The University

East Stroudsburg University, a comprehensive university in northeastern Pennsylvania offering nearly 60 undergraduate and more than 30 graduate degrees and certification programs, is one of the 14 institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

East Stroudsburg Normal School opened its doors on September 4, 1893.

A faculty of 15 greeted a group of 320 students who had entered the two-year programs in elementary and science education.

Although the Normal School was originally privately owned, ownership was transferred to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1920, and the name was changed to East Stroudsburg State Normal School.

In 1927, the right to confer the degrees of bachelor of science in education and bachelor of science in health education was granted, and the school’s name then became the State Teachers College at East Stroudsburg.

In 1960, the college’s name was changed to East Stroudsburg State College, reflecting the addition of liberal arts and science curricula.

In November 1982, the State System of Higher Education was authorized by Senate Bill 506.

The college officially became East Stroudsburg University on July 1, 1983.

Location

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is nestled in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains. The combination of quiet woodlands, mountain streams, and refreshing clean air has made the Poconos famous as a resort area for more than 100 years.

Because of the university’s location in the Poconos, students take advantage of the many scenic, historic, and recreational sites, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Bushkill Falls, and the Pocono ski areas. Others have found that the resorts and restaurants offer an excellent opportunity for employment. In addition, the area offers fine restaurants, high-quality entertainment, and excellent shopping. Situated on a hill facing Prospect Street in the community of East Stroudsburg, the university is characterized by large areas of grassy expanses comfortably shaded by a variety of towering trees.

The campus is located approximately 75 miles west of New York City and Newark, 85 miles northeast of Philadelphia, 40 miles southeast of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, and 40 miles northeast of the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area. Students and faculty alike enjoy the opportunities and advantages of visits to the metropolitan areas.

The university, which is located approximately one-quarter mile from the East Stroudsburg exit off Interstate 80, Exit 308, is within easy reach of major highway systems and commercial air services.

Accreditation

East Stroudsburg University is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-662-5606. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Education.

Accreditations awarded to academic programs include:

• All eligible teacher education programs offered by East Stroudsburg University are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
• The undergraduate Athletic Training Professional Practice degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.
• The undergraduate Computer Science program is accredited by the Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET)
• The undergraduate Nursing degree program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). In addition, the program is approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
• The undergraduate Recreation Services Management degree program is accredited by the Council on the Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COARPT).
• The graduate Public Health degree program is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.
• The graduate Speech-Language Pathology degree program is accredited by the Council of Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• The undergraduate Exercise Physiology, Sport and Exercise Conditioning, and graduate Exercise Science degree programs are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.
• The undergraduate Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism degree program is accredited by Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration.

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

PASSHE comprises Pennsylvania’s 14 public universities, with a combined enrollment of more than 115,000 making it the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth.

The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Approximately 500,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The 14 PASSHE universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania.

The Campus and Academic Buildings

The campus of East Stroudsburg University includes 65 buildings located on approximately 256 acres in East Stroudsburg Borough and Smithfield Township.

Forty-six acres of the property in Smithfield Township are leased to University Properties, Inc., which constructed University Ridge, a six-building student apartment complex with 541 beds on 43 acres, and to the Visiting Nurses Association, which built a six-bed Hospice House on three acres.

The 51,000-square-foot Innovation Center is Phase I of the ESU Research and Business Park being developed on 15-acres of property owned by East Stroudsburg University in Smithfield Township. The building is located on the corner of Brown Street and Route 447 in Smithfield Township.

The buildings in East Stroudsburg Borough include academic facilities, eight residence halls, a 1,000-seat dining hall, a Student Center, and 60,000-square-foot Recreation Center.

The Student Activity Association, Inc. owns Stony Acres, a 119-acre off-campus student recreation area near Marshalls Creek, which includes a lodge and a small lake.

The newest academic building on campus is the newly renovated, 29,000-square-foot Monroe Hall, which opened in 2012. Formerly a residence hall, the building contains two computer laboratories, four classrooms, a 68-seat stepped auditorium, and offices. The building will house the Speech-Language Pathology and Communication Studies departments.

The 130,600-square-foot Warren E. ‘55 and Sandra Hoeffner Science and Technology Center opened in 2008. Along with a planetarium and observatory, it houses 17 teaching laboratories, nine research laboratories, a multi-use 200-seat auditorium, classrooms, and offices.

The primary academic building is Stroud Hall. This four-story classroom building contains lecture halls, computer and language laboratories, instructional spaces, and office areas. Beers Lecture Hall, which opened in 1997, seats 140 students and serves as a distance learning facility.

The Fine and Performing Arts Center consists of two theaters, a gallery, concert hall, rehearsal areas, various art studios, and classrooms. The Koehler Fieldhouse and Natatorium serves as the primary physical education and intercollegiate athletics facility. Zimbar-Liljenstein Hall houses the Graduate College office, the Student Enrollment Center, a teaching gymnasium, and academic classrooms and office areas for physical education and sport management, as well as the Mekeel Child Care Center. The University Center includes a food court, commuter lounge, convenience store, game room, student activities offices, and the University Store.

Other major classroom buildings are: Moore Biology Hall, which contains a large group lecture hall, a greenhouse and wildlife museum; Gessner Science Hall which contains laboratories for physics and, in the near future, exercise science; DeNike Center for Human Services, which houses classrooms and has laboratory areas for the departments of health, nursing, and recreation services management; Rosenkrans Hall, which houses offices as well as media communications and technology classrooms and labs; and The Center for Hospitality Management, including hotel, restaurant, and tourism management, the Keystone Room, and P & J’s Café.

Computing and Communication Services

The university Computing and Communications Center supports administrative computing, academic computing and telecommunications. Administrative computing is served by the Banner student information system, encompassing more than 30 online systems and providing services to the students, faculty and staff.

The academic computing network consists of 30 UNIX or Windows based servers that are connected to approximately 2,200 personal computers provided to support instruction, Internet access, campus network access, and email. They are located in 35 computer laboratories across campus. There is an open-access computer lab in each residence hall.

Additionally, many academic departments maintain discipline-specific computer laboratories for their curricula. Wireless computing zones are located throughout campus and outdoors. Students can connect to the Internet in these areas using a standard wireless device or smart phone. In addition, faculty and students use wireless for conducting specialized labs in a variety of courses. Helpful computing information can be found at www.esu.edu/ac.

Additionally, the Office of Computing and Communication Services supports faculty, administration, students, and affiliated businesses with services such as local and long distance telephone, voice mail, digital cable TV, and Internet.

The McGarry Communication Center is the campus base for the Instructional Resources Department, including the audiovisual, graphics, and television services units. The Communication Center houses two television studios and is the distribution center of campus cable television as well as the community-wide ESU television telecasts. WESS 90.3 FM radio is also located in the Center.

Kemp Library

Kemp Library provides students with opportunities to acquire, process and apply information in pursuit of their academic and career goals. A wide variety of resources as well as services offered by library faculty and staff support this goal. The library builds collections of print and electronic books, provides electronic course reserves and licenses an array of full-text databases, most of which are accessible both on- and off-campus. It also provides effective and speedy interlibrary loan and document delivery services to supplement its holdings.

Kemp Library is a repository of federal and Pennsylvania state documents and includes an Instructional Materials/ Educational Resource center with collections of children and young adult literature and other instructional materials that support ESU's teacher education programs. Assistive technology is available in the library to make its resources fully accessible to all students.

As the library continues to provide access to new products, information formats and delivery systems, its instructional role has become more pronounced. To keep current with the library’s resources and services, students and faculty are invited to take full advantage of the library’s Reference Services; participate in group instruction offered by its public services librarians; and check the library Web site - www.esu.edu/library.

Faculty and Staff

The university faculty totals 336, while another 493 employees make up the management and non-instructional staff.

Faculty members are representative of many and varied institutions of higher education in both the United States and abroad.