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University of Illinois at Springfield
Established	1969
Type	Public
Endowment	US $2.197 billion[1] (systemwide)
Chancellor	Richard D Ringeisen
President	Stanley Ikenberry (interim)
Faculty	325 full and part time faculty
Students	4,855
Undergraduates	2,863
Postgraduates	1,898
Location	Springfield, Illinois
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Blue and white
Mascot	Prairie Stars
Athletics	10 teams in 6 sports - NCAA Division II - Great Lakes Valley Conference
Website	UIS Website

The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) is a liberal arts university in Springfield, Illinois. The University was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995.

The University of Illinois at Springfield serves almost 5,000 students in 21 undergraduate programs, 20 master's programs, and a doctorate in Public Administration. The university was once one of the two upper-division and graduate universities in Illinois, but now accepts freshmen, transfer and graduate students.

Academics

Rankings

UIS is a Tier 1 institution and the fourth best public university in the Midwest according to the 2009 Edition of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News and World Report. The report also notes that UIS students graduate with the third smallest debt load of all universities in their category. The Master’s category includes colleges and universities that provide a full range of undergraduate and master’s programs but only a few, if any, doctoral programs.^[2][3]

Online Degrees

The University of Illinois at Springfield has been offering online courses and degrees since 1999. The Sloan Consortium has recognized UIS with the 2007 award for Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Teaching and Learning ^[4] and the 2008 Ralph E. Gomory Award for Quality Online Education.^[5] The Society for New Communications Research, in 2008, also recognized UIS with their Award for Excellence in Online Reputation Management.^[6]

Each year since 2001, the Sloan Consortium has offered one award for "Most Outstanding Achievement by an Individual in Online Learning" - the 2002 award was given to Professor Emeritus Ray Schroeder, the 2003 award was given to Visiting Research Professor Burks Oakley, and the 2006 award was given to the UIS James J. Stukel Distinguished Professor, Karen Swan.

Campus Life & Organizations

The UIS Journal is the weekly student newspaper of the University. Its circulation is 2,000 per week.^[7]

Campus Buildings

Most buildings are given a three-letter acronym based on the name.

Upper Quad

• University Hall - UHB
• Public Affairs Center - PAC
• Sangamon Auditorium in PAC
• Brookens Library - BRK
• Health & Sciences Building - HSB

Lower Quad

• WUIS/WIPA Radio Station - WUIS
• Student Life Building - SLB
• Visual and Performing Arts Building - VPA
• Student Affairs Building - SAB
• Human Resources Building - HRB
• Cox Child Care Center

Elsewhere on Campus

• The Recreation and Athletic Center - TRAC
• Sangamon Schools Credit Union
• Shepherd House
• Spencer House
• UIS Campus Police Dept.

Campus Housing

Approximately 900 students live in campus housing. Campus apartment flats, townhouse apartments, and family housing clusters are named after native Illinois plants.

Residence Halls & Commons

• Lincoln Residence Hall - LRH
• Homer L. Butler Commons - HLB
• Founders Residence Hall - FRH

Apartment Flats

• Clover Court - CLV
• Bluebell Court - BBL
• Larkspur Court - LKR

Townhouse Apartments

• Pennyroyal Court - PRL
• Foxglove Court - FXG
• Marigold Court - MGR
• Trillium Court - TRL

Family Housing

• Sunflower Court - SFL

Athletics

UIS athletic teams are known as the Prairie Stars, the university competes in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference. The university joined the GLVC in October 2008 and will begin competing in the 2009-2010 season.

Campus Streets

Most of the streets that lie within the campus are named after Illinois poets and novelists.

• Vachel Lindsay Drive
• Carl Sandburg Lane
• Eliza Farnham Drive
• Gwendolyn Brooks Drive
• Nelson Algren Lane
• William Maxwell Lane
• Richard Wright Drive
• University Drive
• University Plaza
• Shepherd Road

Notable alumni

• Vince Demuzio - Illinois state senator, 1975-2004 ('81 B.A. in Education and Human Services; '96, M.A. in Education and Public Policy)^{[8 ]}
• Karen A. Hasara - Former mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Illinois state senator, ('72 BA Psychology, '92 MA Legal Studies)
• Gordon Heddell - United States Department of Defense inspector general ('75 MA Legal Studies)^[9]
• Robert "Bobby" McFerrin Jr.- vocal performer and conductor (attended 1975-76, did not receive degree)
• Dana Perino - White House Press Secretary for the George W. Bush administration ('95, MA Public Affairs Reporting)^{[10 ]}
• Abdul Hakim-Shabazz - Conservative talk radio host and attorney, based in Indiana and Illinois
• Ward Churchill - former University of Colorado professor, social critic, activist ('74 BA Communications, '75 MA Communications)^[9]
• Timothy Davlin - Mayor of Springfield, Illinois (attended, did not graduate)
• Al Lewis - Columnist, Dow Jones Newswires

Notable faculty

• Phillip S. Paludan, professor of history - Abraham Lincoln and American Civil War scholar, Lincoln Prize recipient, and the Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair of Lincoln Studies (died August 1, 2007).
• Paul Simon, Founder/first director of UIS' Public Affairs Reporting Master's Program - United States senator, 1988 presidential candidate

References

External links

• Official website
• Admissions website - arrange campus visits
• Official athletics website
• UIS on Facebook
• Campus maps and tours
• The Journal: Weekly Student Newspaper of UIS

Coordinates: 39°43′44″N 89°37′03″W / 39.728941°N 89.617581°W / 39.728941; -89.617581