University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire (
UNH) is a
public university in the
University System of New Hampshire (USNH). The main campus is in
Durham, NH and the University has one college in
Manchester, the
University of New Hampshire at Manchester. UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire with 15,000 students.
The University has received many awards and recognitions for its academic achievements. The Princeton Review and
Forbes.com named UNH one of the nation's top 10 entrepreneurial campuses [
1]. In 2004, UNH was the only public institution in
New England to rank in the top 10 of
Fulbright number of fellowships awarded, with five gradutes receiving grants. UNH was named one of the top 20 universities in the country in
U.S. News and World Report's first annual college athletics ranking.
|
Thompson Hall, built in 1892 |
In
1866, the university was first incorporated as the
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in
Hanover, New Hampshire, in association with
Dartmouth College. Durham resident
Benjamin Thompson left his farm and assets to the state for the establishment an agricultural college. On
January 30,
1890, Benjamin Thompson died and his will became public. On
March 5,
1891, Gov. Hiram Americus Tuttle signed an act accepting the conditions of Thompson's will. On
April 10,
1891, Gov. Tuttle signed a
bill authorizing the college's move to
Durham, New Hampshire.
In 1892, the Board of Trustees hired Charles Eliot to draw a site plan for the first five campus buildings: Thompson, Conant, Nesmith, and Hewitt Shops (now called Halls) and the Dairy Barn. Eliot visited Durham and worked for three months to create a plan prior to the move to Durham. The Class of
1892, excited about the pending move to Durham, held commencement exercises in an unfinished barn on the Durham campus. On
April 18,
1892, the Board of Trustees voted to "authorize the faculty to make all the arrangements for the packing and removal of college property at Hanover to Durham." The Class of 1893, followed the previous class and held commencement exercises in unfinished Thompson Hall, the
Romanesque Revival campus centerpiece designed by the prominent
Concord architectural firm of
Dow & Randlett.
In Fall
1893, classes officially began in Durham with 51
freshmen and 13 upperclassmen, which was three times the projected enrollment. Graduate study was also established in Fall 1893 for the first time. The number of students and the lack of state funds for dormitories caused a housing crunch, and forced students to find housing in town. The lack of housing caused difficulty for attracting women to the university. In 1908, construction on Smith Hall, the first women's dorm, was completed using private and state funds. Prior to the construction of Fairchild Hall in 1915 for male students, 50 freshmen lived in the basement of DeMerritt Hall. With the continuing housing shortage for men, the administration encouraged the growth of the UNH Greek system. From the late 1910s through the 1930s, the fraternity system expanded and provided room and board for male students.
In
1923, Gov. Fred Herbert Brown signed a bill changing the name of the college to "
University of New Hampshire", despite pressure by state agriculture interests that had defeated a similar proposal in
1911.
UNH is composed of six
colleges and the Graduate School, offering some 2,000 courses in over 100 majors. The Thompson School of
Applied Science (TSAS), first established in 1895 and now a division of COLSA, provides seven different
associate degrees in applied science.
The six colleges of UNH are:
*College of
Engineering and
Physical Sciences (CEPS)
*College of
Liberal Arts (COLA)
*College of
Life Sciences and
Agriculture (COLSA)
*School of
Health and Human Services (SHHS)
*Whittemore School of
Business and
Economics (WSBE)
*
University of New Hampshire at Manchester (UNHM).
The University is a member of the
New England Board of Higher Education's
New England Regional Student Program (NERSP) where New England public universities and colleges offer a number of undergraduate curricula with special considerations to students from other New England states. If an out of state student's home state schools do not offer a certain degree program offered by UNH, that student can receive the in-state tuition rate plus 75% if enrolled in the program.
The coastal proximity of the university affords excellent programs in
Marine biology and
Oceanography. Facilities include the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory at Adam's Point in Durham, and the
Shoals Marine Laboratory jointly operated with
Cornell University on
Appledore Island in the
Isles of Shoals.
The University boasts three main university-wide undergraduate reasearch programs: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), and International Research Opportunities Program (IROP).
The University offers many opportunities for students to study abroad through managed programs, exchange programs and approved programs. As of Fall 2004, there were 561 students (4% of the student body) studying in 38 different countries. The University manages fourteen study abroad programs to:
Salzburg, Austria,
Canada,
Cambridge, England,
London, England,
Edinburgh, Scotland,
Brest, France,
Dijon, France,
Grenoble, France,
Budapest, Hungary,
Osaka, Japan,
The Hague, Netherlands,
Maastricht, Netherlands,
New Zealand and
Granada, Spain. The University organizes an annual summer abroad program at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge at
Cambridge University, which is restricted to American students with exceptional academic qualifications.
The University has approximately 100 student organizations grouped by: academics & careers, community service, political and world affairs, arts & entertainment, culture & language, fraternities & sororities, hall councils, honor socities, leisure & recreation, media & publications, religious, special interest, student activism. A listing of these groups can be found at the
SOS website Of those groups there are 15 undergraduate groups which receive Student Activity Fee funds to help subsidize the services they provide; such as the Campus Activity Board,
The Granite yearbook, SCAN TV, SCOPE, Student Senate,
The New Hampshire, and WUNH. UNH is currently ranked 17th in the unscientific
Princeton Review's Top Party Schools.
Music
UNH offers two undergraduate degree programs: the bachelor of arts in music and the bachelor of music; and two graduate degree programs: the master of arts in music, and the master of arts in teaching. The department also offers the following groups for one academic credit:{|valign="top"|
*
Concert Choir [
2]
*
Chamber Singers [
3]
*
Jazz Bands [
4]
*
Opera Workshop [
5]
|
*Pep Band
*Symphonic Band
*Symphony Orchestra [6]
*Wind Symphony [7]
*Wildcat Marching Band [8] | 
