University of Missouri - Academics

Academics

MU is one of six public universities that houses a law school, medical school, and a veterinary medicine school on the same campus. In Missouri, MU is the designated land-grant university (along with Lincoln University), the largest public research institution). It is the only Missouri university that is both a member of the Association of American Universities and designated as a "Doctoral/Research Extensive" university by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Only 35 universities in the nation have both such designations. The University of Missouri Research Reactor Center is the largest university reactor in the U.S.

In 1908, the Missouri School of Journalism (known colloquially as the "J-school"), was founded in Columbia, claiming to be the first of its kind internationally. The French established their Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris in 1899.

The UM System owns and operates KOMU-TV, the NBC/CW affiliate for Columbia and nearby Jefferson City. It is a full-fledged commercial station and a working lab for journalism students. The MU School of Journalism publishes the Columbia Missourian and Vox Magazine, where students learn reporting, editing and design in a newsroom managed by professional editors. It operates the local National Public Radio Station KBIA and produces Radio Adelante, a Spanish-language radio program.

Founded in 1978 after 23 years as a unit of the School of Medicine, the School of Health Professions became an autonomous division in December 2000. The school's five departments and eight accredited academic programs have a long history, some dating to the early 20th century. It is Missouri's only state-supported school of health professions on a campus with an academic health center, and the only allied health school in the UM system.

The university maintains the second largest library collection in the State of Missouri. As of the 2006–2007 academic year, the collection held nearly 3.1 million volumes, 8.1 million microforms, 1.7 million government documents, more than 272,000 print maps, and more than 49,000 journal subscriptions. The collection is housed in Ellis Library, the University Archives, and seven specialized academic libraries across campus. Most of the original collection, housed in Academic Hall, was lost in the 1892 fire.

During the American Civil War, Union troops used the Library as a guard room. The Union troops caused significant damage, including taking 467 volumes to build fires. The Board of Curators later sued the US Army for the destruction on campus. Settled in 1915, the suit's award was used to build the Memorial Gateway on the northern edge of Red Campus.

In 1913, construction began on a new main library, completed in 1915. It was expanded in 1935, 1958, and 1985. It was dedicated as Elmer Ellis Library on October 10, 1972, in honor of the thirteenth president of the University of Missouri. Today, the MU libraries are home to the 47th largest research collection in North America.

The Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate was founded in 2005 by a donation from alumnus Jeffrey Smith to meet the growing interest of students in the College of Business, seeking to learn more about the real estate industry.