2008-2009 - Framingham State University

MISSION STATEMENT
Committed to Student Success
Framingham State College’s faculty and staff
demonstrate their commitment to each and
every student’s success by ensuring that
student learning is paramount. From faculty, who
are available outside of class, to staff, who are
dedicated to customer service, we are always
looking to make your experience at Framingham
State an enjoyable and rewarding one.
Yesterday and Today
Framingham State College began in a building,
still standing today, on the corner of Lexington
Common, on July 3, 1839. It had as its mission
the training of teachers, and it was the first
state-supported normal school (the name for a
school which trains teachers) in America. Twice
it outgrew its accommodations, moving first to
West Newton, and then to its present location
on Bare Hill in Framingham in 1853. From the
beginning, the Normal School met the challenge
of being the first model by educating excellent
teachers who were in demand for the common
schools of Massachusetts and, indeed, for
schools throughout the nation. From the first
class, Normal School graduates participated in
the new education for the blind and deaf. They
traveled to the South and to the West to teach
in schools being organized for Blacks and Native
Americans, and they went as missionaries to
distant lands.
From 1848 to 1898 Framingham also conducted
an advanced program for women who aspired
to careers in high school and college teaching,
school administration, law and medicine, thus
opening unprecedented educational and career
opportunities for women. There were principals,
professors, doctors and writers among the early
graduates, as well as women who participated
in the suffrage and temperance movements
and in all of the significant educational and
social reforms of the nineteenth century. Finally,
at the close of the century, the first teachers
of household arts were graduated from a new
program at Framingham, laying the foundation
for studies in nutrition and food science, as well
as clothing and textiles.
The student body increased steadily during
the twentieth century, and with it the size of
the campus and the number of buildings. New
programs and courses marked the increasingly
professional character of the education
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offered, while extracurricular organizations
were formed to enrich student life. In 1932 the
Massachusetts Normal Schools became State
Teachers Colleges, and in 1960 they became
State Colleges with a mandate to develop liberal
arts curricula. Framingham, which had served
only women, became coeducational in 1964.
The College has continued to add departments
such as Economics, Philosophy, Sociology and
Psychology, as well as career-oriented programs
in Medical Technology, Computer Science,
Media Communications and Nursing, among
others, to increase the options for students, and
to meet the needs of the Commonwealth.
The College was empowered to grant its first
graduate degree, the Master of Education, in
May 1961. This was a part-time degree program.
Full-time day graduate programs, currently
limited to only the Master of Science, became
available in 1967.
Authorization for the Master of Arts in
Administration and in Counseling Psychology,
and the Master of Science in Food and Nutrition
came the following year.
In 1980, four of the options in the Master of
Arts program were established: Business
Administration, Educational Leadership, Health
Care Administration, and Public Administration.
The Master of Business Administration degree
was approved in 2006. The Master of Science in
Nursing, with concentrations in Education and
Leadership, was approved in 2007.
A leader in educational technology, in September
2001 Framingham State College began its
first online degree program - the Master of
Education with a concentration in Curriculum
and Instructional Technology.
Public Higher Education System
Mission Statement
The public college and university system in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts comprises
fifteen community colleges, nine state colleges
and the five campuses of the University of
Massachusetts. The system exists to provide
accessible, affordable, relevant and rigorous
academic programs that adapt to meet changing
individual and societal needs for education and
employment. All campuses are committed to
operating effectively and efficiently in order
to maintain tuition and fees at a level as low
FRAMINGHAM STATE COLLEGE GRADUATE CATALOG 2008–2009