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 that 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 that 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 that 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 36 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 2004-2005 of more than 5000 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 Schools and its programs are registered with 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 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. 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 programs of the School of Education and Human Services designed to prepare students for school-based careers are accredited by the National Council for  Accreditation of Teacher Education.

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
Campus Ministry at Canisius College seeks to empower students, faculty, administrators, staff and alumni spiritually as persons “for and with others,” in the spirit of Jesus and the Jesuit tradition. Campus Ministry is guided by the cornerstones of spirituality, community, simplicity of life and service and is committed to support the spirituality of people from all faith traditions.

Catholic Eucharistic liturgies are regularly scheduled in Christ the King Chapel. Special liturgies celebrate special occasions on campus and respond to special needs throughout the year. Retreat experiences are offered to students, faculty and staff to grow spiritually and get away for spiritual renewal. Campus Ministry promotes opportunities to put faith into practice by service to others. “Canisius for Buffalo” serves people in need locally. During breaks and over the summer, various service trips allow students to be of service both at home and outside our country. Campus Ministry promotes ethical values on campus and challenges the campus to address issues of social justice in our society. Students are invited to serve in various roles of leadership in all of our activities.

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 and for help with all sorts of personal and communal issues.

The Faculty
The college seeks faculty members known to be creative and energetic teachers who also seek to engage their students in their research and scholarship.  Modest class size is the norm, and interaction among students and faculty is easy and natural.

Canisius full time faculty members have degrees from over 100 different universities, including 24 degrees from Europe, nine from Asia/Pacific,16 from Canada, and two from South America.  Each of the 210 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 96% have earned doctoral or terminal degrees in their fields.

Over 250 individuals from the fields of law, health care, education, business, government, science, technology, and the arts contribute as part time faculty members to the mission of Canisius College. 

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 ample study facilities, a computer laboratory, a curriculum materials center, group work rooms, and audio-visual areas. Canisius students have at their disposal an excellent library collection of over 400,000 volumes of books, periodicals, microforms, and other materials. The Library subscribes to over 24,000 full text electronic periodicals as well as to hundreds of paper journal subscription. Electronic resources can also be accessed from computer labs and residence halls through the campus network and from off-campus via the World Wide Web.  The catalog and various other operations are fully automated. The Library has a substantial complement of computer equipment to access these resources, including over 50 laptop computers with wireless network access that may be used by students within the building.

The college’s resources are supplemented by membership in the Western New York Library Resources Council, a cooperative system that links 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 in Bouwhuis Library, houses information related to the history of Canisius College.  Visitors and researchers are welcome.

Computer Facilities
Instructional computing facilities include over 340 personal computers, as well as scanners and printers. Computers in student labs have access to word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, web development, statistical analysis, and electronic mail software. There are several Internet Plazas located around campus where students may check their electronic mail or access the World Wide Web. All computers are connected to the World Wide Web and have access to extensive online research databases provided by the Andrew L. Bouwhuis Library. Laptops for loan and wireless networking are available for use in the Bouwhuis Library.

Canisius College has an extensive web site at www.canisius.edu that includes web-based electronic mail, course materials, course discussion boards, and course registration. Student user accounts and electronic mail addresses are created for all students who agree to the Canisius College acceptable use policy.

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

Classrooms have been recently renovated and all contain some level of technology. Most classrooms provide video and computer projection for the instructor. There are eight computer classrooms containing one computer per student. Wireless networking is available throughout much of the campus.

Several departments, including Digital Media Arts and Computer Science, maintain a substantial complement of computing equipment specific to their needs.

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

Class of 2005 – 82.2%
Class of 2006 – 83.2%
Class of 2007 – 84.2%

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.