University of California, Santa Barbara
The
University of California, Santa Barbara (
UCSB) is a coeducational
public university located on the
Pacific Ocean in
Santa Barbara County, California. It is one out of 10 campuses of the
University of California. Its current student body is around 18,000. U.S. News ranks UCSB the 12th best
Public University in the United States[
1], and the 45th best
University[
2].
The Princeton Review rates the University of California, Santa Barbara with an Admission Selectivity of 94 out of 99 points. Admissions are classified as "Most Selective" by US News[
3], with a freshman admissions average
GPA of 4.0 and average
SAT of 1260 for the Fall 2005 class. [
4]. 95% of freshman UCSB applicants are in the top ten percent of their High School class and 52.8% of freshman students who applied for admission in Fall 2005 were admitted. Also, 63% of transfer students who applied for Fall 2005 were admitted, and the mean GPA for those admitted was 3.20. [
5] The Admission fee is $60. Applications can be completed online, and the regular Admission Deadline is 11/30Office of Admissions is located:
1210 Cheadle Hall, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-2014
UCSB was founded in
1909 as a small
normal school for training public school teachers, and four years later moved to a 13-
acre (53,000 m²) campus in the Riviera area above town. By
1935, the school was called Santa Barbara State College, or "SB State". In
1944, SB State joined the
University of California system and upgraded its curriculum to provide master's degrees. Ten years later, UCSBC, as it was then called, moved to a former
World War II Marine air base and began building a new campus at its present site encompassing to the eastern point called Campus Point (also known as Pelican Point or Goleta Point) of a small peninsula. To the west is a residential area called
Isla Vista, which was established in 1925 and 1926. An old
helipad still exists at the cliffs near
Campus Point to this day, as well as a few old roads formerly serving
Marine coastal artillery positions. The area now known as Campus Point was used by the Marines during World War II to practice assault landings. In
1958, UCSBC was renamed UCSB, and steadily progressed to a nationally ranked research university that currently offers almost 100 bachelor's programs, 50 master's programs and over 30 Ph.D. programs.
Newsweek named UCSB one of America's 25 Hottest Colleges of 2005. [
6] It is currently ranked 45th among national universities (10th among public national universities) by US News and World Report [
7]. Admissions are classified as "Most Selective" by US News, with a freshman admissions average GPA of 4.0 and average SAT of 1260 for the Fall 2005 class. [
8]
UCSB's demand for admissions is constantly rising. The faculty of UCSB received 6
Nobel Prizes since 1998, for landmark research in
chemistry,
physics, and
economics.
Various achievements and information about UCSB can also be obtained from the UCSB website: http://www.ucsb.edu/pop/index.shtml
In April 2006, Playboy Magazine named UCSB the #2 party school in its College Girl Edition. In 2005, the Princeton Review ranked it as the #4 party school in the nation, up from #22.
In recent years, a number of professors in UCSB have won
Nobel Prizes in different subject areas. [
9] Additionally, UCSB is the only institution to have two Nobel Prize winners in the same year on two separate occasions.
UCSB is also a politically active campus. Many social science classes at UCSB still discuss the
Bank of America arson in Isla Vista during the 70s, and how the
National Guard was ordered to stabilize the campus and Isla Vista. The
UCSB Campus Democrats and the
UCSB College Republicans are also among the most active organizations on campus. Over the years, other political parties and organizations have also been known to be extremely active on campus, such as the
Green Party,
Libertarians,
NORML, and the Queer Student Union.
(2006) U.S. News and World Report ranks the following UCSB graduate programs as follows:
*Biology (40th),
*Chemical Engineering (9th in the US),
*Chemistry (31st),
*Earth Sciences (21st),
*Materials Science and Engineering (3rd),
*Physics (10th).
The Geography graduate program is ranked 4th in the nation by the
National Research Council Report on Quality in Ph.D. Education in the U.S.
In 2004, ISI Essential Science Indicators found that publications by the UCSB Electrical Engineering program were cited more in "Thomson ISI-indexed journals of electrical & electronic engineering between 1998 and 2002." than any other institution's publications. [
10].
|
The Storke Tower and the University Center in front of the UCSB Lagoon. |
UC Santa Barbara is one of only 62 research-intensive institutions elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. UCSB celebrates the five Nobel Prizes won by faculty members since 1998 for landmark research in chemistry, physics, and economics. U.S. News and World Report's guide, "America's Best Colleges," the most widely read college guide in the country, ranks UCSB the 10th best public university in the nation. UCSB was selected as one of the first California Institutes for Science and Innovation. Among all applicants (47,893 for Fall 2006), 12,033 had a high school Grade Point Average of 4.0 or higher. The predecessor to UCSB, Santa Barbara State College, focused on teacher training, industrial arts, home economics, and foreign languages. Intense lobbying by an interest group in the City of Santa Barbara led by Thomas Storke and Pearl Chase persuaded the State Legislature, Governor Earl Warren, and the Regents of the University of California to move the State College over to the more research-oriented University of California system in 1944 during World War II. The State College system actually sued to stop the takeover, but the Governor did not support the suit. A state initiative was passed, however, to stop subsequent conversions of State Colleges to University of California campuses.
Originally, the vision for the UC Santa Barbara Campus was a small, several thousand-student liberal arts college, a so-called `Williams College of the West'. Chronologically, UCSB is only the 3rd general-education campus of the University of California, after Berkeley and UCLA. The post WWII baby boom, the availability of a relatively spacious ex-Marine Base in Goleta for a campus led to a change of plans in the late 1950's, when UCSB was designated a multi-college campus with a Chancellor instead of a Provost. UCSB now has three undergraduate colleges: the College of Letters & Science, the College of Engineering, and the
College of Creative Studies. The College of Creative Studies offers students an alternative approach to education by allowing them to pursue advanced, independent work in the arts, mathematics, and sciences. The campus also has two professional schools, the
Donald Bren School of Environmental Science, located in
Bren Hall, and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. UCSB also hosts eight National Research Centers, including the
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (at which many of the world's prominent theoretical physicists, including
Stephen Hawking, are regular visitors) and the Materials Research Laboratory. Five of these Centers are supported by the National Science Foundation. Its faculty includes 6
Nobel laureates, 25 members of the
National Academy of Sciences, 27 members of the
National Academy of Engineering, and 21 members of the
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
UCSB is third in applications received in the UC system, behind UCLA and UCSD, and was the fourth most selective in admissions in 2005.
This is partly due to the 20,000 cap on the student population. 10â€"15% of this population is graduate students. [
11]
UCSB's campus has not been annexed by the city of
Santa Barbara and is not technically part of the city. It is actually closer to
Goleta. The City of Santa Barbara runs a strip of "city" through the ocean to the Santa Barbara airport, which borders the university campus. Although UCSB has a Santa Barbara mailing address, as do other unincorporated areas around the city, it is not physically in Santa Barbara city limits. The campus is divided into three parts: Main campus, Storke campus, and West campus. The campuses surround the community of
Isla Vista.
The mascot of UCSB is the
Gaucho and the school colors are blue and gold. UCSB's sports teams compete in the
Big West Conference, with the exception of the men's and women's water polo teams and the men's volleyball team, which are in the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Santa Barbara is best known for its women's
basketball and
men's soccer teams. In 2004, the
men's soccer team advanced to the
NCAA championship match where it lost to
Indiana University Bloomington on
penalty kicks. In 2005, the women's basketball team won its unprecedented ninth straight
Big West Conference Championship. The team had its best year in history during the 2004 season when it advanced to the
NCAA Sweet 16 where it lost to eventual champion
University of Connecticut.
The
Gauchos men's basketball team had its best years in the late '80s and early '90s under coach Jerry Pimm, highlighted by a 77-70 victory over #1 UNLV in 1990, and NCAA tournament appearances in 1988 (lost to Maryland) and 1990 (defeated Houston and lost to Michigan State). The Gauchos returned to the NCAA tournament in 2002 where they nearly upset powerhouse Arizona in the opening round. UCSB basketball and volleyball teams play at the
Thunderdome (capacity 6,000).
UCSB won the 1980 national championship in men's water polo. The men's volleyball team has finished as the NCAA runner up 4 times, most recently in 1988.
UCSB's most famous athletic alumni are
NBA former player and current Laker assistant coach
Brian Shaw,
MLB all-star shortstop
Michael Young, 3-time U.S. Olympic Water Polo goalie
Craig Wilson, and
MLB player
Barry Zito, who transferred to USC after a year at Santa Barbara.
Sports radio and
television personality Jim Rome is also a graduate of UCSB.
Other Gauchos who made the pros in their respective sports include:
*
Mike Martz, former head coach of the St. Louis Rams and current offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (Martz transferred to Fresno State after UCSB dropped football in 1972).
*
Dave Chapple, NFL punter, Rams. Led NFC in punting in 1971.
*
Larry Dierker, former major league pitcher and manager
*
Conner Henry, NBA guard, Rockets and Celtics
*
Richard Anderson, NBA forward, Clippers, Trailblazers, and Nuggets
*
Chris Speier, MLB shortstop, primarily with the Giants and Expos
*
Jerry Reuss, MLB pitcher, Cardinals, Astros, Pirates, Dodgers
*
Dave Walsh, MLB pitcher, Dodgers
*
Joe Redfield, MLB shortstop, Pirates
*
Mark Leonard, MLB outfielder, Giants
*
Joe Kmak, MLB catcher, Brewers
UCSB is one of several
California-based
universities to discontinue their division 1
football programs, which it did in 1972. That final season, in an attempt to make enough money to keep the program going, the Gauchos had road games at traditional powers Tennessee and Washington, where they were soundly beaten. UCSB brought back football as a non-scholarship division II sport in the late 80s, but discontinued the sport again after 1991 when the NCAA ruled that schools that competed in division 1 in all other sports could not "drop down" to division II or III for football only. The stadium,
Harder Stadium, is still used for the
UCSB soccer teams.
Since 1998, UCSB athletics have received support from a booster club, the Gaucho Locos, founded by the UCSB student body. The Gaucho Locos were originally known as the Gauchoholics but changed its name due to negative connotations, especially since UCSB already has a reputation as a party school. The Gaucho Locos could be spotted at UCSB athletic events with their signature golden yellow t-shirts with a top ten list on their back, similar to the ones on
The Late Show with David Letterman.
The Locos are also accompanied by their famous mascot, "The Fantom of the Thunderdome" a man with a
Zorro mask and a black cape, who usually wears denim shorts along with a golden yellow UCSB basketball jersey and a Gaucho loco t-shirt underneath.
UCSB Men's Lacrosse team is one of the best club teams in the nation. The program boasts 2 National Championships and consistently is in the top tier of the WCLL (Western Collegiate Lacrosse League). Head Coach Mike Allan brings his Princeton pedigree to lead the Gauchos to a success in the future.
|
One of the main entrances to the Santa Cruz residence hall. Five of the on-campus residence halls are named after the islands in the nearby Channel Islands chain. |
There are eight
residence halls at UCSB, seven of which are located at the Main campus, and one of which,
Francisco Torres, is located near the entrance to West campus north of
Isla Vista.
Francisco Torres has its own dining commons.
The Main Campus residence halls are found in two different locations. On the east end of campus are the residence halls named after five of the
Channel Islands:
Santa Rosa,
Santa Cruz,
Anacapa,
San Miguel and
San Nicolas. There are two dining commons located near the Channel Islands residence halls. The Ortega Dining Commons is located between San Miguel and the University Center
(Ucen), and the De La Guerra Dining Commons (better known as DLG) is located between Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Nicolas.
The two other residence halls, San Rafael and
Manzanita Village, are located on the west side of campus and primarily house continuing and transfer students. The Carrillo Dining Commons is located in
Manzanita Village, right next to San Rafael Hall. Manzanita Village was completed in 2002, and is the newest dorm on campus.
UCSB does not require freshmen to live on campus, but the vast majority chooses to either live in university-owned housing or in university-affiliated housing.
Students may also choose to rent housing in the bordering community of Isla Vista. Rent varies, but is generally high. An estimated average for rent costs is $500â€"$800 US/month to share a bedroom, and includes trash pickup and water utilities. Low-cost housing is limited, with the cheapest source being the
Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative.
Other sources of housing include the Fraternity/Sorority system, and outlying communities (i.e. Goleta, Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Montecito).
There are a variety of on campus centers offering social, recreational and preprofessional activities for students. The
UCSB Multicultural Center puts on numerous activities every year to support students of color and promote awareness of diversity issues on campus. Other organizations and centers include the
Daily Nexus, the campus newspaper, the
La Cumbre Yearbook and the school radio station,
KCSB 91.9. The
UCSB Recreation Center also hosts a variety of activities, from Adventure Programs to ballroom dancing classes.
Students grab food and hang out at the
Arbor, the
Ucen, and the
Coral Tree Cafe.
UCSB is home to 18
fraternities, and 19
sororities.
*
Storke Tower, completed in 1969, is the tallest building in
Santa Barbara County. It's home to a five-octave, 61-bell
carillon.
*
Davidson Library, located in the middle of the UCSB campus 2.6 million books, journals, and periodicals
*
KCSB 91.9 broadcasts from beneath
Storke Tower.
*Campbell Hall is the university's largest lecture hall with 860 seats. It is also the main venue for the
UCSB Arts and Lectures series which presents special performances, films and lectures for the UCSB campus and
Santa Barbara community.
*The
Lagoon is a large body of water near the coastline, between San Rafael and San Miguel Residence Halls. It is fed by a combination of run-off and ocean water used by the Marine Science Building's aquatic life tanks, thus, it is a combination of fresh and salt water.
*
ARPANET, the world's first electronic computer network, was established on
October 29,
1969 between nodes at UCLA and the
Stanford Research Institute, in
Menlo Park, CA. [
12]. In addition to SRI and UCLA, UCSB and the
University of Utah were part of the original four network nodes. By
December 5,
1969, the entire 4-node network was connected.
*
Isla Vista â€" Many students live in Isla Vista, which is immediately adjacent to campus. Isla Vista since the early 1960s has been among the most wide open student ghettos in the world; however its image has greatly improved over the past several years with better clean-up, renovations, and increased law enforcement by the Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP).
* Some student groups inside UCSB jokingly refer to the school as the "Harvard of Party Schools" because of its high academic standards in comparison to other schools with a "party-school" reputation.
*UCSB is the only campus in the state of California to offer an undergraduate B.S. degree in
Pharmacology.
*UCSB is the only UC campus with its own Paramedic Rescue Unit. It is staffed by full-time professional paramedics and part-time undergraduate EMTs.[
13]
*
Finn E. Kydland [
14], Professor of
Economics and 2004
Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics
*
David J. Gross [
15], Director of the
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate in
Physics*
Alan J. Heeger [
16], Professor of
Physics and of
Materials and 2000 Nobel Prize Laureate in
Chemistry*
Herbert Kroemer [
17], Professor of
Electrical and Computer Engineering and of Materials and 2000 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics
*
Walter Kohn [
18], Founding director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Research Professor of Physics and 1998 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry
*
Shuji Nakamura [
19] Japanese inventor of the bright green, white and blue
GaN LEDs and a blue laser. In 2006, Prof. Nakamura received the Millennium Technology Prize from the Finnish Government.
*See
List of University of California, Santa Barbara peopleUCSB has a numerous list of notable
Alumni in
business,
entertainment,
athletics and
politics. For more details, see:
List of University of California, Santa Barbara people.
*
UCSB Official website*
UCSB facts and rankings*
Notable UCSB Alumni*
Official athletics website*
Daily Nexus Online*
Greek Life*
Associated Students UCSB*
UCSB housing choices
