James Madison University Informations

James Madison University (also known as JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison College in 1938 in honor of President James Madison and then James Madison University in 1977. The university is situated in the Shenandoah Valley, with the campus quadrangle located on South Main Street.

Founded in 1908 as a women's college, James Madison University was established by the Virginia General Assembly. It was originally called The State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg. In 1914, the name of the university was changed to the State Normal School for Women at Harrisonburg. At first, academic offerings included only today's equivalent of technical training or junior college courses; however authorization to award bachelor's degrees was granted in 1916. During this initial period of development, the campus plan was established and six buildings were constructed.

The university became the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg in 1924 and continued under that name until 1938, when it was named Madison College in honor of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States whose Montpelier estate is located in nearby Orange, Virginia. In 1976, the university's name was changed to James Madison University.

The first president of the university was Julian Ashby Burruss. The university opened its doors to its first student body in 1909 with an enrollment of 209 students and a faculty of 15. Its first 20 graduates received diplomas in 1911.

In 1919, Julian Burruss resigned the presidency to become president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Samuel Page Duke was then chosen as the second president of the university. During Duke's administration, nine major buildings were constructed. Duke served as president from 1919 to 1949.

In 1946, men were first enrolled as regular day students. G. Tyler Miller became the third president of the university in 1949, following the retirement of Samuel Duke. During Miller's administration, from 1949 to 1970, the campus was enlarged by 240 acres (0.97 km2) and 19 buildings were constructed. Major curriculum changes were made and the university was authorized to grant master's degrees in 1954.

In 1966, by action of the Virginia General Assembly, the university became a coeducational institution. Ronald E. Carrier, JMU's fourth president, headed the institution from 1971 to 1998. During Carrier's administration, student enrollment and the number of faculty and staff tripled, doctoral programs were authorized, more than twenty major campus buildings were constructed and the university was recognized repeatedly by national publications as one of the finest institutions of its type in America. Carrier Library is named after him.

During the first decade of the 21st century, during the administration of JMU's fifth President Linwood H. Rose, the university continued to rapidly expand, not only through new construction east of Interstate 81, but also on the west side of campus. In early 2005, JMU purchased the Rockingham Memorial Hospital campus just north of the main JMU campus for over $40 million. The hospital has since moved to a new location, and JMU now occupies the former hospital site after having made substantial renovations to the previous hospital campus. Additionally in June 2005, the university expanded across South High Street by leasing the former Harrisonburg High School building from the City of Harrisonburg. In May 2006, the university purchased the property. The sale was approved in June 2005 for $17 million. The university named the old HHS building Memorial Hall. Recently completed projects include the Rose Library located on the east side of campus, which opened on August 11, 2008. The John C. Wells Planetarium, first opened in 1974, underwent a $1.5 million renovation in 2008. It is now a state-of-the-art hybrid planetarium, the only one of its kind in the world. The mission of the JMU Planetarium is science education and public outreach. As such, it offers free shows to the public every Saturday afternoon and hosts annual summer space camps in July. The 175,000-square-foot (16,300 m2) Forbes Center for the Performing Arts opened in June 2010, and serves as the home to JMU's School of Theatre and Dance. It also provides major performance venues and support spaces for the School of Music, and the administrative office for the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The rapid expansion of JMU's campus has at times created tension in the city-university relationship. In 2006, the local ABC affiliate reported that the university had nearly doubled in size in the last 20 years, including purchases of several local properties.

The university has also experienced tension with local residents with occasional clashes between local police and students at a popular off-campus block party. In 2000, the party with about 2,500 students grew out of hand and required a police presence at the Forest Hills townhouse complex on Village Lane. Ten years later, police equipped with riot gear used force to disperse a group of 8,000 college-aged individuals at the party. Several participants were airlifted to a medical center in Charlottesville to treat their injuries. The university has condemned the behavior of the block party attendees.

James Madison University is considered "More Selective" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For the Class of 2012, the university received 22,648 applications, for an entering freshmen class of 4,325 for the 2012–2013 academic year. The retention rate for the 2011–2012 freshman class was 91.4%, and the ratio of female to male students is 60/40. Approximately 38% of students are from out-of-state, representing all 50 states and 89 foreign countries.

Currently, James Madison University offers 115 degree programs on the bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral levels. The university comprises seven colleges and 78 academic programs. The university includes the College of Arts and Letters; the College of Business; the College of Education; the College of Health and Behavioral Studies; the College of Integrated Science and Engineering; the College of Science and Mathematics; the College of Visual and Performing Arts; and The Graduate School. Total enrollment beginning the Fall 2012 academic year was 19,927; 18,392 undergraduates and 1,820 graduate students. JMU granted 4,908 degrees in 2012; 4,096 undergraduate degrees, and 812 graduate degrees.

On October 2, 2009, James Madison University was granted a chapter by the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. Only about 10 percent of the country's colleges and universities have Phi Beta Kappa chapters. James Madison University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was the first academic honor society chartered at JMU. The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ΦΚΦ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education".

On June 24, 2004, the Board of Visitors approved the Madison College Proposal, which created the College of Visual and Performing Arts out of the College of Arts and Letters. The College of Visual and Performing Arts includes the School of Art, Design and Art History, the School of Music, the School of Theatre and Dance, and the Madison Art Collection. Approximately 1,200 students are enrolled in the college, and the Master of Fine Arts degree offered by the School of Art, Design and Art History is nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report.

On January 9, 2007, the School of Engineering was approved by the Virginia higher education governing body. The school began accepting undergraduates in Fall 2008. The program focuses on sustainability with a major emphasis on the environmental sciences. The School of Engineering offers general engineering degrees with no specializations.

U.S. News and World Report ranked JMU as the No. 2 public masters-level university in the South (6th overall) for 2019. In the 2018 Washington Monthly college rankings, JMU ranked 8th among master's universities nationwide. Washington Monthly assesses the quality of schools based on social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

JMU's College of Business was ranked 40th among the undergraduate business programs in the U.S. by BloombergBusiness in 2014. The university is also ranked 21st in value in the nation among public colleges and universities, according to Kiplinger magazine's 2015 "100 Best Values in Public Colleges". JMU ranked 15th among all undergraduate business schools in the country for return on investment, according to BloombergBusiness in 2013.

The campus of JMU originally consisted of two buildings, known today as Jackson and Maury Halls. Today, the campus of James Madison University has 148 major buildings on 721 acres (2.92 km2) in Harrisonburg, VA. And it has since become the second most photographed location on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter in the state of Virginia, second to King Dominion. The campus is divided into five parts: Bluestone, Hillside, Lakeside, Skyline, and the Village. The Skyline area is located on the east side of Interstate 81, while the Bluestone, Hillside, Lakeside, and Village areas of the campus are located on the west side. The two sides of campus are connected both by a bridge over, and a tunnel (Duke Dog Alley) underneath, Interstate 81. Other unique features on the campus include Newman Lake, a 9.7-acre (39,000 m2) body of water located in the Lake Area next to Greek Row and Sonner Hall, and the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, a 125-acre urban botanical preserve located within the city of Harrisonburg and the campus of James Madison University (JMU). The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum combines naturalized botanical gardens (33 acres) and forest (92 acres), and is the only arboretum on a public university campus in Virginia.

The original, historic "Bluestone" side of campus is situated on South Main Street (also known as U.S. Route 11, and historically as "The Valley Pike"). Since the late 1990s the campus has expanded both east and west of the Bluestone area. Towards the east, across Interstate 81, the expansion has included The College of Integrated Science and Technology (CISAT), the University Recreation Center (UREC), the Festival Conference and Student Center, the Leeolou Alumni Center, several residence halls, the Chemistry and Physics Building, and University Park, which opened in 2012 off of Port Republic Road, combining recreational and varsity athletic fields. The Rose Library, completed in August 2008, serves as a repository of science and technical material.

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