St. Cloud State University

History

St. Cloud State opened its doors to students in 1869, under the name Third State Normal School. The school was one building, the Stearns House, a renovated hotel purchased by the state Legislature for $3,000. Classrooms were on the first floor, the model school was on second floor and a women's dormitory was housed on the third floor. The five-member faculty was headed by Principal Ira Moore. Of the 53 original students, 43 were women. In 1898, the school began offering a junior college curriculum.

In 1914, the school dropped its secondary education program. The Legislature authorized a name change in 1921 to St. Cloud State Teachers College. In 1957, the word "Teachers" was deleted. The first bachelor's degrees were awarded in 1925. Master's degree programs were first offered in 1953.

In 1975, St. Cloud State became a university, comprising five colleges and a graduate school. The G.R. Herberger Business School is recognized as one of the top business colleges in the country and is one of only four in the state that is nationally accredited. Within the past decade, the College of Science and Engineering established and gained full accreditation for its Computer Engineering program.

In 1987, men's hockey became an NCAA Division I program. Two years later the team moved into a new two-rink arena called the National Hockey Center. The building, now called the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, is undergoing a $30 million expansion and renovation.

Applied doctoral degrees were first offered in 2007. Students can pursue an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration or Educational Administration and Leadership.

In 2010, the university teamed with the private sector to build a welcome center and student-housing complex at Coborn Plaza, adjacent to campus. The university leases the Welcome Center and Coborn Plaza Apartments.

The Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF), which broke ground in October 2011, went into service fall 2013. ISELF is the final project of St. Cloud State's three-part Science Initiative. The $14.5 million addition to the Wick Science Building was completed in January 2009. The $15 million renovation of Brown Hall was finished in December 2009.

Previous school names

Academics

Students can choose from more than 200 majors, minors and pre-professional programs in six colleges and schools.

Among the undergraduate programs of note include accounting, land surveying and mapping sciences, nursing and meteorology.

St. Cloud State is the only Minnesota university that offers an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited manufacturing engineering program. It also offers ABET-accredited electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science programs. Master of engineering management is the only Minnesota program certified by the American Society of Engineering Management.

The School of Graduate Studies offers more than 60 graduate programs and certificates, including specialist, Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Engineering Management, Master of Music and Master of Science. Ed.D. doctoral degrees are offered in Higher Education Administration and Educational Administration and Leadership.

Master's programs of note include Master of Business Administration, Regulatory Affairs & Services, Medical Technology Quality and Applied Clinical Research. They are among the programs offered at St. Cloud State at Plymouth in Plymouth, MN.

St. Cloud State has 32 education-abroad programs, including a year-around program at Alnwick Castle in northern England.

Colleges and schools

St. Cloud State offers more than 200 undergraduate and more than 60 graduate programs of study through three colleges and five schools.

On-campus housing

On-campus students choose from among eight residence halls and apartments. Coborn Plaza Apartments, which can house 455 students, opened in 2010.

Residence halls and apartments:

A plan to revitalize student housing is under way. Shoemaker Hall was renovated in 2011 and 2014. A $12 million renovation of Case and Hill halls was completed in 2012. Stearns Hall is still standing but not housing any students at this time. Holes Hall was demolished in 2016.

Student organizations

At the start of each academic year students are invited to "Mainstreet," a showcase for student organizations, campus services and community connections. Students are encouraged to participate in its more than 250 student organizations, including the Investment Club, which runs a student-managed investment portfolio.

Students can join one of nine Greek houses.

Student media

The newspaper, television station and radio station are among the most celebrated campus organizations. Their accomplished alumni include:

KVSC 88.1 FM is an educational public radio station licensed to St. Cloud State. The station started on May 10, 1967 and expanded broadcasting times in September 1994. Among other things, KVSC is renowned for its 50-hour trivia contest, which dates back to 1980, and community events, such as Granite City Radio Theatre.

The student newspaper, University Chronicle, has been published since 1921.

UTVS Television is a student-run television station that airs live newscasts, live sportscasts and other programming. The station is broadcast on Charter Communications' cable channel 188 in the greater St. Cloud area. Men's hockey and other Huskies events are typically broadcast on Charter channel 823 (high definition) and Charter channel 426 (standard definition). Some men's hockey games, produced by UTVS' Husky Productions division, air on other cable franchises.

Among the awards earned in 2013 were UTVS' five awards at the Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts, including a Best of Festival award for a Husky Productions broadcast of a men's hockey game. University Chronicle earned 19 awards at the Minnesota Newspaper Association College Better Newspaper contest.

Student governance

Student Government plays an advisory role in campus governance and a management role in distributing student-fee dollars to student organizations and campus units. Notably, it allocates funding for athletics, technology and Student Legal Services for students. The Student Government president meets regularly with Interm President Ashish Vaidya.

Ballots allow students to vote on leadership positions, senator positions and advisory resolutions. Through May 2016, the president is Mikaela Johnson, and the vice president is Randy Olson.

Students pay a $0.43 per credit fee to fund the Minnesota State University Student Association, a student-led, non-profit advocacy organization for Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System students.

Athletics

The university has 19 NCAA Division II teams and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The team name is the Huskies, represented by Blizzard, the mascot. In 2014, the University updated its secondary logo, which features a Husky dog face. The logo is being phased-in on team uniforms. In fall 2014, for example, women's hockey displayed the secondary logo on both shoulders of its home jersey.

Ice hockey

The school's flagship intercollegiate sport is hockey. Men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in NCAA Division I. Men's Hockey is in the NCHC, and Women's Hockey is in the WCHA.

Men's Huskies Hockey has earned twelve NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearances. The team advanced to the 2013 Frozen Four. The 2012–13 team's co-captain Drew LeBlanc was named WCHA Player of the Year and earned numerous national honors, including the Hobey Baker Award, the most prestigious award in men's college hockey. The 2013 team also earned a share of the WCHA league title and the MacNaughton Cup. The 2014 team earned the Penrose Cup, league title trophy for the inaugural season of the NCHC. In 2016 the team won the NCHC post-season tournament, the Frozen Faceoff. The men's team is coached by Bob Motzko '89.

St. Cloud State men's hockey has a storied history, with powerhouse teams of national repute emerging in the 1930s. Among these teams was the 1933–34 squad that featured goaltender Frank Brimsek, a two-time winner of the NHL's Stanley Cup and a 1966 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the 1986–87 season, Herb Brooks, the 1980 USA men's Olympic hockey coach, became the coach of the Huskies and helped men's hockey attain NCAA Division I status. That season he led the Huskies to a 25–10–1 record and a third-place trophy at the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship. He also guided efforts to build the two-rink arena, Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, that now bears his name. In 2001, the men's team won the WCHA post-season tournament, symbolized by the Broadmoor Trophy.

In 1998, the university added a women's hockey team at the NCAA Division I level.

Wrestling

Huskies Wrestling is one of the nation's leading Division II programs, winning the NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2016 and 2015 and placing second in 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Basketball

Women's Huskies Basketball took shape in 1973 with the arrival Coach Gladys Ziemer. From 1982-90, Ziemer's teams dominated the North Central Conference, compiling an 179-58 record in that timespan and advancing three times to the NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Tournament quarterfinals. Ziemer coached 20 seasons and amassed a 321-212 record. Coach Lori Ulferts coached 14 seasons, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2005 and semifinals in 2006.

Men's Huskies Basketball, which dates back to 1901, has made 10 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament appearances. Most recently the Huskies advanced to a 2010 semifinal, losing 76–70 to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Huskies finished 29–6 that season behind the rebounding of Matt Schneck and the shooting of Taylor Witt.

Simon Award

St. Cloud State was recognized with the 2013 Simon Award for its excellence in integrating international education across all aspects of the university. The Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization is named for the late Senator Paul Simon (D-Ill.), who supported international education and foreign language learning. In its 11th year, the award is presented annually by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

HEED Award

St. Cloud State was among 83 colleges and universities honored for creating diverse and inclusive environments on their campuses, according to INSIGHT Into Diversity’s 2014 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Awards. The HEED Award, given by the oldest and largest higher education diversity-focused publication, recognizes broad-ranging efforts to support diversity at U.S. colleges and universities. These efforts include gender, race, ethnicity, veterans, people with disabilities and members of the LGBT community.

Harlander lands NASA contract

Physics professor John Harlander was named in 2013 to NASA's Ionospheric Connection team, which will develop instruments for an Explorer satellite mission to be launched in 2017 from Goddard Space Flight Center, northeast of Washington D.C. Harlander will design, fabricate and pre-flight test an instrument that will measure winds and temperatures in the thermosphere, an upper layer of Earth's atmosphere.

Hockey arena renovation

In 2013, the University re-opened the renovated and renamed Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, a two-sheet arena at the south end of campus. The first phase of a multi-year $30 million renovation included a four-story glass atrium, luxury suites, apparel store, and murals and signs celebrating the history of Huskies Hockey.

Winter Institute

For more than 50 years leading economists have provided insights into national and global issues at the Winter Institute. Past presenters include the late Nobel Prize laureate Milton Friedman; Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve System; Claremont College neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak; Richard Morgenstern,a senior fellow at Resources for the Future; James B. Bullard, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; and Nicholas Lardy, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

ISELF building opened

ISELF serves mostly upper-level and graduate-level science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medical technology and radiology classes. University officials say ISELF's function, collaboration, flexibility, scale and sustainability will transform how faculty work and students learn.

Twin Cities satellite

Since 2009, St. Cloud State has offered graduate programs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

The Twin Cities Graduate Center in Maple Grove, MN had classes in programs such as business administration, higher education administration, counseling and regulatory affairs and services are offered.

In January 2017 St. Cloud State moved its Twin Cities programs to Plymouth, MN. Renamed St. Cloud State at Plymouth, it is home to graduate programs in business administration, engineering management, educational administration, applied clinical research, regulatory affairs and services and medical technology quality.

Riverview Hall renovated

On the National Register of Historic Places, Riverview Hall was re-opened in 2010 following a $6.2 million renovation. The project retained the historic features of the original building while adding high-tech innovations. Two historic classrooms, furnished in 1913 style, stand next to smart classrooms and modern communication labs. Riverview was opened in 1913 as a laboratory school. From 1958–2008 Riverview was home to the Department of English. It now houses the Department of Communication Studies.

Lawrence Hall renovated

Built in 1905, Lawrence Hall housed students and academic offices for generations before being closed in 1999. It was restored in 2002–03 with funding from the 2000 Legislature. Today, the four-level building houses international students, the Center for International Studies and the Department of Languages and Cultures.

Notable alumni and former students

Athletes

Notable faculty and staff