Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) is a
public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
in
Marshall, Minnesota
Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,680 at the 2010 census. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota, and the county seat of Lyon County. It is the headquarters of the Schwan Food Com ...
. It is part of the
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. The university has an enrollment of approximately 8,700 students and employs 148 faculty members. It is divided into two major colleges, the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences and the College of Business, Education, and Professional Studies.
History
The university was founded in 1964 as Southwest Minnesota State College (SMSC). It admitted its first class of students on September 19, 1967. The college became Southwest State University (SSU) on August 1, 1975, and kept that name for nearly thirty years until adopting the name Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) on July 1, 2003.
The
student newspaper
A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
, originally called ''The Impact,'' was first published May 10, 1968. The name was changed to ''The Reader'' in 1974, and then back to ''The Impact'' in 1980. In 2003 the name was changed to ''The Spur'' to be more consistent with the Mustang theme and to spur students into action.
The R/A (Recreation/Athletic) Facility was built in 1996 and is a 4,000-seat multi-purpose venue.
On January 2, 2002, a fire destroyed the
Student Center
A student center (or student centre) is a type of building found on university and some high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a student union, student commons, or union. The term "student union" refers mos ...
. The dome's concrete framework was incorporated into the new student and conference center and is still visible in the food court area. The new center was completed in 2005. It features a replica of the original dome with the words "Student Center Dome: 1972–2002" written on it at the Alumni Heritage Center, near the Mustang Zone in the upper level.
In 2005 SMSU developed the first bachelor's degree
culinology program in the nation to be approved by the Research Chefs Association.
On September 6, 2008, the new Regional Event Center officially opened on the western edge of campus. The athletic field was named Mattke Field after the old field, and in honor of past athletic director Glenn Mattke. The center is used by the Mustang football and soccer teams, as well as teams from
Marshall High School, and for other regional activities, such as concerts. It took two years and $16 million to complete.
Academics
Southwest Minnesota State University provides undergraduate education in the
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
and professional studies. The most popular undergraduate majors are business administration and education. It also has specialized graduate programs in education, special education, and business administration. The MBA program has degree options in marketing, leadership, and the general MBA. Students can take classes both onsite and online. The graduate school does not have a student senate, but there is an MBA student organization. A critical element of the undergraduate and graduate business programs' success is the Southwest Marketing Advisory Center, where students can do research on actual businesses.
In addition to being regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, SMSU's programs are also accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the Minnesota Board of Teaching, the American Chemical Society and the Council on Social Work Education.
Campus
Most of the SMSU campus was constructed between 1965 and 1973 according to a unified plan. The brick and concrete buildings are interconnected via
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
s and enclosed walkways, providing a continuous and controlled environment during both summer and winter. The residence halls are not connected. There are many courtyards with gardens between the buildings. The campus is virtually barrier-free, allowing easy access to students in
wheelchairs
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebra ...
.
The university's
residence hall
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
s were named by the students during the late 1960s and reflect various themes and values of the times, e.g. Aquarius, Casa Futura, Methedras and Kama Sutra. Armstrong Hall was named after astronaut
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
in honor of his trip to the moon in 1969. Manchester Hall was named for pop singer
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage.
Early l ...
after a concert she gave on campus.
In 2009 the university opened a new dorm named Sweetland Hall in honor of a late president, Douglas Sweetland.
Residence Halls:
* Traditional Halls – Six complexes of four connected halls that were built in the 1960s and feature a common bathroom for the whole floor.
* Sweetland Hall – A new complex with around 250 beds with a bathroom shared by suit-mates (two to four people).
* Foundation Apartments – Apartment style residence hall with laundry and kitchen appliances in each apartment.
There are no
fraternities
A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...
or
sororities
Fraternities and sororities are Club (organization), social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, but conti ...
on campus.
Organizations
The Southwest Marketing Advisory Center (SMAC) is located on the second floor of the Science and Technology building, Room 203. SMAC is a self-funded entity within the academic marketing program at Southwest State. Its mission is to serve the marketing and research needs of southwestern Minnesota while giving real-world experience to junior, senior and graduate-level student employees.
Each student attending Southwest Minnesota State University pays a .43 cent per credit fee to fund the
Minnesota State University Student Association, a student-led nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of all students.
Athletics
The school athletic teams are the Mustangs. Their
colors
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
are the prairie colors of brown and gold.
The Mustangs compete in the
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western Midwestern United States. Nine of its ...
(NSIC), which is a part of
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
. Programs for men include basketball, wheelchair basketball, baseball, cross country, track, football, and wrestling. The programs for women are basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and swimming.
Museums and public attractions
SMSU features several facilities that are open to the general public and school groups.
* SMSU Museum of Natural History – The SMSU Museum of Natural History is focused on the plants and animals native to Minnesota.
* SMSU Art Museum – The SMSU Art Museum comprises two
art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
: the William Whipple Art Gallery I and II, named after a former
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
of Humanities and Fine Arts at Southwest. Gallery I is in the SMSU library, and the smaller Gallery II is on the second floor of Founders Hall. The museum also features art on display at various locations around campus.
* SMSU Museum of Indigenous Americans – features Native American artifacts including pottery, artwork, baskets, projectile points
* SMSU Planetarium – The
planetarium
A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
A dominant feature of most planetarium ...
is in the Science and Math Building and features a variety of laser and multi-media presentations. There is also a rooftop observation deck and telescopes for public night viewing of the sky.
* Greenhouse – The greenhouse is open to the public during regular school hours. The collection includes
cacti
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
,
aloes
Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood or gharuwood is a fragrant dark resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings. This resinous wood is most commonly referred to as "Oud" or "Oudh". It is formed in the heartwood of aquilaria trees when ...
,
agaves,
bananas
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
,
pineapples
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centurie ...
,
palms,
cycads
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...
and
herbs
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
. There are informational displays about many plants.
Greenhouse
Biology, agronomy and environmental science students carry out plant experiments there.
* ADM & SMSU Environmental Learning Area – The ADM & SMSU Environmental Learning Area is on the northwest corner of campus, by Mattke Field. The open area features trails through different ecosystems including prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
, woodlands, ponds and marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
.
Notable alumni
* Barton Sutter, Minnesota based poet and playwright.
* Leland Bush, Judge of the District Court of Minnesota
The District Court of Minnesota is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Minnesota.
Jurisdiction of the court
The Minnesota Constitution provides that the district court has original jurisdiction in civil and crimina ...
.
* Isiah Whitlock, Jr.
Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as corrupt state senator Clay Davis on the HBO television series ''The Wire'' as well as being a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee.
He has also a ...
, actor
* Alvin Ashley
Alvin Ashley (born October 14, 1969) is a former American football wide receiver in the Arena Football League. He played college football at Southwest Minnesota State.
Ashley played for the Milwaukee Mustangs, Miami Hooters, Albany Firebir ...
, former Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
player
* Chuck Brown
Charles Louis Brown (August 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) was an American guitarist, bandleader and singer known as "The Godfather of Go-Go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in the mid-197 ...
, former State Representative
* Kory Kath
Kory L. Kath (born July 1977) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented District 26A, which included all or portions of Steele and Waseca counties in the southeastern part of the state. ...
, State Representative
* Jeff Loots
Jeff Loots (born May 19, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played eight seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Minnesota Fighting Pike, Albany Firebirds, Oklahoma Wranglers, Chicago Rush, Buffal ...
, former Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
player
* Bill Northey
William Howard Northey (born May 27, 1959) is an American politician who served as the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the United States Department of Agriculture from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he p ...
, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
The Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa is an elected position in government of the U.S. state of Iowa that was created in 1923 by the extra session of the 40th General Assembly. The Secretary of Agriculture heads the Iowa Department of Agriculture ...
* Marty Seifert
Martin John "Marty" Seifert (born April 23, 1972) is a former Republican Minority Leader and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represented District 21A, a predominantly rural district in southwestern Minnesota that inc ...
, former State House Minority Leader
See also
* List of colleges and universities in Minnesota
There are nearly 200 post-secondary institutions in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Twin Cities campus of the public University of Minnesota is the largest university in the state with 51,721 enrolled for fall 2010, making it the sixth-largest ...
Notes
References
External links
*
Southwest Minnesota State Athletics website
{{authority control
Public universities and colleges in Minnesota
Educational institutions established in 1963
Education in Lyon County, Minnesota
Buildings and structures in Lyon County, Minnesota
Tourist attractions in Lyon County, Minnesota
Planetaria in the United States
1963 establishments in Minnesota