Salisbury University

History

Salisbury University, originally called the Maryland State Normal School, opened on September 7, 1925, as a two-year institution to train elementary school teachers to help fill the teacher shortage in the state of Maryland. The original class of 105 students was greeted by Salisbury's first president, Dr. William J. Holloway, an experienced educator and the driving force behind the creation of the school. The curriculum was influenced by those established at Columbia's Teachers College, alma mater of six of Salisbury Normal School's eight original faculty. During the Great Depression, Maryland extended the required course of study at Normal Schools from two years to three years, and to four years in 1934, paving the way for the institution to become Maryland State Teachers College one year later.

In 1935, its name was changed to Maryland State Teachers College, and in 1963 to Salisbury State College. Between 1962 and 1995 several Masters Degree programs were approved, and in 1988, the name was changed to Salisbury State University. In 2001, the name was changed to Salisbury University.

Since the early 2000s, Salisbury has grown rapidly in academic enrollment as well as campus growth. Since 2002, Henson Hall, The Teacher and Education and Technology Center, Perdue Hall, The Patricia R. Guererri Academic Commons, and Sea Gull Stadium have been constructed.

Campus facilities

Salisbury University owns 75 buildings, with a total gross area of 2,158,078 square feet (200,492.0 m²). The Salisbury University campus consists of 183 acres (0.74 km²).

Holloway Hall

Holloway Hall served as the original home of Maryland State Normal School at Salisbury upon its opening in 1925. The structure once served as the home for all teaching, student, and administrative functions at the school. Today, the building – renamed Holloway Hall after the retirement of Salisbury's first president, Dr. William J. Holloway – houses administrative offices, including the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, Financial Aid, Registrar, Public Relations, Student Health Services, and Human Resources. The building also contains a number of unique, multi-purpose spaces, including the Auditorium (seating capacity of 776) and the Great Hall (originally used as the dining hall and later as the home for the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art). The classroom space in the north wing of the structure was once the home of the Perdue School of Business.

Fulton Hall

Fulton Hall serves as home for The Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts at Salisbury University. The building serves as the north anchor of the campus' central mall. As the structure closest to Holloway Hall, Fulton Hall was built to complement Holloway's classical architecture styling. Fulton Hall includes the main university gallery (home to temporary art exhibitions), classrooms, fine arts studios, photography lab, and a glass blowing facility. The building is also home to many of the university's performing arts facilities, including a 150-seat Black Box Theater (featuring a flexible 50' x 50' performance space), scene shop, costume shop, and music rehearsal facilities.

Conway Hall

Conway Hall, formerly known as the Teacher Education and Technology Center, opened for use at the beginning of the 2008 Fall semester. In 2009, the 165,000-square-foot (15,300 m²) building earned Silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system under the United States Green Building Council. The building also earned the distinction of being named one of the ten best-designed new higher education facilities by College Planning & Management magazine as part of its "2009 Education Design Showcase" issue.

The facility houses flexible classroom space, multi-purpose computer lab space, a satellite dining facility, distance-learning classrooms, integrated SMART classroom technology, and offices and support services for the Seidel School, Fulton School, and Information Technology. The showcase Integrated Media Center, located on the third floor of the facility, includes both high-definition and standard-definition television production studios, twenty individual editing suites (video/audio), and audio production facilities.

The building was renamed in April 2016 for former Maryland Delegate Norman Conway, who as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee assisted SU in securing funding for the project, and is an SU alumnus.

Henson Hall

Henson Hall was dedicated on September 5, 2002, and contains classroom, support, and laboratory space for the Henson School of Science and Technology. Built at a cost of $37 million, the 145,500-square-foot (13,520 m²) facility houses the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science, and geography and geosciences. The building holds 12 classrooms, 32 teaching laboratories, and 20 research labs. Henson Hall also houses a satellite dining facility, which students call "The Airport" in reference to the building's namesake, test pilot Richard A. Henson.

Perdue Hall

The new building for the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business was partially funded by an $8 million gift from the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. Perdue, Inc., chairman Jim Perdue said the donation was in honor of his father, former Perdue Farms president Frank Perdue. The 112,800-square-foot (10,480 m²), $56 million facility houses classroom and office space formerly located in the north wing of Holloway Hall. The University was awarded gold certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system under the United States Green Building Council for the Perdue building. The facility includes a Business Outreach Services Suite (BOSS), a Small Business Development Center, a Perdue Museum, meeting rooms, focus-group rooms, specialized business lab space, an internet cafe, and an M.B.A. suite with case rooms.

Patricia R. Guererri Academic Commons

Opened in the Fall of 2016, the Patricia R. Guererri Academic Commons (GAC) officially opened as the largest and tallest building on campus. The facility cost $117 million and houses the student library, IT help desk, Edwards H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Writing Center, Center for Student Achievement, a Math Emporium, and a 3D printing lab. The building contains 400 computers for public use, Rise Up Coffee Roasters and Hungry Minds Express food vendors, and 15 study rooms situated around the four-story, 221,000-square-foot academic commons. The library participates in an inter-campus loan program where students can order books from other university libraries within the University System of Maryland for temporary use.

University center, dining and residence halls

The south end of campus is home to the Guerrieri University Center (GUC) and the Commons Dining Hall, joined together by an indoor walkway called the "Link of Nations". The GUC houses the Office of Student Affairs, Student Activities office, two eateries (counter-service Gull's Nest and internet cafe Cool Beans), Career Services office, the Center for Student Achievement, and a large, multi-level lounge space. The Commons contains the main dining hall facility, campus bookstore, post office, and conference and meeting room facilities.

There are currently ten on-campus residence halls at Salisbury University: Pocomoke, Nanticoke, Wicomico, Manokin, Choptank, Chester, Severn, Chesapeake, and St. Martin halls, and Dogwood Village. The residence halls are laid out with a variety of floorplans, including cluster- and suite-style. All traditional residence halls (Pocomoke, Nanticoke, Wicomico, and Manokin) underwent extensive renovations to be converted to suite-style facilities. The first completed dorm, Pocomoke Hall, opened prior to the Spring 2010 semester, with renovations to the other three facilities completed by August 2011.

Salisbury University houses approximately 40% of all students in 2,648 spaces of campus-affiliated housing, with freshmen given priority in traditional housing. In addition to the on-campus, traditional dorms, Salisbury has partnerships with two nearby apartment complexes, University Park and University Village, with residents of those facilities having access to a shuttle system to main campus. Finally, Sea Gull Square, a new 600-bed, apartment-style complex, opened on main campus in August 2011.

Honors House

Honors House was established in 2000, and is located off Camden Avenue, across east campus. It is open to students in the Bellavance honors program, and includes a full kitchen, computer lab, and grand piano. The yard contains a gazebo, goldfish pond, and a Japanese garden.

Campus grounds: arboretum status

The Salisbury University campus was recognized by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta as an arboretum in 1988. The Salisbury campus features over 2,000 species of plant life, including magnolia, rhododendron, viburnum, Japanese maple, bald cypress, and Crape myrtle. Notable areas of interest on campus include the Pergola (near the University Commons), the Holloway Hall Courtyard Garden, the Bellavance Honors Center Japanese Garden, the Link of Nations, and the Miller Alumni Garden. The campus also features a collection of figurative sculpture, including pieces by such noted sculptors as Auguste Rodin (Coquelin Cadet), Daniel Chester French (Ralph Waldo Emerson), Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Diana), and Carl Akeley (Wounded Comrade).

Academic schools and programs

There are four academic schools at the University, all of which are endowed.

Salisbury University offers 42 distinct undergraduate and 14 graduate degree programs. Popular majors include Biology/Biological Sciences, Business Administration and Management, Kinesiology and Exercise Science, and Psychology. The school's nursing program is well known for its difficulty and selective admissions; based on recent data from the Maryland Board of Nursing, Salisbury University nursing students have the highest 10-year average pass rate among all University System of Maryland institutions on the NCLEX examinations for Registered Nurses, averaging at 91.6%.

Rankings

In 2010, U.S. News & World Report named Salisbury University as one of the Top Public Universities in Master's category (North) for the 13th consecutive year. SU was the highest-placing public Master's-level university in Maryland in that year, coming in at 7th place.

In 2015, Salisbury University was included by Kiplinger's Personal Finance as one of its 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, as well as by The Economist, Washington Monthly, Forbes, and Money magazines.

According to The Princeton Review's 2016 edition of The Best 380 Colleges, Salisbury University ranks within the top 15 percent of all regional four-year colleges nationwide, as per the Review's flagship guidelines.

Thomas E. Bellavance honors program and college

The Thomas E. Bellavance Honors Program was established in 1981. The Honors Program promotes academic excellence in a small, collegial environment, with classes rarely exceeding 20 students. Specialized classes, cultural events, trips, and other opportunities are offered to help motivated students pursue intellectual and personal growth. The program fosters close individual contact between students and faculty, and brings together students with varied interests. In 2016, Salisbury University created the Honors College, which houses the Honors Program and serves the growing student body.

Admissions

Salisbury University's Office of Admissions is responsible for the processing of all admissions applications. Admissions have become increasingly more selective over recent years. For undergraduate admissions for the Fall 2010 entry term, Salisbury received 7,739 applications and Salisbury offered admission to 53% of those applicants. The incoming freshman class was 1,276 students.

SAT-optional policy

In the fall of 2006 the Faculty Senate at Salisbury University approved a plan to make the SAT an optional submission for admission to the university. President Janet Dudley-Eshbach is quoted as saying of the SAT, "All they really do is evaluate how well someone does on a timed standardized test. It doesn't measure motivation. It's not really a level playing field. The test costs anywhere from $45 to $100, and some students take it again. The SAT prep course [can cost] about $800. Increasingly, we are finding students who don’t have the financial means to take the test – and certainly not a prep course. So our philosophy is, if you can demonstrate to us that you can achieve at least a 3.5 grade-point average, you should at least be given a try at Salisbury University."

Cost

For 2010-11, tuition and fees for Maryland residents were $6,908 annually, $15,404 for non-Maryland residents. According to U.S. News Weekly, Salisbury University’s tuition rates for 2016-2017 are $9,364 in-state and $17,776 out-of-state. Including room and board, per-annum expenses are approximately $15,120 and $23,616 for residents and nonresidents, respectively.

Of $45 million in distributed aid for the Fall of 2009, $5.6 million was available in the form of scholarships (not necessarily academic), with the remainder based on need. About 74% of undergraduate students receive financial aid.

Enrollment

The school has grown steadily since its founding and now is attended by 7,861 undergraduate and 887 graduate students. Undergraduate minority enrollment is 27.9%.

Athletics

Salisbury University has ten female and nine male Division III NCAA teams. The football team competes in the New Jersey Athletic Conference while all other sports participate in the Capital Athletic Conference. SU is well known for the success of its athletic programs, amassing 19 national championships in team sports and 24 individual national championships in track and field and wrestling.

Mascot

The University mascot is named "Sammy Sea Gull." The Sea Gull name evolved from the Salisbury State College Golden Gulls, which was chosen in a 1948 contest. In 1963, the mascot was changed to a sea gull because the school's athletic teams were often referred to as the SSC Gulls (C-Gulls), and the nickname "Sammy Sea Gull" followed in the 1970s.

Regents Cup and Charles B. Clark Cup

In addition to regular-season and tournament play, the Sea Gulls compete twice a year against other local universities. In the fall, the football team competes against Frostburg State University for the Regents Cup. In the spring, the men's lacrosse team competes against Washington College for the Charles B. Clark Cup; this annual event being known among the two institutions as the "War on the Shore", and the two schools take turns every year hosting the event.

Fall

Winter

Spring

Sports Information Department and The Sea Gull Sports Network

The University's Sports Information Department provides game day logistics and statistics-keeping for all athletic events, while also running the athletic website and providing media support. The current director, Tim Brennan, was named "SID of the Year" by Lacrosse Magazine in 2012.

The Department also provides webcasts of home games for 11 Varsity teams, the bi-weekly show Squawk Talk, and highlights from various home games around the university campus on its website under the title of the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN). Launched in January 2011, the Network was intended to give Salisbury University sports fans the ability to watch home games when they could not attend them, while giving additional fan access to each team and its members.

In its first semester of existence (Spring 2011), SGSN would webcast 16 varsity events. The 2011-12 school year would see 106 live webcasts, along with the addition of game highlights and the debut of Squawk Talk. In 2012-13, SGSN partnered with Stretch Internet, improving the quality of webcasts and giving the network the ability to produce even more webcasts. That year's webcast total increased to 140 live webcasts.

While overseen by the Sports Information Department, SGSN is largely student-run, as Salisbury students work as camera operators, technical directors, commentators, and administrators.

Relay For Life

The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life is the largest on-campus event at Salisbury University. SU's Relay For Life has consistently raised thousands of dollars annually, making Salisbury University one of the top Relay teams, per capita, in the nation, raising over 1.2 million dollars since its inception. The event traditionally takes place on the intramural sports fields, although during times of inclement weather the event has been moved indoors to the Maggs Physical Activity Center.

Seagull Century

This annual bike ride, usually held the first weekend in October, brings thousands of riders to Delmarva, in what is the largest single-day tourism event in Wicomico County. The 100-mile (160 km) ride has been named among the top ten century rides in the nation by Bicycling Magazine. The Washington Post named it "by far the most popular local century" in the Maryland-Delaware-Virginia region. The ride starts and ends at SU, offering two routes. It is well known for its scenic halfway point at Assateague Island.

BEACON: The Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network

BEACON is the applied research, experiential learning, and community outreach arm of the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University. Students and faculty from the Perdue School partner with regional decision makers to work on a wide variety of projects and programs. ShoreTRENDS, GraySHORE, and Bienvenidos a Delmarva are three such programs, as is being the funding partner of the Perdue School's ShoreENERGY research program. BEACON’s applied research and experiential learning activities have been recognized with a number of awards and citations, including an Evie Cutler Award for Public Service, a Shore Leadership Award for Economic Development, and two citations from the Governor of Maryland.

PACE: Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement

PACE was launched in 1999 and is designed to create opportunities for students and faculty to become involved in the political and governmental life of the surrounding region. The mission of the Institute is to serve the public communities on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the students and faculty of Salisbury University by enhancing our understanding of the public good; fostering, in a non-partisan way, a more informed and responsible citizenry; and promoting ethics and good government at the local and state levels through policy and polling research, educational programs, and projects in civic engagement.

Study-abroad programs

Salisbury students have the opportunity to attend study-abroad courses through the Salisbury Abroad Semester Program. This program is offered primarily during the Fall and Spring semesters, but courses are also offered during the shorter Winter term. While abroad, SU students and other international students study with local students and immerse themselves in their country of interest. In these programs, all classes are taught by local professors.

International Students and English Language Institute

First created in 1999, Salisbury University's strategic plan for internationalization was updated and revised in 2009, which paved way for the unprecedented growth in the number of foreign students seen on campus today. Co-authored by the director of international education on behalf of the administration and the International Education Committee of the Faculty Senate, the plan charted a course that has resulted in substantial advances in the Comprehensive Internationalization (CI) of the University. By 2009, study-abroad participation has increased by 50 percent, the number of short-term faculty-led study-abroad programs has increased dramatically, the University has created its first semester-long study-abroad programs, and SU has added a new full-time professional study-abroad advisor. In AY (academic year) 2012-13, 365 SU students studied abroad for academic credit, a record high.

SU currently sends abroad approximately 18 percent of its student body. At the national level, the percentage of four-year, degree-seeking undergraduates who study abroad was 14 percent during the 2010-11 academic year; SU’s study abroad participation rates are just above that. In 2009, the U.S Department of State designated Salisbury University as an authorized participant in the J-1 Exchange Visitor program, in the categories of Student and Professor. This designation has allowed SU for the first time to sponsor visas for visiting international scholars to come to Salisbury to teach, conduct research, study, collaborate with faculty colleagues, and engage in other professional activity. Since receiving the designation in 2011, SU has sponsored 12 J-1 Exchange Visitors in the Professor category, with nine faculty Exchange Visitors in residence simultaneously during fall semester 2013.

As an attempt to further make Salisbury University a more internationally diverse learning community, the University created the English Language Institute (ELI) in 2010. From its first enrollment of eight students in 2010, the ELI enrolled 120 students during fall semester 2013. The ELI now ranks fourth – behind New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania – as a source for non-resident students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate degree programs at SU. The ELI employs five full-time teaching faculty, 10-12 part-time instructors and a small administrative team. It has achieved all of its growth without funding from University operational funds. It is a self-supporting unit, generating positive revenue that is now being used for international faculty development, international recruiting, and other initiatives. International student enrollment surpassed 200 students in Fall 2013, rising to 2% of total enrollment. This growth marks a 175% improvement in just three years.

Despite the growing number of international students at Salisbury University, the school still has a smaller international student population compared to other schools and colleges within the University System of Maryland (USM). SU international students only represent 2% of the entire student population, which is less than University of Maryland College Park (10%), Towson University (6-7%), University of Maryland Baltimore County (6-7%), and University of Maryland Eastern Shore (4-5%).

In 2010, Salisbury University established a sister-institution partnership with Anqing Teachers College, in Anhui Province, China. The first two Salisbury University undergraduate students to study there did so during the entire Fall Semester in 2010. In turn, two undergraduate students and one graduate student were the first Chinese students to come to Salisbury University from Anqing.

Greek life

Salisbury University has many Fraternities and Sororities.

Fraternities

Sororities

Notable alumni