James Madison University

James Madison University Summary

James Madison University, also known as JMU, is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes until settling with James Madison University. The university is situated in the Shenandoah Valley, with the campus quadrangle located on South Main Street in Harrisonburg. World Report calling JMU the top public, masters-level university in the South for the 13th consecutive year (as of the 2007 edition). Carrier Arboretum, the only active publicly-oriented arboretum on a Virginia state-supported university campus, and the student run radio station WXJM, as well as National Public Radio station WMRA. The university was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1908 as 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. 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 the fourth president of the United States. In 1976 the university’s name was changed to James Madison University. The university opened its doors to its first student body in 1909 with an enrollment of 209 students and a faculty of 15. Dr. Samuel Page Duke became the second president of the university in 1919 upon the resignation of Burruss, who became president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 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. In the 2000’s, the university continued to expand, not only through new construction east of Interstate 81, but also on the west side of campus. Additionally, the university has expanded across South High Street with the finalizing of the purchase of the former Harrisonburg High School building after initially leasing it for a year, operating it as Memorial Hall. The university also received state and private funding to begin construction of a state of the art Performing Arts Complex near the quad in 2007. Today, the campus of James Madison University has 102 major buildings on 655 acres. The campus was originally situated between South Main Street and Interstate 81, but has since expanded across the Interstate with the addition of 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, and athletic fields since the late-1990’s. The Princeton Review also recognized James Madison as one of 81 schools in America “with a conscience”, and in the latest year ranked behind only the University of Virginia in the number of Peace Corps volunteers it sent from its student body among “medium-sized” universities. The administration has worked hard to lower the party school atmosphere by enforcing stiffer penalties for students convicted of drug and alcohol violations as determined by the university judicial system. James Madison University’s athletic teams use the name “Dukes” in competition, with the Duke Dog, a gray bulldog dressed in a purple cape and crown, as the school’s mascot. “Dukes” is in honor of Samuel Page Duke, the university’s second president. Only the University of Virginia and Old Dominion University have more national titles. The JMU women’s field hockey gave the university their first national title. On September 29, 2006, the James Madison University Board of Visitors announced that ten sports teams would be eliminated effective July 1, 2007. At that time, the options as presented to the board were to maintain the status quo, eliminate eight teams as recommended by JMU’s Centennial Sports Committee, create a two-tiered system consisting of scholarship and non-scholarship teams as recommended by the administration, or raise student fees to fund an endowment for athletic scholarships as recommended by athletic coaches. The JMU Brass Band is one of only a few collegiate brass bands in the United States. Most recently, the band was a featured ensemble at the 2004 Virginia Music Educators Conference in Norfolk, Virginia and the 2006 Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky. Marching Band is offered as a two-credit class at JMU, whereas most other universities have marching band solely as an extracurricular activity. Every year during JMU’s fall break, the school holds a marching band competition called the Parade of Champions, inviting high school bands from across the state and beyond to come perform and receive scores. Douglas, who now directs the Christopher Newport University marching band. The Pep Band is open to all members of the marching band, and has twice been named “Best Pep Band in the East” by Eastern Basketball Magazine.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.

James Madison University Academics

James Madison University is unique in its study options. The university has disability services as well, so be sure to inquire about them if needed. For one thing, the university has a Accelerated Program, Distance Learning, Double Major, Honors Program, Independent Study, Internships, ROTC, Air Force, ROTC, Army, Study Abroad, Teacher Certification and Washington Semester. Furthermore, when any student is looking for some counseling or other types of support, Adult (re-entering) student services, Alcohol/Substance Abuse Counseling, Career Counseling, Employment Service, Freshman Orientation Program, Health Services, Personal Counseling and Placement Service can help. There’s never a reason to feel alone in your studies either, since there are academic support services like Extensive Undergraduate Evening or Early Morning Classes, Learning Center, Study Skills Assistance and Tutoring.

The following are the types of degrees and majors offered at James Madison University.

School of Visual and Performing Arts:

Art – General, Art History/Criticism/Conservation, Drama/Theater Arts, Music – General Performance

English Language and Literature:

English, English Language & Literature – General, Technical/Business Writing

Multiple or Interdisciplinary:

technology & society

Philosphy and Religion:

Philosophy & Religion – General, Philosophy and Religion

Computer Science:

Computer/Information Sciences – General, Information Sciences/Systems

Parks, Recreation, and Fitness:

Health/Physical Fitness

Mathematics:

Mathematics – General

Communications & Journalism:

Communications/Rhetoric

Popular majors:

twenty-one percent business per marketing, twelve percent social sciences, nine percent health professions, eight percent communications per journalism, seven percent psychology, seven percent visual and performing arts, six percent liberal arts, five percent english

History:

History – General

Physical Sciences:

Chemistry, Geology, Physics

Biological and Biomedical Sciences:

Biology, Biotechnology

Foreign Language and Literature:

Foreign Language & Literature – General

Health and Clinical Sciences:

Athletic Training/Sports Medicine, Community Health Services, Health System Administration, Nursing (RN), Speech-Language Pathology

Business, Management, & Marketing:

Accounting, Business Administration/Management, Business/Managerial Economics, Finance/Banking, Hospitality Administration/Management, International Business, Marketing Management, Quantitative Finance

Social Sciences:

Anthropology, Economics, Geography, International Relations, Political Science/Government, Social Sciences – General, Sociology

Public Administration and Service:

Public Administration, Social Work

Psychology:

Psychology – General

Education:

Business Teacher Education

Are you an international student? The Fall application deadline for international students is the 1st of February. Besides, for international students, the application fee is 40.

James Madison University Admissions

This school requires an application fee consisting of forty dollars regular application fee, forty dollars out-of-state application fee, forty dollars online application fee and point zero . Admission policy is currently Percent applicants admitted: 68% and Percent of students who return for sophomore year: 91%. Remember that this can change at any time. Transfer student are not ignored. An instance of this, there were one thousand, nine hundred and twenty-six total number of transfer students who applied and one thousand, one hundred and forty-seven total number of transfer students who were admitted.

For priority students, financial aid applications are due no later than the 1st of March. Regardless of which application you submit, this school will notify you by the 1st of April. For all student applicants, the Fall application deadline is the 1st of February. Will you make it in time? Make sure to know when all the due dates and deadlines take place. If you are a transfer student, you will be notified of your acceptance by the 15th of April. The regular application is due the 15th of January. Likewise, if you wish to apply with priority status make sure you application is in by the 1st of November. It is also very important to submit financial aid applications as quickly as possible, make sure to check with the university about the specific date for this year. SAT and ACT score reports are due the 1st of February and the SAT subject section score is due the 1st of June.

James Madison University Athletics

The Dukes are a member of NCAA. The following sports can be found here:

• Men’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Club and Men’s Scholarship Baseball
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club, Women’s Club, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Basketball
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Cross_country
• Men’s NCAA Division IAA, Men’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural and Men’s Scholarship Football
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club and Women’s Club Golf
• Men’s Intramural and Women’s Intramural Racquetball
• Men’s NCAA Division I, Women’s NCAA Division I, Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club, Women’s Club, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Soccer
• Women’s NCAA Division I, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Women’s Club and Women’s Scholarship Softball
• Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club and Women’s Club Table_tennis
• Men’s Intercollegiate, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Scholarship and Women’s Scholarship Track_and_field
• Men’s NCAA Division I and Women’s NCAA Division I Track_indoor
• Men’s NCAA Division I and Women’s NCAA Division I Track_outdoor
• Women’s NCAA Division I, Women’s Intercollegiate, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Intramural, Men’s Club, Women’s Club and Women’s Scholarship Volleyball
• Men’s NCAA Division I and Men’s Intercollegiate Wrestling

James Madison University Financial Aid

Financial aid forms are FAFSA. In the same way, need based financial aid distribution is determined through Academics, Religious Affiliation and State/District Residency. If you are not a need based student, non-need distribution for financial aid is determined by Academics, Alumni Affiliation, Art, Athletics, Leadership, Minority Status, Music/Drama and State/District Residency. Financial aid for students is readily accessible at this school. Financial aid distribution is at twenty-two percent scholarships per grants and seventy-eight percent loans per jobs.

James Madison University Students

The school’s size is approximately fifteen thousand, two hundred and eighty-seven degree-seeking undergrads, three thousand, seven hundred and ninety-eight first-time degree-seeking freshmen and one thousand, three hundred and twenty graduate enrollment. Besides, it is part of an Rural setting, Large town (10,000 – 49,999) and Residential campus. James Madison University offers Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees. The university is a Public, University, Four-year, Coed, where 68 percent of the applicants were admitted, Regionally accredited and College Board member. Besides, the student body consists of sixty-three percent in-state students, thirty-seven percent out-of-state students, zero percent part-time students, sixty-four percent women, thirty-six percent men, less than one percent american indian per alaskan native, five percent asian per pacific islander, four percent black per non-hispanic, two percent hispanic, eighty-two percent white per non-hispanic, less than one percent non-resident alien, six percent race per ethnicity unreported, twenty-eight percent in top 10th of graduating class, seventy-four percent in top quarter of graduating class, ninety-eight percent in top half of graduating class, forty-one percent had h.s. gpa of 3.75 and higher, twenty-seven percent had h.s. gpa between 3.5 and 3.74, twenty-three percent had h.s. gpa between 3.25 and 3.49, seven percent had h.s. gpa between 3.0 and 3.24 and two percent had h.s. gpa between 2.5 and 2.99.

Students should note the housing policies: First-Year Students Guaranteed On-Campus Housing, ninety-nine percent of first-year students live in college housing, thirty-eight percent of all undergraduates live in college housing, Coed Housing, Apartments For Single Students, Fraternity/Sorority Housing, Wellness housing (alcohol/drug/smoke-free), one-MAY deadline for housing deposit, two hundred and fifty dollars amount of housing deposit and point zero . Moreover, the university has many unique facilites such as planetarium, arboretum. This school features the Rural setting, Large town (10,000 – 49,999) and Residential campus. Remarkably, the school is located 123 miles from Washington, DC.