The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is a system of public colleges and universities in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. It was established in 1963 and is responsible for overseeing the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

- Durham, the

University of New Hampshire School of Law The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law is a public law school in Concord, New Hampshire, associated with the University of New Hampshire. It is the only law school in the state and was founded in 1973 by Robert H. Rines ...

, the

University of New Hampshire at Manchester The University of New Hampshire at Manchester (UNH Manchester) is the urban campus of the public University of New Hampshire and is located in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was established in 1985 as the sixth college of the University of New Ham ...

, Plymouth State University,

Keene State College Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Keene Norm ...

, and Granite State College. The University System of New Hampshire is the largest provider of

post-secondary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

and is governed by a single board of trustees which is responsible for ensuring that each institution has a unique character and educational mission. Presently USNH has approximately 32,000 enrolled students annually and more than 90,000 alumni living in state. , the Institution's endowment was valued at $798.7 million.

History

The decision to establish the university system came from the recommendation of the Interim Commission on Higher Education appointed in 1961 by Governor Wesley Powell. In establishing the university system, the Keene and Plymouth Teachers' Colleges were removed from the supervision of the State Board of Education, were renamed "state colleges", and placed under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees of the University of New Hampshire. The number of trustees increased from 13 to 22 with the establishment of the University System. The Board designated the President of the University of New Hampshire as "

first among equals ''Primus inter pares'' is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their se ...

" and assigned the responsibility to coordinate the activities of the three institutions. In 1972, the trustees established the School of Continuing Studies (now Granite State College) to serve the adult education needs of New Hampshire residents. From 1963 to 1974, there was a growing concern of the trustees over the steadily increasing amount of time that senior UNH officials had to devote to the growing responsibilities to the university system. An appointed committee representing a broad spectrum of political, professional, and educational interests later named the Carter Commission recommended the employment of a System Director of Personnel and the development of a comprehensive personnel system which would provide for the establishment of a statewide educational system. The trustees voted to physically separate the university system staff from the university staff. In summer 1974, the newly designated USNH staff moved five miles west of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

to Lee. The trustees also had legislation passed and signed to create the position of chancellor. The chancellor was established as the chief executive and chief academic officer of the system to oversee the head of each institution, and is elected and answerable to the trustees.

Board of trustees

The University System of New Hampshire is governed by a 29-member Board of Trustees comprising the Governor of the state, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, ten members appointed by the Governor and Executive Council, seven alumni-elected members, two student-elected members, the Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the presidents of the University System's four colleges and universities, and the Chancellor. The chancellor is the chief executive officer of the university system.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:University System Of New Hampshire N