Norfolk State University

Academics

The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has accredited Norfolk State to award associate, baccalaureate, master and doctoral degrees. Currently, Norfolk State offers two doctorate and 15 master's degrees, including master's degree programs in Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, and Criminal Justice. The school also offers 36 undergraduate degrees, including the only bachelor's degree in Optical Engineering in Virginia.

Schools

Norfolk State's undergraduate and graduate programs are divided into eight schools/colleges.

History

The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 as the Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University. Eighty-five students attended the first classes held in 1935. Mr. Samuel Fischer Scott, an alumnus of Virginia Union and Portsmouth native, served as the first director with the primary focus of maintaining the solvency of the school. Dr. Lyman Beecher Brooks, a Virginia Union alumnus, succeeded Mr. Scott as director in 1938, and served as provost, 1963–1969, and the first president 1969–1975.

In 1942, the school became independent of VUU and was named Norfolk Polytechnic College. Within two years, by an act of the Virginia Legislature, it became a part of Virginia State College (now Virginia State University). By 1950, the 15th anniversary of the college founding, the faculty had grown to fifty and the student enrollment to 1,018. In 1952, the college's athletic teams adopted the "Spartan" name and identity.

The City of Norfolk provided a permanent site for the college on Corprew Avenue, and in 1955 Brown Hall, formerly Tidewater Hall, opened as the first permanent building on the new campus. In 1956 Norfolk State College granted its first bachelor's degrees.

In 1969, the college divided from Virginia State College and was named Norfolk State College. The college was issued accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools the same year with an enrollment of 5,400 students. In 1975 and the year following, the first master's degrees were awarded in Communications and Social Work, respectively. Dr. Harrison Benjamin Wilson, Jr., in 1975, succeeded Dr. Lyman Beecher Brooks as President after 37 years.

When the college was granted university status in 1979 by the General Assembly of Virginia, it changed its name to Norfolk State University.

Norfolk State University celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1985 with a year of observances and with an enrollment of 7,200. In 1995 Norfolk State University's enrollment reached 9,112.

Upon the retirement of Dr. Harrison Benjamin Wilson in 1997, Dr. Marie Valentine McDemmond, became NSU's third President in 1997 and served until her retirement. Dr. Alvin J. Schexnider became interim president in July 2005. Dr. Carolyn Winstead Meyers was selected as the fourth President and began service on July 1, 2006. Dr. Tony Atwater was announced as the new president in 2011 becoming the fifth president and served until he was removed by the board of visitors of Norfolk State University on August 23, 2013. Dr. Sandra DeLoatch the Provost and President of Academic Affairs was named acting president effective. On September 13, 2013, Eddie N. Moore Jr. was appointed interim president of Norfolk State University and started serving in that capacity on September 23, 2013.

In December 2013, the university was placed on probation by its regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, for "financial and governance issues." The probation was lifted two years later.

Eddie Moore, Jr. became the 6th president of Norfolk State University on January 10, 2016.

Campus

Located on the former site of the 50-acre (202,343 m²) Memorial Park Golf Course, which the city of Norfolk sold to the school for one dollar, the campus now encompasses 134 acres (0.5 km²) of land and 31 buildings.

The Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall is a large health, physical education, and ROTC complex with a seating capacity of 7,500. Other facilities include a 30,000-seat football stadium; a television studio and radio station, an African art museum, and a multi-purpose performing arts center. Research facilities include a life sciences building with a planetarium and a materials research wing with crystal growth, organic synthesis, laser spectroscopy, and magnetic resonance equipment.

In September 2009, the New Student Center facility opened. The three story building, which includes a game room, a dining area, a new bookstore, a wellness center (work-out facility), student lounges, and administrative offices, marks the first of two major projects for NSU.

Construction on a New Nursing and General Classroom Building is underway and scheduled to open in 2014, . Other recent construction on the campus includes the new police station (2007), the Marie V. McDemmond Center for Applied Research (2006), and the Spartan Suites Apartments (2005), and state-of-the-art Library (2012).

Student activities

The university offers organized and informal co-curricular activities including 63 student organizations, leadership workshops, intramural activities, student publications and student internships.

Athletics

Norfolk State sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (Football Championship Subdivision for all sports including football) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Norfolk State was formerly a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference (1953–1960) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1962–1996).

The 2011–12 Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball team won the 2012 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament championship which gave them the conference's automatic bid in the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, the school's first ever appearance in the tournament. The Spartans, a 15 seed, defeated the #2 seeded Missouri Tigers in the second round, 86-84. This victory was only the fifth time in NCAA Tournament history that a 15 seed defeated a 2 seed, with the last coming in 2001 by MEAC in-state rival Hampton.

Marching band

The Marching Spartan Legion Band performs at campus events and during Norfolk State football games. They were featured performers in the Honda Battle of the Bands in 2007 and 2008.

National fraternities and sororities

All nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations currently have chapters at Norfolk State University. These organizations are:

The Council of Independent Organizations includes:

Newspaper

The Spartan Echo is the official student-produced newspaper of Norfolk State University. The paper is available in print (available twice a month) and on the web (updated daily).

WNSB (College Radio Station)

Norfolk State operates WNSB(FM) radio, which broadcasts in stereo 24 hours a day from the campus and covers all of the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, reaching the Eastern Shore of Virginia, northeast North Carolina and the Richmond, Virginia suburbs. Established on February 22, 1980 (1980-02-22) and known as "Hot 91.1", WNSB's programming is also broadcast via the internet.

Notable faculty and staff

This list of notable faculty and staff contains current and former faculty, staff and presidents of the Norfolk State University.

Notable alumni

This is a partial list of notable alumni which includes graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of Norfolk State University or predecessors such as Norfolk State College.