students the opportunity to sell advertisements both to clubs on campus as well as businesses off campus to be placed in The Pierce Arrow or FPTV25.
Ravens Sports Network broadcasts games of the varsity athletic programs live, giving complete coverage of the Division II competition.
Student Government Association
The executive board consists of the President of the SGA, the Vice President of the SGA, the Secretary of the SGA, the Treasurer of the SGA, and the Parliamentarian of the SGA.
Franklin Pierce Fire Company
The campus is home to one of the only fully student-run fire companies in the world. Franklin Pierce Fire operates as an engine company under the town of Rindge Fire Department and responds to all fire related emergencies on campus. The company is headed by four student fire officers, as well as a varying number of student members serving as firefighters.
Presidents
- Frank DiPietro (1962-1975) (founder)
- Walter R. Peterson, Jr. (1975-1995)
- George J. Hagerty (1995-2009)
- James F. Birge (2009-2015)
- Andrew H. Card (2015-2016)
- Kim Mooney (2016-present)
Noted alumni
- Justin Blood, college baseball coach at Hartford
- Félix Brillant, Canadian soccer midfielder
- Temple Grandin, animal behavior researcher
- Rebekah Harkness, founder of the Harkness Ballet
- Steve Hathaway, left-handed pitcher currently with the Arizona Diamondbacks
- Pauliina Miettinen, soccer player and coach
- Henry Simmons, actor (NYPD Blue)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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