Johnson & Wales University Campus Profile

Johnson & Wales University was established in 1914 as private culinary arts & hospitality, and business institution offering over 50 academic majors. The school is composed of undergraduate, and graduate business programs within the City of Providence’s downtown, and Harbor side communities. JWU’s network of private educational facilities offer comprehensive undergraduate business programs in several different hospitality fields including culinary arts, hotel & restaurant management, and restaurant marketing & design programs. JWU prepares students for careers in the above-mentioned undergraduate schools through educational, and student workshop programs. The school itself is located in downtown Providence, and the Harbor Side campus in nearby Cranston RI.

The school is unique because it’s located within 2 different neighborhoods, the Down City campus is located in the downtown business district of historic Providence, while the Harbor Side campus is located in suburban Cranston RI off the bay. The school has a good sized footprint in the downtown business district with school facilities starting on Weybosset Street to the north and continuing along to Chestnut Street on the western edge of the city campus. The southern point of the campus footprint lies on Friendship Street, and the eastern most point of the facility can be found on Eddy Street. The Harbor Side campus is considerably larger due to it’s suburban landscape and academic resources.

As you can see, the school’s 2 footprints are large for a private culinary art school with approximately 166 acres of city, and suburban property. JWU’s educational landscape offers students a professional education while still allowing students to enjoy a close-knit city community. The Down City & Harbor Side campuses offer students a small college town community without boundaries within the state’s largest city. The campus has approximately 38 buildings including lecture, food service/kitchens, residential, research, studio, resource centers, and dining facilities. The internal campus setting also provides students, employees, and alumni with several types of services including health, physical fitness, library, cultural meeting places, and several small green areas.

The issue of student housing on campus is a challenge for JWU because the school is located in an urban/suburban environment with a limited number of student housing resources. JWU does not guarantee housing for any of it’s students, on-campus housing is only available through a lottery system. JWU currently has approximately 3,534 students living on campus which, is about 30% of it’s students. The school actively competes for local real estate resources within the general area of the school to help students enjoy campus life. Johnson & Wales also has a very large commuter student population of approximately 70% of it’s students driving to the Harbor Side on a daily basis.

The physical layout of the Harbor Side campus is unique for a suburban school because the landscape is situated on Providence Bay overlooking the city. The school has several roads leading to the campus off Narragansett Blvd. Additional access routes off the Boulevard lead to Michigan Ave in the heart of the campus. The area around the perimeter of the campus can be considered mixed residential/commercial with several streets on the Westside of campus off Narragansett leading to local residences and the eastern edge of campus of Shipyard Street leading to commercial facilities. The school uses natural waist high stonewalls as natural barriers for entrance to several of it’s buildings but it doesn’t have any formal gates or metal fencing as barriers to the campus.

The Down City campus obviously has a different physical layout due to it’s urban cityscape. The City of Providence is a very mixed community with local residents, students, artists, tourists, and commercial facilities all within the city’s landscape. You will find students from several local colleges and universities wearing very little of school apparel in the area, mostly you will find Johnson & Wales, RISD, Brown, and Providence College students embracing the city culture by not relieving school colors. The down city area is full of artsy retail, and creative eateries within walking distance to JWU’s main entrance on Weybosset Street.

JWU has developed 3 freshman resident facilities/ first year spaces within the Down City, and 5 first year halls on the Harbor Side campus landscape to provide housing that’s in close proximity to several campus life areas, including recreation, lecture halls, and the student center for easy access to student facilities. JWU is a medium sized urban/suburban culinary school that has links to Providence on a 24-hour basis including government buildings & services, music & theatre productions, sporting & cultural events, museums, nightlife, and restaurants. JWU’s downtown location allows students to enjoy additional nightlife on Thayer Street in College Hill in close proximity to Brown, and RISD by walking, or taking the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) bus, and trolley up the hill to the student friendly community.

The 2 internal campus setting provides students and employees with several types of student services including culinary facilities, museums, library services, and cultural meeting places and dining halls. JWU’s observed focal points of reference during the Down City campus tour were the row of academic buildings along Weybosset Street, and campus life buildings within Snowden Hall (Freshman Quad) along Page Street. Another busy area of the campus were the studio buildings on Broad and Pine Streets including Xavier, and McNulty Halls down the hill street from the main quad and the Citizens Bank Center (Student Center). Students use these multi-story facilities to work, socialize and talk about school and life. The external observed focal points for the school could be found along downtown Providence. The main student life and academic facilities on the Harbor View campus can be found on Michigan Ave between Harbor side Blvd, and Shipyard Street.

The published demographic information for the school describes a culturally diverse student population with students from all across the world. JWU has developed several different programs, within it’s educational network to offer students a Culinary Arts and Business education format to enhance it’s commitment to different types of career endeavors. The school has also developed several facilities within the U.S. to highlight it’s commitment to the growing hospitality field including facilities in Providence, Miami Florida, Denver, and Charlotte North Carolina. Below is a description of demographics for JWU’s campus in Providence Rhode Island.

Johnson & Wales University (Providence): The school is home to approximately 3,898 male, and 4,281 female full, and 351 male, and 523 female part time students. JWU also has 511 male, and 541 female students enrolled in the school’s graduate program. The average age of a freshman is 18 years old. 81% of students are from out of state, mostly the northeast States. Students on campus provide a diverse multi-cultural makeup including students from 50 states, 91 foreign countries, and Canada. 46% of JWU students are white, 8% are African American, 2% Asian Americans, and 6% are Hispanic, and 27% race unknown.

Published Academic Standards for Admission Programs

Johnson & Wales University offers a world class culinary arts & hospitality program for undergraduate, and graduate students within it’s 2 campus communities. The school has a very unique way of evaluating student performance within it’s application process. JWU applicants take an SAT, and ACT exam; but the school puts more emphasis on culinary art & practical job performance that demonstrates student potential and individual talent. Each student who applies to the school must provide examples of finished original culinary work/designs during the application process. Below is a specific list of under graduate admission requirements.

• Johnson & Wales University (Providence): Freshman Class: 14,927 applied, 10,817 accepted, 2,691 enrolled. The school’s SAT Verbal & Math scores are unpublished, as is their ACT score requirements. Application Deadline: is open.
• Faculty/ Classroom: 56% of faculty is male, 44% female. All both teach undergraduates. The average class size in an introductory lecture and laboratory course is unknown /unpublished.
• Student / Faculty Ratio: 31 to 1
• Retention Rate: 30% do not continue beyond 1st year, 70% remain to graduate.

Student Housing

The purpose of student housing is to provide safe and reasonable accommodations for students living away from home. The issue of housing and dormitory life is a critical element of overall campus life because students spend a large amount of time in their rooms. Student housing units historically come in 3 different styles including traditional corridor, suite, and apartment style units.

JWU doesn’t guarantee housing for any of it’s students who have filed their intent to attend the school by the stated deadline. Housing is available through a lottery system for all students who have continuously registered as full time students. JWU currently has 3,534 students living on campus, which is approximately 30% of it’s students. Housing resources for freshman students on campus are situated within Snowden Quad on the Down City campus and North, South, and West Halls on the Harbor View Campus. The university has approximately 11 resident halls on both campuses The school has also developed a large apartment style-housing facility called (Harborside Village) for upper classman within the campus off Harborside Blvd to keep more upperclassman on campus. Information about housing can be found on the quick links page of this document.

Off Campus Housing

Downtown Providence Rhode Island has been described as a mixed residential/ commercial/ State Capital with a muti- cultural community. The reason I have mentioned the overall community of downtown is to re-assert the point that JWU’s network of facilities has a smaller real estate footprint within the area compared to their Harbor Side facility. These campus footprints allow almost every student to have housing within commuter distance to the campus. The issue of off campus housing has a different feel to it compared to other university off campus housing demands. The demand for housing, especially off campus housing is usually a tough issue for institutions attempting to keep students within the general geographical area.

JWU has a large student commuter population that enjoys the city’s public transportation, and highway networks. Student’s in the city, including JWU students have several student friendly communities within a short distance to the university including College Hill (Brown & RISD) and Smith Hill in western Providence (Providence College & Bryant University) to rent, and share off campus student housing. Contact information for these housing services can be found on the quick links page.

Campus Life

JWU is a multi-cultural campus environment that provides students with a social, and professional atmosphere. The admissions demographics paint a picture of a very diverse community with students from all over the world. The local community of Providence only adds to the school’s international status because the community has multi-cultural roots as well. JWU also addresses the issue of ecology in a positive way. The physical environment is reasonably clean and well maintained and the economic conditions are favorable to students and local residents due to the available services in walking distance to the school. Gaebe Commons (The Green Quad) off Weybosset Street is an example of the school’s commitment to developing informal meetings areas within a city landscape.

The emotional climate and culture of the entire neighborhood is a combination of intellectual and social due to it’s close relationship with Providence’s local college, and residential communities. The school’s mature student population, educational, and professional resources makes JWU an attractive institution because it offers students real world professional experiences in Providence and nearby Boston, while providing social relationships with local organizations and community groups through student activities for everyone to enjoy throughout the year. The Harbor Side campus can be considered a commuter campus for working professionals due to it’s location, academic facilities, and student parking resources, the Down City location is more traditional in regard to campus life.

The university also thrives on it’s physical, professional, and intellectual relationships with several local colleges and hospitality venues including Brown University located in the College Hill section of Providence, and the Marriott Corporation’s Providence Hotels and Restaurants. These facilities connect to each other on several RIPTA Bus Lines, and roadway networks as part of Providence’s mass transit system. Students at JWU can also enjoy student life in Boston, which is 1 hour away by train. Students flock to Boston each year to enjoy the city campus lifestyle in regard to activities, socialization, theatre, sports, and history. The City of Boston can be considered one the nations main college cities because it has several distinguished institutions, and a mass transit system that can connects them to the Boston cityscape.

This issue of school culture is also a very important part of campus life because everyone wants to have a connection and emotional fit to their new school and community. Johnson & Wales is first, and foremost a university that is linked physically and emotionally to the hospitality world. JWU has done a great job developing positive social systems with it’s students by providing a series of coordinated programs including professional workshops and seminars for freshman students to advance these studies. This type of process provides a foundation for learning and personal growth providing over 65 academic clubs, student organizations, and over 11 intramural sports activities.

Campus life at JWU is more than academic excellence; it’s about building personal relationships with students and facility that continues throughout each student’s career. The school also offers students the ability to develop culinary arts, and hotel management skills by observing, and working in the industry. When you visit the campus you will find students wearing kitchen whites, and business suites enjoying a campus culture focused on their creative fields while still having time to enjoy local performing arts, history, cultural events, restaurants, museums within Providence.

JWU students work hard, but they also enjoy school sports activities on campus , students can also travel up College Hill within the massive Brown University sports complex within the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center (OMAC), and the Erickson complex to experience big campus sports activities. Students can also enjoy the City of Providence and nearby Boston which has hundreds of venues to enjoy the previously stated activities. Public Transportation: Johnson & Wales University has developed a student shuttle system that connects students with several areas of downtown including Providence’s transit system through several different shuttle bus & trolley routes. The campus shuttle also provides hourly service to the Harborside campus for students living, and studying on the nearby suburban facility. In formation about this service can be found on the quick links page of this document. The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) have several bus stops on Waterman Street & Atwells Ave for the # 92 Green Trolley Line for students, and local residents of College Hill. This valuable service connects to all of Providence’s transit lines and regional train services for Amtrak and T.F. Green Airport. Regional Public transportation resources can be found within Providence Station on Gaspee Street that link with trains to suburban Massachusetts, and lines to suburban Rhode Island (Newport) through (RIPTA & MBTA). Amtrak also uses Providence Station as a major hub within it’s Northeast Corridor. This complex train system also allows riders the ability to travel to downtown Boston, T.F. Green, and Logan Airport in approximately 45 minutes. People who live, work, and visit Providence usually travel by some type of mass transit. Students should be encouraged to purchase a metro card to get around. Mass transit information can be found at: www.RIPTA.com

Providence itself is located within close proximity to the 2 northeastern states of Massachusetts, and Connecticut, which make it convenient to several suburban communities and highway networks. The city itself also has several main roadways that connect the community to major state highways including the Rhode Island Turnpike (Route 95) that links Boston and suburban Connecticut, which is the main highway corridor on the eastern seaboard. Shopping, restaurants, and national hotel chains can be found within these major transportation networks after a short drive from the campus.

Community Profile

The Downtown/ College Hill area of Providence Rhode Island has been described in different ways, including a scholarly and intellectual community with it’s student population, and historical neighborhood architecture. The city also has a cosmopolitan feel to it because it’s houses the state capital, along with numerous historical restaurants, performing arts, museums, and finally sporting venues. Providence is also a coastal community situated within 45 minutes of Boston, and 45 minutes to the sailing capital of the world Newport RI. The footprint of the community also seems to be split into several different neighborhoods including the state capital area, the downtown business center, federal hill, and the historic buildings around the Johnson & Wales, RISD, and Brown University campuses.

The neighborhood has a normal amount of restaurants, retail, and entertainment resources for a small campus community. The area can also be considered a working class residential community with colonial, and federal style homes, apartment buildings, and commercial establishments lining several streets. The community also has several tourist, government, shopping, and business centers within the immediate area of JWU. Additional student resources can be found up the hill on Thayer Street located in the heart of College Hill on the eastern edge of RISD & Brown’s campus. Student population, restaurants, retail, and historical neighborhood architecture can be found within the entire neighborhood. The greatest number of residents in this area is in fact students, and employees of several local colleges and universities.

The community has a real welcoming type feel to it because a large number of people live, work, and study within the College Hill area. Downtown Providence can be considered a commuter area because large numbers of local residents travel to downtown businesses and state government every day. The area also has an urban/ city type feel to it because people usually walk on Memorial Blvd and Thayer Street for food and shopping because having a car is a luxury due to very limited parking resources. The issue of walking alone at night outside the perimeter of the campus buildings should also be curtailed in my opinion. The local streets in, and around the campus seem to be well patrolled by public safety but students should always exercise caution when walking around the community.

The following demographics for the City of Providence describe a multi-cultural community within a total population of 175,255 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. JWU. has a strong relationship with this diverse community. An example of this commitment can be observed through JWU’s community services handbook that describes educational programs, health care programs and services, legal programs and services to local residents who may require community help.

A Census Bureau community survey highlights several characteristics to describe the population including: 48% of residents are male, 52 are female. 54.5% of residents are white, 14.5% are African American, 25% are Hispanic or Latino, and 6% are Asian. The median age of population is 28 years old. 74% of residents are 18 years old or over and 10% of city residents is over the age of 65. The issue of housing in Providence is also interesting. 92% of all housing units within the city are occupied. 65% of housing units are renter-occupied, while 35% of units are owner-occupied. Only 8% of total available housing was vacant.

Johnson & Wales Quick Links

• Home Page: www.jwu.edu
• Maps & Directions: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=19956
• Admissions: www.jwu.edu/departments.aspx?id=16452
• Financial Aid: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=27242
• Campus Newspaper: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=11632
• Greek Life: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=11084
• Student Housing: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=6116
• University Meal Plan: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=282
• Off Campus Housing: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=6620
• Student Handbook: www.jwu.edu/uploadedfiles/Documents/student_Life/handbooks/jwustudenthandbook2008-09PVD.pdf
• Student Clubs & Organizations: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=11298
• Athletics & Intramural Sports: www.providence.jwuathletics.com/landing/index
• Campus Shuttle Services: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=304
• Student Parking: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=12616
• Information Technology Center: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=302
• Health Services: www.jwu.edu/content.aspx?id=10320

Providence Rhode Island Area Hotel Quick Links Page

Providence Biltmore Hotel
11 Dollance Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Courtyard by Marriott Downtown
32 Exchange Terrace
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

The Hotel Providence
139 Mathewson Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Radisson Hotel Providence Harbor
220 India Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Providence Marriott Downtown
1 Orms Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02904

Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown
58 Weybosset Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Providence Hilton
21 Atwells Avenue
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

The Westin Providence
1 W.Exchange Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02903

Below is a list of accommodations approximately 20 minutes from Providence College within the T.F. Green Airport facility in Warwick Rhode Island.

Sheraton Providence Airport
1850 Post Road
Warwick, Rhode Island 02886

Radisson Providence Airport
2081 Post Road
Warwick, Rhode Island 02886

Best Western Providence Airport
2138 Post Road
Warwick, Rhode Island 02886

City of Providence Transportation Links

• T.F. Green (Providence Airport) Warwick Rhode Island www.pvdairport.com/
• Providence Public Transportation (RIPTA) 401-781-9400 or www.ripta.com
• Providence Ferry & Train Service www.ripta.com

Providence Regional Train & Bus Services

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Regional train service to Boston via the Providence/Stoughton Line. Line originates at Providence Station, 100 Gaspee Street. Information about service can be found at: www.mbta.org

• Amtrak Rail Services: (800) 872-7245 or www.amtrak.com
• Greyhound Bus Services: (800) 231-2222 or www.greyhound.com
• Peter Pan Trailways: (800) 237-8747 or www.peterpanbus.com

Organized Tours of Providence Rhode Island

• Trolley Tours of Providence (401) 421-3825
• Conway Grey Line Bus Tours of Providence: www.conwaytours.com
• Tour Rhode Island: www.visitrhodeisland.com/TourRI/

Providence Museums & Galleries

Below is a sample list of Museums & Galleries in the City of Providence Rhode Island. A complete list can be found at: www.providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism/museums.php

Culinary Archives & Museum at Johnson & Wales University (401) 598-2805 or www.culinary.org

Restaurants in Providence Rhode Island

• Alforno (Mediterranean) 577 Main Street (401) 273-9760
• Adesso ( Italian) 161 Cushing Street (401) 521-0770
• Café Paragon (American) 234 Thayer Street (401) 331-6200
• Hemenway’s (Seafood) 1 Old Stone Square (401) 351-8570
• Pizzico (Italian) 762 Hope Street (401) 421-4114
• XO Café (Fusion) 125 N. Main Street (401) 273-9090
• Asian Paradise (Asian) 165 Angell Street (401) 454-0222
• Andrea’s (Greek/American) 268 Thayer Street (401) 331-7879
• Café Nuovo (Contemporary) 1 Citizens Plaza (401) 421-2525
• Sicilia’s (Italian) 181 Atwells Ave (401) 273-9222
• Union Station Brewery (Pub Food) 36 Exchange Terrace (401) 274-2739
• Trinity Brewhouse (Pub Food) 186 Fountain Street (401) 453-BEER
• Red Stripe (American) 465 Angell Street (401) 437-6950

Complete information about hotels, restaurants, shopping, museums, and general tourism activities in nearby Boston Massachusetts can be found in the document “ Everything in Boston” on the Your College Profile web site.

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