U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA)

Superintendent: Rear Admiral Allen B.WORLEY

Address: 300 Steamboat Road, Kings Point, NY 11024-1699, United States

Phone/fax numbers: Tel: +1-516-773-5000, FAX: +1-516-773-5347

URL: http://www.usmma.edu

Overview:

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), established in 1943, is operated by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The mission of the Academy, located on 82-waterfront acres 20 miles from New York City, is to educate and graduate officers and leaders of honor and integrity to serve in America's merchant marine, maritime and intermodal transportation industries, and the Armed Forces.

Some 1,000 young men and women from across the United States and its territories comprise the Academy's Regiment of Midshipmen. The Academy's four-year program includes a year at sea aboard U.S.-flag merchant vessels. Students are required to pass a U.S. Coast Guard-administered license examination for third mate or third assistant engineer to graduate. There are six academic majors, all leading to a Bachelor of Science degree: Marine Transportation, Maritime Operations and Technology, Logistics and Intermodal Transportation; Marine Engineering; Marine Engineering Systems; and Marine Engineering and Shipyard Management. In addition, students receive Naval training for commissioning as U.S. Naval Reserve officers at graduation. The Academy operates the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS), which offers a wide range of maritime and transportation Continuing Education courses.

Updates:

1. The USMMA was included in the 2004 edition of the Princeton Review's The Best 351 Colleges in the United States.
2. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, recognizing the growing concern for global transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has offered its first LNG course to members of the Class of 2005. In addition, the Academy's Academic Dean, Dr. Warren Mazek, a member of the IAMU's LNG Board, participated in a meeting of industry, government and maritime training representatives in Pusan, South Korea during February 2005 to discuss LNG transportation safety issues.
3. Members of the USMMA faculty had a lead role in developing standards and curricula for maritime security training both nationally and internationally. The domestic project was mandated by the U.S. Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002; Academy faculty partnered with counterparts in India to craft model maritime security courses for the United Nations' International Maritime Organization.
4. The USMMA recently entered into a cooperative agreement with Russia's Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy regarding faculty visits, the exchange of academic information, scholarly papers and publications, joint research programs and possible short-tern student exchanges.
5. The IAMU has provided research grants to two faculty members of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's Engineering Department. Prof. Boris Butman is conducting an international study of undergraduate marine engineering programs to determine if a standard curriculum for this discipline is feasible. In addition, Prof. Butman and Prof. James Harbach are examining the accreditation of worldwide marine engineering programs to develop a value analysis of such accreditation.
6. An employment survey of the USMMA's Class of 2004, conducted six months after graduation, indicates that 45 percent of the class is employed at sea aboard merchant ships; 26 percent has entered the maritime industry ashore; 28 percent is serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces; and 1 percent is attending graduate school.
7. A new initiative at the USMMA, the Alternate Power Program (APP), focuses on research and training in viable alternate energy technologies - solar, wind and hydrogen power. Engineering Department faculty and students work together in trials and testing in this vital area. More details are available at: http://www.app.usmma.edu