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California State University, Sacramento, also known as Sacramento State, Sac State, or Capital University, is a public university located in the city of Sacramento, California.

History

The university was founded as Sacramento State College in 1947. The school moved to its permanent location on the banks of the American River in 1953. Sacramento State became part of the California State University system in 1972, and the school changed its name to California State University, Sacramento.

Recently built were a five-story classroom building, a continuing education building, a facility for University-licensed public radio stations, the Alumni Center, and a major expansion of the student union.

Recently upgraded is the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex, and had been used to host the 2000 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. It hosted again in 2004.

Campus

On-Campus

As the seventh largest campus of the 23 state colleges in California, the campus is composed of 3 million square feet of building space in 300 acres in the city of Sacramento. It lies adjacent to Highway 50.

Sac State has 3,000 trees with flower gardens, miles of trails stretching along the nearby river parkway, and student housing with recreational areas such as Folsom Lake and Old Sacramento, in addition to its on-campus housing.

It also contains more than 30 research and community service centers such as the Center for California Studies, the Institute for Social Research, the Center for Collaborative Policy, and the Center for Small Business.

Off-Campus

Sacramento State Aquatic Center
One of the top rowing gatherings in the entire country. Located at Lake Natoma 15 miles east of the university hosting various regional and national meets including the annual Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. Classes are offered in boating and other water-sports for its students and community members.

Center for Collaborative Policy
Provides services for public disputes at the state, regional, and local levels, ranging from conflicts between agencies to multi-party disputes on major policies. Its methods are mediation, negotiation, and consensus-building. It tries to reach solutions satisfing everyone while avoiding traditional adversarial processes.

Julia Morgan House and Gardens
Located four miles west of Sac State and was designed by famous architect Julia Morgan. It was donated to the school in 1966 by Sacramento philanthropist and eugenicist Charles Goethe and was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The school remodeled the house in 2000 honored by the California Heritage Council. Sac State uses the home hosting lectures, small meetings, conferences, and community events, and is available for public special events such as receptions and weddings. The home's west wing houses the Life Center and provides health and fitness classes for seniors.

Academics

College of Arts and Letters College of Business Administration College of Education College of Engineering and Computer Science College of Health and Human Services College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies College of Continuing Education

Sac State offers 60 undergraduate degrees and 40 graduate degrees. Its largest academic program is teacher education, followed by business, criminal justice, communication studies, psychology, and computer science.

The student-to-faculty ratio is about 21 to 1 with more than 70 percent of classes having under 30 students. About 80 percent of full-time faculty hold a doctorate.

Most transfer students come from two-year colleges, and about 750 international students from 80 nations.

The school has the largest cooperative education program in the entire state. Students from all majors are placed in paid positions while simultaneously receiving academic credit. Many students work in government-related internships and fellowships. Approximately 36 percent of students work as volunteers.

Its criminal justice program is the biggest on the western half of the US.

There is a joint-graduate degree program with the McGeorge School of Law, the law school division of the nearby University of the Pacific.

Athletics

Sacramento State's colors are green and gold and its mascot is the Hornet. Sacramento State sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the Big Sky Conference. In all sports, the university has a rivalry with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). The football game is called the Causeway Classic and is played for the Causeway Carriage, referring to the fact that the schools are connected by the long Yolo Causeway bridge over Yolo Bypass floodway.

The school sponsors about 450 student-athletes. Male students compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field. Female students compete in basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball. Scholarships are offered in all sports.

Most athletic teams compete in the Big Sky Conference and from other parts of California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Baseball is part of the Western Athletic Conference while men's soccer is part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Softball is part of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference.

Transportation

Sac State provides its own buses known as Hornet Express shuttles, and works in conjunction with the Sacramento Regional Transit District for longer distances to and from campus.

The school is situated just north of Highway 50.

Trivia

Past Presidents

  • Guy A. West (1947 - 1965)
  • F. Blair Mayne (1965 - 1965)
  • Stephen L. Walker (1965 - 1966)
  • Robert Johns (1966 - 1969)
  • Otto Butz (1969 - 1970)
  • Bernard L. Hyink (1970 - 1972)
  • James G. Bond (1972 - 1978)
  • Lloyd Johns (1978 - 1983)
  • Austin J. Gerber (1983 - 1984)
  • Donald R. Gerth (1984 - 2003)
  • Alexander Gonzalez (2003 - Present)

Notable alumni

Notable Athletes

Points of interest

External links

1947 establishments | Big West Conference | California State University | Sacramento County, California | Universities and colleges in California | Western Association of Schools and Colleges

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "California State University, Sacramento".

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