Christopher Newport UniversityJanuary 2011
In This Issue
AACSB Re-accreditation for Luter School
Top Ranking in Forbes
Attracting the Best and Brightest
CNU Turns 50
Ask the President

CNU is a work in progress, and we are all striving hard to pursue excellence in all that we do. 
 
   

I would welcome your advice, suggestions and questions. Let me know how we can do better or where we fall short of your expectations. 


E-mail your advice and questions to:
 
[email protected]

I will include some of your questions and answers in my future communications.
Greetings!

2011 promises to be an exciting time for all of us who care about the success of Christopher Newport University.


One of my resolutions for the new year is to report more regularly on matters of interest and importance to the CNU family. This report - and the others that will follow - will be sent to more than 15,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends of the University.




  AACSB Re-Accreditation for Luter School
Luter Bldg

The Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business has maintained the prestigious accreditation of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The AACSB awards its stamp of excellence to only 10 percent of the business schools in America.


To maintain AACSB accreditation, a business program undergoes a rigorous review every five years and must demonstrate its commitment to 21 quality standards including faculty qualifications, strategic maintenance of resources, the interactions of faculty and students, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement and achievement of learning goals in degree programs. 


The quality of our business programs and faculty is exceptional, and I am very grateful to Dr. Bob Hasbrouck, director of the Luter School of Business, for leading our re-accreditation effort and to our faculty and students for their continued hard work and success.

Top Ranking in Forbes

Last week Forbes published its national rankings of the best colleges for minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - the so-called STEM disciplines. Forbes ranks CNU #4 among all public and private institutions in the nation.  
 

View the list here.


The Forbes ranking of the best colleges for minorities in STEM evaluates the number and percentage of minority students who receive degrees in STEM disciplines. Twenty percent of all CNU students are students of color, and we have the fourth highest percentage of minority students in America graduating in the academic disciplines that the experts say are most important for success in the 21st century.
 

In the Forbes ranking, CNU stands above MIT and other highly respected schools. No other school in Virginia was listed in the Forbes rankings of the best colleges for minorities in STEM - only CNU.

Attracting the Best and Brightest

There is good news to report in admissions. To date, CNU has received more than 6,000 applications for next year's freshman class and has admitted 2,142 students. Those accepted students have earned an average high school GPA of 3.8 and an SAT average, critical reading and math, of 1207.


This year we initiated for the first time an early decision program. Early decision candidates commit to attend CNU if accepted. Three hundred students applied as early decision candidates, and 184 of those students were admitted and will attend CNU next year. So we have a very strong foundation already in place for next year's class.


I thank the admissions staff and all the many other faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and parents who are contributing to our success by passionately telling the CNU story.

CNU Turns 50
lib ext spring

CNU - the youngest public university in Virginia - will celebrate its 50th birthday in September 2011 and throughout the 2011-2012 academic year.


On September 18, 1961, Christopher Newport held its first class and welcomed the first students to the John W. Daniels School in downtown Newport News. So on the weekend of September 16-18, 2011, we will celebrate our first 50 years with a host of programs and activities.


We hope thousands of alumni and former members of our faculty and staff will visit our beautiful campus and join our students and their families, our faculty, staff and friends on this festive occasion. I would welcome your thoughts and ideas about how we can make these events meaningful and memorable.