General Introduction

General Introduction

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was founded in 1867 as a state-supported, land-grant institution with a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service. The University has earned a reputation as an institution of international stature. It is recognized for the high quality of its academic programs and the outstanding facilities and resources it makes available to students and faculty. Scholars and educators rank it among a select group of the world's great universities. For more information, see the University's Web site.
The Campus

Located in the adjoining cities of Champaign and Urbana (combined population 100,000), approximately 140 miles south of Chicago, the University and its surrounding communities offer a cultural and recreational environment ideally suited to the work of a major research institution.
The University is a residential campus of classrooms, laboratories, libraries, residence halls, and recreational and cultural facilities with 211 major buildings on the central campus. Nearby are the University's Willard Airport; Robert Allerton Park, the campus's nature and conference center; and agricultural land. More farmland elsewhere in Illinois is used by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences as experimental fields.
Nearly every facility on campus is accessible to people with physical disabilities, and the University's programs and services for people with disabilities have served as models worldwide.
Colleges and Schools

Eight undergraduate colleges offer over 150 programs of study leading to baccalaureate degrees. They are the Colleges of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Applied Life Studies; Commerce and Business Administration; Communications; Education; Engineering; Fine and Applied Arts; and Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Institute of Aviation offers two curricula for prospective pilots. Postbaccalaureate students study in more than 100 fields through the Graduate College and in professional programs through the Colleges of Law, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine, the School of Social Work, and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. National surveys consistently rank the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign among the top ten institutions in many fields of study, with several colleges and departments ranked among the top five.
Student Body

There are approximately 37,000 students and 10,050 faculty and staff members in the University community. About 27,900 undergraduates (53 percent male, 47 percent female), typically from every state in the union and about 100 foreign countries, enroll each year; 90 percent of the undergraduates are Illinois residents. Minority students make up about 25 percent of the undergraduate enrollment.
Undergraduate education is strongly emphasized, and admissions are very competitive. The median ACT composite score of entering freshman is 27 and almost 80 percent of these students ranked in the top 20 percent of their high school classes.
Approximately 125 freshmen are selected annually to join the Campus Honors Program as Chancellor's Scholars. The program fosters close, collaborative relationships between top students and distinguished faculty members through special honors sections, faculty mentors, and summer research opportunities.
Most undergraduate students receive baccalaureate degrees after four years, and many go on to advanced study in the humanities, the sciences, the social sciences, and various professional fields. Typically, over 80 percent of the graduates who apply to law school are accepted, well above the national average; 65 percent of those who apply are accepted to medical school.
Courses and Class Size

More than 4,000 courses are available, although some may not be offered every semester. About 74 percent of all class sections have fewer than thirty students; 44 percent have fewer than twenty.
Graduate Studies

The Graduate College is the academic and administrative unit that has jurisdiction over all programs leading to advanced degrees. The Graduate College develops and safeguards standards of graduate work and promotes and assists research by faculty members and graduate students in all fields. See also the Graduate College Web site.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign enrolls approximately 8,000 graduate and approximately 100 professional students and offers advanced degrees in more than 100 fields of study. In addition to the master's and doctoral degrees offered in many disciplines, a number of departments offer work leading to other graduate degrees. Among these are master's and doctoral degrees in professional and performing arts fields and various master's degrees in teaching.
Descriptions of these degrees are given in the appropriate departmental sections of the Graduate Programs section. More detailed descriptions of graduate programs and the requirements for the degrees may be obtained from the individual departments.
Academic Calendar

The campus has an academic calendar of two sixteen-week semesters and a twelve-week summer session. The fall semester begins in late August and ends in mid-December; the spring semester begins in mid to late January and ends in mid-May. The summer session, which consists of one four-week term and one eight-week term, extends from mid-May to early August. Classes are taught during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; a few evening classes are conducted, primarily for graduate students.
Faculty

Scores of faculty members are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering. Ten scientists received the National Medal of Science while on the faculty.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a leading center for graduate education in the nation. A distinguished graduate faculty of approximately 2,000 members supervises and guides graduate students in research, scholarship, and teaching.
Cultural Resources

The University Library has the third largest collection of any academic library in the nation after Harvard and Yale, with more than 8 million bound volumes and nearly 90,000 serial titles. The University Library includes more than thirty-eight departmental libraries across campus and in the main library building.
The University spends more than $246 million each year on research. In recent years, a significant amount of this support has been directed toward the creation and development of major centers for advanced research and study, including more than $100 million for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. This center has established the University as a recognized world leader in the fields of supercomputing architecture, design, and applications. In 1989, through the generous gift from alumnus Arnold O. Beckman, the University formally opened the Beckman Institute, where interdisciplinary research is conducted on human and artificial intelligence.
A major center for the arts, the campus attracts dozens of nationally and internationally renowned artists each year to its widely acclaimed Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Designed by Max Abramovitz, who also worked on New York City's Lincoln Center, Krannert Center has four indoor theatres and an outdoor amphitheater and is a magnificent showcase for music, theatre, opera, and dance. It also houses generous rehearsal spaces and studios, and professional shops for scenery, costume, properties, audio, and lighting production. More than 300 performances are offered each year, including those by the world's finest professional artists, international orchestras, dance and theatre companies, as well as jazz, folk, and family programs. These performances complement a full season of productions by the Departments of Theatre and Dance and the School of Music.
The Spurlock Museum, opening in 2002, will provide a new home for 45,000 ethnographic and cultural artifacts from civilizations around the world and across history. Visit the Spurlock Museum online. The Museum of Natural History (a division of the Spurlock Museum) currently features permanent exhibits on botany, biology, and geology as well as substantial and significant research collections numbering almost half a million specimens. The Krannert Art Museum has a diverse collection of 8,000 objects ranging from European and American paintings to contemporary art and photography, and African, pre-Columbian, and Asian art. A full schedule of temporary exhibits complements the permanent collections. These museums and the John Philip Sousa Museum and Library are used for research, teaching, and enjoyment. Student work in architecture and related areas is exhibited in the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery. The newly relocated Japan House and Arboretum offers informal and formal tea rooms, stroll gardens, and an authentic space to experience courses in Japanese art and culture.
The Illini Union is a common meeting place for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to eat, play, study, and relax. It contains cafeteria and dining facilities, guest rooms, an art gallery, reading and television rooms, billiards and electronic game rooms, bowling lanes, a ticket and check-cashing counter, and the alumni office. The Illini Union Art Gallery exhibits a broad range of contemporary art and craft objects.
Distinguished public figures and outstanding scholars appear regularly on campus for symposia, lectures, forums, and public discussions.
WILL-TV and WILL-AM and -FM radio stations, all affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service, provide a wide range of cultural programs to a large area of the state.
Many concerts are given in the Music Building and Smith Music Hall, and films are shown on campus throughout the year. Students direct, produce, and act in plays presented at the Armory Free Theatre.
The University's Intramural-Physical Education Building is one of the world's largest structures for university intramural sports and recreational facilities. This facility contains gymnasia, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, handball/racquetball and squash courts, and outdoor tennis courts. There are also weight-training rooms, exercise rooms, an archery range, a camping equipment and resource room, a games room, combative rooms, and administrative offices.
The Assembly Hall holds the distinction of being the world's second largest edge-support dome. It has a permanent seating capacity of 16,000, and is used for Big Ten basketball games, performances by touring companies, concerts, conventions, convocations, and other activities. Special events are scheduled throughout the year.
Memorial Stadium, with a seating capacity of 70,000, is home for Fighting Illini football.
Willard Airport serves commercial, general, and private aviation, and houses the Institute of Aviation. Located six miles southwest of campus, the airport is also a center for research, education, and military aviation.
Recreational Facilities

The University of Illinois is the home of one of the top collegiate recreational sports programs in the nation, the Division of Campus Recreation (DCR). All sectors of the University community can participate in the multifaceted recreation programs sponsored by the division.
Recreational programs and services include excellent multipurpose facilities, special events, outdoor recreation, sports clubs, intramurals, exercise and fitness programs, Ice Arena activities, and student leadership and employment opportunities.
The Ice Arena, 406 East Armory, is open year-round for skating, hockey, broomball, skating lessons, parties, and other activities. The Atkins Tennis Center, an athletic recreational complex, opened in 1991.
Throughout the year, DCR offers diverse programs appealing to a wide range of interests. These special events include Fresh Starts, Quad Day, Sports Trivia Bowl, poolside concerts, and activities for children living in Orchard Downs, the University's family housing.
Exercise and fitness programs sponsored by DCR include aerobics classes, water exercise, and low-impact aerobics classes. Several wellness programs are also offered through the SportWell Program.
More than forty sport clubs provide a variety of activities for students, ranging from martial arts and scuba to rugby and ice hockey. Team and individual sports competitions, practice sessions, and tournaments with other universities are possible.
The outdoor recreation program offers opportunities for students to rent camping and outdoor equipment such as tents, backpacks, and skis. Several clinics, weekend workshops, and extended trips to such areas as the Grand Canyon and the Florida Everglades are scheduled during the year.
Numerous activities are available to students in the organized intramural sports program. Students can participate in men's, women's, corecreational, and graduate/faculty/staff divisions in sports ranging from flag football, soccer, and basketball to tennis, swimming, and wrestling. Novel sports such as in-line skating, ultimate Frisbee, broomball, and wallyball have many enthusiastic participants.
Students may apply for part-time employment and volunteer leadership opportunities at DCR. Each year more than 800 students work as intramural sports officials and supervisors, lifeguards, receptionists, designers, aerobic instructors, building/field supervisors, and intramural event managers.
Student Activities

One of the distinct advantages of a large university is that students with varying interests can find many avenues for expression. At the Urbana-Champaign campus, there are about 850 registered student organizations.
Approximately 19 percent of undergraduate men and 22 percent of undergraduate women are actively affiliated with the Greek system, one of the largest fraternity and sorority systems in the nation with 52 fraternities and 29 sororities.
All three branches of the armed services have Reserve Officers' Training Corps units on campus.
Students have the opportunity to participate in performances by eleven different choral groups, five concert bands, the Marching Illini, three orchestras, five jazz bands, innumerable small ensembles, and even a Russian-style balalaika orchestra. Each year, Illinois Opera Theatre stages full-length operas, operettas, and opera scene programs. Athletics provide another avenue of enjoyment outside the classroom. The campus intramural program is one of the largest in the nation, with about 30 percent of all students participating.
The campus is a member of the Big Ten Intercollegiate Conference, and in recent years its athletic programs have achieved national stature in a number of men's and women's sports. The Fighting Illini, in orange and blue, field nine men's and ten women's teams each. Men's intercollegiate sports include baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, gymnastics, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. The women's program includes basketball, cross-country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming/diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
Campus Visitors Center

Prospective students and their parents are invited to visit the campus and participate in small group information sessions at the Campus Visitors Center. The center is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding campus holidays. Presentations are made by staff members of the Office of Admissions and Records, and arrangements can be made to meet with admission counselors and with representatives from specific academic units, the Offices of Student Financial Aid, and the Housing Division. The Campus Visitors Center is located in the Levis Faculty Center, 919 West Illinois Street, one block west of Lincoln Avenue in Urbana.
Student-conducted tours of the campus are available when classes are in session and weather permits. Reservations are recommended and may be made by calling the Campus Visitors Center, (217) 333-0824. For further information, visit http://www.uiuc.edu/.

Produced by the Computing and Communications Services Office (CCSO) and the Office of Publications and Marketing for the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The University of Illinois is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. Cover photograph by Don Hamerman.