Frostburg State University

History

What was "Frostburg State Normal School No. 2" was founded by an act of the Maryland General Assembly, House Bill 742, from the General Appropriation Bill, on March 31, 1898. The bill was offered on the floor by John Leake of Vale Summit in Allegany County:

"For the direction of the erection of a building in Frostburg, Allegany County to be known as The State Normal School No. 2, for the sum of $20,000; and for the support of said school when established $5,000 annually, provided, the people of the town of Frostburg furnish the ground for the site of said building and deed the same to the state."

The State Board of Education selected and the town of Frostburg paid for the two-acre Beall Park as the location of the new school on August 9, 1898.

The cornerstone was laid in a ceremony on September 4, 1899.The Normal School's first building, Old Main, was positioned in Beall Park to face Loo Street (now known as College Avenue) and to look down Wood Street toward the downtown area of Frostburg. State Normal School No. 2, the first institution being located in Baltimore and then Towson, opened with its first class on September 15, 1902, with 57 students with Frostburg's first administrator, Principal Dr. Edward D. Murdaugh (18 November 1853 - May 1925). In 1904, eight students became the first graduates of the college, receiving a diploma and a lifetime teaching certificate. In 1912, a new gymnasium was authorized and completed in 1914. In 1919, a dormitory was opened. In 1925, a second dormitory was opened. In 1927, Allegany Hall, a new auditorium, gymnasium, and heating plant was added. In 1930, a six-room practice elementary school known as the new laboratory school was opened and the campus was extended to 40 acres, taking over the Brownsville area of Frostburg.

The institution's original mission was to train teachers for public school systems statewide. In 1935, the school was renamed "State Teachers' College at Frostburg" (also called Frostburg State Teachers College) and began offering a four-year degree program leading to a bachelor of science in elementary education, after expanding the curriculum from two to three years in 1931 and 1934, respectively. Lillian Cleveland Compton served as the first female president of the college from 1945 to 1954. Compton replaced the 21-year President John L. Dunkle. Her mission as president was essentially to prepare the college for its planned closing. Enrollment stood at a mere 62 students in 1945. With outdated facilities and inadequate funding, the college was accredited only by the State Department of Education. As early as 1943, there had arisen in the General Assembly a movement to close the institution, which eventually culminated in the Marbury Report. In 1947, the American Council on Education suggested that Frostburg State Teachers College be closed. The report states:

"Your Commission does feel obligated to recommend the prompt discontinuance of the State Teachers College at Frostburg. We are convinced that the cost of operating this unit is not justified by the very small number of its graduates who are entering the school system of the state as teachers. In reaching this conclusion, we have been strongly influenced by the report of our survey staff as to the present condition of the physical facilities at Frostburg. It is apparent that the state faces a heavy capital expenditure if operations at that location are to be continued. Frankly, such an outlay seems to us to be an indefensible waste of public money....The facilities in Towson are adequate to care for all the students at Frostburg who are now studying to become teachers."

The end of World War II brought a drastic change in the college's environment. In 1946, enrollment increased to 274 students, many being admitted under the new G.I. Bill. Though the movement to close the college persisted, it seemed misguided to those on the scene and was roundly opposed by both private citizens and civic groups in Frostburg and Western Maryland. With the strong support of State Superintendent of Schools Thomas Granville Pullen, Jr. and Governor William Preston Lane Jr., the General Assembly was petitioned to keep the School open and the Marbury Commission's recommendations died without ever being acted upon.

Under Compton's leadership, the institution celebrated its 50th anniversary in the 1949-1950 academic year, enrollment grew from 62 students in 1945 to 500 in 1954, the faculty increased from 13 to 34 members, and the size of the campus increased from eight to 40 acres of land. In addition to plant expansion, she initiated programs in curriculum development, adding a program to train junior high school teachers. R. Bowen Hardesty replaced Compton as President in 1955. The continued southern expansion of the college caused the Brownsville Schools and homes along Park Avenue to be demolished by 1955 to make way for Compton, Allen, and Simpson Halls. A new school-also known as the Lincoln School, and the current home of the University's Public Safety office-was constructed in the late 1950s. However, the building was used for only two years until national integration laws reassigned students to other Frostburg elementary schools. Marking a shift in the educational mission of the institution, the college was granted the right to grant bachelor of arts degrees and the master of education degree in 1960. The school was again renamed in July 1963, this time as Frostburg State College. Frostburg received university status in July 1987, thus being renamed to what it is today, i.e. Frostburg State University. Continuing the shift and growth of the university, the institution opened a campus in Hagerstown in 1988, which became the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown in January 2005, and offered its first doctoral degree in 2012.

Academics

Frostburg has colleges in education, business, and liberal arts and sciences, and, in addition to the baccalaureate, awards master's degrees in both arts and sciences. The university offers 48 different undergraduate majors and more than 80 specialized programs of study, many of them nationally accredited. FSU also offers 14 master’s programs and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership. The university has an associated campus at the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown.

Colleges

FSU has the following three colleges:

The Colleges of Business and Education are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, respectively.

Hagerstown center

Established in January 2005, the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown (USM-H) is a regional higher-education system center located in downtown Hagerstown, Maryland. The center offers upper-level undergraduate classes, as well as master’s-level programs. Frostburg State University is one of five universities offering courses at the center. Baccalaureate programs offered by FSU at USMH include: business administration, early childhood education, psychology, sociology, and liberal studies. Graduate programs include: elementary and secondary education.

Unique programs

The Adventure Sports Concentration is offered as a collaborative program with Garrett College in Western Maryland. Ethnobotany, introduced in 2007, is one of only two of programs in the United States on the cultural use of plants. The program emphasizes experiential learning and practical experiences.

Notable faculty

Overview

The average GPA of an undergraduate student accepted at Frostburg State University is 3.11. Additionally, the combined reading and math SAT scores range from 870–1040 when looking at the 25th though 75th percentiles. In 2008 there was one professor for every 17 students. In 2008, the retention rate was 72%. It takes an average of 4.6 years for students to earn their undergraduate degree. In 2009, Frostburg State University accepted 59% of all 4,495 applicants. In 2008, 94% of the graduates were employed within one year of graduating.

Enrollment

The 2009 undergraduate population was made up of 51% male and 49% female students; the following chart shows the recent change in enrollment of undergraduates.

The graduate population is made up of 30% male and 70% female students; the following chart shows the recent change in enrollment of graduate students.

Geography of students

At Frostburg State, the largest class as of 2009 is the freshman class. However, the classes are fairly evenly distributed. In the 2009 academic year, 1,610 undergraduates lived on campus, while 3,145 lived off campus. Additionally, nine graduate students live on campus, while 629 live off campus.

The top six counties in Maryland from where undergraduate students come are Allegany, Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore, Frederick, and Anne Arundel Counties.

The top six counties in Maryland from where graduate students come are Allegany, Washington, Garrett, Frederick, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel.

The top six states from where undergraduate students come are Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, "foreign", West Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The top five states from where graduate students come are Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Foreign, and Virginia.

Athletics

Frostburg State University participates in the NCAA Division III level and is currently a member of the Capital Athletic Conference, as well as participating as an associate member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football. However, prior to 2010, FSU was competing as a member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. FSU’s football team was a member of the ACFC, but has moved to Empire 8 in 2011. FSU teams have participated in and won many championships, Baseball having the most championship victories. There will be a total of 19 varsity teams during the 2010–2011 academic year. Various club and intramural sports are available on campus.

Facilities

The Bobcat Arena is located in the Harold J. Cordts Physical Education Center. It seats 3,600 people and is used for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as for the volleyball team. Other club and intramural teams also practice in the Bobcat Arena.

The Bobcat Natatorium is located in the Cordts PE Center and houses the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.

Bob Wells Field is home to the FSU baseball team, and is long through center field and long down the sidelines. In addition, it has 250-person seating next to the field.

The FSU softball team plays in the Bobcat Field, which opened in 2001. The seating holds around 250.

The Cordts Tennis Complex is home to FSU’s men’s and women’s tennis teams and is located behind the Cordts PE Center. It contains six courts.

The Bobcat Stadium was opened in 1974 and has an eight-lane track, with 4,000 seats. It is home to the FSU football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s track and field teams.

Activities on campus

The Bottom Line, the student newspaper, has a weekly circulation of 2,500 copies.

SGA (Student Government Organization)

All students are represented by the two branches of the Student Government Association: the Executive Council and the Senate. The SGA develops and administers student self-government policies, provides services to students, communicates with faculty and administration, and decides how the student activity fees are spent.

Frostburg TV/News

FSU-TV3 is Frostburg State University's 24-hour educational access channel. It is programmed and operated by students in the Department of Mass Communication, located in the Center for Communication and Information Technology. The Frostburg studio is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, programmed and operated by both students and faculty each semester. FSU-TV3 presents programming including documentaries, concerts, guest speakers, sports, and city council meetings.

Radio

WFWM radio is a public service of Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. It broadcasts informational, educational, and cultural programming 24 hours a day to the westernmost counties of Maryland and adjacent areas in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. WFWM operates at an assigned frequency of 91.9 MHz. It also operates a translator station, W242AD (96.3 MHz), in Oakland, Maryland. Some of WFWM's daily programming includes locally produced programming and news, as well as the public syndicate network of National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and National Weather Service. Main transmission facilities are located on Dan's Mountain in Midland, Maryland. WFWM also maintains and assists XFSR, the FSU student intranet radio station.

Fraternities and sororities

The school has a large number of nationally and internationally recognized fraternities and sororities. Recognized fraternities and sororities and the date that they were established at Frostburg State University:

Sororities

Fraternities

NPHC

Music organizations

Professional organizations

Local Greek letter organizations

There are also several Local Greek letter organizations that have either started in Frostburg, MD or were previously nationally recognized organizations but have since been made inactive. These organizations are not recognized by Frostburg State University as student organizations.

Local fraternities

Local sororities

Notable alumni

Music facilities

Most performances are in the Pealer Recital Hall, which seats 458 people.

Mountain City Traditional Arts

Mountain City Traditional Arts is dedicated to the education, sales, documentation, and perpetuation of regional art and cultural heritage, and is a partnership of the Allegheny Arts Council, Folklore and Folk life Programming at Frostburg State University, and the Frostburg First Main Street Program.

Children's Literature Centre

The Children's Literature Centre at Frostburg State University is housed within the College of Education. This centre was founded by Dr. William Bingman in 1982 to honor two former education faculty members.

Each year, the centre sponsors the Spring Festival of Children's Literature, which brings together nationally and internationally recognized children's authors and illustrators with teachers, librarians, media specialists, and lovers of children's literature. In 2009, the festival included featured speakers Kadir Nelson, Doreen Rappaport, Matt Tavares, and Gennifer Cholendenko. The centre sponsors several free community events for children, based around children's literature.