Northern
Today
Founded more than a century
ago as a regional teacher's college, Northern Michigan University
has grown into a major comprehensive university. When it opened
its doors in 1899, Northern enrolled thirty-two students who were
taught by six faculty on a twenty-two-acre campus. Today, it
enrolls more than 8,800 students who are taught by over 300
faculty on a main campus of 336 acres. What has not changed is
Northern's reputation for excellent and innovative educational
opportunities, its caring faculty and staff and its natural
setting.Located in Marquette, Michigan, a city
of 20,000, Northern offers the best features of rural and urban
living in a safe and clean environment. The physical campus
currently includes 56 buildings that encompass 3.2 million square
feet and are connected by 13 miles of sidewalk and 3 miles of
roadway. Within this impressive setting, Northern Michigan
University offers over 180 programs in 28 different academic
departments with credentialing that ranges from certificates and
associate degrees to master's degrees. Its faculty, over 80%
percent of whom hold the doctorate or highest degree in their
field, are committed to teaching as well as to research and
professional development. It is 1 of only 3 baccalaureate colleges
or universities in Michigan to serve a community college function.
Continuing Northern's tradition of educational
innovation, the Teaching, Learning, and Communication Initiative
was implemented in Fall 2000 placing an IBM Thinkpad in the hands
of every full-time undergraduate student. The first school in
Michigan to institute such a program, this commitment to
technological mastery helps Northern's students compete in the
high-tech global marketplace after they graduate. Students,
however, need to master more than textbooks and technological
skills to succeed, and they receive training in social and group
skills and professional interaction through more than 200 student
organizations. Several of these are nationally recognized, and
Northern's Student Leader Fellowship program was cited in
The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character
Development.
With a focus on quality academics and personal
attention in a high-tech learning environment, NMU continues to be
dedicated to student access and success, belief in a learning
community, the building of partnerships, and shared governance and
responsibility. In its second hundred years, Northern's mission is
to be the university of choice in the Midwest for all students
seeking an outstanding collegiate experience.
