2016-2017 Undergraduate Catalog

University Facilities

Sacred Heart University resides on more than one hundred acres in Fairfield County. The University’s College of Health Professions is located at 7 Cambridge Drive, Trumbull and houses the College of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Human Movement and Sports Science.

Academic Center

The Academic Center contains mostly classrooms and faculty, administrative, and academic departmental offices. This includes Campus Ministry, Campus Operations, Public Safety, Registrar, Student Affairs, and Student Government offices. It is also a multipurpose activity center, housing the computer center, dining hall, the Art & Design Gallery, mailroom/print shop (a.k.a. SHU Print-and-Delivery, or SHU PAD), science and language laboratories, snack bar, and the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts. Hawley Lounge serves as a student lounge and recreational activity center for Campus Ministry, music, Public Safety, Student Affairs, and Student Government, as well as 63’s Dining Halls, Mahogany Room, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Hawley Lounge, and the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts.

Campus Field

Campus Field is the home of the Pioneer football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s rugby, and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field as well as numerous Club Sports programs. Renovated in 2015, Campus Field features lights and a new surface for its multipurpose field. The field is surrounded by an eight-lane synthetic-surface running track, which was also recently renovated and is available for competition and recreational use. With seating for more than 3,500 spectators, Campus Field is an ideal location for large-scale events and has been host to athletic tournaments, graduations, and outdoor fairs. Adjacent to Campus Field are six tennis courts (resurfaced in the summer of 2015) as well as Pioneer Park, which is one of the finest softball stadiums in the northeast.

Center for Healthcare Education

The faculty offices and many of the instructional spaces of the College of Health Professions and the College of Nursing are located at the Center for Healthcare Education, a short drive or shuttle ride south of the Park Avenue campus. This facility houses state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, and library facilities for the Colleges, which includes the College of Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Human Movement. All graduate study for the Colleges and many laboratory and didactic undergraduate courses are scheduled in this facility. In addition to the highly sophisticated classrooms, laboratories, and library spaces, there are new dining facilities, a physical therapy clinic, a reading clinic, and administrative and faculty offices. There is ample parking and the facility is served by a regular university shuttle service.

Chapel of the Holy Spirit

The Chapel of the Holy Spirit, which was dedicated in August 2009, is a pivotal campus landmark serving as a powerful symbol of Sacred Heart’s Catholic identity. It holds more than 500 in its principal sanctuary with a smaller Chapel of the Nativity for daily Mass and private prayer that seats 50. Among the Chapel’s special features are original mosaics and stained glass by the world-famous Jesuit artist, Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, and a tracker organ designed and manufactured especially for Sacred Heart University by the master craftsmen at Casavant Frères. There are outdoor gardens and a spacious narthex—or foyer—suitable for public gatherings. The building and grounds are designed to suggest one of the defining themes of the Second Vatican Council: the Church as the Pilgrim People of God. The Chapel roof consists of copper folds in the manner of a nomadic tent, for example, and the narthex has walls of glass to demonstrate the intersection between daily life and the life of prayer. The Chapel’s bell tower holds four unique bronze bells, hand-cast in the Netherlands. The largest one weighs 1,500 pounds and measures 41 inches in diameter; the smallest weighs 447 pounds and measures 27 inches in diameter.

Curtis Hall

Curtis Hall, named for the University’s founder, Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, DD, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, houses the offices of Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions, Marketing and Communications, and Student Financial Assistance. The Curtis Theatre is also located in this building.

Edgerton Center For The Performing Arts

The Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts is a multifaceted facility that presents a wide variety of lectures, theatrical, musical, and dance performances. The University completed a renovation of the Edgerton Center in 2014, allowing for a larger Art & Design Gallery for displaying student and faculty artwork and a reception area where people can gather prior to and following performances. Creating a feeling of openness and natural light, the art gallery/reception area is walled with panels of glass and windows. The additions also include an outdoor facility that provides another warm gathering place for events and campus activities. A large media screen and benches allow for outdoor movies and other programs. The Edgerton Center, which seats close to 800, is host to year-round productions from a variety of University organizations including the Concert Choir, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and the SHU Players. For all questions and ticketing information, call the box office at 203-371-7908, or visit the center at www.edgertoncenter.org.

Jandrisevits Learning Center (JLC)

The Jandrisevits Learning Center is located in the Student Success Center on Park Avenue. The JLC provides specialized tutoring for students with learning disabilities (LDs) as well as for students who are linguistically diverse (ESL). Staffed by highly experienced faculty tutors and well-trained peer tutors, the JLC provides a warm, friendly learning environment where the academic success of individual students is the primary concern. An adaptive technology lab is available for students with visual, auditory, physical, or learning disabilities. For an appointment, call 203-371-7820 or come to the Jandrisevits Learning Center.

Linda E. McMahon Commons

The 46,000-square-foot Linda E. McMahon Commons serves as a crossroads and popular destination for students and the entire Sacred Heart community. Linking the University’s academic, spiritual, and extracurricular cores, as well as its upper and lower campuses, the distinctive V-shaped building includes the bookstore, a food court adjoining a 250-seat student dining hall, a private dining room with hearth and seating for 50 individuals, informal lounge spaces including a fireplace lounge overlooking the east entry terrace, a concourse connecting active spaces within the building, a presentation room, Career Development and Placement center, Red’s Pub, and the office of the Senior Vice President for Enrollment, Student Affairs, and Athletics. The exterior of the building incorporates outdoor terraces that also serve as gathering space for students and faculty.

Frank and Marisa Martire Business and Communications Center

The Martire Business & Communication Center houses the Jack F. Welch College of Business and the Department of Communications and Media Studies. This building is located on the corner of Park Avenue and Jefferson Street in Fairfield. It offers state-of-the-art facilities that include an active trading floor; digital wayfinding; dedicated conference rooms for business meetings and internships; problem-based learning laboratories; screening venues; technology-enhanced classrooms with multimedia technology and moveable furniture for various learning configurations; satellite equipment; a multimedia forum for leadership institutes, lectures, and screenings; interactive labs including a motion-capture lab for motion picture animation and video game design; large-screen digital cinema; two large television studios for TV, video, and film production; and a radio station.

Ryan Matura Library

The Ryan Matura Library is the source for information, whether it is the answer to a factual question or research for a term paper. Librarians are available to answer questions and assist students with extended research projects. Instructional sessions are conducted for class groups to familiarize them with the library, with subject-specific research, and the research process. Librarians also assist students with finding information in other libraries, in commercial databases, or on the Internet.

Periodicals and periodical indexes, including newspapers, are found in print, film, and electronic format. Any book or periodical not found in the library can be obtained from another library through interlibrary loan. Materials can usually be obtained within ten days.

At present, the Ryan Matura Library holds approximately 125,000 print volumes and 50,000 nonprint items and more than 15,000 periodical subscriptions. These include a significant number of full-text journals available on more than fifty online index and abstracting databases. These can be reached twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week from links on the library homepage. Databases are available on campus and at home.

In addition, the library houses nine technology-equipped group study workspaces to allow students to work together on projects or prepare for presentations.

The library’s website is located at http://library.sacredheart.edu. It provides access to the library catalog, information about the library, electronic reserve reading, links to research databases, and other related information.

Melady Administration Building

The Melady Administration Building houses the office of the president, offices of the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, offices of the vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity, office of the vice president for Human Resources and Payroll.

Oakview Drive, The Isabelle Farrington College of Education

Located off campus in neighboring Trumbull, the building at 101 Oakview Drive houses the Isabelle Farrington College of Education, office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Business Office, Motion Analysis Laboratory, Upward Bound, Art Department, and faculty offices and administrative offices of WSHU Radio.

William H. Pitt Health and Recreation Center

The William H. Pitt Health and Recreation Center is home to the thirty-two Pioneer Division I men’s and women’s programs, as well as many of our Club Sport programs along with various intramural and recreational activities. The three-level, 141,000-square-foot complex features four multipurpose basketball courts that seat 2,100 and can be easily converted for concert or convention use.

The Health and Fitness Center is located on the lower level of the Pitt Center. Offering a wide range of fitness equipment and classes, the 5,000-square-foot facility features an enclosed aerobics studio and main fitness area, where the latest generation of cardiovascular exercise machines and brand new (summer 2014) Hammer Strength free-weight equipment can be used. Locker rooms for both the Pioneer and visiting athletic teams are adjacent to the fitness area as well as the Pioneer wrestling room. The upper level of the Pitt Center houses the Department of Athletics suite of offices and a student study center. Perched atop the Pitt Center is the Sky Box, a beautifully appointed room with terrace access that is used to host special guests during athletic events.

Schine Auditorium

The Schine Auditorium, located in the lower level of the Ryan Matura Library, provides an appropriate setting for lectures, workshops, academic convocations, and other special programs. To reserve the 220-seat auditorium, call 203-371-7846 between 8:30 a.m. and noon, Monday through Friday.

Residence Halls

The University currently houses students in nine different facilities: Angelo Roncalli Hall, Elizabeth Ann Seton Hall, Thomas Merton Hall, Christian Witness Commons, Scholars Commons, Pioneer Gardens, Park Ridge Apartments, Oakwood Apartments, and Taft Commons. These offer distinct residential lifestyles, from traditional high-rise residence halls to on- and off-campus apartments.

Tandet Center

Sacred Heart University’s College of Health Professions is working with Stamford Hospital to launch a new full-time, 27-month Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program, starting in fall 2016, pending accreditation. The SHU MPAS program will be located in Stamford, on the second floor of Stamford Hospital’s Tandet Building located next to the main hospital on West Broad Street. The 13,000-square-foot space is in the process of a full renovation and will include a state-of-the-art lab, classrooms and a patient-assessment suite.