Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It was formed in 1967 by the federation of Case Institute of Technology (founded in 1880 by philanthropist Leonard Case Jr.) and Western Reserve University (founded in 1826 in the area that was once the Connecticut Western Reserve).

Case is the largest independent research university in the state of Ohio. According to US News and World Report 2006 rankings, Case's undergraduate program is ranked #1 in Ohio and #37 among national universities. Case was ranked #37 in the 2006 US News rankings (#35 in 2004 and 2005). It is most highly regarded for its medical school (currently ranked #21 and #22 for primary care and research, respectively, in US News rankings) and engineering, particularly biomedical, which consistently ranks in the top 5 among undergraduate biomedical engineering programs. The University offers many programs of study in Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Sciences.

The university receives the 12th largest amount of federal research funding among private universities and spends nearly $1 million a day on research.

Campus

The university is approximately five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland in University Circle, a 550 acre (2.2 km²) area containing numerous educational, medical, and cultural institutions. Case has a number of programs taught in conjunction with nearby institutions, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), and the Cleveland Play House.

For transportation, in addition to the Cleveland RTA, which is made available to students for unlimited use through a mandatory $25 yearly fee via semesterly-issued passes, Case has its own fleet of shuttle buses which are better known as "greenies."

Case does not own its parking lots, requiring students, faculty, and staff to purchase permits from University Circle Incorporated. The rates vary between approximately $30 and $80 per month, with multi-year waiting lists on the most popular lots.

Organization

The university in its present form consists of 8 schools:

Students

As of 2004, the university had 3,516 undergraduates and 5,579 graduate students and professional students. The undergraduate student body is said to hail from all 50 states and numerous international countries, but despite this approximately 45% of the undergraduates hail from Ohio.

Student life

Case requires first and second years to live in the dormitories unless living with a relative within fifty miles of the university. Meal plan participation is also mandatory for freshmen and sophomores with some exceptions made for religious and medical reasons. New housing for underclassmen, along with a "Greek village" bringing all the college's fraternities and sororities together with the other undergraduates, is slated to be constructed within the next ten years.

The dormitories are divided into two areas, one featuring suite-style rooms for upperclassmen and the other featuring shared-style rooms. Both feature gigabit ethernet network access, and a wireless campus network is also available anywhere on campus. Buildings are organized into "colleges", grouping together students of similar ages and creating a sense of ownership and hall pride. New housing was opened in fall 2005 for upperclassmen, which features "apartment-style" dormitories that come with air conditioning, full kitchen area, and full sized beds.

Residence life at Case has a long history of being liberal in its policies, including allowing coed suites (an option offered to upperclassmen, when requested and agreed upon by all occupants of a suite), and a generous guest policy.

Graduate students are not offered housing.

First Year Experience

First year students are grouped into one of four residential colleges that is overseen by a First Year Coordinator (FYC). The four residential colleges are made up of several buildings. Mistletoe, Juniper, and Magnolia residential colleges have been in existence for as long as the "First Year Experience" system has been in place, with the fourth residential college, Cedar, created in the fall of 2005 due to a large influx of new students. The residential colleges plan events together and are run by college councils that take student input and use it to plan social and community service-oriented activities.

Quality of Life

The student population was ranked 19th unhappiest in 2005 by the editors of USA Today. This ranking is expected to improve with the opening of the Village at 115th, although it is too early to tell what the effects are. Students often have complaints about the faculty, the lack of campus activities, and the lack of dating on campus, though these complaints are commonplace among students enrolled at major research universities that must operate more like a business than a traditional college. Case has a retention rate of 91% for 2004, which is relatively low for the university's ranking. It has been suggested that this is due to many first years having transferred after the lure of scholarships has worn off.

SAGES Program

The SAGES program for undergraduate students was designed to replace many traditional introductory classes with ones that would facilitate more student-professor contact and dialogue in a seminar setting. The drive behind the program was for two main reasons: an effort to improve the writing skills of students on campus, and to make sure first year students would establish a connection with a professor during their first semester. Although optional for the first few years of the program, SAGES has been a mandatory part of the curriculum for all incoming students since 2005.

There have been many complaints against the SAGES system, such as beliefs that the program is inefficient and understaffed. Several complaints have also been raised about the built-in advisor component of the program: currently a student's first year advisor is his or her SAGES instructor, which has led to instances were students were given inaccurate information regarding what courses they should take. An effort has been made to hire new professors for the departments in charge of administering this program, and many of the program's advocates have pointed out the several positive experiences some of the students have had. There have also been calls for patience from advocates of the program, as many new programs will have deficiencies when it is first implemented.

Greek system

Nearly a third of the campus undergraduates are in a fraternity or sorority. There are 6 sororities and 17 fraternities.

Fraternities

Sororities

Note: Some sororities may officially be referred to as fraternities due to the history of the group.

Events

On October 5 2004, Case hosted the Vice Presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards.

Nearby Severance Hall was also featured in the 1997 Harrison Ford film, Air Force One. The scene during the opening credits shows a night-time military raid on the presidential palace of the leader of Kazakhstan. Severance Hall was chosen to depict the palace. During the scene, several landmarks of Case Western Reserve University are visible, including the Thwing Center (the student union) and the Dittrick Medical History Center.

Sports, clubs, and traditions

Varsity athletics

Case Western Reserve is a member of the University Athletic Association, which participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III.

Traditions

Hudson Relays is an annual tradition at Case that occurs the last weekend before finals every spring semester. It entails a race between the classes of approximately 26 miles all around campus and the surrounding community. Legend has it that the first class to win the race all 4 years will be rewarded with a champagne and steak dinner with the President of the university. The class of 2006 proved this to be correct in 2006, and the team of runners, not the entire class, was awarded the dinner.

Springfest is a day-long concert and student group festival which occurs later the same day of Hudson Relays. The University Program Board brings in several bands and a beer garden, student groups set up booths to entertain the student body, and various inflatable carnival-style attractions are brought in to add to the theoretically festive atmosphere. Occasionally, due to Cleveland weather conditions (such as those at Springfest 2005), the festival must be moved indoors, usually to Thwing Center or Adelbert Gym.

Halloween at the Farm is a tradition established in the fall of 2002. Halloween at the Farm takes place at the Squire Valleevue Farm in Hunting, Ohio. Students, their families, and faculty are invited to enjoy games, a bon-fire, an open air concert, and hay rides.

Since 1976, the Film Society of Case Western Reserve University has held the Science Fiction Film Marathon. The film fesitval has a very large crowd that enjoys food and 36 hours of non-stop movies including modern, classic, and surprise science fiction films.

Facts and figures

Undergraduate Tuition (2005-2006): $31,090
Undergraduate Classes with <30 Students: 74%
Undergraduate Classes with <20 Students: 56%
Nobel Laureates Among Alumni, Faculty, and Researchers: 16
Full Time Faculty with Ph.D or equivalent: 95%

2005-2006 incoming class statistics

Applications Received: 7173
Admitted: 4884
SAT I (25-75 percentile)

Verbal: 600-700
Math: 650-750
Composite: 1280-1430
- ACT (25-75 percentile)

27-32

63% in Top 10% of HS Class
22% in 2nd 10% of HS Class

Top 10 states for undergraduates

Diversity

Caucasian: 59%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 19%
African American: 4%
Hispanic/Latino: 3%
Native American: <1%
Other: 3%

Male: 60%
Female: 40%

Intended academic interests

Arts and Sciences: 27%
Engineering: 39%
Management: 6%
Nursing: 5%
Undecided: 23%

Official Colors

Blue and Gray

Notable students, alumni and faculty

See List of Case Western Reserve University people

Research

Following is a partial list of major contributions made by faculty, staff, and students at Case:

Case was the site of the famous Michelson-Morley interferometer experiment, conducted in 1887 by A. A. Michelson of Case Institute of Technology and E. W. Morley of Western Reserve University. This experiment proved the non-existence of ether and gave circumstantial evidence to substantiate Einstein's Theory of Relativity (Profs. Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley, 1887).
Discovered the atomic weight of oxygen, the basis for calculating the weights of all other elements (Prof. Morley, 1895).
Performed the first full X-ray of the human body -- on himself (Prof. Dayton C. Miller, 1896).
Performed the first modern blood transfusion using a coupling device to connect blood vessels (Dr. George W. Crile, 1905).
Pioneered chlorination of drinking water to eradicate the source of typhoid bacilli (Dr. Roger G. Perkins, 1912).
Developed simulated milk formula for infants (Dr. Henry J. Gerstenberger,1915).
Pioneered surgical treatment of coronary artery disease (Dr. Claude S. Beck, 1935).
Pioneered the materials science of polymers with the creation of first comprehensive polymer science and engineering department at a major U.S. university (Dr. Eric Baer, 1967).
Developed the first heart-lung machine to be used during open heart surgery (Dr. Frederick S. Cross, 1950s).
Performed the first successful lifesaving defibrillation of the human heart (Dr. Beck, 1947) and developed the method of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) (Dr. Beck, 1952).
Developed a test for infants to identify mental retardation within a year after birth (Prof. Joseph F. Fagan, 1987).
Created the first artificial human chromosomes, opening the door to more detailed study of human genetics and potentially offering a new approach to gene therapy. (Prof. Huntington F. Willard of the School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland, in collaboration with colleagues at Athersys, Inc., 1997).

Today, the university operates several facilities off campus for scientific research. One notable example of this is the Warner and Swasey Observatory at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

Music

WRUW 91.1 FM is the campus radio station of Case Western Reserve University. Its motto, "More Music, Fewer Hits", can be seen adorning the rear bumpers of many vehicles in the area. WRUW broadcasts at a power of 15,000 watts and covers most of Northeast Ohio 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

WRUW is staffed by Case students and community volunteers. The station's format can be classified as non-commercial "variety". For information on what is currently on the station, please visit their website at www.WRUW.org.

Computing

Case had the first ABET accredited program in computer engineering ^*.

In 1968, the university formed an innovative private company, Chi Corporation, to provide computer time to both it and other customers. Initially this was on a Univac 1108 (replacing the preceding UNIVAC 1107), 36 bit, one's compliment machine^*. The company was sold in 1977 to Robert G. Benson in Beachwood, Ohio.

Project Logos, under ARPA contract, was begun within the department on a DEC System-10 (later converted to TENEX (BBN) in conjunction with connection to the ARPANET) to develop a computer aided computer design system. This system consisted in a distributed, networked, graphics environment, a control and data flow designer and logic (both hardware and software) analyser. Graphics and animation became another departmental focus with the acquisition of an Evans and Sutherland LDS-1, which was hosted by the DES System-10, and later with the acquisition of the stand alone LDS-2.

Case was one of the earliest universities to be connected to the ARPANET, predecessor to the Internet. ARPANET went online in 1969; Case was connected in January, 1971 ^*.

Case pioneered the early Free-Net computer systems, creating the first Free-net, The Cleveland Free-Net, as well as writing the software that drove a majority of those systems, known as FreePort. The Cleveland Free-Net was shut down in late 1999 due to its software containing the millennium bug.

It was the first university to have an all-fiber-optic network, in 1989 [http://www.case.edu/pubs/cwrumag/spring1999/features/pytte/textonly/interview.shtml. CWRUnet timeline

At the inaugural meeting in October, 1996, Case was one of the thirty-four charter university members of Internet2 ^*.

The university was #1 in Yahoo Internet Life's 1999 Most Wired College list There was a perception that this award was obtained through partially false or inaccurate information submitted for the survey, and the university did not appear at all on the 2000 Most Wired College list (which included 100 institutions); the numbers reported were much lower than those which had been submitted by Ray Neff in 1999. ^*" target="_blank" >^*" target="_blank" > The university had previously placed #13 in the 1997 poll [http://www.cwru.edu/pubaff/univcomm/cwru-697.htm#yahoo.

In August, 2003, Case joined the Internet Streaming Media Alliance, then one of only two university members ^*.

In September, 2003, Case opened 1,230 public wireless access points on the Case campus and University Circle ^*.

Case was one of the founding members of OneCleveland formed in October, 2003. ^*.

Case Western Reserve University is also known for its Virtual Worlds gaming computer lab, which has a large network of Alienware PCs equipped with software such as Torque Game Engine and graphics editors such as Maya. Additionally, it also has a well-equipped music room and console room, which features video game systems such as Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. This laboratory can be used by any student in the EECS department and is also used for the Game Development course.

External links

Case Western Reserve University | Association of Independent Technological Universities

Université Case Western Reserve | ケース・ウェスタン・リザーブ大学 | Case Western Reserve University | 凱斯西儲大學

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