Saint Joseph's College of Maine is a private

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

college in Standish, Maine. It is the only Catholic college in Maine. Saint Joseph's was founded by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

in 1912. The college, run by a lay and religious Board of Trustees, was located on the convent grounds in nearby Portland until 1956 when it moved to its lakeside location in Standish. In 1970, Saint Joseph's became coeducational and six years later began a distance education program for working adults. Saint Joseph's College Online offers its online programs to 2,400 students in 50 states and nine countries.

Academics

On campus, the college offers more than 40 majors, minors and partnership programs. The average class size is 14. The student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1. On campus, the college offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional programs. The most popular majors are nursing, business, education, exercise science/sports management, and biology. Through Saint Joseph's College Online, there are roughly 2,400 students enrolled in more than 30 academic programs leading to bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as associate degrees and certificates. Support for students includes counselors, advisors, online tutors, an IT help desk, and financial aid. Students also have the option to take courses on campus during the summer.

Accreditation and approvals

The college is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and other ...

. The nursing program is also approved by the Maine State Board of Nursing and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The Elementary Education and Physical Education majors and the Secondary Education minor are approved by the state of Maine.

Student life

Honor Societies

Delta Epsilon Sigma Delta Epsilon Sigma () is a national scholastic honor society that was established in 1939 for students of Catholic universities and colleges in the United States. The society was founded at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa in 1939 by Father Fitzg ...

, a national scholastic honor society for students of Catholic colleges and universities, has been at Saint Joseph's College since 1950. *

Sigma Theta Tau The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing () is the second-largest nursing organization in the world with approximately 135,000 active members. While often referred to by nurses as simply Sigma, its official name is "Sigma Theta ...

International is the nursing honor society and exists to promote the development, dissemination and utilization of nursing knowledge. Sigma Theta Tau is committed to improving the health of people worldwide through increasing the scientific base of nursing practice. The Kappa Zeta Chapter-at-large of Sigma Theta Tau was chartered at Saint Joseph's College in April 1988.

Athletics

Saint Joseph's College teams are known as the Monks. The college fields

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

sport in soccer, track and field, volleyball (women only), swimming, basketball, golf, field hockey, baseball, softball, lacrosse, and cross country. The college is a member of the

Great Northeast Athletic Conference The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. History Chronological timeline * 1995 - In 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic ...

(GNAC), the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fr ...

(ECAC), and the

North Atlantic Conference The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) is an athletic conference, affiliated with the NCAA ’s Division III, consisting primarily of small liberal arts colleges in the Northern New England states of Maine and Vermont, as well as New York. The con ...

(NAC). Intramural teams include everything from basketball to bowling; club sports include dance team, cheerleading, ice hockey and ultimate Frisbee. The athletic center is equipped with a full gym, indoor track, pool, and dance/aerobics room. The 2012 SJC baseball team was ranked 14th in the country in the DIII NCAA ranking. The baseball rankings for the 2013 season was projecting SJC at 12th in the country. With a win against #1 Wheaton College, the Monks moved up to #9 in the country.

Housing

Eleven residence halls exist.

Notable alumni

Writing, Journalism, Television

* Randy Freer (1982). Former President of FOX Sports Network, current CEO of Hulu *

Pat DeCola Pat DeCola (born June 30, 1987, in Lawrence, Massachusetts) is an American sports reporter for NASCAR.'' Biography DeCola attended Saint Joseph's College of Maine in Standish, Maine, and graduated with a B.A. in Communications in 2009. He is curr ...

(2009). Writer, FOXSports.com *

Andrea Gibson Andrea Gibson (born August 13, 1975) is an American poet and activist from Calais, Maine, who has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 1999. Gibson's poetry focuses on gender norms, politics, social reform, and LGBTQ topics. Personal life Gibson ...

. Slam Poet, Activist

Sports

Charlie Furbush Charles Roderick Furbush (born April 11, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. Early life and career Furbush was born in South Portland, M ...

. Pitcher, Seattle Mariners

Education

Robert Caret Robert Laurent Caret (born October 7, 1947) is an American academic and the former chancellor of the University System of Maryland. He became chancellor on July 1, 2015. Caret, a native of New England, became chancellor of the University System o ...

. President of the University of Massachusetts (2012–14) Chancellor of the University of Maryland system (2014–present (2017)) * Marilyn Lacey.

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

, Director, and founder of Mercy Beyond Borders; In 2001 she was honored by the Dalai Lama as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion”, for her life of service with refugees.

Politics

* Bonnie Newman. Politics and Education

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's College Of Maine Sisters of Mercy colleges and universities Educational institutions established in 1912 Universities and colleges in Cumberland County, Maine Standish, Maine Catholic universities and colleges in Maine Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland 1912 establishments in Maine Private universities and colleges in Maine History of women in Maine