Northwestern Polytechnic University
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Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) is a private institution of higher education accredited to award Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees in science, technology and management.
The school is located in the city of Fremont, California, USA. Founded in 1984, NPU has grown rapidly.
[edit] Facilities
The NPU campus is situated in a high-technology office park, in the midst of numerous corporations and information technology companies; also, pertinent to note, is its proximity to the high-tech center of Silicon Valley as well as the campuses of Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
The campus buildings house the classrooms and meeting rooms; administrative and faculty offices; the library and reading rooms; several electronics, communications, database, and simulation laboratories; as well as a game room and other student facilities. The NPU dormitories are located just off campus in the neighboring residential area.
[edit] History
Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) was founded on January 2, 1984 and incorporated as a California nonprofit, public-benefit institution. Because of the strong demand in Silicon Valley for qualified engineers, the School of Engineering began granting Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering in November 1984, followed by the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1985. NPU opened the Computer Systems Engineering programs at both the bachelor's and master's levels in 1987. Under high-spirited teamwork, NPU grew quickly from a budding school of a few students and faculty in 1984 to a well-established school by 1989. February 23, 1989 marked a milestone for the University as NPU attained full institutional approval from the California Department of Education. When the entrepreneurial spirit in Silicon Valley demanded students with business training, NPU established the School of Business and began to offer the Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Business Administration and Information Sciences degrees in 1995. At the same time, the School of Engineering continued to expand its programs by offering bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science. In January 1998, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) accredited NPU to award bachelor's and master's degrees. In April 2005, the ACICS accredited NPU to award two doctorate degree programs: Doctor of Business Administration and Doctor of Computer Engineering.
Modern information technology has greatly impacted the administrative and instructional environment of higher education over the last 20 years and has steadily been providing ever-increasing benefits to the campus operational management and program instructions. Incorporating information technology in campus infrastructure has become a clear and vital operational goal for many institutions of higher education as they move steadily towards the digital campus of tomorrow. As an institution with its research and educational focus primarily on the instructions of business and technology, Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU) has taken the vision of digital campus as one of its primary development goals. NPU formulated its digital campus initiatives in the late nineties. Four phases of development activities were defined and pursued. In April 2005 the school reached its goal of digital campus as the last phase of web-based operation tools was successfully launched.
