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HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY
The distinguished history of Jackson State University began on October 23, 1877.
The University started as Natchez Seminary, a private school, under the auspices
of the American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York, for the purpose of
educating Mississippi’s newly freed and underprivileged blacks. Beginning with
only twenty students, the school operated for sixty-three years as a private
church school. In November of 1882, the Society moved the school to Jackson, to
the site where Millsaps College now stands. A part of this transition was the
renaming of the school to Jackson College in recognition of the institution’s
new, central location in the City of Jackson. Natchez Seminary soon relocated
from its site in north Jackson to a tract of land in the southwest section of
the city. Construction on the new site began in 1902 and the University remains
on this site today.
In 1924, the first bachelor’s degree was awarded. During this period, the major
educational activities were directed toward teacher education for in-service
teachers. When the American Baptist Home Mission Society withdrew its support
from the institution in 1934, it became apparent that state support was needed
to sustain the school. The school was transferred from the private control of
the church to the state education system and renamed Jackson State College.
Initially, the school had been specifically designated by the state to train
rural and elementary teachers. In 1942, the Board of Trustees expanded the
curriculum to a full four-year teacher education program, culminating in the
Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. The first four-year graduating class
under state support received their degrees in May 1944. A Division of Graduate
Studies was organized during the Summer of 1953 and the program of Liberal Arts
started in the fall of that year.
During the late sixties, the entire curriculum was reorganized and the following
schools were established: the Schools of Liberal Studies, Education, Science and
Technology, Business and Economics and the Graduate School. Through a
legislative act, Jackson State College was designated Jackson State University
on March 15, 1974. Jackson State College gained university status in accordance
with the expanded breadth and quality of its faculty and academic programs. From
1967-1977, the faculty tripled in size and the number of faculty members
with graduate degrees increased eightfold. In 1979, the University was
officially designated the state’s Urban University by the Board of Trustees,
State Institutions of Higher Learning.
In the late 1980s, the University and its surrounding community was enriched
through the expansion of the Universities Center; the establishment of the West
Jackson Community Development Corporation to improve blighted housing around the
campus; the organization of a Staff Senate; and the creation of a Center for
Professional Development and the Center for Technology Transfer.
In the 1990s, a Campus Master Plan that projected the growth of the University
into the 21st Century was developed. Fifteen new graduate and undergraduate
programs evolved. These academic achievements were bolstered by the
establishment of the School of Social Work, the formation of the School of
Engineering, and the fall 1998 opening of the School of Allied Health Sciences,
the School of Business received accreditation of the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a $13.5 million expansion of the H. T.
Sampson Library, which doubled the capacity of the original structure, was
completed, and the $17.2 million School of Liberal Arts building was occupied in
2001.
In Fall 2000, the University received doctoral research intensive status with
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This prestigious
designation was based on the awarding of more than 20 doctoral degrees from the
Division of Graduate Studies and the $40 million in federally funded research
contracts secured through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
As the University entered the new millennium, and celebrated its 125th
anniversary in 2002, it developed and implemented its strategic plan–Beyond
Survival: The Millennium Agenda for Jackson State University. The five-point
strategic plan is moving Jackson State University to a new academic excellence.
Thus, Vision 2020 was created to fulfill the first strategy–Remodel the Learning
System at JSU. In 2002, the University was reorganized into six colleges:
College of Business; College of Public Service; College of Liberal Arts; College
of Science, Engineering and Technology; College of Lifelong Learning; and
College of Education and Human Development.
The University has always played a major role in the Jackson community. In
keeping with that tradition, the University reorganized the unique opportunity
to make substantial contribution to the region, not only in producing effective,
competent graduates, but also in furthering the overall economic prosperity of
the region. A five-square mile urban laboratory called e-City has been
developed, where University resources, intellectual and otherwise, are used in a
technology-based economic, housing and community development initiative. To
further the University’s contribution to the City of Jackson, a joint venture
with Jackson Public Schools was formed to establish the Mississippi Learning
Institute, a pre-K through 16 reading-based, and math-oriented professional
development system. Also, a private/public JSU hi-tech partnership, the
Mississippi e-Center, facilitates access to experiential enhanced hi-tech
learning opportunities.
In 2004, a $20 million College of Business building was completed. In 2006, a
new 91,000 square foot student health wellness center will open. For the first
time in the University’s history, private bond financing was secured to renovate
some facilities on campus and to build new facilities, including a new Campus
Union, a new president’s house, new student apartments, and dormitories which
are scheduled to open in 2006. The campus transformation and wide array of
academic programs will enhance Jackson State’s presence.
For the more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at Jackson
State, JSU provides traditional and non-traditional students of diverse
backgrounds academic opportunities to develop knowledge and skills that will
empower them to succeed in an increasingly complex and technologically advanced
world. JSU has expanded online course offerings, and students are also afforded
the opportunity to excel in areas beyond academic disciplines including art,
culture, music and numerous intercollegiate sports and championship
competitions. Jackson State’s long-term cooperative projects, corporate
partnerships, its increasing presence among top universities for the amount of
research dollars awarded to the University, and community initiatives strengthen
the University’s commitment to its students, faculty, staff and alumni as well
as to the West Jackson Community, the city, the state, the nation and several
international countries. |
