Introduction
Mission
Minnesota State University Moorhead is a caring community promising all students the opportunity to discover their passions, the rigor to develop intellectually and the versatility to shape a changing world.
Vision
Minnesota State University will be...
- A leader in student success
- A campus that reflects the world in which our graduates live and work
- A University that provides an education of lifelong relevance
- A place of transformation where students become graduates who are progressive leaders in their professions and their communities
What Makes MSUM Special?
Faculty, student and staff members of the academic community have given a great deal of thought to the values and purposes that underlie the University's mission and vision. We have refined and focused these principles into statements to guide our daily efforts to foster student success and serve the regional and global communities.
These cornerstones of our mission and vision define what makes us special.
Purpose (Why do we do what we do?)
The simplest and most idealistic answer is that our purpose is to transform the world by transforming lives.
Our Core Values (How do we behave?)
Aspirational Value (We commit to making this as pervasive as our core values)
- Diversity and inclusion of people and ideas
"Permission to Play" Values (These are the expectations of membership in our academic community)
- Integrity and mutual respect in our behavior and interactions
Strategic Anchors (How will we succeed?)
We will succeed by:
- Focusing relentlessly on student achievement and students' return on their investment;
- Embedding and supporting diversity in every facet of the university; and
- Ensuring that MSUM is indispensable to the social, cultural, and economic advancement of Moorhead and the surrounding region.
Overview
Minnesota State University Moorhead is a welcoming educational community that offers rigorous courses of study and places high expectations upon its students. Our strong commitment to faculty-mentored undergraduate research and intellectual growth provides students with continual opportunities for personal and professional achievement. MSUM fosters an environment that encourages students to become versatile, thoughtful, innovative, and engaged leaders who contribute to their professions and their communities.
MSUM values diversity and mutual respect and strives to instill these ideals throughout the institution. MSUM honors its heritage as a respected, student-focused, public university and enhances our students’ lives at the same time that it contributes to the community and the region.
MSUM offers graduate and professional programs that contribute to the state and region through increased collaboration with local and state business, industry, and human services to assure optimal preparation of graduates.
MSUM at a Glance
Minnesota State University Moorhead, with an enrollment of more than 4,600 full and part-time students, offers 73 undergraduate majors with 55 emphases, 15 graduate degree programs, and 40 certificate programs. Included in our majors are 26 areas of teacher licensure preparation. Our professional programs are grounded in the liberal arts, designed to provide a broad base of knowledge and cultural themes. As a part of the higher education system established by the State of Minnesota, the University provides the advantages of a quality education at the lower costs made possible by the support of Minnesota’s citizens.
History of Minnesota State University Moorhead
Minnesota State University Moorhead’s institutional life began in 1887 when, two years after a bill calling for its establishment was approved by the Minnesota legislature, funds were appropriated for the construction of campus buildings. Moorhead Normal School was built on land deeded to the city by the bill’s author, S. G. Comstock, a former Clay County Attorney and, later, an executive with James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railroad. The campus opened for classes under its first president, Livingston Lord, in August of 1888.
Moorhead Normal School was Minnesota’s fourth such institution, charged with the education of those who would teach in the area’s rural schoolhouses. Students graduated from these normal schools after two years, with a license to teach grades K (or 1) through 8. By the second decade of the 1900s, the demand for better-educated teachers, together with the increased numbers of students attending high school, was the motive force that prompted the development of a four-year college curriculum. This progress was marked by the school’s first name change, to Moorhead State Teachers College, in April of 1921.
In late April-early May 1957, the Minnesota state legislature approved another name change, bringing into existence Moorhead State College. This change reflected the institution’s “increasing diversity and breadth of purpose” (graduate programs began in 1953), and also came at a time when the campus was going through something of a construction “boomlet.” Over the next 18 years, the campus added 11 new buildings and numerous new programs. The 18 years of Moorhead State College also saw the establishment of that unique educational resource, the Tri-College University.
On August 1, 1975, a ceremony was held on campus to mark the renaming of the college to Moorhead State University. All other Minnesota State Colleges were also transformed into state universities at the same time. The time of this change was surrounded by the continued growth of the University student body, a growth mirrored by the number of majors offered, which rose to more than 90 (the University currently offers more than 140 majors, including emphases and options).
In 1998, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees approved a policy authorizing the seven state universities to change their names if they wished to do so. Accordingly, after consultation with students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the campus’s fifth name change to Minnesota State University Moorhead was approved by the Board of Trustees and became effective July 1, 2000.
The Campus
Most of the 28 major buildings on the 119-acre campus have been constructed since 1957, including Langseth Hall and the Wellness Center. Other campus buildings include six residence halls and one apartment facility, the Livingston Lord Library, the Comstock Memorial (Student) Union, Kise Commons food service, the Regional Science Center, Hendrix Counseling, Security/Police Substation, 11 classroom buildings, the Alex Nemzek Hall complex for men’s and women’s physical education, health and athletics, and Owens Hall administration building.
The Faculty
There are more than 300 members of Minnesota State University Moorhead’s instructional faculty. Over 72 percent of the faculty holds the highest degree in their fields. Professors teach 99 percent of classes and are advisors and mentors. A student-faculty ratio of 18-to-1 encourages undergraduates to participate in faculty-mentored research and creative projects, and the average class size is 23 students.
The Fargo-Moorhead Community
Moorhead, Minnesota and Fargo, North Dakota are education-minded communities with Minnesota State University Moorhead, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, and Concordia College on one side of the Red River, North Dakota State University on the other. The two cities boast a progressive business community and numerous cultural and arts opportunities. Minnesota State University Moorhead regularly offers a Performing Arts Series, monthly art exhibits, and a number of dramatic and musical programs.
Fargo-Moorhead is among the largest metropolitan centers between Minneapolis and Seattle. The character of this metropolitan community of more than 240,000 and growing is also determined by its rural traditions. Situated in the rich farming land of the Red River Valley, Fargo-Moorhead is the hub for wholesale and retail trade, communications, transportation, industry, and medical care in the Upper Midwest. It is a thriving, close-knit community, consistently ranked one of the safest and best communities in which to live.