Mercy College is the dynamic, diverse, New York City area college whose students are on a personal mission: to get the most out of life by getting the most out of their education. Mercy is a private, nonprofit institution, providing an engaging learning experience for students and offering more than 90 undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs within five schools: Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The main campus is located just outside of New York City in Dobbs Ferry, on 66 acres of land overlooking the picturesque Hudson River, with additional campus locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Yorktown Heights. Proud to be ranked as one of the most affordable, nonprofit private institutions in the country, Mercy College is committed to preparing students for rewarding, in-demand careers. The College’s rigorous programs and comprehensive support services provide students with a strong foundation for academic and future success. The Mercy College faculty is dedicated to advancing student learning and engagement through excellence in teaching, mentorship, and cultivating a love of learning. Mercy College professors include Fulbright Scholars, published authors, and national authorities in their fields.
Mission Statement
Mercy College is committed to providing motivated students the opportunity to transform their lives through higher education by offering liberal arts and professional programs in personalized and high-quality learning environments, thus preparing students to embark on rewarding careers, to continue learning throughout their lives and to act ethically and responsibly in a changing world.
Mercy College History
Founded as a junior college in 1950 under the auspices of the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy College became a four-year college offering programs leading to the baccalaureate degree in 1961. The College received full accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education by the end of that decade. In the next half-decade, Mercy boldly set a course for its future, declaring itself independent, and co-educational, doubling the size of the existing physical plant, and initiating the first of many community outreach efforts to non-traditional student populations through the establishment of a Spanish bilingual program.
Mercy’s innovative spirit soared in the 1970s when it established extension centers and branch campuses through-out communities in Westchester County and New York City, and the College positioned itself on the leading edge of the adult student market with flexible scheduling, multiple and convenient locations, and accelerated degree completion programs. New populations of students—many of whom were first in their families to pursue higher education, including veterans, police officers, fire fighters and immigrants—found a home at Mercy. Mercy College became a pioneer in online education more than 25 years ago, offering courses as well as entire degrees online.
By the early 1980s, Mercy was granted authority to offer its first graduate program. Throughout the next two decades, the College expanded its portfolio of graduate programs. Today, Mercy offers 35 graduate programs to thousands of students, primarily in teacher education, health professions, and business. In 2006, Mercy was granted the authority to offer its first doctoral degree program in physical therapy.
Mercy College is known for its high-quality education, personalized experience, talented faculty, proximity to New York City, and affordability. Students study on the Dobbs Ferry campus located on 66 acres overlooking the beautiful Hudson River, at campuses in the Bronx, Manhattan, or Yorktown Heights.
Committed to supporting students throughout their education, Mercy College offers a personalized learning experience that includes the College’s Personalized Achievement Contract (PACT) program, founded in 2009. Professional mentors help students navigate their college career from the moment they are accepted until graduation. PACT is a nationally recognized mentoring program that serves as a model for student success.
To enhance the student experience and provide a comprehensive learning environment, Mercy College continues to make physical improvements to its campuses. The purchase of Our Lady of Victory Academy allowed the College to increase classroom space, particularly for experiential learning opportunities for Mercy students in many disciplines, including the Business, Health Sciences, and Music and Art. The College’s Division II soccer, lacrosse, baseball and field hockey teams compete on a state-of-the art athletic turf field on the Dobbs Ferry campus. This multi-purpose field was awarded the New York American Council of Engineering Companies’ Excellence Silver Award. Hudson Hall, a 350-bed residence hall and student commons (completed in 2016), was designed and built to serve the needs of all students, resident and commuter. Situated in the center of the Dobbs Ferry campus, Hudson Hall connects the whole college community. A student activity lounge and veterans’ center on the Bronx campus meet the needs of Mercy’s large veteran population, while continuous improvements classroom, student commons, and lab space are made at the Manhattan and Yorktown campuses.
Mercy College is committed to developing engaged citizens and instilling values of the Mercy College motto, Inserviendo Consumere (consumed in service). The College has a rich tradition of service through the “Mercy Gives Back” initiative, which encourages students to participate in, and lead, service opportunities. On-campus events and international travel experiences—including medical missions to Central and South America—help students discover and appreciate cultures far from home. Throughout its history, Mercy College has remained dedicated to its mission to make available the transformational power of a college education. Mercy’s commitment to quality, student support, and affordability—as well as innovation—remains as strong today as ever.
Commitment to Student Learning
Grounded in the Mercy College mission—to provide motivated students with the opportunity to transform their lives through education—our mission regarding educational assessment is to guide and support faculty and staff in their efforts to improve the quality of courses, programs, and the student learning experience by clarifying expectations and using reliable and valid measures of learning achievement to determine the impact of pedagogical and support strategies. All academic programs have learning outcomes which provide expectations for student learning, and are published on the program websites.
Pre-Professional Preparation Programs
Mercy College provides strong opportunities for students to take the first step toward a professional career. A broad scope of disciplines in the arts, humanities, and sciences offer academic preparation for competitive admissions tests required for law school, medical school, dental school, and other professional training. Students are encouraged to contact the respective Dean’s office (Social and Behavioral Sciences for pre-law; Health and Natural Sciences for medical, dental, and allied health professions) to schedule an appointment with a pre-professional faculty advisor.
Campuses and Online
The main campus of Mercy College is located in Dobbs Ferry with additional campus locations in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Yorktown Heights, making the educational process convenient and accessible to students throughout the New York metropolitan area.
Mercy Online offers students an accessible and convenient way to learn. No matter where students are located, they may take courses, or complete entire degrees, online. At Mercy College, there is no distinction between the expectations of traditionally taught classes and online classes.
Benefits of online learning include:
- Affordability. Eliminate transportation time and expenses.
- Flexibility. You set your schedule for success.
- 24/7 Accessibility. Study anywhere at any time.
Mercy Online currently offers more than 40 undergraduate and graduate degrees entirely online. Students also may satisfy their General Education curriculum requirements online.
Libraries
The Mercy College libraries serve students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the College. The main library at the Dobbs Ferry Campus holds the majority of collections and supplements those at three other campus libraries (Bronx, Manhattan, and Yorktown Heights) through a timely shipping and delivery system. All library facilities afford space for collaborative or concentrated learning and easy accessibility to library holdings and services. Librarians are available to provide research assistance, consultations, and information literacy instruction. Library resources are available in many formats, including traditional print books, e-books, journals, newspapers, and audiovisual resources. Desktop computers, laptops, and wireless network provide access to the libraries’ online catalogs, electronic databases, and Internet resources to support the College’s on-site and online programs. Off-site users have access to the libraries’ online catalogs, e-books, and databases through the Mercy College libraries’ website at https:// www.mercy.edu/academics/libraries/.
Information resources are selected for quality and their ability to support the total curriculum and selected research areas. The libraries’ total collection includes over 150,000 combined book and e-book titles. Library databases and e -journal subscriptions provide 24/7 access to over 60,000 journals and their full text articles. The libraries’ resources are cataloged using OCLC, the major international bibliographic utility, and Sierra, the libraries’ integrated online library system. The collection is arranged according to the Library of Congress classification system. The libraries have in place resource-sharing arrangements for electronic and print resources with other libraries and library systems, principally through WALDO (Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization) and METRO (Metropolitan New York Library Council). Materials at other libraries can be requested through Interlibrary Loan; most arrive in a week to ten days, free of charge. Comments from students, faculty, and other library users are encouraged and useful to the libraries as they continue to enhance the services, systems, and collection of physical and electronic resources.
Center for Academic Excellence and Innovation (Learning Centers)
The Center for Academic Excellence and Innovation at Mercy College supports and enhances the teaching and learning process at the College. The primary goal of the Learning Centers is to help students become self-sufficient, lifelong learners by offering academic support in efficient, effective, and convenient ways. The services are open to all Mercy College students who want to improve or enhance their learning skills, (not only to those who are having difficulties). Learning Centers are available at all campuses. For further information, please call 914-674-7402 or visit https://www.mercy.edu/academics/academic-tutoring.
Center for Global Engagement
The Center for Global Engagement (CGE)—launched in 2010—acts as a hub for students, faculty, and staff to engage with global issues on campus, in New York’s international context (especially with the United Nations) and around the world. The Center supports a wide range of initiatives to facilitate exchange of knowledge across international boundaries—through interdisciplinary and experiential global learning opportunities, faculty-led study abroad programs, public events of global interest and speaker series on international topics, forums for interaction with international students and faculty, engagement with local community-based groups with international focus, opportunities for faculty exchanges, and research collaborations with international scholars. For further information, please visit https://www.mercy.edu/global-engagement.
Center for STEM Education
The Center for STEM Education (CSE)—launched in 2017—acts to create opportunities for groups typically underrepresented in STEM to engage in enrichment activities for learning, career readiness, enjoyment, and personal and community growth. As the only such academic center in the Westchester and Rockland region, CSE hosts events, organizes activities, and conducts community outreach that includes local schools and related research on STEM education. The CSE partners with Mercy faculty on initiatives and grants and provides opportunities for Mercy students to volunteer in the community and support STEM-related projects. For further information, please visit https://www.mercy.edu/education/stem-education.
Technology for Students
Mercy College is committed to leveraging technology to support its mission. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the following systems and services.
- The website www.mercy.edu for general information about the College.
- The website connect.mercy.edu for class registration, grades, payments, email, degree audit, and a variety of other functions.
- Hundreds of computers installed in classrooms and labs, and available to borrow in the Libraries. Microsoft Office, SPSS, Visual Studio, and many other software titles are installed.
- Free, open wireless Internet at all campuses (Mavericks-Wi-Fi).
- State-of-the art technologies in the Learning Center.
- Cloud-based collaboration tools built in to the .edu email account.
- Free download for personal use of most Microsoft products by logging into Office 365 (http://email.mercy.edu)
- 24/7 technical support at (914) 674-7526 .
- 3D printing in the Libraries.
- High-tech labs in all schools, including a mock trading floor, medical simulation labs, music recording studios, video editing studio, and more.
- Student success tools like EAB Guide, Mercy Mobile, and Blackboard Mobile.
Mercy College considers the College’s email system, along with the United States Postal Service, as an official means of communication. Mercy College will consider employees and students to be duly informed and in receipt of notifications and correspondences sent by a college administrator, staff, or faculty member when delivered to an employee’s and students Office 365 (@mercy.edu) college email account. It is recommended that employees and students frequently access their college-assigned email account for official information. Students may choose to have their email accounts forwarded to an off-campus account. Such individuals, however, are responsible for managing their disk quota such that there is room for new mail to arrive and for forwarding their Mercy email account to a functioning alternative email address. The College is not responsible for delivery problems to nonofficial email accounts. In certain circumstances, the College may also deliver information to students via text message to the cellular telephone number listed on the official College records for the student. If the student wishes to opt-out of text communications, she/he must inform the Student Affairs office.
Institutional Review Board (Research Involving Human Participants)
Mercy College is committed to the ethical treatment of human participants engaged in research. All Mercy College faculty, students, and employees wishing to engage in research are responsible for compliance with the College’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) policies. The Mercy College IRB reviews each research proposal and consent process in order to safeguard the rights and welfare of human participants. The IRB must determine that each study conforms to ethical standards, including a reasonable balance of risks and anticipated benefits; adequate provisions for informed consent; and equitable selection of participants. Copies of the “Guidelines for Submitting a Proposal for Research Projects Involving Human Participants” may be obtained online at https://www.mercy.edu/academics/research-and-grants/institutional-review-board-irb. Information and resources regarding IRB Guidelines are available at the Reserve Reading Desk of the Dobbs Ferry Campus library and online at https://www.mercy.edu/academics/research-and-grants/institutional-review-board-irb. All research proposals must be submitted to the IRB Chairperson by the first of the month. For further information, please contact the Chairperson by email at mcirb@mercy.edu.
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