Davenport University

Davenport University
Motto Percipio Vivo Ministro (Learn Live Minister)
Type Private
Established 1866
President Richard Pappas
Provost Linda Rinker, Ed.D.
Academic staff
 113
Students 12,471
Undergraduates 11,733
Postgraduates 738
Location Caledonia Township, Michigan, USA
42°50′59″N 85°31′51″W / 42.8498°N 85.5307°W / 42.8498; -85.5307Coordinates: 42°50′59″N 85°31′51″W / 42.8498°N 85.5307°W / 42.8498; -85.5307
Campus Suburban
69 acres (0.28 km2)
Colors Red and Black          
Athletics NAIA
Nickname Panthers
Mascot Pounce
Affiliations Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
Website www.davenport.edu

Davenport University is a private, non-profit, multi-location university located at 11 campuses throughout Michigan and online. It was founded in 1866 by Conrad Swensburg and currently offers Associate's, Bachelor's, and Master's Degrees, diplomas, and post-grad certification programs in business, technology, health professions, and graduate studies (MBA).

Davenport's W.A. Lettinga Main Campus is located outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The main campus includes student organizations, residence halls, and athletic programs.

History

The predecessor to the modern Davenport University was founded in 1866 by Carl G. Swensburg, a Union Army veteran who returned to Michigan from the Civil War.[1] The college, located in downtown Grand Rapids, opened with sixteen students as Grand Rapids Business College on January 25, 1866. The college offered courses in various office skills, such as bookkeeping, penmanship, business law and arithmetic.[1]

The college operated under various names and in several locations in Grand Rapids throughout its early history. By 1910 the college was on the verge of closing. Michael E. Davenport, a new teacher at the school, reinvigorated the remaining staff and eventually took over the school's leadership in an attempt to revive it.[1]

The school gained accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission—North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1976 and grew rapidly during the mid to late 1900s and expanded with campus locations across Michigan.[1][2]

Campus

Davenport University's W.A. Lettinga Main Campus is located in Caledonia, Michigan, in suburban Grand Rapids. The campus contains one academic building, a field house/student activities center, two suite style residence halls, and one traditional style residence hall with a full cafeteria.

The Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel Academic Center is the main academic building on the campus. The 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) building was complete in 2005 at the cost of $23 million.[3] It includes state-of-the-art classroom and technology space and was constructed to look like a large office building in concert with Davenport University's focus on business, technology, and health degrees.[3] The facility includes academic advising, career services, and university offices, the campus bookstore and spirit shop, a café and dining location, the Margaret D. Sneden Library.[4]

The Robert W. Sneden Center, completed in 2010, is an $8.5 million 41,000 sq ft (3,800 m2) academic and arts extension connecting to the existing DeVos and Van Andel Academic Center.[5] The extension features additional classroom and technology space, faculty office space, and a modern 220-seat auditorium.[5]

The Student Center opened in 2008 and became the fourth LEED certified building on the main DU campus.[6][7] The 87,000 sq ft (8,100 m2). facility houses meeting rooms, student social areas, Student Life Office, the Student Center Café- a third on-campus dining area, fitness center with indoor rock climbing wall and suspended a running track, and an indoor basketball and volleyball court.[8] The Field House is connected to the Student Center and is a 1,500-seat arena that serves as the home for DU Panthers men's & women's basketball and women’s volleyball teams.[8]

Residence halls

In recent years DU has undergone a transition from a commuter and online business school to include characteristics of a traditional university.[9] The school has increased its athletic program, athletic facilities, and student life facilities. Davenport currently has three residence halls on the main campus, with an off-campus apartment complex.[10]

Peter C. and Pat Cook Residence Hall or Cook Hall was the first residence hall constructed on campus; it is a four story apartment-living style residence hall named for long-time donors Peter and Pat Cook.[11] Fred and Lena Meijer Residence Hall is a five story residence hall on the DU campus,[11] and offers apartment-living style rooms for on campus students much like Cook Hall.[10] South Residence Hall is a four story residence halls that offers traditional dorm-style living.[12] South Hall is the residence hall for Freshman students living on campus, although a number of upperclassman also reside building. The hall also includes a large dining area.[12] The off-campus apartment complex is called Panther Woods, and features three buildings, with a fourth due to be complete and ready for move in for the Fall 2016 semester.

Farmer's Athletic Complex

Built near the W.A. Lettinga Main Campus, Davenport University's new Farmer's Athletic Complex was dedicated in March 2013. It features home fields for the school's baseball and softball programs as well as eight courts for the school's tennis programs.[13]

Regional campuses

Davenport University Livonia campus

In addition to the main campus, Davenport University offers classes at ten other locations in Michigan. They include locations in: Battle Creek, Flint, Holland, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Livonia, Midland, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Warren.

Academic profile

University rankings
National
Forbes[14] Not Ranked
U.S. News & World Report[15] Not Ranked
Washington Monthly[16] Not Ranked
Global
Regional
U.S. News & World Report[17] Not Ranked
Master's University class
Washington Monthly[18] 529[19]

Davenport University offers 50 areas of study and confers degrees from its four colleges.[20] The university has a faculty-student ratio of 20:1 and an acceptance rate of 93%. Davenport specializes in business majors, with the Business Administration and Management program being the most popular major at the university with close to 20% of enrolled undergraduate students. Other popular majors include: Accounting, Business/Commerce, Marketing/Marketing Management, and Human Resources Management.[21]

The university is classified as a Master’s college and university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.[22] For the 2011-12 academic year, the university was not ranked by U.S. News & World Report and ranked 529th by The Washington Monthly Master’s Universities Rankings.[19][23] DU has full accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.[24] Davenport has been fully accredited by the North Central Association of the Higher Learning Commission since 1976 and received its ten-year renewal in 2003-2004.[24]

The university offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees and master's degrees through its four colleges at its main campus, extension locations and online:

Student profile and life

There are currently approximately 12,500 enrolled students.

Athletics

DU Panthers logo
Main article: Davenport Panthers

Davenport University fields 25 sports, its athletic teams are known as the Panthers. The university is a member of the NAIA and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference for most sports, while women's lacrosse is a member of the National Women's Lacrosse League. In addition to NAIA sports, DU also offers additional sports that the NAIA does not currently sponsor championships for: men's lacrosse is a member of the MCLA Division I in the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association,[25] men's rugby competes at the Division I level of USA Rugby's Midwest Rugby Union,[26] men's ice hockey competes in the ACHA Division I in the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League,[27] as well as a second team in the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) at the ACHA DIII level. The Panthers will be entering DII sports in the upcoming years. They will be a part of the NCAA.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "History of Davenport". Davenport University. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Directory of HLC Institutions - Davenport University". Higher Learning Commission. 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Davenport University – W. A. Lettinga Campus". Rockford Construction. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Davenport University Libraries | Davenport University". Davenport.edu. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  5. 1 2 King, Kyla (February 9, 2010). "Robert W. Sneden Center at Davenport University gets ceremonial ground-breaking today". MLive.com (The Grand Rapids Press). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Davenport University – Student Center". Rockford Construction. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ Baeza Bickel, Nardy (August 19, 2008). "Calvin, Grand Valley, Davenport debut major indoor athletic facilities". MLive.com (The Grand Rapids Press). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Baeza Bickel, Nardy (October 30, 2008). "Davenport University opens $15.6 million fieldhouse, student center". MLive.com (The Grand Rapids Press). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  9. ↑ Murray, Dave (March 31, 2010). "Davenport University holds investiture ceremony today for President Richard Pappas". MLive.com (The Grand Rapids Press). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  10. 1 2 Staff (April 28, 2009). "New residence hall dedicated at Davenport". MLive.com (Advance Newspapers). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Cook & Meijer Halls". Davenport University. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  12. 1 2 "South Residence Hall". Davenport University. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Farmer's Athletic Complex". Davenport University. 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ "America's Top Colleges". Forbes. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Best Colleges". U.S. News & World Report LP. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  16. ↑ "2015 National Universities Rankings". Washington Monthly. n.d. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Regional Universities Rankings". America's Best Colleges 2016. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  18. ↑ "2015 Master's Universities Rankings". Washington Monthly. 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Master's University Ranking WM". Washington Monthly. August 3, 2011. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Davenport University Undergraduate Programs". Davenport University. 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Davenport University - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report Academics". U.S. News and World Report. September 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Carnegie Foundation Classification - Davenport University". Carnegie Foundation. 2008–2010. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Davenport University - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report". U.S. News and World Report. September 2012. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  24. 1 2 "Davenport University: Statement of Affiliation Status". Ncahlc.org. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  25. ↑ Sagraves, Aaron (January 22, 2014). "Men's Lacrosse Team Opens Preseason at No. 22 in MCLA DI". dupanthers.com.
  26. ↑ VanOchten, Brian (July 13, 2010). "Davenport rugby program promoted to Division 1 Eastern Conference". MLive.com (The Grand Rapids Press). Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  27. ↑ "All-Michigan GLCHL League To Debut in 2010-2011". ACHA. November 13, 2009. Retrieved February 26, 2010.

External links

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