The 'University of Illinois at Chicago', or 'UIC', is a state-funded public research university. It is a member of the
University of Illinois system and is the largest university in the
Chicago area with 25,000 students and 15 colleges, including the nation's largest medical school.
[1] Annual research expenditures exceed $290 million.
[1]. UIC is accredited by the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
[3]
An estimated 1 in 10 Chicagoans with a college degree graduated from UIC.
[4]
History
UIC was founded in 1982 as a merger between the University of Illinois Medical Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. The University of Illinois Medical Center was founded in 1858, as the Chicago Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. Chicago Circle was founded in 1965, as a successor to the University of Illinois, Chicago Undergraduate Division located on
Navy Pier.
[5] The Circle Campus was designed by architech
Walter Netsch in the aptly-named
Brutalist architectural style. Mayor
Richard J. Daley's decision to put the university in the
Near West Side resulted in the destruction of much of the neighborhood.
[6] Construction also displaced
Jane Addams'
Hull House, though its new location is on the UIC campus.
[7]
Academics
Organization
Downtown Chicago as seen from UIC's campus
UIC offers 74
bachelor degrees, 77
master degrees and 60
doctoral degrees[8] through its 15 colleges.
[9] The colleges include Applied Health Sciences
[10], Architecture and the Arts
[11], Business Administration
[12], Dentistry
[13], Education
[14], Engineering
[15], Graduate College
[16], Honors College
[17], Liberal Arts
[18],
College of Medicine[19], Nursing
[20], Pharmacy
[21], Public Health
[22],
Jane Addams College of Social Work[23], and Urban Planning and Public Affairs.
[24]
UIC also includes eleven inter-college programs, including the Cancer Center, the Center for Structural Biology, the Neuroscience program, the Council for Teacher Education, the Graduate Education in Medical Sciences, the Guaranteed Professional Programs Admissions program, the Moving Image Arts program, the National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, the Office of International Affairs, the Study Abroad Office, and the Office of Special Scholarship Programs.
The university's chancellor is Sylvia Manning
[25]. There are seven vice chancellors, one CEO for administrative functions
[25], and 15 deans for each college at UIC. There is also a
library dean and three regional deans for various colleges of medicine
[25].
Diversity
UIC's East Campus in October
UIC’s student body is recognized as one of the nation’s most diverse; there is no racial or ethnic majority among UIC students
[28]. The undergraduate numbers in 2005 were:
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|
| Caucasian | 6,561 | 43.3% |
| Asian American | 3,849 | 24% |
| Hispanic | 2,499 | 16.5% |
| African American | 1,377 | 8.9% |
| Native American | 37 | 0.02% |
| International / Other | 1,013 | 6.7% |
The chancellor also operates six different committees for the status of several students, including
Asian-Americans,
Blacks,
Latinos,
lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders, persons with
disabilities, and
women[25].
Rankings
University Hall, located on UIC's East Campus.
UIC is one of 88 American universities recognized as Carnegie 1 Research Institutions by the
Carnegie Foundation[30]. The ''
U.S. News and World Report'' ranked UIC as a third-tier university in its 2007 issue. In 2004,
National Science Foundation statistics ranked UIC 48th out of the more than 650 universities receiving federal research expenditures, surpassing several
Big Ten universities, as well as the
University of Chicago.
In 2006, UIC tied for 59th-75th place in the best academic universities in North America and tied for 102nd place in the world by an annual listing of the Top 500 World Universities, published by the Institute of Higher Education in Shanghai, China.
[31] The Princeton Review and
Entrepreneur magazine ranked UIC’s entrepreneurship program 9th in the nation for undergraduate studies and 12th for its graduate program in a survey of more than 700 schools.
US News & World Report ranked UIC's part-time MBA at 24th out of over 300 programs nationally, the undergraduate accounting program at 28th, the undergraduate finance program at 22nd, and the graduate finance program at 19th. UIC's graduate accounting program was ranked #30 in 2003. In the journal The Chronicle of Higher Education, the College of Business was ranked #1 in the nation for scholarly output by faculty.
According to 2007 US News & World Report rankings, UIC's undergraduate business program is ranked #73 (top Chicago area undergraduate program) and the undergraduate engineering program is ranked #60 in the United States. Additional 2007 rankings include: Accounting (28th), Biological Sciences (90th), Chemistry (70th), Clinical Psychology (49th), Computer Science (58th), Criminology (20th), Education (42nd), Engineering (58th overall with specialty rankings of 62nd in chemical engineering, 74th in civil engineering, 54th in computer engineering, 61st in electrical engineering, and 57th in mechanical engineering), English (39th), Finance (22nd), Fine Arts (54th), History (42nd overall with a specialty ranking of 19th in modern US History), Mathematics (38th overall with specialty rankings of 19th in geometry, 5th in logic, and 12th in topology), Medical School (62nd amongst research schools), Nursing (8th overall with specialty rankings of 7th in nursing service administration, 9th in nurse practitioner (family), 11th in nurse practitioner (pediatric), 6th in clinical nurse specialist (adult/medical - surgical), 5th in clinical nurse specialist (community/public health), and 9th in clinical nurse specialist (psychiatric/mental health), Nursing - Midwifery (3rd), Occupational Therapy (4th), Pharmacy (8th), Physical Therapy (16th), Physics (62nd), Psychology (99th), Public Affairs (46th overall with specialty rankings of 6th in city management & urban policy and 21st in public finance & budgeting), Public Health (16th), Social Work (24th), and Sociology (46th).
The UIC pharmacy, nursing, applied health sciences, public health, social work, and urban planning programs are consistently ranked among the top in the nation. The College of Dentistry is one of only two such programs offered in the State of Illinois .
UIC has been publicly recognized as a diverse and welcoming community.
US News & World Report repeatedly ranks UIC in the top 10 most diverse universities in the nation.
Campus
East Campus
Alley facing Richard J. Daley Library
UIC is composed of 3 campuses supporting more than 24,000 students and 2,300 faculty members and staff
[32]. The East Campus contains four residence halls, the South Campus contains three, and the West Campus has three. These campuses cover in the
Little Italy neighborhood, and the
University Village section of
Chicago.
UIC's main campus is located in the
Little Italy/
University Village neighborhood of Chicago, just west of the downtown financial district. The neighborhood is home to scores of shops, restaurants, bars, bookstores, cafés and museums. It is currently in a
transitional stage with several large-scale developments creating thousands of new residences. While the majority of UIC's 25,000 students commute from the city and surrounding suburbs, University Village is home to nearly 5,000 students, 3,100 of which live in UIC's 9 residence halls.
UIC has many different areas of main campus with different types of residences. Three Residence Halls are located on the East Campus. Commons West and Commons South are traditional halls, with double rooms opening into a common hallway. Each floor shares a common bathroom. Courtyard is a cluster style building, with rooms grouped together to share a small private bathroom. These three buildings are connected to the Student Center East which houses a Cafeteria, Bookstore, and the Inner Circle (which hosts a Wendy's, Subway, and a Sbarro's). The West Campus houses Single Student Residence (an apartment building for graduate students), Polk Street Residence (Cluster Style), and Student Residence Hall (Traditional). The South Campus is home to Marie Robinson Hall and Thomas Beckham Hall (which are apartment style buildings). Beginning in the fall of 2007, James Stukel Towers will be the home of Freshman and Sophomore students. The building will have suite style rooms, where each suite has a bathroom and living room. James Stukel Towers will have a cafeteria as well.
The
Chicago Transit Authority's
Blue Line, part of the
Chicago 'L', runs through the median of the
Eisenhower Expressway along the north side of the campus. Three stations are in close proximity to the university and its medical campus:
Illinois Medical District,
Racine, and
UIC-Halsted. The
Pink Line services UIC's west campus on
Polk Street and runs directly to the
Ogilvie Transportation Center.
The West Campus is home for UIC's health sciences program. The Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry, Applied Health Sciences and Public Health, as well as the Library of the Health Sciences are all located on the West Campus. The West Campus is in the heart of the Illinois Medical District, where the
University of Illinois Medical Center is located.
Student Recreation Facility
UIC Student Recreation Facility
The UIC
Student Recreation Facility (SRF) is a state-of-the-art recreational complex for UIC students. Opened in spring 2006, the SRF features a three-story climbing wall; multipurpose courts for games such as basketball, indoor soccer, tennis and many others; and a pool with adjoining lazy river.
Other amenities include:
★ . exercise room with equipment
★ 1/8 mile, 3-lane jogging track
★ Lap and leisure pools
★ Racquetball and convertible squash courts
★ 4 court wood floor gymnasium
★ . Multi Activity Court
★ Group fitness suites, including Spin Suite, Mind/Body Suite, Large Multipurpose Suite and the MAC Suite
★ Human performance lab
★ . rock climbing wall
★ Outdoor adventures office
★ Juice and coffee bar
★ Active and passive lounge areas
★ Daily and annual use lockers
Medical Center
UIC operates the state’s major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois’ physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Approximately one in six Illinois doctors is a graduate of the UIC College of Medicine, one in three Illinois pharmacists is a graduate of the UIC College of Pharmacy, and more than 40 percent of the state’s dentists are graduates of UIC’s College of Dentistry.
[33]
Athletics
History
UIC Pavilion, home of the UIC Flames.
UIC Athletics began with the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) in the 1880s with their basketball and football teams whose team colors were red (blood) and iodofome (iodine). P&S eventually affiliates with and then becomes absorbed into the University of Illinois forming its College of Medicine. Meanwhile in 1946 the Chicago Illini represented the two-year University of Illinois undergraduate division located on Navy Pier. In 1965 the Chicago Illini moved to the Harrison and Halsted neighborhood to play for and represent the University of Illinois Chicago Circle campus, a newly built four year degree granting institution. Upon this move the team became known as the Chikas, based on the Chickasaw tribe of Native Americans. During the mid-1970s Chikas was dropped for a couple of reasons, one being that it was not politically correct but secondly because of the stigma of other teams knocking them, since "chicas" in Spanish translates as "girls." During the late 1970s the program was simply known as “Circle.” Finally in 1982 with the University of Illinois Medical Center campus consolidating with Circle Campus to form the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) a contest was held for students to rename the Athletics program team name. The winning entry was The Flames based upon the Great Chicago Fire.
Basketball
UIC’s sports teams are called the Flames, a reference to the
Great Chicago Fire, and their colors are navy blue and fire engine red. The Flames participate in the NCAA’s
Division I as part of the
Horizon League. The team mascot is Sparky D. Dragon. The
UIC Pavilion serves as home to the Flames basketball teams. Jim Schmidt is currently the Athletic Director and has been at the university for 25 years.
[34]
Approximately 300 student athletes compete in 18 varsity sports. The men's basketball team competed in the
NCAA tournament in 2004, 2002 and 1998, and appeared in the
NIT tournament in 2003.
Other Sports
UIC's women's tennis team has won the conference championship ten years in a row, and the women's softball team won the conference championship in six of seven years between 1999 and 2005. The men's baseball team has had 5 straight consecutive regular season victories from 2001-2006. UIC also had a Men's Ice Hockey team before the program folded in spring 1996.
Student Life
UIC Fury
The Fury is the official student booster club of the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Athletics.
Jenny McCarthy's two younger sisters played basketball for the UIC Flames. She was often seen cheering at their games.
Jim Knoedel is the UIC Cross Country and Track coach.
Student Media
★
Chicago Flame Independent weekly newspaper
★
UIC Radio Internet based radio station
★
Red Shoes Review Literary Magazine
★
Housing Cable TV Closed-Circuit Cable Station
Alumnus & Faculty
Main articles: List of University of Illinois at Chicago people
External links
★
Official website
★
University of Illinois at Chicago Academic Computing and Communication Center (ACCC)
★
University of Illinois Alumni Association
★
Campus maps
★
Jane Addams Hull House
★
Official athletics website
★
UICHoops.com - Unofficial UIC Flames Message Board
★
UIC University Library
★
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry
★
University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago
★
Office of the UIC Historian
References
1. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_med_size_brief.php
2. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/webextras/brief/sb_med_size_brief.php
3. The University of Illinois at Chicago 2005-2007 Undergraduate Catalog
4. http://www.uic.edu/index.html/images/UICFactSheet.pdf
5. http://www.uic.edu/depts/uichistory/navypier2.html
6. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/878.html
7. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/615.html
8. http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/academics/degreechart.html
9. http://www.uic.edu/index.html/colleges.shtml
10. UIC College of Applied Health Sciences
11. College of Architecture & the Arts (University of Illinois at Chicago)
12. UIC College of Business Administration - Home
13. UIC College of Dentistry
14. UIC College of Education
15. University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) - College of Engineering
16. UIC Graduate College
17. University of Illinois at Chicago Honors College
18. LAS @UIC
19. UIC College of Medicine at Chicago
20. UIC College of Nursing
21. UIC College of Pharmacy
22. UIC School of Public Health
23. UIC College of Social Work
24. UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
25. http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/administration2.shtml Administration at UIC
26. http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/administration2.shtml Administration at UIC
27. http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/administration2.shtml Administration at UIC
28. Campus Message on Affirmative Action
29. http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/administration2.shtml Administration at UIC
30. University of Illinois
31. http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006_TopAmer.htm
32. UIC Facilities Plan
33. UIC Fact Sheet
34. http://horizonleague.cstv.com/ot/hori-uic-info.html
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