Blue Ridge State University
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | November 21, 1844 |
| Endowment | $989.8 million (2019) |
| President | Michael Braxton |
| Provost | Jennifer Halle |
Academic staff | 3,870 |
Administrative staff | 10,566 |
| Students | 53,933 (2020 Fall enrollment) |
| Location | Davidsburg , , |
| Colors | Old gold and Blue |
| Nickname | Frontiersman |
| Mascot | Frontiersman |
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Blue Ridge State University (BRSU) is a public, land-grant, research university with its main campus in Davidsburg, Blue Ridge. The school matinatinas other campuses throughout the Shenandoahan Commonwealth, including the Blue Ridge State Institute of Technology in Whitefield, Blue Ridge State Junior College in Elkins, the Shenandoah School of Business in Parkersburg, and the Blue Ridge State Medical College in Saint Albans.
Enrollment for the Fall 2016 semester was 46,839 for the main campus, while enrollment across all three non-clinical campuses was 51,933. The school offers 350+ bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degree programs throughout 20 colleges and schools. In 2020, the school reported a record enrollment of over 50,000 students in all schools associated with the university.
History
Academics
Davidsburg campus
The following is a list of academic schools located at the main Davidsburg campus
- College of Education & Human Resources
- College of Law
- College of Physical Activity & Sports Sciences
- College of Creative Arts
- College of Media
- College of Arts & Sciences
- College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design
Blue Ridge State Institute of Technology - Whitefield Campus
- College of Engineering & Mineral Resources
The robotics teams at the Blue Ridge State Institute of Technology in Whitefield have won several international competitions in the area of robotics and have been involved in several breakthroughs regarding robodoc mining and exploration.
Blue Ridge State Junior College - Elkins Campus
Blue Ridge State Junior College is a junior college affiliated with Blue Ridge State University and located in Elkins. Blue Ridge State Junior College is the nation's only residential junior college, Blue Ridge State Junior College acts largely as a feeder for the BRSU main campus, granting associate degrees while allowing other students to begin the first two years of their college studies before transferring to the main campus.
Shenandoah School of Business - Parkersburg Campus
- College of Business & Economics
Blue Ridge State Medical College - Saint Albans Campus
The Blue Ridge State Medical College is home to the nations premier medial university, and grants degrees in 16 different fields within a variety of schools, including;
- School of Medicine
- School of Dentistry
- School of Nursing
- School of Pharmacy
- School of Public Health
- School of Forensics and Investigative Sciences
The Blue Ridge State Medical College was ranked the best school in the nation, and one of the best in the world, for its rural medicine program. The school is located adjacent to Grady Memorial Hospital in Saint Albans, the only designated Trauma I hospital in the state of Kanawha, and is considered one of the top facilities in the nation for its ability to attract and retain high-quality nursing staff.
The School of Forensics and Investigative Sciences is a nationally recognized program established through a partnership with the Shenandoah Federal Protective Service. The program includes three main areas of emphasis, including educational opportunities for students who want to specialize in crime scene investigation and comparison sciences, a program which specializes in body fluids and DNA analysis, and the chemistry program which specializes in the chemical identification of seized drugs, fire debris, trace evidence and explosives. Facilities include four "crime-scene" houses, a vehicle processing garage, a ballistics laboratory and numerous traditional laboratories and classrooms. In 2014, a separate Criminology & Investigative Sciences major was later added to the Davidsburg campus College of Arts and Sciences, and the The Shenandoah School of Business campus in Parkersburg established an independent program for students to provide certificate in forensic accounting and fraud examination. In 2020, the Saint Albans based Blue Ridge State Medical College graduated its first class of students with a bachelor of science degree in Biometric Systems and Technology, becoming the first college in the nation to provide a Biometric Systems and Technology degree. According to Doctor John Stafford, the program provides students with a "firm understanding of the underlying electrical engineering and computer engineering disciplines that support biometric applications."
Campus
The Davidsburg campus is located in downtown Davidsburg and is often referred to as the main campus, and sometimes as the "downtown" campus. The first university building was competed in 1844 and named Glenneden Hall, in honor of the school's first president, Edward C Glenneden. That building remains in use and is one of 4 buildings owned and operated by the BRSU campus at Davidsburg that are on the Shenandoahan Historic Register. The school single sub-campus, generally referred to as the Riverside Campus, is located a mile and a half east of the city, and was constructed in the late 1940's to accommodate the growing population of students.
The Blue Ridge State University Libraries encompass six libraries in total. Libraries included in the universities library network include the;
- Ross Byrdie Library, Law Library, and Riverside Library in Davidsburg
- Health Sciences Library in Saint Albans
- Library of Technology in Whitefield
- The Jenny K Smith Library in Elkins at Blue Ridge State Junior College
The Ross Byrdie Library holds the largest known collection of materials relating to the history and culture of Shenandoah and Allegheny. This collection includes government documents from the Allegheny Confederation, including an original copy of the Allegheny Constitution saved from the Museum of National History in Tidewater during the Copperhead War, as well as a variety of other historical documents include maps and survey information and patent and trademark registries. In all the Ross Byrdie Library contains nearly 1.7 million printed volumes, 2.3 million microforms, more than 30,000 electronic journals. Staff and volunteers at the library labor to preserve the printed material by transcribing their contents to electronic formats.
In 1955, Joseph C. Scott, a Copperhead nationalist, attempted to start a fire in the foyer of Ross Byrdie Library after breaking into the building. the fire damaged a number of materials and artifacts before being extinguished.
Security for the main campus is provided by the Blue Ridge State University Police Department, working in tandem with the Davidsburg Police Department. It is the largest campus safety department in the nation, and one of several departments to be accredited by the Shenandoahan Law Enforcement Accreditation Council. The department has 305 sworn officers and 785 civilian staffers, including dispatchers and administrative personnel. The Blue Ridge State University Police Department maintains its own communications center, and operates a series of "safety boxes" on its Davidsburg campuses, which allow students to communicate directly to central dispatch. the Blue Ridge State University Police Department also utilizes student volunteers for some services, such as traffic management for sporting events or other activities. Sworn Blue Ridge State University officers also patrol the universities subsidiary campuses in Saint Albans, Whitefield and Parkersburg, but coordinate their patrol activities through local jurisdictions. Law enforcement services for the Blue Ridge State Junior College are provided by the Shenandoah State Police.
Athletics
Notable alumni
- Alyson Price (1990)