University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UIUC is 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
Telnet. UIUC also has the third largest academic library 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. UIUC 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. The
Siebel Center for Computer Science recently opened, and the Institute for Genomic Biology will open in 2006. Both the
Illinois Natual 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.
Residences
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Alma Mater statue near Illini Union Photo:Ragib Hasan |
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.
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
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The Alpha Kappa Lambda house was constructed in 1925. |
The university has the largest Greek system in the world. There are currently forty-five fraternities and twenty sororities on the campus. Of the approximately 30,000 undergraduates, about 2900 are members of sororities
and about 3100 are members of fraternities
. Many of the fraternity and sorority houses on campus are on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Libraries
The University has the largest public university library in the world with more than 10 million volumes, which help comprise 22 million items
in the main library and the 40 other departmental libraries and divisions.
As of 2006, it is also the largest "browsable" university library in the United States, with 7.5 million volumes directly accessible in stacks in a single location (rather than in offsite storage).
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 nearly 40 departmental or school libraries on campus.
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's
University of Illinois Willard Airport. In addition, the Illinois Terminal provides connection services to
Amtrak and
Greyhound, making it the focal point of
Chambana'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.
UIUC'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-A and is a member of the
Big Ten Conference. The university's athletic teams are known as the Fighting Illini. The university operates a number of top 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.
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 it was the focal point of the first ever organized
homecoming weekend.
The Ice Arena, also known as the "Big Pond", is home to the University's
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.[
1]
Chief Illiniwek, the university's symbol, has garnered controversy for many years.
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The Morrow Plots on the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is America's oldest experimental field for agriculture, established 1876. |
As of 2005, nineteen alumni are
Nobel laureates and sixteen have won a
Pulitzer Prize. Alumni have created companies and products such as
Oracle Corporation,
Netscape Communications,
AMD,
PayPal,
Playboy,
Siebel Systems,
Mortal Kombat, and
YouTube. Notable people have invented the LED, integrated circuit, transistor, MRI, and Plasma screen.
The University of Illinois has also produced many outstanding athletes. Many have gone on to enjoy distinguished professional athletic careers.
Nathan Ricker attended U of I and was the first person to graduate in the United States with a degree in Architecture in 1873. The first female to obtain a degree in architecture also graduated from U of I.
In 2006,
US News and World Report ranked the undergraduate program 42nd overall out of nationally accredited universities and 11th out of nationally accredited public universities, with various other programs ranked highly as well. The graduate program has 60 disciplines ranked in the top 30 nationwide, including 23 in the top 5 overall. The US News ranked both the Undergraduate and Graduate Accounting programs #1 in the United States in their 2006 rankings. Of note is the College of Engineering, ranked 4th nationwide, with 14 graduate disciplines ranked in the top 10.
Internationally, Illinois is ranked as the 22nd best university in the country, and 58th best in the world, by
The Times Higher Education Supplement's list of the top 200 universities in the world;
[Education news & resources at the Times Higher Education Supplement, retrieved July 7, 2006] and 19th best university in the nation, and 25th best university in the world, by The Institute of Higher Education at
Shanghai Jiao Tong University..
[Top 500 World Universities, retrieved July 7, 2006]Daily Illini - independent student newspaper
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Marching Illini - marching band of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Official website*
Official athletics website*
Campus map*
Daily Illini online*
Illinois Greek community*
U of I Livejournal Community*
Ethnography of the University*
Main Library homepage
