Sonoma State University

According to the school, Sonoma State University is a relatively small (8,000 students), residential, public university committed to student retention, graduation and satisfaction. Its primary mission is to develop and maintain excellent programs of undergraduate instruction grounded in the liberal arts and sciences. Instructional programs are designed to challenge students not only to acquire knowledge but also to develop the skills of critical analysis, careful reasoning, creativity, and self-expression. Within its 36 academic departments, SSU offers 41 bachelor’s degree programs and 14 master’s degree programs. In addition, the University offers a joint master’s degree in mathematics with San Francisco State University and a joint doctorate in educational administration with California State University, Sacramento and the University of California, Davis. The University offers 9 credential programs and eight undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. Basic teaching credential programs in education include multiple subject, multiple subject BCLAD, single subject, administrative services, reading/language arts (certificate or specialist), special education (mild/moderate or moderate/severe), pupil personnel services (via the Counseling Department). The quality of the educational experience at Sonoma State University depends upon close human and intellectual relationships among students and faculty to foster the open exchange of ideas. The university is committed to creating a learning community in which people from diverse backgrounds and cultures are valued for the breadth of their perspectives and are encouraged in their intellectual pursuits. Sonoma’s faculty maintain active scholarly lives and the University encourages faculty projects that involve students in research and other creative activities. Currently 2,400 students live on campus and an additional 684 spaces will be available by Fall 2009. Instead of dormitory-style housing, the SSU residential community offers a variety of accommodations from shared bedrooms in residential suites to private bedrooms and baths in apartments. A 58,000 sq. ft. student recreation center received the Outstanding Sports Facilities Award by the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association. Additionally, a completely renovated 21st century Darwin Hall, the university’s science building, reopened Fall 2006 with new laboratories and classrooms to support the needs of modern science curriculum. The Donald & Maureen Green Music Center opened the music education building Fall 2008. Continued construction includes a 1,400 seat world-class concert hall and smaller recital hall. The concert hall was modeled after Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Massachusetts, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The University was gifted the Fairfield Osborne Preserve, located within a mile of campus, which is dedicated to protecting and restoring natural communities and fostering ecological understanding through education and research. Additionally, the University accepted a 3,500 acre wilderness preserve in northern Sonoma County, called the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve from the Fred B. Galbreath family, to promote environmental education and research, as well as to steward the diverse landscape of the preserve. The Sonoma State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics sponsors 13 intercollegiate sports, five men’s and eight women’s: men’s baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and tennis; women’s basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and water polo. SSU’s teams, nicknamed the Seawolves, are a member of the NCAA Division II and they compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the premiere intercollegiate athletic association in the country. SSU has won two national championships, women’s soccer in 1990 and men’s soccer in 2002.

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