University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
File:Illinoisemblem.png
MottoLearning and Labor
TypeFlagship, Land-grant, Sea-grant, Space-grant
Established1867
EndowmentUS $2.197 billion[2] (systemwide)
ChancellorRichard Herman
PresidentB. Joseph White
Students42,728
Undergraduates31,472
Postgraduates11,256
Location
Urbana, Illinois, USA
Champaign, Illinois
,
USA
CampusUrban, 1,458 acres (5.90 km²)
SportsFighting Illini
ColorsOrange and Blue            
Websitehttp://www.illinois.edu/ [3]
File:UIUC.jpg
A Corner of Main Quad

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, or simply Illinois), is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious campus in the University of Illinois system. It is one of America's most highly selective state schools with several of its popular undergraduate[4] and graduate[5] programs ranked first in the nation.

The university is composed of 18 Colleges and Institutes that offer more than 150 programs of study. In addition, the university operates an extension[6] that serves 2.5 million registrants per year around the state of Illinois and beyond. The UIUC campus includes 272 major buildings on 1,458 acres (5.90 km²) in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, and has an annual budget of nearly $1.4 billion. As of 30 June 2007, the University of Illinois Foundation - a systemwide endowment - totals at $2.197 billion[7].

As of Summer 2007, 42,728 students from all 50 states and more than 100 nations were enrolled; 31,472 were undergraduate students and 11,256 were graduate students.[1] Until 1998, UIUC was one of the 10 largest universities in the United States in terms of student enrollment.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been consistently ranked as one of the top 10 public universities in the United States by U.S. News and World Report [8]. It is also included on the list of top state schools designated as a Public Ivy. The Public Ivies are America's flagship public universities. A "Public Ivy" institution is defined as one that "provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price". Eleven alumni and nine professors (two of whom are also alumni) from U of I have won the Nobel Prize.[2]

The university is home to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which is an international leader in deploying high-performance computing resources, and is currently partnering with IBM and the National Science Foundation to build the world's fastest supercomputer.[3] This supercomputer, named "Blue Waters", will be capable of performing one quadrillion calculations per second. This will make Blue Waters three times faster than today's fastest supercomputer.

Alumni and faculty have created numerous products and companies including Mosaic and Netscape Communications, Advanced Micro Devices, PayPal, Playboy, the National Football League, Siebel Systems, Mortal Kombat, YouTube, Oracle Corporation, Lotus Software, Black Entertainment Television, the transistor, the integrated circuit, the light-emitting diode, magnetic resonance imaging, Mozilla Firefox, and the plasma screen display.[4]

History

History at a glance
The Illinois Industrial University Established 1867
Opened March 2, 1868
University of Illinois Renamed 1885
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Renamed 1982

Early years: 1867-1880

The Morrill Act of 1862 granted each state in the United States a portion of land on which to establish a major public state university, one which could teach agriculture, mechanic arts, and military training, "without excluding other scientific and classical studies."[5] This phrase would engender controversy over the University's initial academic philosophies, polarizing the relationship between the people of Illinois and the University's first president, John Milton Gregory.[6]

The grave of John Milton Gregory on the UIUC campus

After a fierce bidding war between a number of Illinois cities, Urbana was selected as the site for the new "Illinois Industrial University." in 1867.[5] From the beginning, Gregory's desire to establish an institution firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition was at odds with many state residents and lawmakers who wanted the university to offer classes based solely around "industrial education."[7] The University finally opened for classes on March 2, 1868 with only two faculty members and a small group of students. The debate between the liberal arts curriculum and industrial education continued in the University's inaugural address, as Dr. Newton Bateman outlined the various interpretations of the Morrill Act in his speech.[8] Gregory's thirteen year tenure would be marred by this debate: Clashes between Gregory and legislators and lawmakers forced his resignation from his post as president in 1880, saying "[I am] staggering under too heavy a load of cares, and irritated by what has sometimes seemed as needless opposition."[9] Yet only five years later, in 1885, the Illinois Industrial University officially changed its name to the University of Illinois, reflecting its holistic agricultural, mechanical, and liberal arts curricula.[7] Today, Gregory is largely credited with establishing the University and forming it into the major interdisciplinary university it is today. Gregory's grave is still located on the Urbana campus, situated between Altgeld Hall and the Henry Administration Building. His marker (mimicking the epitaph of British architect Christopher Wren) reads, "If you seek his monument, look about you."

Recent years: Since 1982

The name of the university was changed to The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1982. This was a historic watermark for the campus not only because it clearly communicates the university's distinguished flagship identity within the University of Illinois system, but also presents a separate identity from the system. It also marked the opening of a new era of hi-tech boom to which the campus community has much contributed and thrived with. The engineering and science departments have become the campus spotlight due to their rich innovative legacy [9] and breakthrough scholastic studies[10]. Recently, the university has made strides to keep its edge by expanding research programs and facilities for life sciences[11].

See also: List of University of Illinois Presidents

Colleges and schools

File:UIUC Grainger Library.JPG
Students studying at Grainger Engineering Library

Campus

Alma Mater
See also: UIUC Main Campus

The campus is famous for its beautiful landscape and coherent architecture as well as distinctive landmarks.[10] It was identified as one of 50 college or university 'works of art' by T.A. Gaines in his book "The Campus as a Work of Art".[11]

The Illini Union

The campus's main research and academic facilities are divided almost exactly between the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign. The College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences' research fields stretch south from Urbana and Champaign into Savoy and Champaign County. The university maintains formal gardens and a conference center in nearby Monticello at Allerton Park.

The U of I is one of the few educational institutions to own an airport.[12] The university owns and operates the Willard Airport, named for former University of Illinois president Arthur Joffrey Willard and located in Savoy. The airport was completed in 1945 and began service in 1954. Willard Airport is home to many University research projects and the University's Institute of Aviation, along with flights from American and Northwest Airlines.

The campus is based on the quadrangle design popular at many universities. Four main quads compose the center of the university and are arranged from north to south. The Beckman Quadrangle and the John Bardeen Quadrangle occupy the center of the Engineering Campus. Boneyard Creek flows through the John Bardeen Quadrangle, paralleling Green Street. The Beckman Quadrangle is primarily composed of research units and laboratories, and features a large solar calendar consisting of an obelisk and several copper fountains. The Main Quadrangle and South Quadrangle follow immediately after the John Bardeen Quad. The former makes up a large part of the Liberal Arts and Sciences portion of the campus, while the latter comprises many of the buildings of the College of ACES spread across the campus map.[13]

Research

File:UIUC NCSA Building.jpg
National Center for Supercomputing Applications

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is often regarded as a world-leading magnet for engineering and sciences (both applied and basic). Having been classified into the highest category, comprehensive doctoral with medical/veterinary and very high research activity [12], by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, UIUC offers a wide range of disciplines in undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Urbana-Champaign is also quantified as one of the Top 25 American Research Universities by The Center for Measuring University Performance[13]. Beside annual influx of grants and sponsored projects, the university manages an extensive modern research infrastructures.

The university campus hosts the site of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which created Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, the foundation upon which Microsoft Internet Explorer is based, the Apache HTTP server, and NCSA Telnet. U of I also has the third largest academic library (after Harvard's and Yale's) and the largest public engineering library (Grainger Engineering Library) in the country. In 1952, the university built the ILLIAC (Illinois Automatic Computer), the first computer built and owned entirely by an educational institution. U of I is also the site of the Department of Energy's Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets, an institute which has employed graduate and faculty researchers in the physical sciences and mathematics. It is at the forefront of materials science and condensed matter physics research, and home to Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. There are two cutting-edge complexes for research and teaching recently opened, Siebel Center for Computer Science in 2004 and the Institute for Genomic Biology in 2006. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, however, is still the largest interdisciplinary facility on campus with 313,000 square feet. Both the Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois State Geological Survey are located on campus and affiliated with the university. The university is also recognized as a world-class center for agricultural and horticultural research.

In the 24 February 2004 talk as part of his Five Campus Tour (Harvard, MIT, Cornell, Carnegie-Mellon and UIUC)[14], titled "Software Breakthroughs: Solving the Toughest Problems in Computer Science", Bill Gates has mentioned that Microsoft hires more graduates from UIUC than from any other university in the world.[15] Alumnus William M. Holt, a Senior Vice-President of Intel, also mentioned in a campus talk in 27 September 2007 entitled "R&D to Deliver Practical Results: Extending Moore's Law"[16] that Intel hires more PhD graduates from UIUC than any other university in the country.

Student life

File:UIUC Group Study Outside Engineering .jpg
Outdoor Group Study

Competition

The university admission is highly selective. According to the statistics of the 2007 admitted freshmen, 50% of the incoming students had ACT score of 27-31, 51% had SAT score of 1200-1399, and 59% of the incoming students were top 10% of their class.[14] Some of UIUC's colleges only admit students at the very top. For example, the College of Engineering reported SAT average of 1310-1460, compared to the campus average of 1250-1430. UIUC ended up as one of the top 12 (percentage-wise) and top 6 (numerical-wise) feeder state colleges to elite professional schools [17].

Residences

File:UIUC Guitar.jpg
Music at Leisure Time
File:UIUC CRCE Basketball.jpg
Playing Together at CRCE

The university requires all first-year undergraduate students (who do not commute) to stay in either the University Residence Halls or in University Private-Certified Housing. Both programs are administered by the University's housing division.[15] University housing for undergraduates is provided through twenty-two residence halls in both Urbana and Champaign.

All undergraduates within the University housing system are required to purchase some level of meal plan, although they are free to eat elsewhere if they choose. Graduate housing is usually offered through two graduate dormitories, restricted to those over twenty years of age, and through two university-owned apartment complexes. However, the recent record-sized freshman class has forced the housing division to convert one of the graduate dormitories into undergraduate housing. Disabled students are provided special housing options to accommodate their needs.

There are a number of private dormitories around campus, as well as a few houses that are outside of the Greek system and offer a more communal living experience. The private dorms tend to be more expensive to live in compared to other housing options. Private, certified residences maintain reciprocity agreements with the University, allowing students to move between the public and private housing systems if they are dissatisfied with their living conditions.

Some undergraduates choose to move into apartments or the Greek houses after their first or second year. The University Tenant Union offers advice on choosing apartments and the process of signing a lease.

Greek life

The university arguably has the largest Greek system in the world.[1] There are currently sixty fraternities and thirty-six sororities on the campus. Of the approximately 31,500 undergraduates, about 2900 are members of sororities[16] and about 3100 are members of fraternities.[17] Many of the fraternity and sorority houses on campus are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The university has long been considered a "party school" [citation needed] due to its prominent bar scene, greek system, and "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day," a pseudo-holiday characterized by early bar openings and all-day partying. In recent years, the administration has attempted to curb the excessive partying on this day by instituting mandatory tests and quizzes,[citation needed] and making drunkenness at classes an offense worthy of expulsion from the university.[citation needed]

See also: List of Fraternities and Sororities at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A view of the Grainger Engineering Library from the Bardeen Quad
University Main Library

Libraries

The campus library system is one of the largest public academic collections in the world[18]. In North America, only the private university collections of Harvard and Yale are larger[19]. Currently, the UIUC libraries hold more than 10 million in volumes, which help comprise 22 million items[18] in the main library and the 40 other departmental libraries and divisions. As of 2006, it has also the largest "browsable" university library in the United States, with 7.5 million volumes directly accessible in stacks in a single location.

The online catalog is utilized by over one million people around the world every day. In addition to the main library building, which houses nearly 20 subject-oriented libraries, the Issac Funk Family Library on the South Quad serves the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center serves the College of Engineering on the John Bardeen Quad. All together there are more than 40 departmental or school libraries on campus.

Recreation

The Urbana-Champaign campus has one of the most inclusive state-of-the-art recreation infrastructures for a university in the world.[citation needed] Recently, along with additional expansion the two main recreation facilities, CRCE and IMPE were significantly upgraded. The campus also has more than one thousand clubs and organizations for people to join, ranging from cultural and athletic to subject area to philanthropic. Students can create their own Registered Student Organization if the pursuing interest/concern is not addressed by the current entities.

Transportation

The University bus system is part of the local Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. The university, through an MTD fee garnered on top of students' tuition, provides a substantial amount of funding for the MTD, that in turn provides campus bus service and unlimited access to the entire system for university students, faculty, and staff. As part of this arrangement, the MTD also runs a bus line between Illinois Terminal and the University of Illinois Willard Airport. In addition, the Illinois Terminal provides connection services to Amtrak and Greyhound, making it the focal point of Champaign-Urbana's public transportation systems.

The university maintains an extensive system of bike paths on campus. All students are expected to register their bicycles with the campus public safety department, and to keep their bicycles in a safe operating condition.

Athletics and sports

File:UIUC Illini Basketball inside Assembly Hall.jpg
Basketball Night

U of I's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics fields teams for ten men's and eleven women's varsity sports. The university participates in the NCAA's Division 1. The university's athletic teams are known as the Fighting Illini. The university operates a number of athletic facilities, including Memorial Stadium for football, the Assembly Hall for men's and women's basketball, and the Atkins Tennis Center for men's and women's tennis. The men's NCAA basketball team had a dream run in the 2005 season, with Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini tying the record for most victories in a season. Their run ended 37-2 with a loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the national championship game.

UIUC is also a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Big Ten is the only Division I conference to have all of its member institutions affiliated with the prestigious Association of American Universities, a consortium of 62 major research institutions, and leads all conferences in the total amount of research expenditures.

On October 15, 1910, the Illinois football team defeated the University of Chicago Maroons with a score of 3-0. The game is notable in that Illinois claims it to be the first homecoming weekend, though several other schools claim to have held the first homecoming as well[19][20]

File:UIUC Dance Team.jpg
Illini Cheering Up

The Ice Arena, also known as the "Big Pond", is home to the university's club hockey team and is available for recreational use through the Division of Campus Recreation. It was built in 1931 and designed by Chicago architecture firm Holabird and Root, the same firm that designed the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium and Chicago's Soldier Field. It is located on Armory Drive across from the Armory. The structure features 4 rows of bleacher seating in an elevated balcony that runs the length of the ice rink on either side. These bleachers provide seating for roughly 1,200 fans, with standing room and bench seating available underneath. Because of this set-up the team benches are actually directly underneath the stands.[21]

Chief Illiniwek, or 'The Chief', was the university's official symbol from 1926 until February 21, 2007. Use of this symbol garnered criticism for the university starting in the mid-1970s from Native Americans and others as a misappropriation and inaccurate portrayal of indigenous culture. However, the Chief remained popular among many students and alumni as the school's symbol. The university officials announced the end of the Chief Illiniwek era on February 16, 2007.

Notable faculty and alumni

File:UIUC Beckman Institute.JPG
The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

As of 2007, 21 faculty/alumni members are Nobel laureates and 20 have won a Pulitzer Prize.[1] Alumni have created companies and products such as Netscape Communications, AMD, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, PayPal, Playboy, the National Football League, Siebel Systems, Mortal Kombat, YouTube, Oracle, Lotus, Yelp, and BET. Alumni and faculty have invented the LED, integrated circuit, quantum-well laser, transistor, MRI, and Plasma screen.

Nathan C. Ricker attended U of I and was the first person to graduate in the United States with a degree in Architecture in 1873. Ricker would go on to design several buildings on the Urbana-Champaign campus, including Altgeld Hall and H. E. Kenny Gymnasium. Mary L. Page, the first woman to obtain a degree in architecture, also graduated from U of I.[22]

See also: List of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign people

Rankings

File:UIUC Hallene Gateway.jpg
Hallene Gateway
File:UIUC Law Building.jpg
Law School

International rankings by The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University suggest that UIUC is the 20th best university in North America, and 26th best university in the world.[23] The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Broad Subject Fields from the same research center in 2007 positions UIUC as the 3rd best in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences, only after MIT and Stanford. It is 19th in Life and Agriculture Sciences, 20th in Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and 51st (tied) in Social Sciences.[20] Notably, the ranking is recognized for its ruthless objectiveness and emphasis on research productivity/scholastic achievement.

Illinois was ranked as the 77th best in the world, by The Times Higher Education Supplement’s list of the top 200 universities in the world in the latest release. However, UIUC had ranked in the top 30s for a few years past. This ranking is often criticized due to its volatility: It stresses international popularity and ranks may change tens of places from one year to the next.[21] The WSJ ranking of business schools also has this inherited anomaly, attributed to its survey method.

In the 2007 release of Webometrics Ranking of World Universities by Cybermetrics Lab, which is a research unit of National Research Council of Spain, the University was ranked 11th[22]. In 2006, G-Factor, another academic list trying to measure social network efficacy of universities, has ranked Illinois in the top 8[23].

In its 2008 listings, US News and World Report ranked the undergraduate program 38th overall out of nationally accredited universities and 8th out of nationally accredited public universities[24]. The graduate program has 60 disciplines ranked in the top 30 nationwide, including 23 in the top 5 overall. US News and World Report ranked the Undergraduate and Graduate Accounting programs #2 and #4 respectively in the United States in their 2008 rankings; both programs had been ranked #1 at the same time in previous years. The College of Business as a whole was ranked 11th best nationally. The College of Engineering was ranked 4th, with 14 graduate disciplines ranked in the top 10. The College of Education has six programs ranked in the top 10. The Graduate School of Library and Information Science is top 1, with five programs ranked in the top 10. Chemistry and Physics are also in top 10. Of note is many arts programs are in the first quartile, such as Architecture and Fine Arts. However, Computer Science, Actuarial Science and Psychology are the university's most visibly distinguished departments among others.

As of 2007, Washington Monthly ranks UIUC as the 11th best university in the nation, and ranks 9th among public universities. The methodology of the ranking includes "how well it performs as an engine of social mobility," "how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research," and "how well it promotes an ethic of service to country."[24]

Newsweek International listed UIUC as 48th on their Top 100 Global Universities[25], which "takes into account openness and diversity, as well as distinction in research." Kiplinger's Personal Finance also listed UIUC in its 100 Best Values in Public Colleges[26], which "measures academic quality, cost and financial aid."

The Princeton Review has elected Urbana-Champaign campus as one of the 366 best colleges out of nearly 5,000 degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics[27]. Nonetheless, the university has come under criticism for its use of graduate teaching assistants in teaching undergraduate courses, including upper-level undergraduate courses. For two consecutive years, the Urbana-Champaign campus topped this review's[25] category of "teaching assistants teach too many upper level courses." Yet The Review's ranking itself is attacked with its category lists which are claimed to be lacking accountability, mainly from student random sampling. For instance, University of Wisconsin - Madison was dropped out of the top 20 party school list in 2007 while it was ranked number 1 in the last few years.

Points of interest

File:UIUC Henry Administration Building.JPG
Henry Administration Building

Images: Perspective views

See also

File:UIUC Foellinger Auditorium Inside.jpg
Foellinger Auditorium
File:UIUC Kinkead Pavilion Lobby.JPG
Kinkead Pavilion Lobby at Spurlock
File:UIUC Japan House.JPG
Japan House in Hartley Gardens


References

  1. ^ a b c "Facts 2007: Illinois by the numbers". UIUC Public Affairs. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Campus Facts: Nobel laureates". Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  3. ^ ""National Science Board Approves Funds for Petascale Computing Systems"". Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  4. ^ Please see each article for further details
  5. ^ a b Illini Years: A Picture History of the University of Illinois (1950). p.6"
  6. ^ Illini Years: A Picture History of the University of Illinois (1950). p.11"
  7. ^ a b Brichford, Maynard. (1983), A Brief History of the University of Illinois
  8. ^ "Address of Dr. Newton Bateman" in "Some Founding Papers of the University of Illinois" (Urbana, 1967). p.17
  9. ^ Illini Years: A Picture History of the University of Illinois (1950). p.11"
  10. ^ "Campus Landmarks". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Shari L. Ellertson. "Expenditures on O&M at America's Most Beautiful Campuses". Retrieved 2007-07-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Committee on Campus Operations. UIUC Senate. April 26, 2004.
  13. ^ "http://www.uiuc.edu/images/maps/campusmap.gif". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Student Selectivity". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Housing Home". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Illinois Panhellenic Council". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "http://www.odos.uiuc.edu/greek/IFCchapterMembership.xls". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Rankings". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ http://columbiamissourian.com/sports/story.php?ID=22348
  20. ^ "Origin of the University Homecoming" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Staff (July 26, 2006). "Ice Arena Facility". University of Illinois, Division of Campus Recreation. Retrieved 2006-08-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Professor Paul Kruty. Establishing Architecture at the University of Illinois. Last updated May 28, 2005.
  23. ^ AWRU2007, retrieved September 9, 2007
  24. ^ [1], retrieved September 10, 2007
  25. ^ "University tops one list on Princeton Review". Daily Illini. August 24, 2004. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

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