Public university in Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
The University of Southern Indiana (USI) is a public university just outside of Evansville, Indiana. Founded in 1965, USI enrolls 9,750 dual credit, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in more than 130 areas of study. USI offers programs through the College of Liberal Arts, Romain College of Business, College of Nursing and Health Professions and the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education.
USI is classified among "M1 – Master's Colleges and Universities: Larger programs". It is also classified among "community-engaged" institutions.
Since the 2022–2023 school year, USI athletic teams participated in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The teams are known as the Screaming Eagles. Previously, USI participated in Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
History.
The University of Southern Indiana began as a regional campus of Indiana State University, opening on September 15, 1965. In 1967, Southern Indiana Higher Education, Inc., (SIHE) raised nearly $1 million to acquire 1,400 acres for the Mid-America University Center. Groundbreaking was held June 22, 1968. Since September 1969, the University has occupied 330 acres, mostly donated by SIHE. The first buildings constructed were the Science Center and the Wright Administration Building. Slowly the school built facilities, as funding became available during the Indiana State University–Evansville period.
On April 16, 1985, ISU–Evansville became an autonomous four-year institution, the University of Southern Indiana. Governor Robert D. Orr, an Evansville native, signed the newly independent school's charter. Since gaining its independence, USI's growth has continued to where it is now the fastest growing comprehensive university in the state. The university established student housing, diversified the programs offered, and enrollment has more than doubled since gaining its independence. In October 2006, the university completed a master plan that provides the framework to double the size of the school and support a campus of over 20,000 students. The master plan features key planning principles to guide the university and help it create a cohesive campus as it continues to grow.
Academics.
USI offers over 70 undergraduate majors, 13 master's programs, and 2 doctoral programs as of the fall 2018 semester. Divisions of the University include the Romain College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, University Division, and Division of Outreach and Engagement. Each college is led by a dean who reports to the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. USI employs 652 full-time faculty, lecturers, and academic administrators, and 239 part-time faculty.
The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and carries several discipline-specific accreditations as well, including from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and ABET.
Southwest Indiana STEM (SwISTEM) Resource Center.
The Southwest Indiana STEM Resource Center offers a free-equipment lending service to K–12 public, private, and parochial school educators as well as informal educators in a seventeen-county region in southwest Indiana. Teacher professional development as well as an extensive line-up of K–12 student outreach activities are offered throughout the calendar year.
Student life.
Total USI enrollment was 11,033 for the 2017 fall semester, which included students in undergraduate and graduate degree programs and 2,016 students enrolled in USI's College Achievement Program (CAP) classes in 27 high schools across Indiana. Students at USI represented 90 Indiana counties, 39 states and 70 countries. Out of state enrollment, including international students, made up approximately 17% of the student population and minority and international students comprised more than 14%.
More than 40,000 students have graduated since 1971.
Campus.
USI's campus, located on 1400 acres (5.7 km2) of land west of Evansville, is accessed by University Parkway off of the Lloyd Expressway (IN-62). It is marked at the center by University Center East and West, which houses conference space, campus dining, offices and the campus store and by Reflection Lake to the west.
South of the University Center is the Quad, an open-air lawn flanked by David L. Rice Library (completed in 2006) and academic buildings for the College of Liberal Arts and Romain College of Business. Academic buildings for the College of Nursing and Health Professions and Pott College, as well as university administration and forum classrooms, are located north of University Center.
Historic New Harmony.
USI manages programs and properties in Historic New Harmony, site of two historic communal societies of the early 19th century, the Harmony Society and the Robert Owen/William Maclure communal experiment.
Athletics.
The athletic teams of USI are known as the Screaming Eagles. The university competes at the NCAA Division I level as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. USI sponsors 17 varsity intercollegiate sports. The school has won four NCAA national championships (men's basketball, 1995; baseball, 2010 and 2014; softball, 2018), finished three times as the national finalist (men's basketball, 1994 and 2004; and women's basketball 1997), and earned two third-place finishes (men's cross country, 1982; baseball, 2007). The men's and women's cross country/track teams have produced five individual national championships since 1997.
The NCAA II Softball National Championship in 2018 marked the first softball team in Indiana to win an NCAA championship. The national championship in baseball in 2010 marked the first GLVC member and university in the state of Indiana to win such a title, repeating in 2014 to become the first NCAA II program to win multiple team titles. The men's basketball NCAA II National Championship in 1995 garnered 3.9 million viewers watching them on CBS Sports.
On February 7, 2022, the university's board of trustees unanimously approved the athletics program to seek membership at the NCAA Division I level. On February 9, USI announced that it had accept an offer to become a member of the Ohio Valley Conference beginning on July 1, 2022.
USI boasts a strong academic record as well, with 228 Academic All-GLVC athletes in 2021–22 and 35 Academic All-America honors. Student athletes maintain an average GPA of 3.29 and are retained at a high percentage.
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