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Sierra Nevada University (SNU) was a
private university
Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...
in
Incline Village, Nevada
Incline Village is a census-designated place (CDP) on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 8,777 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Reno− Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Until the ...
in the
Sierras. In 2022 it became University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. Founded in 1969, Sierra Nevada College was accredited by the
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...
. Prior to 2020, the institution was known as Sierra Nevada College. In the summer of 2019, Dr.
Ed Zschau became the interim president of Sierra Nevada University and, among other initiatives, spearheaded the change in the institution's name. It was announced in July 2021 that the Sierra Nevada University is being merged into the
University of Nevada Reno over a period of years. Certain of the programs, courses and professors of Sierra Nevada University would be kept by the University of Nevada Reno.
Academics
The Departments of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Business, and Science and Technology offer traditional majors as well as
Interdisciplinary Studies
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
programs. The Business department at SNU also offers Ski Business and Resort Management as a four-year degree. The teacher education program leads to Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Arts in Administration and Masters in Education degrees as well as to teacher licensure in Nevada. The College also operates two
low-residency, Masters of Fine Arts programs. Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Arts MFA's use a
low-residency format and individual mentoring to prepare artists and writers for professional and artistic success.
The MFA-IA program focuses on site-specific and community practice, with a large part of each residency taking place off site at partner locations such as the
Sagehen Creek Field Station
Sagehen Creek Field Station is a research and teaching facility of the University of California at Berkeley's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Berkeley Natural History Museums & the University of California Natural Reserve Syst ...
.
SNU, in collaboration with
UC Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), houses the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, a facility conducting research on
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
.
From 2016 to 2019, as part of an initiative to expand access to four-year degrees, SNU also operated extension centers on
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
campuses. There are SNU Extension centers currently on the campus of
Lake Tahoe Community College
Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is a public community college in South Lake Tahoe, California. It was established in 1975. At an altitude of , it is at the highest elevation of any college in the state.
History
Lake Tahoe Unified Schoo ...
in
South Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...
,
Truckee Meadows Community College
Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is a public community college and technical college in the Truckee Meadows of Reno, Nevada. The college is primarily a commuter campus with 5 locations. TMCC offers students both certificate and associate ...
's Dandini Campus in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
. Each Extension Center offered degrees specific to demand on the campus where they are located, and included
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
,
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
or
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in
General Studies
General Studies is a multidisciplinary subject offered at different levels of education. Its scope varies by country.
North America
Some North American universities offer the Bachelor of General Studies degree.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland ...
, a
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in
Business Administration
Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
(
B.S.B.A) in
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
or Global Business Management.
Summer visiting artist workshops
Sierra Nevada University hosts an extensive program of Summer Visiting Artist Workshops which feature well-known artists from multiple disciplines. Artists such as printmaker
Sean Starwars
Sean Starwars is a printmaker living and working in Laurel, Mississippi. He is a relief printmaking artist specializing in woodcut printmaking. He is also a member of the Outlaw Printmakers.
Biography
Sean Starwars BA from Old Dominion Unive ...
, and visual artist and experimental filmmaker
Tim Guthrie
Timothy Sean Guthrie (born 1965 in Omaha, Nebraska) is a visual artist and experimental filmmaker. Guthrie's work is in collections throughout the United States, including the Boise Art Museum, and the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Plemmo ...
are regular workshop leaders.
Athletics
The Sierra Nevada athletic teams were called the Eagles. The university is a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA), primarily competing in the
California Pacific Conference
The California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference commissioner is Don Ott. Conference leadership is shared among the member ins ...
(CalPac) from 2015–16 (when the school joined the NAIA) to 2021–22.
Sierra Nevada competed in 13 intercollegiate athletic teams: Men's sports included alpine skiing, cross country, freeskiing, golf, lacrosse, snowboarding and soccer; while women's sports included alpine skiing, cross country, freeskiing, golf, snowboarding and soccer.
Skiing
The Eagles have won many
United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association
The United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) is the sports federation for collegiate skiing and snowboarding in the United States. With over 180 member colleges, the USCSA fields some 5,000 men and women, alpine, Nordic, fr ...
national championships in both men's and women's events.
Notable faculty, past and present
*
Laura McCullough
Laura M. McCullough (born 1960) is an American poet and writer living in the state of New Jersey. McCullough is the author of seven published collections and is the founding editor of ''Mead: the Magazine of Literature and Libations.'' She was a ...
– poet (Masters in Fine Arts Program)
*
Suzanne Roberts – American poet, travel writer, and photographer (Creative Writing Faculty – Distinguished Writer-in-Residence 2011–2012)
*
Carolee Schneeman
Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual artist, visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, human sexuality, sexuality and gender. She received a Bachelor of Arts, B.A ...
– Experimental filmmaker (Visiting professor, 1994)
*
Brian Turner – poet (Program Chair - Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program)
*
Patricia Smith – poet (Creative Writing Faculty)
*
Gayle Brandeis
Gayle Brandeis (born April 14, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois) is the author of ''Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write'' (HarperOne), ''Dictionary Poems'' (Pudding House Publications), the novels ''The Book of Dead Birds'' (HarperCo ...
– author (Creative Writing Faculty - Distinguished Visiting Professor/Writer in Residence 2014-2015)
Notable alumni
*
Matea Ferk
Matea Ferk (born 8 June 1987 in Rijeka) is a retired alpine skier from Croatia. She has competed for Croatia at both the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Her best result in the Olympics was a 34th place in the slalom
To slalom is to zigzag between obst ...
(born 1987) – Croatia Ski Team, Women's Alpine Skiing, 2006 and
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
.
*
Philip "P.K." O'Neill (born 1951) – Republican member of the
Nevada Assembly
The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...
.
*
Tea Palic (born 1991) – Croatia Ski Team, Women's Alpine Skiing, 2010
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
.
References
External links
*
Official athletics website
{{authority control
1969 establishments in Nevada
Buildings and structures in Washoe County, Nevada
Education in Washoe County, Nevada
Educational institutions established in 1969
Lake Tahoe
Liberal arts colleges in Nevada
Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Private universities and colleges in Nevada