Birmingham Southern College

Summary

Birmingham–Southern College (BSC) is a private liberal arts college located three miles (5 km) northwest of downtown Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1856, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Approximately 1400 students from 30 states and 23 countries attend the college. BSC has a 12:1 student-faculty ratio, and 98% of full-time faculty hold a doctorate or the highest degree in their field.

History

Birmingham–Southern College was created from the merger of Southern University, of Greensboro, Alabama, founded in 1856, with Birmingham College, opened in 1898 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Birmingham-Southern ihas been been ranked among the best liberal arts colleges in the United States[3] and was profiled in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives.

On March 21, 2011 Birmingham Southern named General Charles Krulak as their 13th president.[4]

In 2006, two BSC students were charged and convicted of burning down nine Alabama churches. Within 24 hours the college president, Dr. David Pollick, committed the college to rebuild all nine churches with the institution's human resources of faculty, staff and students. With assistance and support arriving from throughout the nation and without the use of college financial resources, all nine churches were rebuilt and dedicated within two years.

In 2009, having discovered defects in the internal financial procedures and audits of the college occurring over several decades, the college announced on June 14, 2010 they would have to make budget cuts of $10million, around 20% of total budget. Among other practices, the college had been adding Pell Grants to financial aid packages without adjusting the amount the college added. Other inappropriate accounting practices that had been taking place over decades were discovered at this time, as well. In July 2010, the college introduced a plan to lay off 29 full and part-time faculty members and 51 staff members over a period of time. The article also said the school would phase out five majors: accounting, computer science, dance, French, and German in the 2011- 2012 academic year. In July 2011 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) placed the school on warning status due to problems with core requirements of financial stability.

Greek life

Fraternities and sororities organize campus social events and service projects.

Athletics

Birmingham-Southern athletic teams are known as the Panthers. Birmingham-Southern is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and competes at the Division III level in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The college was originally a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and enjoyed a successful run in NAIA prior to joining the NCAA.[citation needed] In 2000 the college became first Alabama college to join the primarily east coast Big South Conference at the Division I level.[citation needed] Shortly after gaining full Division I membership in 2006, the board announced its intention to join Division III because of costs.[citation needed] At the time fielded 14 sports, adding five sports. Panther Stadium hosted its first home game on 8 November 2008. The stadium features an athletic building that includes a press box, coach’s offices, meeting rooms, athletic training room, officials' dressing room and locker rooms for football, lacrosse, track and field, and cross country.[citation needed] In 2011, the college became a full member of NCAA Division III after the multi-year reclassification process from Division I.[5] The college currently fields 18 sports, nine men's and nine women's, including:

College Presidents

Birmingham–Southern College

Points of interest

The Southern Environmental Center is an environmental educational facility on the BSC campus. Each year, hundreds of school children tour the facility's Interactive Museum and EcoScape.