Jacksonville State University

Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a regional public coeducational university located in Jacksonville, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in five academic units leading to Bachelor's, Master's, Education Specialist, and Doctorate in addition to continuing and distance education programs. In the Fall semester of 2011, JSU began offering the school's first doctoral degree, Doctor of Science in Emergency Management.[2]

The university was founded as Jacksonville State Normal School, and in 1930 the name changed to Jacksonville State Teachers College, and again in 1957 to Jacksonville State College. The university began operating as Jacksonville State University in 1967. In 2008, the university celebrated its 125th anniversary.

JSU currently has an enrollment of nearly 9,500 students, with nearly 500 faculty members (more than 320 of whom are full-time). Jacksonville State's Business School was ranked within the nation's top tenth percentile by the Princeton Review. The current University President is Dr. William A. Meehan.

With a focus on providing a quality education, Jacksonville State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). In addition, 40 academic programs (79% of programs that can be accredited) earned specialized programmatic accreditations. These programs include business, education, engineering and technology, nursing, social work, drama, art, music, computer science, family and consumer science, and communication.

221 international students representing 73 countries were enrolled in the 2011-2012 academic year. The University has run its International House program, an international exchange program, for over 60 years.[3] JSU is also nationally recognized for its marching band, the Marching Southerners, which performs before thousands each year at marching exhibitions, football games, and parades.

On January 1, 2012, the school's marching band and dance team, The Southerners and the Marching Ballerinas,[2] led the New Year's Day Parade in London, England which also kicked off the year-long celebration of both Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Summer Olympics.[5] The invitation to lead the parade came in September 2010, just as the Southerners learned that they had been awarded the nationally recognized George Washington Honor Medal for their patriotic 2009 show, "Of Thee I Sing."

In spring 2008, the website GetEducated.com ranked the Master of Science in Computer Systems and Software Design as second on its list of "best buys" among 67 online master's programs in computer science and information technology offered by regionally accredited institutions in the United States.[6] In spring 2010, they followed this with a third-place ranking for JSU's online nursing master's program [3] and a sixth-place ranking for the online nursing bachelor's degree [4].

In October 2007, the College of Commerce and Business Administration was named one of the 290 best business schools in the world by The Princeton Review and ranked second in providing the greatest opportunities for women.

In 2007, the school broke ground for the 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) Little River Canyon Center. The building houses National Park Service offices, an exhibit hall, meeting space, classrooms, and comfort stations and is the site of the JSU Little River Canyon Field School, which sponsors dozens of activities, seminars and programs each year. In 1992, the canyon was designated a national preserve. During the summer months, the staff includes 15 park rangers.

In February 2006, Jacksonville State University was named the "winner" of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Speech Code of the Month. At the time, FIRE called the University Code of Conduct Ӏillegally overbroad.Ԁ They considered the code to be in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution which protects offensive speech. The policy has since been changed.

In August 2007, University President Dr. William Meehan was implicated in a plagiarism scandal related to his periodic column entitled "Town & Gown," which was actually written by the school's news bureau. These columns were written by the recently retired Director of JSUҀs News Bureau who was working part-time to ghostwrite the weekly ӀTown & GownԀ column. A committee appointed by the President found no wrongdoing on the part of Meehan other than a lack of administrative oversight, and it was decided that responsibility for the plagiarism was that of the writer.[7]

In April 2009, allegations surfaced that University President Dr. William Meehan plagiarized his doctoral dissertation at the University of Alabama in 1999. A plagiarism expert, hired by a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the university, concluded that Ӏextensive portionsԀ of Dr. MeehanҀs dissertation plagiarized the work of Dr. Carl Boening. Spokespersons for the University of Alabama and Jacksonville State University stated that the matter would not be investigated. The University of Alabama conducted a review of the matter in 2007, but has not yet disclosed the findings of that inquiry, or the qualifications of its investigators. The University of Alabama has not declared that Dr. Meehan did not use plagiarized material.