University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (U of M or regionally the U) is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 51,611 students in 2010–2011.
The original Minneapolis campus overlooked the Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River, but it was later moved about a mile downstream to its current location. The original site is now marked by a small park known as Chute Square at the intersection of University and Central Avenues. The school shut down following a financial crisis during the American Civil War, but reopened in 1867 with considerable financial help from Pillsbury. It was upgraded from a preparatory school to a college in 1869.(Pitmod, Boc, Barryus & Ouz).
Today's campus has buildings on both banks of the river, but the East Bank is the main portion of the campus and covers 307 acres (1.24 km2).
To simplify the size of campus, the University has broken down the East Bank into several areas: the Knoll area, the Mall area, the Health area, the Athletic area, and the Gateway area.
The Knoll area, the oldest part of the University's current location, is located in the northwestern part of the campus. Most disciplines in this area relate to the humanities. Burton Hall is home to the College of Education and Human Development. Many buildings in this area are well over one hundred years old and it includes a 13-building group comprising the Old Campus Historic District that is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. One residence hall, Sanford Hall, and one student-apartment complex, Roy Wilkins Hall, are located in this area. The Institute for Advanced Study is located in the Nolte Center.
Northrop Mall or the Mall area, is arguably the center of the Minneapolis Campus. It was based on a design by Cass Gilbert, although his plans were too extravagant to be fully implemented. Several of the campus's primary buildings surround the Mall area. The Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium provides a northern anchor, with Coffman Memorial Union (CMU) to the south. Four of the larger buildings on the sides of it are the primary mathematics, physics, and chemistry buildings, and Walter Library. The Mall area is home to both the College of Liberal Arts, which is Minnesota's largest public or private college, and the College of Science and Engineering. Behind CMU is another residence hall, Comstock Hall, and another student-apartment complex, Yudof Hall.
The Health area is to the southeast of the Mall area and focuses on undergraduate buildings for biological-science students, as well as homes to the College of Pharmacy, the School of Nursing, the School of Dentistry, the Medical School, the School of Public Health, and Fairview Hospitals and Clinics. This complex of buildings forms what is known as the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Part of the College of Biological Sciences is housed in this area.
Across the street from Fairview Hospital is an area known as the "Superblock". The Superblock is a 4-city-block space housing four residence halls (Pioneer, Frontier, Centennial and Territorial Halls). The Superblock is one of the most popular locations for on-campus housing because it has the largest concentration of students living on campus and has a multitude of social activities between the four residence halls.
The Athletic area is directly north of the Superblock and includes four recreation/athletic facilities: the University Recreation Center, Cooke Hall, the University Fieldhouse, and the University Aquatic Center. These facilities are all connected by tunnels and skyways allowing students to use one locker-room facility. North of this complex is the TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena, Mariucci Arena, Ridder Arena, and the Baseline Tennis Center.
The Gateway area, an easternmost section, is primarily office buildings rather than classrooms and lecture halls. The most prominent building is McNamara Alumni Center. The University is also heavily invested in a biomedical-research initiative and is striving to build five more biomedical-research buildings in ten years that will form a biomedical complex directly north of TCF Bank Stadium.
The West Bank covers 53 acres (0.21 km²).
The West Bank Arts Quarter includes:
- Rarig Center (Theatre Arts & Dance)
- The Barbara Barker Center for Dance
- Ferguson Hall (School of Music)
- Ted Mann Concert Hall
- Regis Center for Art
The Quarter is home to several annual interdisciplinary arts festivals.
The Social Sciences are also on the West Bank and include the Carlson School of Management, the Law School, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Wilson Library, the largest library in the University system, is also located on the West Bank as is Middlebrook Hall, the largest residence hall on campus. Approximately 900 students reside in the building named in honor of William T. Middlebrook.
The Washington Avenue Bridge crossing the Mississippi River provides access between the East and West Banks, either on foot, designated bike lanes, or via free shuttle service. The bridge has two separate decks: the lower deck for vehicles and the upper deck for pedestrians. An unheated enclosed walkway runs the length of the bridge and shelters students from the weather. Walking and riding bicycles are the most common mode of transportation among students. University Police occasionally cite individuals for jaywalking in areas surrounding the University resulting in fines as high as $250. This is often done at the beginning of a school year or after pedestrians interfere with traffic.
There are some pedestrian tunnels to get from building to building during harsh weather. The tunnels are marked with signs reading, "The Gopher Way".
The Minneapolis campus is located near Interstates 94 and 35W and is bordered by the Minneapolis neighborhoods of Dinkytown (on the north), Cedar-Riverside (on the west), Stadium Village (on the southeast), and Prospect Park (on the east).
Two light-rail stations have been proposed to serve the University along the proposed Central Corridor light-rail line. Stations have been proposed on the East Bank and the West Bank.
The St. Paul campus is located in the suburban city of Falcon Heights. Despite this, all campus buildings have St. Paul street addresses. The College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, many other disciplines from social sciences to vocational education are located on this campus. The extensive lawns, flowers, trees, wood lots and the surrounding University research farm plots creates a greener and quieter campus. It has a grassy mall of its own and can be a bit of a retreat from the more-urban Minneapolis campus. Prominent on this campus is Bailey Hall, the St. Paul campus's only residence hall.
The St. Paul campus is also home to the College of Design, the smallest freshman-admitting college within the University of Minnesota. The College of Design, excluding architecture and landscape architecture, is located in McNeal Hall; consisting of Housing Studies, Apparel Design, Retail Merchandising, Graphic Design, and Interior Design.
The St. Paul campus borders the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The State Fair is one of the largest in the United States, usually lasting twelve days, from late August through Labor Day in early September. Because of the heavy traffic associated with the State Fair, classes do not start on either campus until after it is over, enabling the Fair to use the campus-parking facilities.
Although the Falcon Heights area code is 651, the University telephone system trunk lines use Minneapolis exchanges and its 612 area code.
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