The College and Its Mission

Founded by the Jesuits in 1870, Canisius College is an independent, co-educational, medium sized institution of higher education conducted in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition. It offers undergraduate programs built upon a liberal arts core curriculum, leading to associate and baccalaureate degrees, plus graduate programs in business, education, and other professional fields, leading to the master’s degree.

Canisius espouses the ideal of academic excellence along with a sense of responsibility to use one’s gifts for the service of others and the benefit of society. It seeks to promote the intellectual and ethical life of its students, helping to prepare them for productive careers as well as for meaningful personal lives and positive contributions to human progress. Its curricular and co-curricular programs are designed to educate the whole person through the development of intellectual, moral, spiritual, and social qualities. It aims to promote the contemporary Jesuit mission of the service of faith and the promotion of justice.

As a Catholic institution which welcomes all who share in its quest, Canisius will:

• foster an atmosphere of understanding and respect in dialogue with other intellectual and spiritual traditions;
• teach the responsible use of human freedom in a value-oriented curriculum and co-curriculum which incorporate concern for spiritual and human factors as well as more pragmatic ones;
• continue the Jesuit principle of care for individual persons;
• emphasize excellence in teaching, marked by intellectual vigor, close student-faculty relations, and an expectation of active rather than passive learning;
• prepare students to assume positions of leadership in church and society;
• foster a sense of community among its students and staff through personal interaction marked by friendliness, respect, openness and integrity;
• take advantage of its location in a major urban center on an international border to serve the community and the world, and to play a significant role in fashioning the world of the 21st century by contributing its own special blend of academic excellence, personal concern, and an optimistic commitment to the future.

As an urban college, Canisius enjoys a special relationship with the City of Buffalo. The concept of community service on which the college prides itself is best evidenced by the large number of Canisius graduates who have occupied important positions in the professional, educational, commercial, and political life of the City and its surrounding communities. Buffalo’s largest private college is named after Saint Peter Canisius, a 16th century Dutch scholar. The college’s founders were guided by the same educational ideals which inspired several European universities and initiated a tradition of service to student and community.

Starting out as a single building in the center of downtown Buffalo, Canisius College has since expanded to cover the more than 21 acres of its dual campus on Main Street. It is easily accessible by expressway, subway, and bus routes. In addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, Canisius includes the Richard J. Wehle School of Business, the School of Education and Human Services, a Graduate Division, and a Summer Session, with a total enrollment for 2000-2001 of more than 4800 students.

Canisius College is a private, independent Roman Catholic college. It is governed by an independent self-perpetuating Board of Trustees under a charter granted by the Board of Trustees of the University of the State of New York.

Accreditation

Canisius College received its authority to confer bachelor’s degrees in 1883 when it was incorporated by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. In 1894, the college offered its first course in the graduate program leading to the degree of Master of Arts.

Canisius College is an accredited member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools1 and is on the list of registered colleges and universities of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The undergraduate programs in Business Administration and the M.B.A. program are accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The Chemistry major is accredited by the American Chemical Society, and the Athletic Training major by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. The Graduate Program for Teachers of the Deaf is accredited by the Council for Education of the Deaf.

The college is also a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities of the State of New York, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the Association of Colleges and Universities of the State of New York, the Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration, and the Western New York Consortium of Higher Education.

Campus Ministry

Canisius College’s Campus Ministry offers opportunities for student, faculty, and staff involvement in worship, spirituality, volunteer service to the needy, and social justice issues. Eucharistic liturgies, including the Sunday night candlelight Mass, are regularly scheduled in Christ the King Chapel. Students are invited to serve in various roles of leadership in college-wide liturgies, the retreat program, the spring break trip to Appalachia, and other Campus Ministry events. There are a number of student retreats each semester and a faculty/ staff retreat in the Fall and in the Spring. The members of the Campus Ministry team are available to the college community for pastoral counseling to help explore the human and spiritual dimensions of their lives.

The Faculty

The college considers itself primarily a teaching institution, where research is valued for its contribution to the learning experiences of the students. Small class size is the norm, and interaction among students and faculty is easy and natural.

Each of the 205 full-time faculty members has been chosen for his or her academic competence, ability to teach, interest in research, and moral integrity. The college’s present faculty is a group of highly trained, dedicated individuals who take a personal interest in the students under their charge. Over 92% have earned doctoral degrees in their fields.

The Library

The quality of any educational institution is determined largely by the proficiency of its faculty and the excellence of the information resources available to support the curriculum.

The Andrew L. Bouwhuis Library is housed in a beautiful and inviting modern facility. The building has a capacity of over 600,000 volumes and provides ample study facilities, a computer laboratory, microform and audio-visual areas, a curriculum materials center, and numerous other features. Canisius students have at their disposal an excellent library collection of over 400,000 volumes of books, periodicals, microforms, and other materials. Approximately 9000 items are added to the collection yearly, and over 1200 periodicals are received currently. The catalog and various other operations are fully automated. The catalog and numerous other on-line resources, including CD-ROM reference tools, specialized databases, and the World Wide Web, are available in the Library’s Electronic Information Center. These resources can also be accessed from computer labs and dormitories through the campus network and from home via the World Wide Web.

The college’s resources are supplemented by membership in the Western New York Library Resources Council, a cooperative system which links over 100 area libraries through daily delivery service. This system makes available to Canisius students the resources of all major libraries in Western New York. Further, the Library’s participation in OCLC (On-line Computer Library Center), an international library consortium, enables it to borrow materials from libraries throughout the United States via direct computer link.

The Library is open every day of the week for study and research, and is open nights until midnight from Sunday through Thursday. Assistance and guidance in the use of the Library and its facilities are provided by a highly competent staff of professional librarians and technical assistants.

The Rev. J. Clayton Murray, S.J. Archives, located on the lower level of Christ the King Chapel, houses information related to the history of Canisius College. Visitors and researchers are welcome.

Computer Facilities

Instructional computing facilities include over 200 personal computers, as well as scanners and printers, located in student computer laboratories. All computers in student labs have access to word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, web development and electronic mail software. All computers are connected to the World Wide Web and have access to extensive online, research databases provided by the Canisius Library.

Student user accounts and electronic mail addresses are automatically created for all students. Many professors use electronic mail, discussion lists, and course management software to communicate with students.

Most resident halls are wired for: cable TV (including several Canisius-oriented channels), the campus telephone system including voicemail, and high speed Internet access.

For September 2001, seventy percent of all classrooms have been recently renovated and eighty-eight percent contain some level of technology. Many classrooms provide video and computer projection for the instructor while a significant number contain data connections for student laptop computers. There are seven computer classrooms containing one computer per student.

The Computer Science department maintains a substantial complement of computing equipment specific to its needs. Upper-level computer science majors have 24-hour access to their department laboratories.

Student Retention

Retention from freshman to sophomore years has been as follows for the last three years:

Class of 2001 – 83.9%
Class of 2002 – 83.7%
Class of 2003 – 84.6%

Freshmen are defined as those who registered prior to their initial matriculation. Sophomores are those still registered following the drop/add period one year later.

Nondiscrimination

Canisius College does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion or creed, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, marital status, veteran’s status, or disability in administration of its educational policies, employment practices, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Canisius admits students of any age, race, religion or creed, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, marital status, or veteran’s status to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the college.

It continues to be the policy of Canisius College not to discriminate on the basis of handicap. No person is denied employment, admission, or access solely because of any physical, mental, or medical impairment which is unrelated to the ability to engage in the activities involved in the educational requirements or occupation for which application has been made.