Chadron State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System in Chadron, Nebraska, United States. The college is located in the northern part of the Nebraska Panhandle, in the Pine Ridge area.
The school opened in June 1911, although a previous institution dated from the late 19th century. The college has an enrollment of about 3,000 students. Five of its 25 major buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
History
Chadron State College was founded in 1909 by the Nebraska Legislature to provide a higher education institution in northwest Nebraska. The Board of Education of State Normal Schools selected Chadron as the location of its fourth institution in January, 1910. The school opened in June, 1911.
Chadron State College is the only four-year and graduate-degree granting college in western Nebraska, and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and subject-oriented accrediting agencies.
Presidents
2006 Spotted Tail wildfire
In late July 2006, the college was in danger of damage from a wildfire. The Spotted Tail fire was caused by a lightning strike July 26 about seven miles (11Â km) south of Chadron. By July 28, the wildfire, fueled by dry grass and winds, reached the edge of Chadron and the college campus. Fire crews prevented the wildfire from reaching the campus. The pine ridge escarpment south of the college, including C-Hill, was blackened as a result of the fire.
Facilities
The 281-acre (114Â ha) campus has 25 major buildings, five of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Their replacement value is more than $60 million and they provide more than 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) of floor space. Classrooms and laboratory and research facilities are available in seven classroom buildings and the library.
The library contains the equivalent of more than 250,000 volumes. Its automated catalogue is part of the Nebraska State College network.
During the past 15 years, the college has built several new facilities, including the Edwin and Avis Nelson Physical Activity Center, a wood-fired heating plant, the Student Center, and the Lindeken-Carillon Clock Tower. Three buildings have been renovated since 1998, including Joseph Sparks Hall, which houses administrative and alumni offices, and Edna Work Hall, a dormitory.
Students can live in five residence halls or a family apartment complex.
Buildings
Dormitories
- Albert Kent Hall
- Edna Work Hall
- Edna Work Wing
- High Rise
- Eagle Ridge
- Lyle Andrews Hall
- West Court (family housing)
- Wiley Brooks Hall
Other campus buildings, areas and offices
- Adelaide Miller Hall (Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work Department)
- Administration Building (education, English, justice studies, social and communication arts departments)
- Burkhiser Technology Complex (business, industrial arts, family and consumer sciences departments)
- Vernon and Madge Fortune Chicoine Atrium (part of Sandoz Center)
- Con Marshall Pressbox (in Beebe Stadium)
- Crites Hall (admissions; business office; registrar; student services)
- Don Beebe Stadium
- Edwin and Avis Nelson Physical Activity Center (health, physical education and recreation department)
- Eugene Sheaman Heating Plant
- Glenn Hildreth Hall
- Joseph Sparks Hall (administration; alumni; Chadron State Foundation)
- Lindeken-Carillon Clock Tower
- Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center
- Math and Science Building (mathematics, science departments)
- Memorial Hall (fine arts, music, theatre departments)
- Reta E. King Library (With IT/Computer Services)
- Robert Elliott Field (in Beebe Stadium)
- Ross Armstrong Gymnasium (athletics)
- Student Center (book store, cafeteria, meeting rooms, ballroom)
- (Under construction) Rangeland Complex
Academics
Chadron State College offers more than 50 majors leading to bachelor's degrees and professional studies options. Pre-professional programs in the health sciences are available, including the Rural Health Opportunities Program conducted jointly with the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Training is offered in several academic and pre-professional programs. The academic areas are divided into the School of Arts and Sciences; the School of Business, Economics, Applied and Mathematical Sciences; and the School of Education, Human Performance, Counseling, Psychology and Social Work. The college offers four-year degrees as well as graduate programs leading to master's degrees. Pre-professional training is offered for careers such as medicine, law and engineering. The college recently closed its Honors program and Spanish program, leaving it without any foreign language offerings.
Through its distance and alternative learning programs, the college provides off-campus and online services throughout western Nebraska. About 50 courses are available each semester in Scottsbluff at Western Nebraska Community College or the Panhandle Education Center. Courses also are offered at Alliance, North Platte and Sidney.
Chadron State College offers courses and workshops each summer. The college has online classes available throughout the year. Chadron State College has some of the most affordable online degree programs in the United States.
GetEducated.com named Chadron State College a Best Buy for affordability and quality in the Online MBA (regionally accredited) category in fall 2007.
Activities
There are more than 70 student clubs and organizations on campus. Athletes have earned 97 All-American and 38 Academic All-American/Scholar-Athlete honors since 1980. In addition, the college has an Army ROTC program and a rodeo team.
The college helps support the Post Playhouse at nearby Fort Robinson each summer. The Galaxy Series and Distinguished Speaker Series have brought noted entertainers and speakers to the college, including 2005 U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.
The APVMA Pre-Vet Symposium was held at Chadron State College in March 2004. It was the first time a school without a College of Veterinarian Medicine had hosted the symposium.
Athletics
Chadron State College, whose athletic teams are known as the Eagles, competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II. Chadron State sponsors 11 varsity athletic teams: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, women's golf, softball, men's and women's track and field, women's volleyball, and wrestling.
Notable alumni
- Jim Anderson â€" Republican member of the Wyoming Senate (2001-incumbent); former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives (1997â€"2000)
- Don Beebe â€" National Football League player
- Val Logsdon Fitch â€" Nobel Prize-winning American nuclear physicist (attended for three years before being drafted into the U.S. army in 1943)
- Garrett Gilkey â€" National Football League player
- Jerry D. Mahlman â€" American meteorologist and global warming expert
- Steve McClain â€" head basketball coach for the University of Wyoming from 1998â€"2007
- Lolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga â€" 57th and current Governor of American Samoa
- Larry Riley â€" National Basketball Association coach
- Togiola Tulafono â€" 56th Governor of American Samoa
- Tim Walz â€" U.S. House of Representatives, Minnesota 1st District
- Danny Woodhead â€" National Football League player
References
External links
- Official website
- Chadron State Athletics website