History
The university was founded in 1933 by Harry A.B. Shapiro and Gertrude Crockett Shapiro (his wife) as the New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science. In 1961, it was incorporated and renamed New Hampshire College of Accounting and Commerce. The state of New Hampshire granted the college its charter in 1963, which gave it degree-granting authority. The first associate's degrees were awarded that year, and the first bachelor's degrees were conferred in 1966. The college became a nonprofit institution under a board of trustees in September 1968, and its name was shortened to New Hampshire College in 1969. The 1970s were a time of growth and change. The college moved from its downtown Manchester site to the now 300-acre (120 ha) campus on the Merrimack River in 1971. The college introduced its first Master of Business Administration program in 1974, and now almost four decades later offers more than a dozen specialized MBA programs in fields such as Forensic Accounting, Project Management, Information Technology Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility. New Hampshire College absorbed some of the programs of Franconia College, which closed in 1978.
Campus expansion began in the mid-1990s with the construction of a new residence hall; Webster Hall, home to the School of Business; the Hospitality Center, home to the Quill (a student-run restaurant) and culinary programs; and Belknap Hall, now home to the Institute for Language Education, Public Safety, the School of Education and several university offices, including the Office of Admissions. In 1998 academic offerings expanded to include the Ph.D. in community economic development and the Doctor of Business Administration.
One of the most important events in the institution's almost 80-year history was when New Hampshire College became Southern New Hampshire University on July 1, 2001. A new academic facility, Robert Frost Hall, containing the McIninch Art Gallery and a new state-of-the-art Center for Financial Studies, was completed in 2002. When nearby Notre Dame College closed, three of Notre Dame's graduate education programs and two undergraduate education programs transferred to SNHU.
Paul LeBlanc, the university's President, is one of the signatories of American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment, and in 2007 SNHU became the first carbon-neutral university in New Hampshire. The 2009-10 academic year brought the completion of two new buildings: the Academic Building and the Dining Center. A new residence hall is also in the planning stages. The new hall is expected have 152 dormitory rooms. In 2013, the university announced that it would be replacing the outdated Shapiro Library with the new 50,000 square foot Learning Commons. The new facility will house the library, the Information Technology help desk, a café, and media production services. It is expected to open in the Fall of 2014.
Read more about this topic: Southern New Hampshire University
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