2007 PROFILE OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE
ERIE CAMPUS
FOUNDED: 1926
TYPE OF COLLEGE: Catholic comprehensive. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy. Coeducational since Feb. 9, 1969.
SCHOOL COLORS: Green/White
MOTTO: Carpe Diem - Seize the Day
ENROLLMENT: 3,250 (2,650 traditional and 380 adult undergraduates plus 220 graduate students)
FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS FOR 2007-08:
677 freshmen and 97 transfers for a total of 774 students from 28 states and 15 foreign countries (Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Sweden and United Kingdom.)
Average SAT score: 1084
Average ACT score: 23
Average GPA: 3.40
Average class rank:
68th percentile
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES: 530
FACULTY: 170 full-time
CAMPUS: 70-acre main campus with 57 buildings in Erie, Pa.
ALUMNI: More Than 12,000
ACCREDITATION: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
3624 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: (267) 284-5000
Fax: (215) 662-5501
www.msche.org
DEGREES: 50 majors with 67 concentrations UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music
GRADUATE DEGREES: Master of Science in Special Education, Administration of Justice, Organizational Leadership, Anthropology, Applied Intelligence and Secondary Education: Pedagogy and Practice
TWO-YEAR DEGREE PROGRAMS: (Erie) Associate of Science; (MNE) Associates of Business with concentrations in Computer System Support, Criminal Justice, Hotel, Restaurant, Institutional Management, Early Childhood Education, Nursing, Liberal Arts, Office
ADULT PROGRAMS: Comprehensive degrees, post-baccalaureate certificates. Accelerated degree program. Teacher certification.
LIBRARY HOLDINGS:
- 110,000 volumes (books, bound serials)
- 11,000 AV materials (CDs, videocassettes, DVDs, phonograph records)
- 450 paper serial subscriptions
- Online serials searching and public access catalog through Web-based system
- 105 public workstations
- 4 listening stations
- One video viewing station
- Interlibrary loan services for students and faculty
- EZ Borrow member of Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium
ATHLETICS
TEAM NAME: The Lakers
SPORTS: Basketball (M/W), Baseball (M), Cross Country (M/W), Golf (M/W), Soccer (M/W), Softball (W), Tennis (M/W), Volleyball (M/W), Rowing (M/W), Field Hockey (W), Ice Hockey (M/W), Lacrosse (M/W), Football (M), Wrestling (M), Water Polo (M/W)
CONFERENCE AFFILIATIONS: NCAA Division II. Division I in men's and women's ice hockey. Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Eastern College Athletic Conference, Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Atlantic Hockey League (men's hockey), College Hockey America (women's hockey), College Water Polo Association
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
- Mercyhurst College is ranked in the top tier of its "new" category in the U.S.News & World Report 2008 edition of "America's Best Colleges." After nearly a decade of being ranked among the top 20 Comprehensive Colleges in the North, Mercyhurst this year moved into a new grouping comprised of 574 institutions - "Best Universities-Master's" - making the top tier in its very first year.
- Named by The Princeton Review as one of "The Best Northeastern Colleges" in one of five Princeton Review regional guidebooks.
- Second largest of the four-year Mercy colleges in the country.
RECENT CAMPUS DEVELOPMENTS
2007
- Mercyhurst College is one of more than 40 organizations that will receive a gift from an anonymous donor who pledged $85 million to Erie area non-profit groups. The Anonymous Friend Fund gifts will be administered by the Erie Community Foundation and distributed over a three-year period starting in 2009. The restricted part of the grant will be used to increase the college endowment and the endowed scholarship awards. This generous gift will help Mercyhurst College move toward its goal in the strategic plan of ensuring financial stability.
- Mercyhurst received a second major gift in the form of fossils, casts and other specimens from Michael and Barbara Sincak whose continued generosity, beginning in 2006, inaugurated the college's imposing natural history collection.
- Mercyhurst launches a text message emergency notification system, called e2Campus, to extend the reach of existing emergency notification measures like campuswide e-mails and Web page updates to alert students anywhere, anytime.
- Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, a 2005 papal candidate widely regarded as a rising star in the Latin American church, pays an exclusive visit to Mercyhurst College, embracing the mission of diversity advanced by the administration of Mercyhurst President Dr. Tom Gamble and celebrating the college's annual Mass of the Holy Spirit.
- Mercyhurst enrolls more students than ever, including the second-largest group of new undergraduates on the Erie campus and the largest group on the North East campus. Total enrollment tops 4,000, including 774 new students at Erie, 500 new students at Mercyhurst North East, 125 new adult students, 100 new graduate students and 20 new students at Mercyhurst West.
- Mercyhurst College introduces its sixth graduate program, offering a Master of Science degree in secondary education with a focus on the teaching of science and math. The program is titled Secondary Education: Pedagogy and Practice. The college also offers master's degree programs in special education, anthropology, administration of justice, organizational leadership and applied intelligence.
- Mercyhurst accepts offer to join the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) as full-time members, making the switch from the Michigan-based Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), in which the Lakers have competed since 1995. Mercyhurst will begin full membership in the PSAC beginning in the 2008-09 season.
- Mercyhurst makes a voluntary contribution of a half-million dollars to the City of Erie over a three-year period to help the city meet its fiscal needs and relieve some of the strain on areas that impact its citizens most.
2006
- College inaugurates Thomas J. Gamble, Ph.D., the 11th president of Mercyhurst on Sept. 16.
- Drs. James Adovasio, Barbara Behan, Heidi Hosey and Michael Lyden join senior leadership team.
- College launches Center for Public Safety.
- Mercyhurst West is launched. Classes begin Aug. 30 in temporary site at 824 Main Street East in Girard as college prepares to develop a permanent west county campus on the 405 acres it purchased in May 2005 at a cost of $1.85 million.
- International student enrollment reaches 210; nearly 200 students study abroad.
- The Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center undergoes an estimated $850,000 expansion and renovation project to meet the needs of the estimated 25,000 to 27,000 people who attend PAC events annually.
- College launches Diversity Enrichment Grant Program to build a more inclusive college community grounded in respect for cultural, racial and ethnic differences.
- The boiler and HVAC system that serves Old Main, Egan, Preston, Weber and Sullivan halls is updated at an estimated cost of $1.4 million.
- A new message kiosk welcomes visitors between Hirt and Zurn halls. It features full-color backlit campus maps on two sides, alternating with state-of-the-art LED displays.
- A half-million dollar geology lab is built in Zurn Hall, the third new lab to be constructed in as many years.
- Hammermill Library gets new access control system similar to the Hirt building, freshman residence halls, Mercy Suites and Adult Education Center.
- College tripled the size of its Internet connection.