Student Resources

Public Safety

The University Police Department provides a wide-range of public safety services to include law enforcement, security, parking enforcement, communications, emergency management, and administrative services. Students and employees may report crime, accidents, and other emergencies to the University Police 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Parking

All students, staff, faculty, athletic coaches/employees, contract employees, and visitors must register for a digital permit (permanent or temporary) while on campus each year. Registration for a digital permit may be completed by logging into your MyjaxState account under the Parking card and registering your vehicle for the appropriate digital permit.

Child Development Center

Mission

The mission of the Jacksonville State University Child Development Center (JSU CDC) is to support JSU students, faculty and staff, and the community by providing a quality, play-based, on-site early childhood education program.

Philosophy

The Jacksonville State University Child Development Center (JSU CDC) recognizes families' vital role in their children's school life. For this reason, family members are considered an integral part of all program phases. The JSU CDC is a living and learning laboratory in which family members, teachers, college faculty, and children work together cooperatively for the children's greatest possible gains. The CDC celebrates the diversity of its families and encourages awareness of all families' cultures.

About the CDC

Jacksonville State University’s Child Development Center (CDC) has been a part of JSU for over sixty years. The program began as a half-day preschool class for three and four-year-olds in the Family and Consumer Sciences department and was in East Mason Hall. In Fall 2022, the program expanded and moved to the new College of Education and Professional Studies (CEPS) Complex at the former Kitty Stone Elementary School on JSU’s campus. The CDC welcomes children from 6 weeks to Pre-K five days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The CDC is open to current, full-time JSU students, faculty, and the community.

The CDC follows the Creative Curriculum in all its classrooms. Children are encouraged to investigate using hands-on activities to discover their world. The developmentally appropriate curriculum is research-based and includes strategies to best support young learners. Play, literacy, numeracy, and STEAM lessons are important program elements evident in CDC classrooms throughout the day.

The partnership with JSU’s College of Education and Professional Studies (CEPS) is a unique component of the CDC. JSU students in Child Development and Early Childhood Education courses use the CDC for laboratory experiences in their courses. JSU students in these programs observe and facilitate classroom learning. Students implement teaching strategies learned in their JSU courses and modeled by CDC faculty daily in the three-year-old and Pre-K classrooms. JSU students are supervised by classroom teachers and their university supervisors. This collaboration allows JSU students to demonstrate developmentally appropriate practices and facilitate learning in an exemplary childcare facility while observing and supporting the classroom teachers.

The CDC receives support from colleges and departments across campus. The University Police Department provides the CDC with a full-time School Resource Officer (SRO) housed at the CEPS Complex. Other faculty and staff across campus support the CDC by sharing their talents through musical performances, science investigations, STEAM activities, cooking, and sewing. One of the children's favorite activities is the weekly pep rallies in the fall to support the Gamecocks. Football players, cheerleaders, and members of the Marching Southerners get the children ready for JSU football weekends. It’s a great tradition!

The three Pre-K classrooms are funded through the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education’s First Class Pre-K Program. Students are randomly selected in the spring for the following school year. Children who are not selected may elect to be placed on a waiting list. The state monitors Pre-K classrooms, and classrooms receive weekly visits from state coaches. Children are monitored using TS GOLD, an assessment strategy used to assess children’s development. This information provides Pre-K teachers with ideas for strategies to support their students and ensure they are prepared for kindergarten.

The CDC enables families to “go to school together,” encouraging classroom engagement and family participation. The proximity of the CDC for JSU students, staff, and faculty allows families to participate in family programs and be involved in their child’s school during the school day. Community members also enjoy visiting the school and working with their children due to its central location.

The CDC currently serves children in the following classrooms:

Infant -1 classroom
1’s - 1 classroom
2’s - 1 classroom
3’s - 1 classroom
Pre-k – 3 classrooms

Activities are planned according to the age and developmental level of each child in care and provide children with a variety of experiences. The daily activities include a flexible balance of indoor and outdoor activities, active and quiet play, and individual and group activities. The activities provided will expose the children to a variety of cultures and encourage the children to use and develop language and literacy skills, use large and small muscles, think creatively, learn new ideas and skills, and participate in imaginative play. Activities include:

Language development: e.g., Books, music, storytime, fingerplays, flannel board stories
Large muscle skills: e.g., Balls, hula hoops, bean bags, swinging, outdoor play
Small muscle skills: e.g., Arts/crafts, stringing beads, pegboards, blocks
Creative expression: e.g., Dramatic play, puppets, music/instruments, flannel board
Self-help skills: e.g., Assist with mealtime preparation, dress self for outdoors
Literacy skills: e.g., Books, storyboard, alphabet, and writing games

For more information and the application process please visit the CDC’s website.

GEM E-Mail

All JSU students are assigned a JSU email address when they are accepted for admission. Access to email is through an easy to use web-based interface. For more information, visit Technology Support or call (256) 782-8324.

ID Card

JSU ID cards are made at the ID Office window located on the 4th floor of the Theron Montgomery Building (TMB). Hours are 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The office is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Anyone wishing to acquire a JSU ID card must be a current JSU student, staff, and/or faculty member.

University Bookstore

The University Campus Bookstore is located on the second floor of the Theron Montgomery Building (TMB). Students may purchase or rent textbooks, including new and used books, as well as purchase school supplies, electronics, computers, and logoed clothing/gifts. Online textbook ordering is offered for the convenience of evening and distance learning students. The University Bookstore is able to accept Student Financial Aid, Scholarships, and Third Party (i.e., VA, Voc Rehab, Chapter 31) payments. Operated by Barnes & Noble College, the Campus Bookstore also offers a large selection of trade books, including fiction, nonfiction, manga, children's titles, local, and faculty authors.

Mail Center

The JSU mail center offers 24/7 parcel lockers for all mail and package pick up. When your mail and/or package is available for pick up, you will get an email from the JSU campus mail center on your GEM account. The email has an access bar code and information about which bank of lockers contain your package. When you arrive at the mail center, approach the locker and either scan the bar code or enter the access code from your email. When directed, sign the line in the box, hit enter, the locker door will open, grab your package and be sure to close the box door once retrieved. In order to have packages delivered to the mail center on-campus, students have been assigned a number on their GEM account. Make sure you check your email to update your information. The Mail Center is located on the 4th floor of the Theron Montgomery Building (TMB). Access to the parcel lockers is 24/7, and the mail center window is open from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Student Success Center

The mission of the Student Success Center is to provide an integrated network of support to facilitate the academic and personal success of students at JSU. Located in the Houston Cole Library, the Student Success Center provides most programs and services through a central location. Related services such as academic and career advising are offered within the college of the student's major to ensure easy access. For more information about Student Success Center programs and services, see the website at http://www.jsu.edu/studentsuccess. The Student Success Center consists of the following programs and services:

Academic, Athletic, & Career Advising

Academic, Athletic, and Career Advising, a department of the Student Success Center provides academic and career advising to undergraduate students through a centralized advising initiative and athletic academic advising to undergraduate student athletes.

Academic Standing

Academic Support & Success, a department of the Student Success Center, assists students who have not maintained satisfactory academic progress each term by providing reinstatement assistance, learning development plans, and academic assessments.

First & Second Year Experience

First & Second Year Experience Programs, a department of the Student Success Center, provides New Student Orientation, Freshman Forum, Lambda Sigma Sophomore Honor Society, and SSC 101 and 104 Peer Mentoring.

Disability Resources

Disability Resources, a department of the Student Success Center, provides qualified students with disabilities with reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, auxiliary aids and services, assistive technology and student support groups.

Placement Exams

First-&-Second-Year Experience, a department of the Student Success Center, administers and monitors the Math & English EdReady Placement Exams required for all first-year students at JSU.

Student Athlete Academic Success

Academic, Athletic, & Career Advising, a department of the Student Success Center, provides academic advising and targeted academic support for student athletes.

Success Coaching

Academic Support & Success, a department of the Student Success Center, provides success coaching for identified student populations.

Success Courses

Learning Support Resources, a department of the Student Success Center, provides a series of classes aimed at supporting student success.

Student Success Technology

The Student Success Center provides JSU Navigate and Cocky Bot, a proactive and reactive AI chatbot, to support student persistence and retention.

Testing Services

Testing Services, a department of the Student Success Center, provides testing services including exam proctoring, make-up exams, standardized tests, and certification exams.

Transfer and Adult Student Learning Support

Transfer and Adult Student Learning Support, a department of the Student Success Center, offers professional success coaching, specialized learning interventions, and academic skills workshops for transfer and adult learners. Additionally, it sponsors the Alpha Sigma Lambda Adult Learner Honor Society.

Tutoring and Academic Support

Academic Support & Success, a department of the Student Success Center, provides CRLA certified tutoring, UMKC accredited supplemental instruction, professional success coaching, academic skills workshops, Peer Success Coaching, and other learning support programs and services.

JSU Writing Center

The Jacksonville State University Writing Center’s mission is to provide encouragement, support, and guidance to all members of the JSU community to actualize their fullest potential as writers. Located in Stone Center 230, the primary goal of the Writing Center is to assist in students’ development in effectively expressing individual ideas through both written and verbal communicative forms. We do this on both the individual and group levels, through our writing consultations, writing workshops, and embedded English composition studio mentors. Additionally, the Digital Writing Lab (Stone Center 228) is an extension of the Writing Center where students can receive support and assistance with multimodal assignments that incorporate visual or audio components. In-person or virtual Writing Center and Digital Writing Lab appointments can be scheduled via Navigate. Drop-in visits are also welcomed.

Health Center

The Health Center is a primary health care facility providing outpatient medical services, as well as promoting preventive health measures to currently enrolled students, staff, and faculty.

All students admitted to Jacksonville State University for the first time must meet the JSU Immunization Requirements. Students are required to provide evidence of vaccinations through the Medicat Immunization Portal. Information can be found at the following link Immunization Requirements - Health Center.

Houston Cole Library

The twelve-story Houston Cole Library contains most of the university library collections. The collections, which consist of over 1.5 million bound volumes plus numerous periodicals, electronic books and full-text periodical databases, microforms and audio-visual materials, meet the curriculum and research needs of the university community. Materials are available on all reading and interest levels. The library is a depository for government publications and United States Geological Survey maps. Through cooperative inter-library arrangements, the library makes its holdings available and has access to the resources of libraries throughout Alabama, the nation, and the world. The library web page, which provides access to the catalog, periodical databases, and many other electronic resources, can be found at www.jsu.edu/library.

The library is arranged by subjects on individual floors and served by subject specialist librarians. Library faculty and staff on these floors provide reference service and instruction in how to use library materials and search bibliographic databases. Library books and reserve materials may be checked out in the lobby. All library services are available to online and distance education students as well.

A computer lab is located on the 10th floor, and each subject floor provides public access computers hard-wired to the internet. Laptop computers can be checked out from the 6th floor listening lab for in-house use on the library’s wireless networks. Group study rooms are available for check out on select floors.

Houston Cole Library is open 88.5 hours per week when classes are in session. The library offers extended hours during fall and spring semester final exams.

Athletics

Jacksonville State University is a NCAA Division I member of Conference USA after making the transition to its new conference home on July 1, 2023. The Gamecocks’ move to CUSA also elevated their football program from the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision to its highest level - the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Gamecocks experienced immediate success in transition to Conference USA and the FBS level, winning a conference championship in bowling during their first season, and winning the football conference championship in 2024 in their first year eligible to do so.

The Gamecocks also reached the Conference USA Championship Game in men's basketball, bowling, softball, and baseball during the 2024-25 academic year. Prior to joining CUSA, JSU spent two seasons in the ASUN after 18 seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference, where the Gamecocks won conference championships in football, men’s basketball, volleyball, rifle, men’s tennis, men’s golf, women’s golf, baseball, and softball.

The University offers 18 varsity sports, which currently compete in NCAA Division I:

Men – Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Rifle, and Tennis
Women – Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball, and Indoor and Outdoor Track

In addition to the numerous conference championships, JSU also has claimed the OVC Women’s All-Sports Trophy and finished as high as third in the Men’s All-Sports standings. The All-Sports trophy is a symbol of overall athletic excellence in conference-sponsored championships.

Along with their success on the fields of competition, the Gamecocks have also excelled in the classroom. JSU has claimed academic honors across all sports in all of their Division I conferences and consistently posts department-wide Grade Point Averages well over the general student average at JSU. The athletic department has posted a cumulative GPA of over 3.0 for 27 consecutive terms.

In the last academic year, the Gamecocks were very successful on the field, with the football team becoming the first program in FBS history to win a bowl game in its first season and the JSU Bowling team becoming the first program in NCAA history to win a national title in its first season of competition.

Along with JSU’s successful traditions come impressive notables, such as being the only school in the history of NCAA Division I or Division II competition to have national championships in football, basketball, and baseball. Only six other NCAA schools have won a national championship in basketball and football (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Florida, North Alabama, and Wittenberg).

JSU also has the distinction of having the first-ever female to play and score a point in a NCAA Division I football game. Kicker Ashley Martin connected on all three of her extra-point attempts, with her first coming at the 8:31 mark of the first quarter in the Cumberland game on August 30, 2001. In 2016, JSU became the first four-year college in Alabama to claim a Master’s Tournament Champion, when former Gamecock Danny Willett won golf’s most prestigious tournament.

The International House Program

The International House program is a cultural exchange program that emphasizes cultural understanding. The International House Scholarship Committee selects international students for this program. These students must apply to the International House after being fully accepted to the university.

Each year, 40 undergraduate students are accepted as members of this unique undertaking. Approximately one-half of the members are international students, and the remaining students are American. Members of the International House Program must be enrolled as full-time students at the university. All members reside at the International House. Each international student has an American student for a roommate. There are no special fees charged for participation.

In addition to the academic pursuits, members take part in a series of forums, seminars, and social events designed to provide opportunities for information, understanding, and appreciation of the cultures represented. Students may also represent their country and culture to audiences at schools, religious and civic organizations, and to the community as well as giving their impression of Alabama and the United States.

The program places special emphasis on:

Knowledge of cultures of the world
Understanding and appreciation of different cultural values and systems
Providing opportunities for dialogue and discussion among the house students concerning topics related to the countries represented

Persons interested in applying to become a house student are encouraged to see if they are eligible for the program, https://www.jsu.edu/ihop/international-students/eligibility.html. If they are eligible, students can apply at this link:

International Applicants: https://www.jsu.edu/ihop/international-students/applications.html
American Applicants: https://www.jsu.edu/ihop/american-students/applications.html

International Programs

International Student and Scholar Services

The office of International Programs provides support to international students. Services are provided to international students who attend or plan to attend the university. These services include:

assistance in making the adjustment to life in the United States
orientation to the university and the JSU community
proper maintenance and renewal of student immigration status
immigration assistance to F-1 and J-1 students

Study Abroad

This office provides support to JSU students who want to study abroad and faculty seeking research or exchange programs. Students interested in studying abroad are given information on opportunities and assistance in their study plans. Our office offers assistance to university faculty interested in participating in exchange programs. Visiting faculty from universities abroad are provided with support while at JSU.

University Partners and Agency Partners

University partnerships and agent partnerships are managed through the office of International Programs.

Our office supports international activities at the university which may include the oversight of international content in the curriculum, cultural activities, international student organizations, and other student activities with international relevance.

Persons wishing additional information about the office of International Programs are encouraged to visit our website, https://www.jsu.edu/international/ or visit the office on the second floor of the International House.

South Complex

Located less than 2.5 miles from the main campus, the South Complex comprises two adjacent facilities: South Complex Main and South Complex Annex. South Complex Main occupies the former Regional Medical Center Jacksonville Hospital, an 87,304-square-foot facility donated to the University. This building houses several College of Health Professions and Wellness programs including Respiratory Therapy, Athletic Training, and Nursing, providing discipline-specific classrooms, faculty offices, and nursing laboratories. The South Complex Annex, formerly the Brookstone Medical Center, contains the college's High Fidelity Simulation Center and Low Fidelity simulation labs. Additionally, the University's RMC/JSU Health Center operates in the west wing of South Complex Main.

Longleaf Building

The Longleaf Building, located near campus, is utilized for classes for the Department of Theatre and Film. The facility consists of two soundstages: Stage A is a 6000 square foot space which includes a 20' tall greenscreen and mulit-use interior settings; Stage B is a smaller lab space for classwork. The building also houses three fully equipped classrooms dedicated to editing, sound, and other technical areas of film.

JSU McClellan Center

The JSU McClellan facility, located in Anniston, Alabama and about 7 miles from campus, houses the offices for Continuing Education and Outreach, the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy, and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. One to two forensic investigation courses are taught in this location each semester.

Off-Campus Facilities

The Little River Canyon Center

The Little River Canyon Center, a JSU building located in Fort Payne, Alabama, adjoins the Little River Canyon National Preserve. The facility hosts more than one hundred outdoor recreation and environmental education programs to the public each year. Built with the environment in mind, the Little River Canyon Center is the largest geothermal heated and cooled facility in Alabama. Featuring a wide variety of eco-friendly building materials and construction techniques, the Little River Canyon Center is registered as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building. The center is equipped with an amphitheater, auditorium, classrooms, gift shop, library, and more, and is surrounded by beautiful walking trails.

Mountain Center

The Cleburne County Mountain Center in Heflin, Alabama, is one of Jacksonville State University's Field Schools visitor and education centers. Resulting from a partnership between Jacksonville State University, the Cleburne County Commission, and the Talladega National Forest, the Mountain Center houses JSU Field School activities and acts as a visitor center to "the highest concentration of nationally protected natural areas" in the country. Also, a large portion of the center is the "Cleburne County Public Safety & Administration Center." The Cleburne County portion of the building provides services such as finance, human resources, compliance, emergency management, and emergency 911 services.