University of Rochester
Encyclopedia
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR) is a private
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...

, nonsectarian
Nonsectarian
Nonsectarian, in its most literal sense, refers to a lack of sectarianism. The term is also more narrowly used to describe secular private educational institutions or other organizations either not affiliated with or not restricted to a particular religious denomination though the organization...

, research university in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The university grants undergraduate
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...

 and graduate degrees, including doctoral
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.

The University of Rochester is noted for its Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

. The university is also home to the Institute of Optics, founded in 1929, the nation's first educational program devoted exclusively to optics. Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Laboratory for Laser Energetics
The Laboratory for Laser Energetics is a scientific research facility which is part of the University of Rochester's south campus, located in Brighton, New York. The lab was established in 1970 and its operations since then have been funded jointly; mainly by the United States Department of...

 is home to the most powerful fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...

 laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...

 in the world.

In its history five university alumni, two faculty, and one senior research associate at Strong Memorial Hospital
Strong Memorial Hospital
Strong Memorial Hospital is a 739-bed medical facility, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center complex , in Rochester, New York. Opened in 1926, is a major provider of both in-patient and out-patient medical services....

 have won a Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

; eight alumni and four faculty members have won a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

, and 19 faculty members have been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

. Faculty and alumni of Rochester make up nearly one-quarter of the scientists on the board advising NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 in the development of the James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope , previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope , is a planned next-generation space telescope, optimized for observations in the infrared. The main technical features are a large and very cold 6.5 meter diameter mirror, an observing position far from Earth,...

, which will replace the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...

 as of 2011.

The University of Rochester enrolls approximately 4,600 undergraduates and 3,900 graduate students. Additionally, Rochester (along with its affiliated Strong Health System) is the largest employer in the Greater Rochester area and the sixth largest employer in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 State.

History

The University of Rochester was founded in 1850 as a Baptist-sponsored institution. The impetus to form the university came primarily from the town of Hamilton, New York
Hamilton (town), New York
Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2000 census. The town is named after American patriot Alexander Hamilton....

, which has been home to Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...

 since 1819. In 1848, the Baptist Education Society planned to move Colgate University (then known as Madison University) to the city of Rochester, but was halted by legal action. Dissenting Colgate trustees, faculty, and students founded the University of Rochester, receiving a charter from the Regents of the University of the State of New York
University of the State of New York
The University of the State of New York is the State of New York's governmental umbrella organization responsible for most institutions and people in any way connected with formal educational functions, public and private, in New York State...

 on January 31, 1850. Classes began that November, with approximately 60 students enrolling, including 28 transfers from Madison.

The University of Rochester's campus was originally in downtown Rochester at the United States Hotel, which was located on Buffalo Street near Elizabeth Street, which today is West Main Street near the I-490
Interstate 490 (New York)
Interstate 490 is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that serves the city of Rochester, New York, in the United States. It acts as a northerly alternate route to the New York State Thruway , leaving it at exit 47 in the town of Le Roy and rejoining the highway at exit 45 in the town of...

 overpass. In 1853, the campus moved east to a then-suburban location on what is now University Avenue. Local businessman and Congressman Azariah Boody
Azariah Boody
Azariah Boody was a Whig member of the United States House of Representatives, a railroad investor, and a trustee of the University of Rochester. He was born in Stanstead County, Quebec. He was married to Ambia Corson Boody .In 1852, Boody was elected to the Thirty-third United States Congress...

 donated 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land for the new campus, and the University purchased a further 17 acres (6.9 ha) from him. UR would remain on this campus until the current River Campus was constructed in 1930, and the university continues to own a small part of the University Avenue campus (where the university-owned Memorial Art Gallery is located).

The first female students were admitted in 1900, the result of an effort led by Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...

 and Helen Barrett Montgomery
Helen Barrett Montgomery
Helen Barrett Montgomery was an American social reformer, educator and writer. In 1921 she was elected as the first woman president of the Northern Baptist Convention . She had long been a delegate to the Convention and a policymaker...

. During the 1890s, a number of women took classes and labs at the university as "visitors" but were not officially enrolled nor were their records included in the college register. President David Jayne Hill
David Jayne Hill
David Jayne Hill was an American diplomat and historian.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, he was educated at Bucknell University from which he graduated in 1874. He served as professor of rhetoric in the institution from 1877 to 1879 and was for the eight years following its president. From 1888 to...

 allowed the first woman, Helen E. Wilkinson, to enroll as a normal student, although she was not allowed to matriculate or to pursue a degree. Thirty-three women enrolled among the first class in 1900, and Ella S. Wilcoxen was the first to receive a degree, in 1901. When the River Campus was completed in 1930, male students moved there while the female students remained on the University Avenue campus until 1955.

Major growth occurred under the leadership of Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees was the third president of the University of Rochester, serving from 1900-1935.-Education:Rhees earned his undergraduate degrees from Amherst College where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi...

, during his 1900-1935 tenure. During this time, George Eastman
George Eastman
George Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...

, Ed Norton
Ed Norton
Edward Norton is an American actor.Edward Norton may also refer to:*Edward Norton , MP for Carlisle and Haslemere*Edward Felix Norton , British army officer and mountaineer...

, and Michael He became major donors, giving more than $50 million to the university. The first Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 was awarded in 1925. In 1955, the separate colleges for men and women were merged into The College
University of Rochester College of Arts Sciences and Engineering
The College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is one of the primary units of the University of Rochester, encompassing the majority of the undergraduate and graduate enrollment. The College is divided in the units of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences...

. In 1958, three new schools were created in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

, business administration, and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

.

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Rochester was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...

 which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

In the mid-1980s, the University commissioned a study to determine if the name of the institution should be changed, most likely to "Eastman University." The study concluded that a name change could be beneficial because the use of a place name in the title led respondents to incorrectly believe that it was a public university, and because the name "Rochester" connoted a "cold and distant outpost." Reports of the latter conclusion led to controversy and criticism in the Rochester community. Ultimately, the name "University of Rochester" was retained.

In 1995, university president Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson was the ninth president of the University of Rochester, preceded by Dennis O'Brien. Jackson held the position of president from 1994 until he formally stepped down on June 30, 2005 and was succeeded by Joel Seligman...

 announced the launch of a "Renaissance Plan" for The College that, among several changes, reduced enrollment and created a more selective admissions process. The plan also revised the undergraduate curriculum significantly, creating the current system with only one required course and only a few distribution requirements (known as "clusters").

Administration

The university is headed by a board of trustees, with Edmund A. Hajim being the chairman. The board appoints the president of the university, currently Joel Seligman
Joel Seligman
Joel Seligman is the current President of the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York, and is one of the leading authorities on securities law in the U.S..-Biography:...

, who replaced Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson was the ninth president of the University of Rochester, preceded by Dennis O'Brien. Jackson held the position of president from 1994 until he formally stepped down on June 30, 2005 and was succeeded by Joel Seligman...

 on July 1, 2005.
Presidents of the University
Name Tenure
Martin Brewer Anderson 1853–1888
David Jayne Hill
David Jayne Hill
David Jayne Hill was an American diplomat and historian.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, he was educated at Bucknell University from which he graduated in 1874. He served as professor of rhetoric in the institution from 1877 to 1879 and was for the eight years following its president. From 1888 to...

1889–1896
Benjamin Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees
Benjamin Rush Rhees was the third president of the University of Rochester, serving from 1900-1935.-Education:Rhees earned his undergraduate degrees from Amherst College where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi...

1900–1935
Alan Valentine
Alan Valentine
Alan Chester Valentine competed on the gold-medal winning American rugby union team in the 1924 Summer Olympics.-Biography:...

1935–1950
Cornelis de Kiewiet
Cornelis de Kiewiet
Cornelis Willem de Kiewiet was a 20th century historian most notable for having served as president of Cornell University and the University of Rochester....

1951–1961
W. Allen Wallis 1962–1975
Robert Sproull
Robert Sproull
Robert Lamb Sproull is a retired American educator, physicist, and US Department of Defense official.Sproull was born in Lacon, Illinois. A graduate of Deep Springs College, Sproull studied English literature at Cornell University before taking a Ph.D. at the same university in physics...

1975–1984
G. Dennis O'Brien
G. Dennis O'Brien
George Dennis O'Brien is an American philosopher who most notably served as the eighth President of the University of Rochester....

1984–1994
Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson
Thomas H. Jackson was the ninth president of the University of Rochester, preceded by Dennis O'Brien. Jackson held the position of president from 1994 until he formally stepped down on June 30, 2005 and was succeeded by Joel Seligman...

1994–2005
Joel Seligman
Joel Seligman
Joel Seligman is the current President of the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York, and is one of the leading authorities on securities law in the U.S..-Biography:...

2005 – present

River Campus

The River Campus is the center of the university's academic and administrative activities. It is located in a bend of the Genesee River
Genesee River
The Genesee River is a North American river flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester....

 about 2 miles (3 km) south of downtown Rochester and covers around 200 acres (80.9 ha). It is bounded by Bausch & Lomb Riverside Park, an 18 acres (7.3 ha) public park along the east bank of the Genesee River, and Mount Hope Cemetery
Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester
Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York, founded in 1838, is the United States' first municipal rural cemetery. Situated on 196 acres of land adjacent to the University of Rochester on Mount Hope Avenue, the cemetery is the permanent resting place of over 350,000 people...

, where the grave sites of Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...

 and Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...

 can be found.

The original buildings of the campus were dedicated in 1930. The main academic buildings, designed in the Greek revival style, are centered around the Eastman Quadrangle
George Eastman
George Eastman was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream...

 (generally referred to as the academic quad) which is formed by Rush Rhees Library
Rush Rhees Library
Rush Rhees Library is the main academic library of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. It is one of the most visible and recognizable landmarks on the university's River Campus. Construction began in 1927 with the other original River Campus buildings and the library was dedicated...

 and Dewey, Bausch & Lomb, Morey, and Lattimore Halls. The Eastman Quad is widely considered the best landscaped area of the university. Rush Rhees Library, the unofficial symbol of the university, is also home to the Hopeman Memorial Carillon, the largest carillon in New York State, featuring 50 bells that chime on the quarter hour. During the summer, the carillon features a recital series in which various artists perform on the instrument.

Over the course of the last several decades, other academic buildings have been built south of the Eastman Quad, including Meliora Hall (1972), Hoyt Hall (1962), Harkness Hall (1946), Gavett Hall (dedicated with the Eastman Quad in 1930), and the Hopeman Engineering Building (1963). The southernmost part of the River Campus contains the new Science and Engineering Quadrangle: Hutchison Hall (1972), Hylan Building (1971), the Computer Studies Building and Carlson Library (1987), Wilmot Building (1961), and the Robert B. Goergen
Robert B. Goergen
Robert B. Goergen is an American corporate executive, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of Blyth, Inc. He is also the founder and chairman of The Ropart Group, a private-equity investment firm. Goergen earned a bachelors degree in physics from the University of...

 Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics (completed in March 2007).

Students often congregate outdoors during the warmer months on the various quads. Other centers of student life include Todd Union, Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...

 Dining Center, various locations inside Rush Rhees Library, and Wilson Commons, a student union designed by the architectural firm of I.M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...

. Many academic buildings, including Rush Rhees Library, are connected by a series of tunnels, which are used extensively, especially during unfavorable weather. Most academic buildings and common areas, as well as Freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...

 residence halls, have authenticated
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...

 Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

 internet access.

Other campuses

The University of Rochester Medical Center
University of Rochester Medical Center
The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....

(URMC) is the primary campus for the university's medical education and research as well as the main patient care facility. The Medical Center is located adjacent to the River Campus and is dominated by Strong Memorial Hospital
Strong Memorial Hospital
Strong Memorial Hospital is a 739-bed medical facility, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center complex , in Rochester, New York. Opened in 1926, is a major provider of both in-patient and out-patient medical services....

, the School of Medicine and Dentistry building and the Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building. URMC also houses the School of Nursing and a variety of research centers, including the Wilmot Cancer Center, the Aab Institute of Biomedical Sciences, and an under-construction Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.

The Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

is situated on its own campus in downtown Rochester, which includes a residence for students, classroom and performance facilities, and the Eastman Theatre
Eastman Theatre
The Eastman Theatre is the main building of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, located in downtown Rochester, New York....

, a 3,094-seat concert hall which also serves as the primary venue of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, Monroe County, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music....

. The campus also features the Sibley Music Library
Sibley Music Library
Sibley Music Library is the library of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. It was founded in 1904 by Hiram Watson Sibley in honor of his father Hiram Sibley and is currently the largest university music library in the US.-History:...

, which is the largest academic music library in North America, as well as the largest privately owned collection of sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...

. Students are housed at 100 Gibbs Street, a dormitory building constructed in 1991.

The South Campus is located in Brighton
Brighton, Monroe County, New York
Brighton is a town in Monroe County, New York, USA. The population was 36,609 at the 2010 census.-History:The Town of Brighton, located on the southeast border of the city of Rochester, was originally settled approximately 1790, and formally established in 1814—earning it recognition as one...

, immediately south of Rochester proper. The campus includes the Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Laboratory for Laser Energetics
The Laboratory for Laser Energetics is a scientific research facility which is part of the University of Rochester's south campus, located in Brighton, New York. The lab was established in 1970 and its operations since then have been funded jointly; mainly by the United States Department of...

, the Center for Optics Manufacturing, the Center for Optoelectronics and Imaging, and the now defunct Nuclear Structure Research Laboratory (NSRL). Graduate student housing is also provided at the Whipple Park complex.
  • C. E. K. Mees Observatory
    C. E. K. Mees Observatory
    C.E.K. Mees Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Bristol, New York, owned and operated by The University of Rochester. The observatory is named after C. E...

  • Memorial Art Gallery
    Memorial Art Gallery
    The Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus...

  • Mount Hope Campus

Academics

University of Rochester's undergraduate enrollment consists of about 4,500 full-time and about 100 part-time students from across the U.S. and over 90 countries. Graduate enrollment comprises about 3,300 full-time and about 550 part-time graduate students.
The university has more than 97,000 living alumni. The university employs more than 1,200 tenure-track faculty, with more than 17,000 faculty and staff across the university and the Strong Health System. UR's faculty include fellows of all four National Academies of the U.S., Guggenheim Fellows, and recipients of many other awards and recognitions.

The unique, defining feature of the undergraduate program at the University is the Rochester Curriculum. There are no required subjects outside of a prerequisite writing course, which may be tested out of. The Curriculum requires that undergraduates study in all of three areas of knowledge: humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

, social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

, and natural sciences. Aside from the area of study which a student's major falls in, undergraduates must complete 3-4 courses of related materials (called "clusters") within each of the remaining areas. For example, a student with a concentration in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, a natural science field, must complete at least one cluster in the humanities and one in social sciences. A second concentration or a minor
Academic minor
An academic minor is a college or university student's declared secondary field of study or specialization during his or her undergraduate studies. As with an academic major, the college or university in question lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to...

 also satisfies this requirement. The only exceptions are students concentrating in an accredited
Abet
Abet may refer to:* Abet Guidaben , former Philippine Basketball Association basketball player* ABET, Inc., a non-profit organization that accredits higher education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology....

 engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 field (biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...

, chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...

, electrical and computer engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

 or mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

), who are only required to have one cluster in either humanities or social sciences.

The University of Rochester is known for its several unique 5th year programs. Students may apply for the Take Five Scholars program, a tuition free 5th year of study in a field of interest unrelated to their undergraduate major. The university also offers a Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) Scholarship, a tuition-free 5th year of study offered to those with an innovative and unique entrepreneurial project impacting the campus or Rochester community. Both programs are competitive and students may apply during their junior or senior year.

Various other scholar programs exist for UR students, including the highly selective Rochester Early Medical Scholars
University of Rochester Medical Center
The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....

 (REMS) and Rochester Early Business Scholar (REBS) programs. Students must apply for these prior to entering the university.

Rankings

UR was one of the 25 New Ivies in the 2007 Kaplan/Newsweek "How to Get into College Guide." The list names institutions whose caliber of students is considered to rival traditional Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

 schools. The rankings are based on admissions statistics as well as interviews with administrators, students, faculty, and alumni.

Admission into UR has become increasingly competitive, with an average acceptance rate of 33% (20% for transfer students) and average SAT scores falling in the 95th percentile, for the fall of 2011. U.S. News and World Report, in their popular National University Rankings, placed the University of Rochester 35th in the nation for 2008, 2009, and 2010. For 2011 edition, it is ranked 35. In 2007, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

rated the University of Rochester 48th among the best universities in the world and 21st among American educational institutions. The University of Rochester also placed 21st on The Washington Monthly College Rankings list. University of Rochester places within the top 10 for the staff-to-student ratio.

The University has also been ranked as 34th worldwide according to Global University Ranking and 21st in the United States among research universities. Additionally its graduate programs are consistently ranked within the top 20 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

 ranks first among graduate music programs in the U.S. Other schools in the university also rank highly, with the School of Medicine and Dentistry at 30th overall among medical schools and its primary-care program ranked 15th among primary-care medical schools, and the Simon School ranked 23rd among graduate business schools. U.S. News and World Report also ranked the Hajim School of Engineering's graduate program 38th nationally. Additionally, the graduate programs of political science, economics, and medical research were ranked 15th, 22nd, and 31st in the nation, respectively.

Internationally, in 2011 QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....

 ranked the University of Rochester 128th in the world.

Rush Rhees Library at The University of Rochester was featured on the cover of the "Princeton Review 373 Best Colleges 2011 Edition".
The High Impact Universities
High Impact Universities
Initially launched in September 2010, the High Impact Universities research performance index or RPI is an Australian initiative to benchmark the research performance of world's universities. The pilot project involved a study of over 1,000 universities and 5,000 faculties worldwide. Ranked results...

 Initiative which measures research performance ranked the University of Rochester 28th in the world.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...

 which weights many factors in its methodology ranked the University of Rochester 82nd globally.

Research

UR is a leading private university and a major center for diverse fields of research. The university has eight Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 winners among its faculty and alumni. UR consistently ranks among the top 40 colleges and universities nationwide in federally financed science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

, medical, and other research, with a total research budget of around $350 million spread across many departments and research centers, including the Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Laboratory for Laser Energetics
The Laboratory for Laser Energetics is a scientific research facility which is part of the University of Rochester's south campus, located in Brighton, New York. The lab was established in 1970 and its operations since then have been funded jointly; mainly by the United States Department of...

, a laser-based nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...

 facility, and the extensive research facilities at the University of Rochester Medical Center
University of Rochester Medical Center
The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....

. Recently, the university has also engaged in a series of new initiatives to expand its programs in biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...

 and optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...

, including the construction of the new $37 million Robert B. Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics on the River Campus. Other new research initiatives include a cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cells are cancer cells that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample. CSCs are therefore tumorigenic , perhaps in contrast to other non-tumorigenic cancer cells...

 program and a Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. UR also has the ninth highest technology revenue among U.S. higher education institutions, with $30 million being paid for commercial rights to university technology and research in 2005. Notable patents include Zoloft and Gardasil. WeBWorK, a web-based system for checking homework and providing immediate feedback for students, was developed by University of Rochester professors Gage and Pizer. The system is now in use at over 100 universities and colleges.

Colleges and schools

  • College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering
    University of Rochester College of Arts Sciences and Engineering
    The College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is one of the primary units of the University of Rochester, encompassing the majority of the undergraduate and graduate enrollment. The College is divided in the units of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences...

     - Undergraduate and graduate programs in a large number of fields. This is the largest college of the university by both undergraduate and graduate enrollment. The College is divided into two schools: The School of Arts and Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The College is primarily located on the River Campus.
  • The Eastman School of Music
    Eastman School of Music
    The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

     is a music conservatory offering both undergraduate and graduate education in a number of music
    Music
    Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

     fields, including composition, theory
    Music theory
    Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

    , and performance.
  • The Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development is the university's graduate
    Graduate school
    A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

     school of education
    School of education
    In the United States and Canada, a school of education is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences encompassing sociology, psychology, linguistics, economics, political science, public...

    . It is located on the River Campus.
  • The School of Medicine and Dentistry is a medical
    Medical school
    A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...

     and dental
    Dental school
    A dental school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dentistry. Upon successful completion, the graduate receives a degree in Dentistry, which, depending upon the jurisdiction, might be a bachelor's degree, master's degree, a professional degree, or a...

     with both research and clinical programs. It is located in the University of Rochester Medical Center
    University of Rochester Medical Center
    The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....

    .
  • The School of Nursing is a nursing school
    Nursing school
    A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...

    . It is also located on the campus of the University of Rochester Medical Center
    University of Rochester Medical Center
    The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....

    .
  • The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
    William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
    The University of Rochester Simon Graduate School of Business is the business school located on the University's River Campus in Rochester, New York. It was renamed after William E. Simon , the 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury, in 1986...

     is the business school
    Business school
    A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource...

    . It is located on the River Campus.

Student life

UR's official symbol is the seal of the university, which features a book, representing arts and sciences
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

, a lyre symbolizing music, and a modified symbol of medicine
Rod of Asclepius
The rod of Asclepius , also known as the asklepian, is an ancient symbol associated with astrology, the Greek god Asclepius, and with medicine and healing. It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff. The name of the symbol derives from its early and widespread association with Asclepius, the...

. The official flower of the university is the dandelion, purportedly prolific on the cow pasture that became the university's second campus.

The mascot is the Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries...

. From 1983 to 2008, it was named "URBee". However, when the university re-designed the mascot during the 2007-2008 academic year, a new name was chosen and as of February 1, 2008, the school's mascot is now known as "Rocky".

The university uses Dandelion Yellow and a shade of blue (Rochester blue) as its official colors, which are the prominent colors on the official regalia.

The motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

 of UR is Meliora
Meliora
Meliora is a Latin adjective meaning "better". It is the neuter plural form of the adjective "melior, -or, -us". It is the motto of the University of Rochester at Rochester, New York...

, which loosely translates to "better" with the connotation of "ever better", the meaning adopted by the university.

The image of Rush Rhees Library
Rush Rhees Library
Rush Rhees Library is the main academic library of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. It is one of the most visible and recognizable landmarks on the university's River Campus. Construction began in 1927 with the other original River Campus buildings and the library was dedicated...

's main dome serves as an additional icon for the University of Rochester.

UR also has official logos for the university as a whole as well as individual units, including The College, URMC and Eastman. President Seligman, as part of his efforts to improve UR's external appearance, commissioned Bill Murphy, the Vice President of Communications, to start an initiative to develop a new graphic identity, including a new logo, in hopes of improving uniformity and overall usage of official standards. During March 2007, the communications office was soliciting opinions and comments on finalist designs for the new logo, which was unveiled later that fall.

The song most often sung at college events, led often by the school's many a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 groups, is The Genesee. Although less frequently used, the university also has an official Alma Mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

, The Dandelion Yellow.

Traditions

UR features several traditional events throughout the year with diverse history.
  • ArtAwake brings students and community members together for a day of art and music.
  • The Boar's Head Dinner began in 1934 and continues as an annual event.
  • Convocation
    Convocation
    A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....

    celebrates the start of the academic year and provides the opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to come together. The ceremony opens with a processional by faculty and administrators in traditional regalia
    Regalia
    Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...

    , features presentation of the Goergen Awards for contributions to undergraduate education, and is accompanied by a picnic, activities fair and performances.
  • Dandelion Day, colloquially known as D-Day, is a day late in the spring semester that was established as an annual respite around final exams with extensive celebrations, often accompanied by a carnival and musical guests. Previous years have featured Super Mash Bros, Reel Big Fish
    Reel Big Fish
    Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...

    , Eve 6
    Eve 6
    Eve 6 is an American rock band from Southern California, who are most well known for their hit singles "Inside Out", "Leech", and the slow anthem "Here's to the Night". They disbanded in 2004, returned in 2007 with a new lineup, and finally reunited with all three original members in March 2011...

    , Talib Kweli
    Talib Kweli
    Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

    , and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
    Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
    Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight ", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played the Super Bowl XXXIII half-time show in 1999.The band was originally formed in Ventura,...

    . OK Go
    OK Go
    OK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...

     performed in 2010.
  • Mela is an annual event held late in the spring semester celebrating South Asian culture and dance. The tradition has been a significant showcase for the University and Rochester Community since 1986.
  • Meliora Weekend is celebrated in early October during a weekend around the University anniversary, combining class reunion
    Class reunion
    A class reunion is a meeting of former classmates, typically organized at or near their former school by one of the class on or around an anniversary of their graduation. Former teachers may be invited as well...

    s, homecoming
    Homecoming
    Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

    , family weekend, and a regatta
    Regatta
    A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...

    . Past speakers include Amartya Sen
    Amartya Sen
    Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...

    , Anderson Cooper
    Anderson Cooper
    Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...

    , Stephen Colbert
    Stephen Colbert
    Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...

    , Colin Powell
    Colin Powell
    Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...

    , United States Secretary of Energy
    United States Secretary of Energy
    The United States Secretary of Energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was formed on October 1, 1977 with the creation of the Department of Energy when President Jimmy...

     and University of Rochester alumnus Steven Chu
    Steven Chu
    Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...

    , Sanjay Gupta
    Sanjay Gupta
    Sanjay Gupta is an American neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia....

    , and Bill Clinton
    Bill Clinton
    William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

    .
  • A Pillow Fight occurs annually on the academic quad at the conclusion of the spring semester .
  • Wilson Day is day of community service for all incoming university students which include working on neighborhood picnics, voter registrations, painting, landscaping, meal service, and various other service efforts in the community.
  • Winterfest Weekend takes place early in the second semester and helps celebrate the snowy Rochester winters. Highlights of the weekend include comedic performances (previous comedians include Demetri Martin
    Demetri Martin
    Demetri Martin is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on The Daily Show and for his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.- Early life :Demetri Martin was born to a Greek...

    , B.J. Novak and Michael Ian Black
    Michael Ian Black
    Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Ed, Viva Variety, Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. He is also a prominent poker player, appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times...

    ), sleigh rides and ice skating.
  • Yellowjacket Weekend occurs at the beginning of the fall semester and is a celebration of school spirit culminating in a football game with crosstown rival St. John Fisher College.

Student organizations

The student body at the University of Rochester is both ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. There are over 200 active Students' Association recognized groups on campus, which range from cultural dance groups to U of R's comedy improv troupe In Between the Lines
In Between The Lines Comedy Improv Troupe
In Between the Lines is a primarily short form improvisational comedy troupe at the University of Rochester. Founded in 1999, IBTL has performed for various events at the University of Rochester and in the surrounding Rochester community...

. Since 1893, the University has regularly printed its student newspaper, the Campus Times. Several a cappella groups, including the Midnight Ramblers
Midnight Ramblers
The Midnight Ramblers is an award-winning, all-male, contemporary, a cappella group based at the University of Rochester. Since their creation they have been entirely student organized and directed. They are also made up exclusively of members of Rochester's undergraduate community...

, play a prominent role in campus life. The campus also hosts a volunteer EMT squad (The University of Rochester MERT) which provides free New York State certified Basic Life Support services to the River Campus community. The University of Rochester is also home to its own radio station, WRUR
WRUR-FM
WRUR-FM is a radio station located in the Rochester, New York area and broadcasts at 88.5 FM. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Rochester.WRUR-FM is the public radio station of the University of Rochester...

.

Residences

The majority of undergraduate students at the university live and take classes on the River Campus. Underclassmen are generally required to live on campus while upperclassmen have the option to live off campus. Some graduate housing is provided by the university, but a significant number also live off campus. Housing is provided at multiple locations spread across the several campuses.

River Campus
River Campus residences house primarily undergraduates, with some graduate students serving as Graduate Head Residents (GHRs). Residences include:
  • Fraternity Quad - Made up of nine houses. Seven fraternities (Alpha Delta Phi
    Alpha Delta Phi
    Alpha Delta Phi is a Greek-letter social college fraternity and the fourth-oldest continuous Greek-letter fraternity in the United States and Canada. Alpha Delta Phi was founded on October 29, 1832 by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College and includes former U.S. Presidents, Chief Justices of the U.S....

    , Delta Kappa Epsilon
    Delta Kappa Epsilon
    Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...

    , Psi Upsilon
    Psi Upsilon
    Psi Upsilon is the fifth oldest college fraternity in the United States, founded at Union College in 1833. It has chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America. For most of its history, Psi Upsilon, like most social fraternities, limited its membership to men only...

    , Sigma Alpha Mu
    Sigma Alpha Mu
    Sigma Alpha Mu , also known as "Sammy", is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Originally only for Jewish men, Sigma Alpha Mu remained so until 1953, when members from all backgrounds were accepted. Originally headquartered in New York, Sigma Alpha Mu has...

    , Sigma Chi
    Sigma Chi
    Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...

    , Delta Upsilon
    Delta Upsilon
    Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...

    , and Theta Chi
    Theta Chi
    Theta Chi Fraternity is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 as the Theta Chi Society, at Norwich University, Norwich, Vermont, U.S., and was the 21st of the 71 North-American Interfraternity Conference men's fraternities.-Founding and early years at Norwich:Theta...

    ) and two special interest housing groups (Community Learning Center and Drama House) maintain housing here. Psi Upsilon is currently disaffiliated from the university, and the house will remain empty until 2013.
  • Freshman Housing - Consists of Susan B. Anthony Halls (Gannett, Gates, Hollister, and Morgan), located near Rush Rhees Library, Hoeing Hall, Tiernan Hall, and Gilbert Hall, which are located on the Residence Quad. Freshmen live together in these specially designated residences that feature increased supervision, regulation, and residence-related activities by upperclassmen Dandelions (affectionately known as D'Lions) and Freshman Fellows, along with Residential Advisers in living areas.
  • Hill Court - Upperclass housing consisting of Chambers, Fairchild, Gale, Kendrick, Munro, and Slater houses, which are connected by underground tunnels. This residence area, opened in 1969, is colloquially known as "Phase" and was the newest residential area on the River Campus prior to the construction of the Riverview Complex.

  • Residence Quad (ResQuad) - Consists of Burton, Crosby, Lovejoy, and Tiernan Halls for upperclassmen, as well as Hoeing and Gilbert Halls for freshmen. Burton and Crosby were the original dormitories on the River Campus, constructed in 1930, while the other four were built during the 1950s. All ResQuad buildings were fully renovated in the 1990s.
  • River Campus Towers - Consists of Anderson and Wilder Towers and houses upperclassmen and several Special Interest Housing groups. The formal name for the area is Founders Court, but it is simply called "Towers" by most students. Built in 1962, they are scheduled to undergo extensive renovations in the near future.
  • Southside / Graduate Living Center (GLC) - Colloquially known GLC - pronounced "glick", Southside consists of Valentine and deKiewiet Towers, as well as several "maisonettes", which offer apartment style living to upperclassmen. The residences tend to serve as overflow space for student housing. The residences are located south of the River Campus near the medical center, but house River Campus undergraduate students. The campus master plan shows that this complex will eventually be razed.
  • Riverview - The only housing complex on the western side of the Genesee River, Riverview is the newest housing complex for the campus, opening for the 2008-2009 school year, making it the first addition to the campus's housing in nearly 40 years. The complex consists of five buildings, which can house up to 400 people, approximately 250 of which will be undergraduates in its first year, with plans to make it entirely undergraduate housing as the University expands. The complex is made up of fully furnished two-to-four person apartments.


Special Interest floors and Fraternity floors also exist within the residence halls. Special Interest Housing groups include the International Living Center (ILC), Interclass Living Center (ICLC - Crosby 1), Music Interest Floor (MIF - Wilder 9), Health and Home (Valentine 6), Computer Interest Floor (CIF - Anderson 3), Tiernan Project (Burton 2), Media Living Center (MLC - Anderson 7), Film Interest Floor (FIF - Kendrick 1) and Anime Interest Floor (AIF - Anderson 7).

Eastman School of Music Campus
Housing is provided at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...

 campus at the Eastman Student Living Center at 100 Gibbs Street in downtown Rochester. The new building was opened in 1991 at the northeast corner of Main and Gibbs Streets, replacing the University Avenue dormitories built nearly 70 years earlier. It is a four-story quadrangle and 16-story tower surrounding a landscaped inner courtyard.

URMC and Mount Hope Campuses
Graduate student housing is provided at 4 locations near the URMC and Mount Hope.
  • George Washington Goler House (GHS) immediately adjacent to the grounds of the URMC. It is a high rise apartment building with 321 apartments. The building also houses university community members, including faculty and staff.

  • University Towne House (UTH) is a group-living style, two story building located on the Mount Hope Campus with 60 studios. The building is adjacent to Mount Hope businesses as well as university offices.

  • University Park (UPK) is a complex of two story buildings that include 40 studio, 86 one-bedroom, and 80 two-bedroom unfurnished apartments. UPK is located near the URMC off of Kendrick Road.


South Campus
The South Campus has graduate student housing at the Whipple Park (WPK) complex, which features 250 garden apartments and townhouses with ample storage space. WPK also features a park-like setting with large wooded and lawn areas, playgrounds, areas for gardens and low street noise. Some housing is also provided at the River Road complex, which tends to serve as overflow housing for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Students' Association

The Students' Association (SA) is the primary student governing body and includes most of the student groups at UR. The SA is governed by the SA Senate, President and Vice President, all of whom are elected by the student body. The SA President is advised by a cabinet, which is a volunteer group of students. There is also a judicial branch, composed of the All Campus Judicial Council (ACJC), the members of whom are nominated by an interview committee and approved by the SA Senate. The SA Senate meets weekly and the longest meeting on record lasted longer than 8 hours. The offices of the SA are located in the Wilson Commons student union.

All student groups are required to have a constitution, elected officers, and approval from senate in order to be recognized by the SA and have access to university funds. These funds are given yearly based on budgets submitted to the Students' Association Appropriation Committee (SAAC) with supplemental funds available through special forms. All funds are derived from the mandatory Student Activities Fee.

Athletics

UR's athletics teams are called the Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries...

s. They participate in the Division III of the NCAA and in the University Athletic Association
University Athletic Association
The University Athletic Association is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Member teams are located in Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York...

 and Liberty League
Liberty League
The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Originally founded in 1995 as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association, was renamed during the summer of 2004 to the current name...

. One exception to this is the men's squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

 team, which is consistently ranked top 5 in Division I. The University fields men's teams in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, soccer, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

. On the women's side, UR sponsors teams in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

, soccer, rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

.

In 2009 women's soccer coach Terry Gurnett
Terry Gurnett
Terry Gurnett is the head coach of women's soccer at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, USA. He is notable for achieving a coaching record of 400 victories in September 2009. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association, he is the third coach in women's soccer to win over 400 games,...

 set records with over 400 lifetime wins.
In March 2010 the women's basketball team made it to the NCAA's Final Four.

There are also numerous club and intramural athletics groups.

The main athletics facilities of the university are in the Robert B. Goergen
Robert B. Goergen
Robert B. Goergen is an American corporate executive, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of Blyth, Inc. He is also the founder and chairman of The Ropart Group, a private-equity investment firm. Goergen earned a bachelors degree in physics from the University of...

 Athletic Center and Fauver Stadium on the River Campus, with other facilities located in the Spurrier building (River Campus) and the URMC.

Campus and area transportation

The UR campuses have their own University-sponsored system of buses, or shuttles, which provide free transportation from the River Campus to the Medical Center, South Campus, Eastman Campus, and Riverview. There are also lines that run between the River Campus and local shopping and entertainment in Henrietta
Henrietta, New York
Henrietta is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Rochester. The population was 42,581 at the 2010 census. Established in 1818, the town is named after Henrietta Laura Pulteney, Countess of Bath, daughter of Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, a major British...

 and Pittsford
Pittsford (town), New York
Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States and is an affluent suburb of Rochester. The population was 29,405 at the 2010 census....

. On the weekends, a shuttle loops to the Rochester Public Market
Public market
Public markets are markets, in public spaces, where independent merchants can sell their products to the public. Typical products sold at public markets include fresh produce and baked goods, locally raised meats and dairy products, and various other food items and handcrafted goods...

, a student favorite. Most of the University-sponsored buses are named using a color system (i.e. Red Line) that indicates their respective route and allows for easy identification. Several bus lines of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority
The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority is a public benefit organization which provides transportation services in the area in and around Rochester, New York. RGRTA was formed on August 1, 1970 by a state act of government which also formed three similar agencies in Syracuse,...

 (RTS) also make stops at the University.

The university participates in the Zipcar
Zipcar
Zipcar is an American membership-based car sharing company providing automobile reservations to its members, billable by the hour or day. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Cambridge, Massachusetts residents Antje Danielson and Robin Chase, and is now led by Scott Griffith, Chairman and Chief Executive...

 program, which allows students to rent cars on an hourly or daily basis.

The Greater Rochester International Airport
Greater Rochester International Airport
Greater Rochester International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Rochester, a city in Monroe County, New York, United States...

 is a ten-minute drive to the west of the River Campus. In addition, Amtrak train
Rochester (Amtrak station)
Rochester is a station on the Empire Service Amtrak line, located in Rochester, New York.All trains use the platform adjacent to the station building, meaning both eastbound and westbound trains must switch to the southern track...

 and Greyhound bus
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...

 have stations in downtown Rochester to the north of the campus.

See also

  • George Eastman House
    George Eastman House
    The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...

  • Memorial Art Gallery
    Memorial Art Gallery
    The Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus...

  • University of Rochester Arboretum
    University of Rochester Arboretum
    The University of Rochester Arboretum is an arboretum located across the River Campus of the University of Rochester, 612 Wilson Boulevard, Rochester, New York, USA....

  • University of Rochester Medical Center
    University of Rochester Medical Center
    The University of Rochester Medical Center , located in Rochester, New York, is one of the main campuses of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, research and patient care facilities....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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