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What’s different about the Madison Experience?

The common thread that weaves itself through every facet of the Madison Experience is this — you will be pushed, helped and groomed for success.

From orientation to the day you graduate, we are here to help you work harder than you have imagined, learn new things about the world around you and, perhaps most importantly, learn new things about yourself.

JMU professors demand curiosity. They also love it, in part because they know that curious learners make the best teammates, the best leaders and go on to have rich lives that help make the world a better place.

Expect to be challenged. Expect to be supported. Expect to surprise yourself.

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learners thrive herecurious

support

professors

gorgeousplace to live and learn

when you need it

put you first

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Rachel Petty came here thinking that she might want to be a newspaper reporter. She ended up being the opinion section editor at The Breeze, JMU’s award-winning news publication. The Honors College graduate also did a summer internship at the New York Post.

Tre Allen had his eye on law school from the start, majored in psychology, spent four years on JMU’s United Nations Moot Court compe-tition team and is heading to the Michigan State University College of Law in fall 2017.

Allison Zeppuhar found her fire in a host of JMU’s different College of Business academic and extracurricular programs, including the JMU Center for Entrepreneurship. The result? She recently launched her own version of a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate alcoholic malt beverage to distribu-tors for sale in stores and restaurants.

Allison Rhoten switched from business to ele-mentary education and now the former high school valedictorian hopes to return to her home area to help pay it forward for many, many years.

Richard Xu nearly accepted a walk-on offer to play football at another school before JMU came calling with a scholarship offer. At JMU, the engineering major is in the process of building a 3-D printer that’s the size of a king-size bed. He also has 2016 FCS National Football Champion team member on his resume.

Anna Nordseth already has an impressive resume — Honors Scholar, Dingledine Scholar, biology major with a concentration in ecology and environmental studies. She hopes to land a job some day in Costa Rica where she studied abroad.

Casey Martin Klein has a dream to take the Broadway stage by storm first as an actor and then as a director, and he’s hopeful that he can use theater as a means to change the way people view the world.

Ahmad Abdul-Ali feels strongly that the best way to repay all the people at JMU who helped him achieve his goal of a medical degree is to someday provide his services in one of Virginia’s most needy communities.

Let’s take a look at curious learners …

elcome to James Madison University’s Viewbook. I hope this publication will help you learn more about

the Madison Experience — specifically what JMU offers students to help establish the foundation so as both

students and alums, they remain lifelong learners who go on to have lives that positively impact society.

Curious learners: JMU wants curious learners who will approach knowledge with a fascination that encourages them to be diligent in their studies, bold in their thinking and fearless in their pursuit of answers.

Large-school resources and small-school attention: With 94 percent of our 21,000 students being undergraduates, JMU makes it a priority to offer a unique mix of the best of the research- based universities and the small liberal arts schools. Professors teach your classes and the undergraduate research opportunities are with professors who are often national experts in their respective fields. In all our academic programs, the liberal arts play a key role in the curriculum. Research combined with a liberal education is a powerful combination that truly prepares you for the dynamic world we inhabit.

A collegial community: JMU is proud of its reputation for being among the friendliest schools around. What exactly do I mean? Com-munity members hold doors open for each other; professors will talk to you even before you’re a student here; and professors will learn your name the first day of class and will remember you. After you have graduated, you will be welcomed to network with your profes-sors and ask for career help. A collegial community means a nurturing environment that will challenge you and support you in equal measure as a student and alum. JMU graduates gain a lifetime connection that often extends into your work life thanks to JMU’s prestigious alumni network of more than 128,000 Dukes worldwide.

Please take some time to review what’s here and get a glimpse of what the Madison Experience is all about. Curious learners. Large-school resources and small-school attention. A collegial community.

All these, and much more, make JMU a special place.

Michael Walsh, Dean of Admissions

Why JMU?

James Madison University does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, race or color, height or weight, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation or belief, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, parental status (including pregnancy), marital status, family medical or genetic information, in its employment, educational programs, activities, and admissions. JMU complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding non-discrimination, affirmative action, and anti-harassment. JMU prohibits sexual and gender-based harassment, in-cluding sexual assault, and other forms of inter-personal violence.

The responsibility for overall coordination, monitoring and information dissemination about JMU’s program of equal opportunity, non-discrimination, Title IX, and affirmative action is assigned to the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX. Inquiries or complaints may be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX: James Robinson, Director and Title IX Coordinator 540-568-6991, www.jmu.edu/oeo, oeo@jmu.edu (JMU 2015)

JMU is committed to assisting all members of the university community in providing for their own safety and security. The annual security compliance document is available on the JMU Public Safety website at www.jmu.edu/pubsafety/righttoknow.shtml. To request a copy of this document, write to the Office of Public Safety, MSC 6810, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807; or call 540-568-6969/6913. The website and document contain information re-garding campus security and personal safety, including topics such as: crime prevention, law enforcement authority of university police, procedures for reporting crime on campus, emergency notification of students and staff, protocols for resident students who are reported missing, reported crime statistics for the most recent three-year period that occurred on campus, in certain off campus buildings or property owned or controlled by JMU, and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the university’s Harrisonburg campus, Washington, D.C., campus, and three international campuses, and the university’s Annual Fire Safety Report.

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At JMU, engaged learning is a great deal more than simply the acquisition of information. Engaged learning is learning with a purpose. Engaged learning is the quest to find the best answers. Engaged learning is fun, collaborative and filled with erudite challenges that build your confi-dence and help you acquire new ways of thinking.

Lots of universities talk about engagement. At JMU, we do it — and we have been doing it in all our academic disciplines since we opened our doors in 1908. It’s not an add-on or something that some members of our community participate in from time to time. Starting with our general education courses, moving into the majors and graduate programs, grounded in an ethical reasoning framework, and complemented by co-curricular and extracurricular activities that reach across dis-ciplines, JMU students are engaged in the learning experience and involved in community and civic engagement from day one on campus.

To us, engaged learners fuel their curiosity by dig-ging the deepest, pushing the hardest and becom-ing comfortable with the intellectual struggles that lift them to new places in their minds. Those places are where the real answers come from that change the world.

Let us show you what we mean.

CONTRIBUTORSThis publication is produced by staff members from the JMU Office of Communications and Marketing in cooperation with the JMU Office of Admissions. Comments and questions may be directed via email to admissions-marketing@jmu.edu.

Photography by Bob Adamek, Buddy Harlow (’18), Tommy Koehler (’17), Katie Landis, Chase Maszle (’17), Mike Miriello (’09M), Tiffany Showalter, Elise Trissel, Holly Veenis and JMU Athletics Photography.

A new way of thinking

F R O M T H E D E A N E N G A G E D L E A R N I N G

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DECADES JMU has spent two decades atop the U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious list of top master’s-level schools in the South.

2Eighty percent of JMU graduates complete research,

an internship, a practicum or student teach. Many do more than one of these.

80Ninety-one percent of the Class of 2016 graduates were employed full time, in

graduate school or engaged in other career-related endeavors six months after commencement.

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Our students change us.Here at JMU, we do not look to make you like this university. Instead, we want you to bring your gifts and talents to JMU and to make this university a better place. What this means — you never have to give up your individuality in order to fit in here. You are accepted for who you are and for what you have to contribute. This university is a better place because of you.

True team playersOur graduates are different. They are individuals who know how to learn, assess and adapt. They know how to think for themselves and still be a part of a team. Our graduates give of themselves to make the world a better place.

Amazing opportunities If you come here, you are expected to contribute inside the classroom and out. You will have hundreds of chances to learn, grow and succeed. Students regularly tell us that they wish they had more time to participate in all of the outside-the-classroom areas that interest them.

From all overOur students come from major cities and small towns. They come from Virginia and 45 other states, and they hail from more than 50 different countries. A typical class may include a girl from just outside Washington, D.C., a guy from a town with one stoplight and someone else who had nev-er been to the United States until he showed up here for school. Sharing ideas with people who think differently than you do and who are from different places than you can help change the way you look at the world. More importantly, those relationships can change how you look at yourself.

It’s all about a better you.

We value all the different possibilities for learning that exist at JMU. What will you learn outside the classroom? How to fit in. How to stand out. How to make friends with yourself as you begin to find your place in the world.

So much fun.Learning happens everywhere.

JMU ranks No. 2 among master’s-level schools for the total number of students who study abroad in semester-long programs, according to the Institute of International Education.

Our 278,000-square-foot University Recreation Center is an exercise enthusiast’s dream come true.

JMU’s Relay for Life is No. 3 of top college fundraising events in the U.S. In 2017, we raised more than $290,000!

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TALK ABOUT YOUR HONORS THESIS.I’m doing a review paper that looks at agri-forestry systems and how those systems maintain biodi-versity and also carbon sequestration. So we want to look at carbon sequestration because global warming is such a huge deal right now and is being talked about at all levels, so we’re trying to look at agriculture and especially how sustainable agriculture contributes to that discussion in a positive way.

ANNA NORDSETH

Class of 2017

MajorBiology

ConcentrationEcology and environmental

HometownLeesburg, Virginia

HighlightsIn the running for a wildly prestigious Fulbright scholarship; Thomas R. Dingledine Scholar; Honors College; studied abroad in Costa Rica; collected multiple other scholarships while at JMU, Smithsonian Environmen-tal Research Center intern after graduation.

DO YOU HOPE TO HEAD TO BRAZIL NEXT?I do. I’m a biology major, and I have an ecology and environmental concentra-tion. I’m really interested in tropical conservation. If you look at the news at all, Brazil is huge in tropi-cal forest ecology largely because of deforestation. Studying in Brazil would be a really good opportu-nity to get my foot in the door, start networking with other researchers there, and also to get a strong sense about what it would actually be like to have a career somewhere such as Brazil.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE JMU PROFESSOR?I met my current adviser and research mentor Dr. Heather Griscom shortly after I started looking into research labs because I knew that I wanted to do research as an undergrad-uate. I joined her lab at the end of my freshman year and then took her forest ecology class my sopho-more year, and she made all the difference in the world to me in terms of my academic direction.

TALK ABOUT HOW YOU MET DR. GRISCOM.I went into her office as a freshman — I had no idea at all what research actually entailed and I went into the field of biology thinking a career in medicine because that’s what you learn in high school — and then I went on her home page and saw that she did work with trees, and ever since then we’ve had this amaz-ing process in which she leads, and then I scramble off trying to figure out where I want to go with things. She has been real-ly supportive and helpful during my entire academ-ic journal, helping me find internships and guiding my research that I do with her, and really just helping me learn the ropes so that eventually I can become a research ecologist or a field ecologist.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN BEING A PROFESSOR SOME DAY?I am interested in teaching, but also I really want to do some kind of non- governmental organization work. The bottom line is that I want to do whatever I can do that has the most impact. With teaching you can reach a lot of people,

and then with the NGO work you can do so much hands-on, on-the-ground type of work. I love the idea of both of them.

WOULD YOU CALL JMU A GOOD CHOICE?The opportunities that I’ve had during my time here have given me a focus and shaped what

A tropical frame of mind

I want to do. Obviously finding Dr. Griscom has been huge for me, and then I got the Hillcrest Hinshaw-Daniels Schol-arship my sophomore year which allowed me to afford to study abroad in Costa Rica for two and a half months. Basically, JMU has changed my entire life. I don’t think I could be any more grateful.

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‘JMU has been a great choice for me. The string of opportunities that I’ve run into here has been huge for me.’

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hmad Abdul-Ali has an amazing story.The 2012 JMU alumnus credits JMU

with playing a pivotal role in his jour-ney from Afghani refugee to first-year

medical resident.Born in 1989, Abdul-Ali fled war-torn Kabul

for northern Afghanistan and eventually Turkmenistan. After 10 years in Russian-speaking Turkmenistan, his family found its way to the United States thanks to having been accepted into a competitive refugee education program.

Once in the U.S., Abdul-Ali continued his edu-cation and honing of his English language skills, eventually moving to Virginia to finish high school and then beginning his Madison Experience.

Although technically a health sciences major, “I took enough biology and chemistry that I could almost have had three majors,” he says, adding that JMU’s academic rigor “set me up well for medical school.”

Through it all, Abdul-Ali has learned to ask for help. “I’m very open to asking for help. If I need help, I’ll just ask right away for it,” he explains. “I used a lot of JMU’s resources when I was there. For example, I pretty much did all my homework at Madison Learning Center.” Although fluent in four different languages, he still made extensive use of the writing centers on campus — and his professors.

“When my professors had office hours, I was regularly there,” Abdul-Ali says. “Really, when it comes to the people of JMU, I got so much help.”

Dr. Sharon Babcock “was one of the first peo-ple I met at JMU when I decided to go into medi-cine, and she basically showed me everything that I needed to do, what classes I needed to take, just

everything,” Abdul-Ali says. “We still stay in touch. She is wonderful.”

His desire to be a doctor was also borne in part through experience.

“Living in all the different countries, from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan to the United States, I have seen how doctors treat patients. I want to practice medicine because I want to help people, and with my specialty in general surgery, I feel like I can do that well. Surgery can change people in positive ways, and I want to be a part of that.”

Abdul-Ali sees himself returning to rural Virginia.

“Not a lot of surgeons stay in general surgery, choosing instead to specialize because of the money and the lifestyle,” he says, “but to me, general surgery is what people need the most — especially people who live in rural areas. That is my long-term goal.”

First up is five years of general surgery residency, a time during which he says that he expects to call on “all the learning that I have done everywhere, and especially the amazing preparation from my college days at JMU.”

Abdul-Ali is especially proud of his JMU roots. “JMU is a unique place,” he says. “I feel fortu-

nate that it is part of my story.”

AHMAD ABDUL-ALI

Class of 2012

MajorHealth Sciences

MinorsBiology; Chemistry

HometownKabul, Afghanistan

HighlightsJMU Centennial Scholar; graduated from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia; is serving a med-ical surgery residency at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Burning desire to pay it forward

‘I want to practice medicine because I want to help people, and with my specialty in gener-al surgery, I feel like I can do that especially well. Surgery can change people in positive ways, and I want to be a part of that.’

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HAS JMU MET YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM HIGH SCHOOL?JMU has exceeded my expectations in more ways than one. I knew I want-ed to write for the JMU school newspaper, but I had no clue that I’d be a section editor, that I’d work in the university’s commu-nications and marketing office, that I’d be produc-ing a magazine for my

‘My dream job? Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief. I am most interested in writing about content related to women and feminism, topics like that.’

RACHEL PETTY

Class of 2017

MajorMedia Arts and Design

ConcentrationJournalism

MinorsCreative writing; Spanish

HometownOakland, New Jersey

HighlightsWriter for all four of her JMU years at The Breeze, JMU’s award-winning student newspaper; writer for pinkpangea.com, a women’s travel blog; after graduation, is a Pantene intern at DeVries Global in New York City.

major field as my Senior Honors Project. I also had no clue that I’d meet all the amazing people that I’ve met. It has been really great here.

ARE YOU A BIG READER?I’ve always been into mag-azines. When I was in the second grade, I’d always ask my mom to get me magazines at the grocery store. I took a creative writing class in middle school, and then in high school I started writing for my school newspaper and also for a website called hercampus.com. I think that’s how I decided that I wanted to be a writer.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE JMU?I knew I wanted to go a little away from home but not too far away, and then I looked into JMU’s media arts and design and it just seemed like a really cool department with a lot of hands-on opportunities for students. I knew that I wanted to study journal-ism, and I thought that

So many stories yet to tell

the School of Media Arts and Design — what we call SMAD — was a great com-bination of a few different things that I like.

SO THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM DID IT FOR YOU?I also loved the campus. I just got a really good vibe when I was here visiting, and then when I came back again for CHOICES an admitted student open house. That’s when I knew for certain that I wanted to come here.

TALK ABOUT YOUR INTERNSHIP.I worked at the New York Post this past summer. I worked for the Sun-day team, which does longer-term stories than most of the reporters at the regular daily paper do. I had a part in a lot of in-vestigative stories. I hadn’t done that before, so it was really interesting to see that side of journalism. I also got to cover a lot of events, press conferences, those sorts of things. It was such great experi-ence. Priceless, really.

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THERE’S NO MAJOR IN EDUCATION?That’s correct. You major in IdLS, which is interdisci-plinary liberal studies, and then you minor in whatev-er grade levels you want to teach. There are elemen-tary education, middle education and special education.

WHAT’S YOUR AREA?I chose elementary ed, so I’ll be licensed pre-K through sixth grade. You also choose a concen-tration, and I am concen-trating in mathematics. In addition to all this, I’m also getting a math en-dorsement so that I’ll be able to teach mathemat-ics all the way through high school algebra.

HAVE YOU FOUND HELP HERE WHEN YOU NEEDED IT?JMU’s Career and Aca-demic Planning was really helpful for me. I originally came in thinking that I was going to major in one of the business areas, and then I got great help from CAP once I decid-ed to go in a different academic direction. I took

ALLISON RHOTEN

Class of 2017

MajorInterdisciplinary Liberal Studies

MinorElementary Education

HometownAbingdon, Virginia

HighlightsValedictorian of her high school senior class; will finish JMU with a mas-ter’s degree in education in 2018; InterVarsity member; loves doing craft therapy at the JMU Counseling Center.

‘I’m told that future teachers who go to JMU have more experience in the classroom than any other school in Virginia by the time they graduate. That was a huge draw to the program for me.’

some career tests to see what areas might be the best for me based on my personality, and education came up among the areas I am well suited for. I was leaning toward a career in education, but wasn’t exactly sure that was what I wanted to do. I have come to see that there are so many benefits to being a teacher, and I’m grateful to CAP for having pointed me in the right direction.

WAS THE TRANSITION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE HARD FOR YOU?The rigor of college was a little difficult at first, but time management was probably the most difficult part of the transition for me. I just think that, for most college students, you come in having been spoon-fed in high school. In college, you find out that you have to become responsible for your own learning—everything from doing the extra studying and preparation to being willing to go to professors for help when you need it. And JMU is really great in that regard because pro-fessors want to help you. All you have to do is ask.

SO WHAT’S NEXT?I would like to go back home to southwest Virgin-ia where I’m from to teach. There’s a good school system there, but I’ll be good with wherever I can get a job.

HOW FAR AWAY FROM YOUR HOMETOWN IS JMU?Harrisonburg is three and a half hours from where I’m from, but it’s been easy to get back and forth. There are so many differ-ent ways to get home — the JMU Rides home page is a good example. It’s really not a big deal no matter where you’re from.

HAS JMU HAS BEEN A GOOD CHOICE FOR YOU?You meet a lot of new and different people if you choose to go to a college that is different from where all the other kids from your high school typically go. JMU has been that school for me, and it’s been wonderful.

Poised to guide the future, child by child

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Richard Xu knows about going big.

An engineering major, Xu moved from his native Maryland to northern Virginia while in high school in the

hopes that he might garner more attention on the football gridiron, and possibly a collegiate scholar-ship. The result? JMU came calling, and that — and a whole lot of hard work — paved the way for the 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive tackle to be a part of Madison’s 2016 NCAA FCS national football championship squad.

For Xu, going big doesn’t stop there. It carries over to his academics and research.

Take, for example, his current brainchild — a 3D printer that dwarfs most others. It is bigger than most, more accurate than most and will do more than print. The standard 3D printer is the size of a toaster. Xu’s is the size of a king-size bed.

What will this contraption be able to print? How about all of the parts to build a table, a chair, a drone and, some day, even a car, he says.

The other two members of Xu’s project team — Chris Ashley and Bryce Edmonds — are business majors. “I like working with them because they have a different kind of thought process from mine as an engineer, and I really like having a team of diverse thinkers,” Xu says.

According to Xu, this project and JMU have set him up for the future.

“We’ll see how this thing rolls,” he says. “If this 3D printer project goes great like I expect it to, I’ll continue to work on and guide this project along and probably finish up my master’s degree online or something like that. If it doesn’t go great, then I’ll probably go to graduate school after a year or two of working,” he says.

RICHARD XU

Class of 2018

MajorEngineering

HometownAshburn, Virginia

HighlightsLoves that JMU’s engi-neering program is all about sustainability; hopes to make the 3D printer he and his team are working on wireless some day; member of JMU’s 2016 NCAA FCS national championship football squad.

Xu and his Mad X-Labs team have their eye on making this 3D printer accessible for the masses.

“The way I’ve designed this machine saves time so that you don’t have to spend an hour and a half retooling — swapping parts around — as you do with most 3D printers,” he says. “This is the second generation of my design. By generation six, the machine will practically do it for you in no time, which will make it so that practically anybody can use it.”

If the JMU junior has his way, this printer will be a game-changer for a long, long time.

“Twenty-five years from now, I want this ma-chine to be as common as a car is today,” he says. “Instead of having to go to a furniture store to pick out furniture, you will just be able to hit print and then come back and have your couch here.”

Xu is proud of the work he and his colleagues have done so far.

“This is my baby,” he says, looking at the printer. “This has taken shape and I’ve put so much into it. This is definitely the coolest thing that I’ve ever done in my life.”

Going big in every way

‘Twenty-five years from now, I want this machine to be as common as a car is today.’

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TRE ALLEN

Class of 2016

MajorPsychology

HometownCharlotte Courthouse, Virginia

HighlightsPhi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity; interned in a law office; three-year par-ticipant on JMU’s United Nations Moot Court com-petition team; completed his JMU degree in three and a half years; starts Michigan State College of Law Fall 2017.

HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN A LAW CAREER?My parents did a really good job of raising me to allow me to follow my own interests. They were never, “You have to do this or do that.” In high school, I was involved in theater, forensics and impromptu, and I think all of those got me accustomed to speaking in front of people. I’ve always wanted to make a difference and help people, and I feel like law is an area where I can do that; help them to really understand their rights, what they have to do and what they don’t have to

do. I think we have a lot of people in our country who don’t understand the law, and I would love to be able to do my small part to help change that, to be a guy who helps protect people.

WHAT TYPE OF LAW WILL YOU PRACTICE?I like intellectual property, which is basically dealing with trademarks, copy-rights, patents and all that. That’s what I want to do. I want to protect people’s ideas.

HOW HAS JMU HELPED PREPARE YOU?As far as JMU psychol-ogy, it has been super helpful to me. I love what I’ve been able to accomplish. I’ve been a teaching assistant for the past two years, so that’s been an amazing experience. When I came into JMU, I was open to going to graduate school in psychology or to go on to law school. I thought that psychology would be the right major for me to develop the skills that I would need to go on to law school, and that’s exactly what has happened. I understand people better, too. All of what I’ve learned in psy-

Next up: Law school

‘All of what I’ve learned in psychology while I’ve been here will be super helpful to me for my career and, hopefully, for the rest of my life.’

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chology while I’ve been here will be super helpful to me for my career and, hopefully, for the rest of my life.

FAVORITE PSYCHOLOGY CLASS?My favorite psychology class was Research Methods 211. It helped me understand data and understand experiments and to appreciate the concept of validity. I think that the background knowledge from that class is necessary to have in order to move forward throughout the remainder of the psychology major.

HAVE YOU DONE AN INTERNSHIP?I had a wonderful oppor-tunity to intern in a small, husband-and-wife law firm in Halifax County near my home. I got experience in the courtroom, seeing how the lawyers work, seeing how the judges work. That summer ex-perience solidified for me that I do want to go to law school. The law is what I truly want to do.

HAS JMU MET YOUR EXPECTATIONS?JMU has been beyond good for me.

Tre Allen and teammates prepare for U.N. Moot Court competition, a debate format that requires extensive preparation, is highly regarded by law schools and is rarely contested by undergraduate teams.

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Surprise entrepreneur

llison Zeppuhar says JMU gave her everything that she didn’t know she wanted.

Exposure to new ideas. Constant reminders to ask for help. The courage to become an entrepreneur, a life choice she never thought she’d find herself making.

A computer information systems major and Spanish minor, Zeppuhar got a huge push to start her own company during one of her first JMU business classes.

“I’m actually a Type 1 diabetic, so growing up, I couldn’t have a lot of sugar or anything. When I turned 21, I said, ‘Wow I would really love a Mike’s Hard [lemonade] or Smirnoff Ice.’ So I was always ‘Wow I can’t wait until I can go get a diet one of those’ and have those for a weekend. Then I

ALLISON ZEPPUHAR

Class of 2017

MajorComputer Information Systems

MinorSpanish

HometownPittsburgh, Pennsylvania

HighlightsHonors College student; Madison Achievement scholarship recipient; president of Beta Gamma Sigma, National Business Honors Society; Communi-ty Coordinator at MadInc, part of the JMU Center for Entrepreneurship; Society for Entrepreneurs induct-ee; founded Students for Diabetes; CEO of Zeppy.

realized that low-sugar options were not readily available. So when I was in my COB 300 class and professor Eliason said, ‘If you have an idea, why don’t you go for it? Don’t wait for someone else to do it before you.’ So I said, ‘OK, low-calories, low-carb beverages? Why not start my own brand?‘

And the idea for Zeppy, and its originator, began to grow wings.

“So I went after it,” Zeppuhar says. “I learned how to brew a little bit — still working on that, but I actually have a product formulation company working on getting the first product out. It’s going to be a hard lemonade. And COB 300 helped a lot with ‘Oh! I actually know how to do this stuff now. I could definitely start my own business if I wanted to.’ So working on that, and it’s a chal-lenging industry to get into. There are so many competitors, and so many regulatory issues that you have to overcome.

“I think the first target market is going to be Harrisonburg since it’s smaller and something I can keep track of. The main target market is actually women 21–60 that are more health-seekers. They try to make healthy alternatives, they exercise, they try to watch what they eat. So hopefully I can get the company up and running and I will be able to keep it going because that’s my main focus — whatever is going to be best for Zeppy.“

‘COB 300 helped a lot with “Oh! I actually know how to do this stuff now. I could defi-nitely start my own business if I wanted to.” ’

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Zeppuhar says that her strategic management course provides her with significant knowledge about “how to manage a company and have strat-egies that work, and also how to tie your compa-ny culture into everything you do.”

From narrowing the target market and drilling down into creation of a business plan — complete with market research, some financials and the push to reach out to investors — Zeppuhar is on the move to make her dream come true.

Help, she says, has come from many different places.

“JMU and especially the College of Business have taught me that if you want to reach out to someone, just do it. There are so many alumni and people in the industry that are willing to help, and all you have to do is reach out to them and they’ll usually help you,” she says.

Examples include JMU’s Center for Entrepre-neurship activities such as the Madison Catalyst

start-up pitch competition and MadInc, a start-up accelerator for the more-involved, have-an-idea, going-after-it students.

“I’ve just seen so many ideas that I would have never seen before,” Zeppuhar says. “I feel like that’s the JMU experience. I didn’t really know I liked hiking that much before I came to college and it’s my favorite activity now, and didn’t know I’d be doing virtual reality stuff every Monday, so stuff like that.”

“I’d say for JMU, I got everything I didn’t know I wanted.”

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Casey Martin Klein is a big dreamer with the work ethic to back it up.

“My five-year plan is to replace somebody in a Broadway show, then

star in a Broadway show written for me that I win a Tony for, and the 10-year plan is to then go to graduate school, get my MFA, go back to Broadway to direct, and win a Tony for directing.”

Spend some time around Klein, and you get the distinct impression that he may make his dream come true. And that JMU has had a significant impact on him.

“My dream is to work on Broadway,” the senior musical theatre major says. “I have been auditioning for Broadway already this year. It’s been going OK. I’m moving to New York City in September, and my dream is to be able to use the tools that I’ve acquired here at JMU to sustain my career professionally in a big environment such as New York.”

A veteran of the stage who started ballet at age 6 and performed in his first musical at age 9, Klein’s JMU acting and directing resume is spectacular.

Highlights include roles in Assassins and 35-Millimeter, the lead role in The Wild Party, and also directing stints that included the musical Dogfight.

The Wild Party “was the biggest theatrical role I’ve undertaken,” he says. “It was just a ton of work, and I was so grateful to have already taken all the requisite JMU classes that helped me be able to prepare myself for the acting, dancing and singing that it took to do that role. It was physically and mentally demanding, and I was so well-prepared for it.”

Two summers of intern experience with Flat Rock Theatre in North Carolina — which he credits

CASEY MARTIN KLEIN

Class of 2017

MajorMusical Theatre

HometownRockville, Maryland

HighlightsHomeschooled; trans-ferred to JMU after a year at a different university; performed in five or six shows a year since age 9; says that JMU’s emphasis on ethical reasoning has impacted many areas of his thinking and his art; following graduation, spent the summer performing at the Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre.

The finest kind of dreamer

JMU for helping him land — have set Klein up nicely for what’s coming next.

So has his other classroom experience at JMU, Klein says.

“I took this ethical reasoning class as part of General Education, and the key questions that we studied there made a profound impact on me,” he says, adding that it’s come up in every one of his JMU classes. It’s also “provided me with the tools to extract certain concepts and ideas from a much broader world view than I had before.

“I have had more opportunities and have gotten more experience here than I ever thought was possible in college,” he says. “I thought college would be where you work until your junior or senior year when you might get a couple of roles, but that

‘The musical theatre program here is set up so that freshman through senior year, you are able to have opportunities to perform and direct if you have the desire and the work ethic.’

C U R I O U S L E A R N E R S

has not been the case at all at JMU. The musical theatre program here is set up so that freshman through senior year, you are able to have opportu-nities to perform and direct if you have the desire and the work ethic.”

Klein knows that awards make careers last, yet he says his greatest dream goes beyond awards.

“I have continued to be inspired to keep doing theater because I know that the course of my action — my writing, directing and performing — may some day be able to influence what is going on in the country and in the world,” he says. “I guess what it all boils down to is that I want to make a difference.”

Big dreams and the chops to make them come true.

Klein and fellow JMU actors Sky Wilson (left) and Sierra Carlson each garnered No. 1 ratings during the 2017 Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

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For complete information on all programs of study visit jmu.edu/academics

AccountingAnthropologyArchitectural DesignArt Art HistoryAthletic TrainingBiologyBiophysical ChemistryBiotechnologyBusiness (See specific majors)ChemistryCommunication Sciences

and DisordersCommunication StudiesComputer Information SystemsComputer ScienceDanceDieteticsDigital Video and CinemaEarly Childhood EducationEarth ScienceEconomicsEducation (See specific majors)Elementary EducationEngineeringEnglishFinanceForeign LanguagesGeographic ScienceGeologyGeneral Fine ArtsGraphic DesignHealth SciencesHealth Services AdministrationHistoryHospitality ManagementIndustrial DesignIntelligence AnalysisIntegrated Science and

TechnologyInterdisciplinary Liberal StudiesInterdisciplinary Social ScienceInternational AffairsInternational Business

JournalismJustice StudiesKinesiologyLatin American and

Caribbean StudiesManagementMarketingMaterials ScienceMathematicsMedia Arts and DesignMiddle Education MusicMusical TheatreNursingPhilosophy and ReligionPhysicsPolitical SciencePre-DentistryPre-Forensic StudiesPre-LawPre-MedicinePre-Occupational TherapyPre-OptometryPre-PharmacyPre-Physician AssistantPre-Physical TherapyPre-TheologyPre-VeterinaryPsychologyPublic Policy and AdministrationQuantitative FinanceReading EducationSecondary EducationSocial WorkSociologySpecial EducationSport and Recreation

ManagementStatisticsStudio ArtTheatreWriting, Rhetoric and

Technical Studies

Programs of Study

2017 Transfer Students■ Applications: 2,468■ Applicants accepted (spring, summer, fall):

62 percent■ Applicants enrolled: 1,050

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2017–2018 FAST Facts

Fall Academic Open Houses

How do you stack up?

Admitted Freshmen ■ Mostly A’s and B’s in core academic areas

(English, math, lab science, social science, foreign language)

■ Ranked in the top third of their high school class: 81 percent of reported ranks

■ Applications: 22,285

Undergraduate Student Body■ In-State/Out-of-State ratio: 75/25■ Male: 40 percent■ Female: 60 percent■ Total minority: 18 percent■ International: 2 percent■ Total enrollment: 20,779

Faculty■ Full time: 925■ Part time: 450■ Doctoral degree or

appropriate terminal degree: 78 percent

■ Average class size: 29 students

You will learn more about:Academic ProgramsAdmissionsDiversity ProgramsFinancial AidGeneral Education ProgramHonors ProgramsServices provided to JMU studentsStudy Abroad Programs

Other things to do:Go on a campus tourSee a sample residence

hall roomAttend the Student

Organization FairStop by the University Recreation

Center Open House

■ SAT mid-50 percent range (on a 1600 point scale): 1110 – 1250■ ACT mid-50 percent range: 23–28 ■ Applicants enrolled: 4,564

Applicants accepted:

71%

For dates and details, see: jmu.edu/admissions/openhouses

Student/professor ratio

16:1

2017-18 TUITION AND FEES

In-StateTuition and Fees $10,878Room and Board $9,898Internet Connection Fee $192Total $20,968

Out-of-StateTuition and Fees $27,278Room and Board $9,898Internet Connection Fee $192Total $37,368

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JMU APPLICATION DEADLINES

Early Action (nonbinding): Nov. 1Early Action is more competitive than the Regular Decision process. To be admitted through Early Action, a student needs to be superior in curriculum, grades, test scores and extracurricular activities. Students who apply through the Early Action process do not have an advantage over students who apply Regular Decision. Applicants will get notification of JMU’s decision by mid-January. Some Early Action applicants will get deferred to Regular Decision. For the last two years, 35 to 42 percent of the students deferred from Early Action to Regular Decision were eventually admitted.

Regular Decision: Jan. 15Students who apply through Regular Decision are not at a disadvantage. Applicants will get notifica-tion of JMU’s decision by April 1. Students deferred from Early Action will have their applications re-viewed again during the Regular Decision process.

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Application review processJMU’s research demonstrates that high school curriculum and grades are the most consistent indicators of how a student will do in college. JMU also realizes that a letter of recommendation, personal statement, extra curricular activities, secondary school report and standardized test scores may be helpful in the review of your application.

Effective for fall 2018, JMU will not require the SAT/ACT to be part of your appli-cation file. If you choose not to submit standardized test scores, you will not be penalized in the application, scholarship or Honors College review processes. JMU’s online application may be found at: jmu.edu/admissions/apply/freshman.shtml

PROGRAM OF STUDY

Students who challenge themselves with the upper-level courses offered in their high school (i.e. Honors-level courses, Advanced Placement classes, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, etc.) increase their competitiveness.

Because strong students come from many different types of schools, we examine each applicant within the context of his or her high school.

Competitive applicants should minimally have the following:■ four years of math (one full year beyond Algebra II*)■ three years of laboratory science (preferably including biology, chemistry

and physics OR an AP/IB/DE science**)■ three or four years of the same foreign language or two years of two

different foreign languages■ four years of English■ four years of social studies.

*Some courses recommended beyond Algebra II include pre-Calculus, Math Analysis, Probability/Statistics; Calculus and Algebra 3. Computer Mathematics, Consumer Mathematics, and Algebra Functions and Data Analysis do not qualify as courses beyond Algebra II.

**General Science or Earth Science usually do not count as a lab science.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

JMU evaluates your grades in core subject areas: mathematics, English, foreign language, social studies and lab sciences. A competitive candidate is an A/B stu-dent in these courses. We look at your performance throughout your entire high school academic career.

Undergraduate Admission

TRANSFER ADMISSION

To be eligible to apply for transfer admission, a student must have completed or be in the process of completing at least 24 credit hours post-high school graduation. Priority consideration is given to those who have completed an associate degree or those with at least 48 college credits earned. JMU considers transfer applicants’ college program and grade-point average, high school program and grades. The more credit hours you have earned in college, the less emphasis is placed on your high school record.

Competitive transfer applicants should have a minimum 3.0 cumulative college GPA and suc-cessfully completed college course work in all core subject areas: English, mathematics, social science and lab science. Transfer applicants are admitted for spring, summer and fall semesters. Learn more: jmu.edu/admissions/transfer

Transfer Admission Deadlines:Spring Oct. 1; Summer Feb. 1; Fall March 1

THE F INE PRINT

JMU’s admission process is very competitive. We receive more qualified applicants than we can accommodate.

Although each high school provides different opportunities, we recommend pursuing the most demanding college preparatory programs available.

For details on Advanced Standing courses such as AP, IB, Dual Enrollment and Cambridge courses, go to jmu.edu/catalog/16/admission/ undergraduate-admission.shtml

Some fine and performing arts areas require auditions, portfolio reviews and additional appli-cations. For details, see jmu.edu/arts

If you submit them, the following will be considered in the review.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Please list your extracurricular activities in the space provided in the online applica-tion, as we will not accept supplementary resumes. JMU is looking for quality rather than quantity. For instance, the committee likes to see what you have done in clubs, organizations and athletics beyond just being a member. JMU also consider commu-nity service and part-time jobs.

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

If an applicant wishes to have one included with their application, it must be re-quested by the applicant via our online recommendation system during the applica-tion process. JMU will contact the recommender with instructions for submitting the recommendation letter. Additional letters of recommendation will not be reviewed.

SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT

When you ask your guidance counselor to send us your official high school tran-scripts, also ask him or her to complete the Secondary School Report Form. Many high schools have developed their own version of this form. Either is acceptable.

STANDARDIZED TESTS

If you opt to submit an SAT or ACT score, JMU requires that your official test result be sent to us electronically from the test agency and arrive by the application deadline.

Non-Admissions areas that may require the SAT/ACT:Recruited NCAA Division I student-athletes: JMU needs access to prospective student- athletes’ SAT/ACT for athletic eligibility purposes. A student-athlete who does not want his or her test score used during the Admissions review does not need to submit a score to the JMU Office of Admissions. JMU Intercollegiate Athletics will receive the score directly from the NCAA Clearinghouse to deter-mine the student-athlete’s eligibility.

OPTIONAL PERSONAL STATEMENT

This is the space for you to tell us more about yourself or any topic of your choosing (space is provided in the application). Be creative. Have fun. Keep it to fewer than 500 words.

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Financial aidThe Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will help simplify and guide you through the financial aid process as you seek avenues to fund the cost of your college education. Regardless of your family income, you have the potential to afford the high-quality education JMU offers.

Our goal is to help meet these costs with fund-ing available from federal, state and university sources. As a state-supported school, the majori-ty of our grant assistance is allocated to Virginia residents. Resources for non-Virginia residents are primarily limited to federal grants, student loans and parent loans. Scholarship opportunities are very competitive due to the caliber of stu-dents accepted by JMU. Acknowledging that our aid options are limited, the university has made a commitment to keep its costs reasonable, while providing a high-quality education.

To determine your eligibility for assistance, please complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA forms received by the Department of Education before our priority filing date of March 1, 2018, will receive first consid-eration. Our federal school code is 003721. JMU does not base admission decisions on financial aid. Learn more at jmu.edu/financialaid

If you wish to apply for financial aid via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, you must include your Social Security Number on your Admissions application.

SCHOLARSHIPS

JMU awards more than 300 one- to four-year scholarships each year to incoming students. For more information on JMU scholarships, visit jmu.edu/admissions/apply/scholarships.shtml

Traveling to campusConcerned about the distance from home? There are a variety of trans-portation options available to students. From a nearby airport to shuttle and limousine services that run to all the major Washington, D.C. airports, along with airports in Richmond and Charlottesville and a nearby train station, we have your travel needs covered!

Go to jmu.edu/visit/transportation.shtml to see how easy it can be!With many students from different areas of the country, it’s easy to find a ride home with friends!

School spiritsecond to none

Beauty, options await youSituated in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, JMU rests near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah National Park, the Shenandoah River, rolling farmland and breathtaking views. Two hours from Washington, D.C., our 785-acre campus is in the city of Harrisonburg, a friendly community with a diverse population of approximately 50,000.

Harrisonburg is a surprisingly diverse community, with the variety of a larger city and the charm of a small town. The natural beauty of the area combined with a focus on local businesses, food and people create an environment that makes it easy to see what makes Harrisonburg such a great place to be.

We have four distinct seasons. There are ski slopes, trails for biking, rivers for fishing and forests for camping. And on any given evening, you can choose among home-cooked Southern-fried chicken, an edgy coffee shop, live music in a bar or ethnic cuisine.

The historic downtown district is one of the most popular parts of Harrisonburg and offers more than 25 restaurants, 45 shops, vibrant arts and entertainment, local shops, a growing food co-op and a number of community events throughout the year. Locally owned and operated restaurants feature a variety of ethnic cui-sines, including traditional Americana, Asian Fusion, Caribbean, Cuban, Ethiopian, Indian, Mexican and Venezuelan. Local shops provide the opportunity to browse for everything from boutique clothing and accessories, handmade jewelry, and international fair trade items, to antiques and vintage home goods, recreation equipment, records, and musical instruments. The Harrisonburg Farmers Market, an open-air market with a huge number of local vendors, is open two days a week and has received national recognition.

Backpacker magazine ranked Harrisonburg a top spot to “beat nature deficit disorder,” and for good reason. Outdoor fun is serious business in Harrisonburg and the neighboring counties. Most students are aware of the breathtaking views of Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, the wide sky full of stars visible from Reddish Knob and swimming just like nature intended at Blue Hole. Beyond these well-known treasures, however, a world of recreation awaits. jmu.edu/visit

G O R G E O U S P L A C E T O L I V E A N D L E A R N

4

Office ofADMISSIONS

MSC 0101, 100 E. Grace St.

Harrisonburg, VA 22807

Current students blog about life at JMU. jmu.edu/dailyduke

Harrisonburg, VA

Plan a visit.We’re closer than you think!

jmu.edu/visit

08-2017

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDPermit No. 4

Harrisonburg, VA 22801