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POINTS OF PRIDE

Campus-Wide

• Towson University was the first in the region to provide free campus Wi-Fi access to its students, faculty and staff members. We have since expanded our wireless coverage to provide free wi-fi access to the greater Towson community as well.
• More than 5 percent of the total electricity used at Towson University comes from renewable resources. Ten percent of Towson University’s solid waste is incinerated and used to produce electricity for use on campus.
• Towson University has committed to achieve LEED Silver certification on all new campus buildings. The first building to achieve certification will be the College for Liberal Arts, which features a “green” or planted roof, low flush toilets, and a high-performance HVAC system with automated central controls. It will also have recycling areas as well as bike racks and shower and locker facilities to promote students and faculty members walking and biking to work.
• The "smart growth" strategy within the campus master plan aims to preserve and recreate natural, green areas of campus. While implementing the plan, the university plans to convert over 5 acres of paved campus area to open green space, helping to offset the campus's carbon footprint.
• Towson University was placed on the Good-Neighbor Honor Roll in the 2009 survey, “Saviors of Our Cities: Survey of Best College and University Civic Partnerships.”
• Towson University has the lowest number of part I crimes per capita of any institution in the University System of Maryland.
• On August 1, 2010, Towson University will be the first four-year institution in Maryland to go completely smoke-free.

College of Business and Economics 

• CBE is the largest undergraduate business school in the University System of Maryland, with more than 3,300 undergraduate students.

• Towson University offers two graduate programs (the UB/Towson MBA and M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services) and four undergraduate majors (accounting, business administration, e-Business and economics).

• Towson University is the only institution in the University System of Maryland with an undergraduate degree in e-Business.
• CBE offers international undergraduate programs in Vietnam and Panama as well as an executive MBA program in Poland. The TU Executive MBA Program, offered in partnership with the University of Lodz Polish-American Management Center, was recently ranked second in all of Poland by Wprost magazine.

• CBE faculty are internationally recognized and well-respected scholars whose intellectual contributions include peer-reviewed journal publications, presentations and conference proceedings. During the past year, CBE faculty provided students with study-abroad opportunities in Greece to promote learning about the Greek political economy and a hands-on interface with international business in Panama.

• CBE faculty have been awarded nine grants and contracts totalling $365,110. The proposals submitted and accepted include two NSF grants. One will examine the impact of choice and justification on escalation of commitment to new product development projects and the other includes a study on predicting wildfire risks in the U.S.’s Sierra Nevada.

College of Education

• The College of Education is the oldest and largest producer of teachers in the state of Maryland.  Across the nation, more than 10,500 educators trained at Towson University are now at the head of the class.
• The college has been nationally recognized for its network of more than 110 professional development schools, and received three additional national awards in 2008 reaffirming its excellence. In their year-long PDS experience, interns are immersed in real-world classrooms and are guided by mentor teachers and university supervisors. Evidence confirms that this approach contributes to an improved learning environment for students, and significantly improves teacher retention that saves needed public education dollars.
• The Center for Leadership in Education offers practical workshops for school administrators, teachers and parent groups across the state. Its members serve as unpaid consultants and advisors to school leaders and system administrators.
• The College of Education has assumed a leadership role in Towson’s metropolitan university outreach program with Baltimore’s Cherry Hill community. With the Cherry Hill elementary, middle and high schools as the springboards, Towson is responding to a wide range of community needs, from nutritional programs to financial planning. 

Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics

• The Fisher College named Dr. Joy Watts, a nationally recognized molecular ecologist, as the first holder of the Jess and Mildred Fisher Endowed Chair in the Biological and Physical Sciences.
• Dr. John LaPolla, assistant professor of biological sciences, was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the Maryland Academy of Sciences.
• Dr. Steven Lev, associate professor of geosciences, was awarded a prestigious Elkins Professorship by the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland for 2009-2010. 
• The Department of Chemistry offers the only B.S. program in forensic chemistry in the state of Maryland.
• Towson University and the Fisher College’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences have been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Security and Assurance by the National Security Agency.
• The Fisher College annually receives nearly $2 million in external grants and contracts to support pure and applied research and curriculum development. An important component of this is a successful record of providing undergraduate research opportunities through major support from the National Science Foundation.
• The Fisher College has established state-of-the-art interdisciplinary labs in materials science, nanotechnology, and biogeochemistry to conduct faculty/student research dealing with environment and high technology.

College of Fine Arts and Communication

• The costumes in the Broadway production of Candide were designed by Tony Award winning TU graduate Judy Dolan. Award-winning actors Roc Dutton and John Glover are both TU graduates.
• The TU Tiger Marching Band was selected to perform in the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
• Film studies professor Peter Lev is an Academy Film Scholar.
• American Theatre magazine describes Towson’s M.F.A. in theatre program as a “unique international project.” Students from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Poland and the United States participated in the Warsaw Project hosted by the university.
• The media program in the Department of Electronic Media and Film is among the best in the mid-Atlantic region.

• Graduates of Towson University’s Department of Dance are members of almost every major dance company in the United States.

College of Liberal Arts

• Martha Joynt Kumar, a TU political science professor who specializes in presidential transitions and White House communications, directs the White House Transition Project, a non-partisan organization that provided technical assistance and advice to President Obama’s transition team. 
• Towson University is one of only three universities in Maryland (including Johns Hopkins and Salisbury State) certified by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to offer foreign language education programs in French, German and Spanish for secondary education teacher candidates. 
• Towson University is one of more than 70 colleges and universities designated as an American Humanics campus. The American Humanics program is an innovative course of study designed to equip students to lead nonprofit organizations. TU’s Department of Family Studies and Community Development offers two tracks – Leadership in the Nonprofit and Family and Human Services – that provide service-learning opportunities and competencies that are a part of American Humanics certification. Eight students are currently in the program and two have applied for NextGen scholarships available through American Humanics to fund their spring internships. 
• Towson University hosted a conference in 2008, Metropolitan Dilemmas and Solutions: A Focus on Housing in the Baltimore Region, to bring together the expertise of community organizers, activists, politicians, foundations and academics on housing issues in the region.
• The Institute for Teaching and Research on Women at Towson University offers a program called Pathways that provides educational opportunities, financial aid and academic support to low income parents who have a community college degree.
• The Model United Nations simulation for 10th grade high school students, sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Baltimore County Public Schools, will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year. Towson University and Baltimore County Public Schools are considering expansion of the program to neighboring counties and possibly throughout the state.

College of Health Professions

• The College of Health Professions enrolls more bachelor’s and master’s health care and sport-related students than any other institution in Maryland.
• The Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science has the state’s only combined B.S./M.S. program in Occupational Therapy.
• The Department of Nursing is Maryland’s second-largest nursing program.
• The Department of Kinesiology is the largest producer of teachers in physical education and sport-related programs.
• The Department of Health Science has the only program in Health Care Management certified by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration.
• The Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Program is one of only two state-supported programs and the only program to provide the opportunity for students to do a clinical practicum experience in the on-campus clinic.

Honors College

• The Honors College received more than 750 applications in 2009 for 200 spaces.
• The Honors College initiated an annual spring lecture series called “Reflections.” Don Thomas, former NASA astronaut and director of the university’s Willard Hackerman Academy of Science and Mathematics, delivered the inaugural lecture,“Reflections of an Astronaut.”
• The Honors College hosted the 2009 conference of the Maryland Collegiate Honors Council, “Thinking Outside the USA.” The conference brought together honors students, faculty and staff from across Maryland. Three TU honors students displayed their work during the poster session.
• The Honors College initiated an Honors Ambassador program to help honors students develop communication, teamwork and leadership skills. Student ambassadors will work with prospective students and their families, as well as with current students, alumni, and faculty/staff members through Honors College-sponsored events.
• The Honors College’s first incoming-student orientation will take place in August 2009. The two-day event will feature overviews of The Honors College and Towson University, and provide opportunities for participants to meet current honors students, faculty and staff before fall classes begin.

Athletics

• Now in its 31st year of NCAA Division I competition, the Tiger intercollegiate athletics program sponsors 20 sports. Tiger athletic teams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association and Eastern College Athletic Conference.
• For the past two years, Johnny Unitas® Stadium has served as the site for the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship, setting attendance records each year. The event will return to Unitas Stadium for the third straight year in 2010.
• The Tiger women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming and diving, and women’s gymnastics teams claimed conference championships during the 2008-09 year. For the women’s lacrosse and women’s swimming and diving teams, it was their second straight CAA title. The women’s gymnastics team won its fifth straight ECAC Championship in March.
• The Tiger women’s swimming and diving team has been honored as a Scholar All-America Team in each of the last two years by the College Swim Coaches Association of America. During the spring 2009 term, the Tigers recorded a 3.29 team grade point average, which led the CAA.