California Maritime Academy

Infobox University
name=California Maritime Academy
type=Public university

Latin, To Work or Fight; We are Ready)
established=1929
endowment = $1.8 million (2007) [ [http://www.nacubo.org/Images/All%20Institutions%20Listed%20by%20FY%202007%20Market%20Value%20of%20Endowment%20Assets_2007%20NES.pdf NACUBO Endowment Study, 2007] ]
president=William B. Eisenhardt
city=Vallejo
state=California
country=United States
undergrad= 850
grad= 0
faculty=
campus=
former_names = California Nautical School (1929-39)
mascot = Keelhaulers
affiliations = California State University system
footnotes =
website= [http://www.csum.edu csum.edu]

The California Maritime Academy (also known as CMA, Cal Maritime, and CSU, Maritime) is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system and is one of only seven degree-granting maritime academies in the United States. It is located in Vallejo, California.

History

Cal Maritime was established as the California Nautical School in 1929 when the California State Assembly Bill no. 253 was signed into law by Governor C. C. Young. The bill authorized the creation of the school, appointment of a Board of Governors to manage the school and the acquisition of a training vessel. The school's mission was "to give practical and theoretical instruction in navigation, seamanship, steam engines, gas engines, and electricity in order to prepare young men to serve as officers in the American Merchant Marine." By 1930 a training vessel and a school site was acquired, the original location of what would become Cal Maritime was California City (now Tiburon, California) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Due to the Great Depression, the early days of the Academy were full of financial uncertainty. As early as 1933, some state legislators were calling for the school's abolition. In order to save money, the cadets and instructors alike lived and held classes aboard the training vessel, the "T.S. California State". Only after the passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 did the funding for the Academy become stabilized.

In 1939 the California Nautical School adopted its present name, the California Maritime Academy. By 1940 the Academy was granting Bachelor of Science degrees and Naval Reserve commissions to its graduates; this step marked the beginning of the transition from the status of trade school to college. During World War II the Academy was evicted from its site in California City and moved to its present location in Vallejo, California in 1943.

In the 1970s, after surviving another round of budget cuts and calls for the Academy's abolition, Cal Maritime became a four-year institution. The 1970s also marked the time when the first minority and female cadets graduated from Cal Maritime.

In 1996 Cal Maritime became the twenty-second campus of the California State University system. The new affiliation improved the academy's funding prospects considerably. The current training vessel is the "T.S. Golden Bear", and is the third training ship to carry that name.

uperintendents and presidents of the California Maritime Academy

#R.C.Dwyer replaced by N.E. Nichols due to Navy requirements for regular Navy officers to be in charge of Navy-owned ships.
#Early WWII – Superintendent and Master became separate positions.
#Edwin C. Miller appointed Interim Superintendent October 1971 – July 1972.
#On February 27, 1975, the title of "Superintendent" was changed to "President."

Academics

Degree programs

Cal Maritime offers six undergraduate degree programs, all of which are tied to a nautical curriculum. The six majors offered are as follows:

*Mechanical Engineering (B.S.)
*Marine Engineering Technology (B.S.)
*Marine Transportation (B.S.)
*Business Administration (B.S.)
*Facilities Engineering Technology (B.S.)
*Global Studies and Maritime Affairs (B.A.)

Cal Maritime is the only campus in the CSU system that does not offer any graduate degree programs.

Rankings

In 2005 the U.S. News and World Report ranked Cal Maritime's engineering program as one of the top 80 such undergraduate programs in the country.Fact|date=May 2008 In 2008 the U.S. News and World Report ranked Cal Maritime as the 6th best Baccalaureate College on the West Coast. [ [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1ccbach_w_brief.php USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: Baccalaureate Colleges (West): Top Schools ] ] It is also the only maritime academy on the west coast.

Military options

There is no armed service obligation attached to graduation from the California Maritime Academy. However, financial aid and additional career opportunities exist for those students who choose to participate in any of the several military programs available on the CMA campus:
*Coast Guard - California Maritime Academy Pre-Commissioning Program
*Coast Guard - Maritime Academy Graduate Program
*Coast Guard - College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI)
*Navy / Merchant Marine - Reserve Program

Athletics

Cal Maritime has a long history of athletic activities. Before it joined regular intercollegiate athletics, the teams from Cal Maritime usually played military teams from local bases. Cal Maritime began to organize its sports under intercollegiate guidelines in the 1970s and the student body chose the "Keelhaulers" as the Academy's mascot. Until then the Cal Maritime teams were known as the Seawolves.

Today, Cal Maritime is a member of the NAIA and the Men's Soccer, Basketball, Golf and Women's Volleyball teams are charter members of the California Pacific Conference. In the 2004-2005 Academic year the Women's Basketball was formed and now also competes in the Cal Pac Conference. Other sports offered at Cal Maritime include Rugby, Sailing, Crew, and Water Polo.

ee also

*"T.S. Golden Bear"
* United States Maritime Administration
* Maritime Academy

Notes

External links

* [http://www.csum.edu/ Official website]
* [http://www.cmaathletics.org/ Official athletics website]
* [http://library.csum.edu/ CMA Library website]