The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

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. As a public liberal arts college, and the newest campus in the University of Illinois system, UIS is a member of the

Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges The Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) is a consortium of 30 public colleges and universities in 27 states and one Canadian province. Established in 1987, COPLAC advances the aims of its member institutions and drives awareness of the ...

. UIS is also part of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Council on Education. The campus' main repository, Brookens Library, holds a collection of nearly 800,000 books and serials in addition to accessible resources at the University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campuses. The University of Illinois Springfield serves 4,198 students (Fall 2022) with 56 bachelor's degrees, 39 minors, 44 master's degree, 1 doctorate degree, 37 graduate certificates and coursework that leads to 6 ISBE endorsements. The university was once one of the two upper-division and graduate universities in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, but now accepts freshmen, transfer, and graduate students.

History

Sangamon State University

In 1967, the Illinois General Assembly created a Board of Regents to operate Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University, as well as a third unnamed institution in Springfield. In 1969,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Richard Ogilvie signed into law a bill officially creating Sangamon State University. It originally operated as an "upper-division" university—that is, a university that offers only the last two years of undergraduate education, as well as graduate work. The first classes were held on September 28, 1970, at First Methodist Church in downtown Springfield. In October, SSU began offering classes in the current campus location near

Lake Springfield Lake Springfield is a reservoir on the southeast edge of the city of Springfield, Illinois. It is above sea level. The lake was formed in 1931–1935 by building Spaulding Dam across Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River. The lake wa ...

. Sangamon State aimed to be a "truly pioneering segment of public education" through a spirit of openness, innovation and adaptability. The school grew steadily over the years. Its first permanent building, Brookens Library, was dedicated in 1976, and its Public Affairs Center and first dormitories opened in 1980.

Transition to the University of Illinois System

In 1995, Governor Jim Edgar signed a bill which abolished the Board of Regents and merged SSU with the University of Illinois system. On July 1, SSU officially became the University of Illinois Springfield. Naomi Lynn, the last president of SSU, became the first chancellor of UIS.

Establishment of a four-year general education program

In 2001, it admitted freshmen for the first time in an honors program called the "Capital Scholars". On September 8, 2005, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved a new general education curriculum, making UIS a full-fledged four-year university for the first time. Freshmen were slated to be admitted under the general education curriculum beginning in fall 2006.

Campus

The University of Illinois Springfield is located six miles southeast of Springfield, occupying 740 acres of prairie land adjacent to

and

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than ha ...

. In 1841, the land was acquired by Thomas Strawbridge Jr., a prosperous saddler and harness maker in Springfield. The Thomas Strawbridge homestead, constructed around 1845, still stands on the south edge of the University of Illinois Springfield campus and was restored in 2012. Today, there are three easily identifiable areas on campus: Legacy Campus, SSU Permanent Construction, and the University of Illinois era.

Legacy Campus

The Legacy Campus hosts an array of student services and facilities buildings. There is also the Cox Children's Center which was established in 1970. Some of the key buildings on this part of campus are the

WUIS WUIS (91.9 FM), branded on-air as NPR Illinois, is the National Public Radio member station in Springfield, Illinois, United States. It primarily features National Public Radio news and talk programming. The station is owned by and based at the ...

building, Student Life Building (SLB), Business Services Building (BSB), Human Resources Building (HRB), Student Affairs Building (SAB), and the Visual & Performing Arts Building (VPA). Legacy Campus Sign and Courtyard

SSU permanent construction

The first permanent construction on campus, Brookens Library was completed in 1976 and the Public Affairs Center, was completed in Fall of 1980. These buildings were the first part of a master plan of 1970–1971 that called for an "urban campus" surrounded by restored prairie land, free of all vehicular traffic and easily navigable by pedestrians. All permanent campus buildings would be located within a "ring road", now known as University Drive. The Public Affairs Center also houses

Sangamon Auditorium Sangamon Auditorium is a 2,000-seat concert hall and performing arts center located in Springfield, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Springfield. It was built in 1981. It is the home of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. ...

, a 2,018 seat concert hall and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

center built in 1981. It occupies the entire second level of the Public Affairs Center.

Residence life

UIS offers four living options for more than 1,100 students. On the East Campus there are four courts of apartments, one being designated for family housing including Sunflower, Larkspur, CLover, and Bluebell Courts. There is also the housing office at Homer L. Butler Commons (HCOM). On West Campus there are 96 townhouses encompassed within Pennyroyal, Marigold, Trillium and Foxglove court. For first and second year students there are two residence halls, Lincoln Residence Hall (LRH) and Founders Residence Hall (FRH).

Academics

University of Illinois Degrees and Certificates

The University of Illinois Springfield has been offering online courses and degrees since 1999. Currently UIS offers 56 bachelor's degrees, 39 minors, 44 master's degree, 1 doctorate degree, 37 graduate certificates and coursework that leads to 6 ISBE endorsements.

Colleges

*College of Business and Management *College of Health, Science, and Technology *College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences *College of Public Affairs & Education

Student life

Student Union

The Student Union is the focal point of campus and student life and is the heart of the university campus, a place where students, along with faculty and staff, can spend time with friends, collaborate on academic and leadership activities. The building opened January 14, 2018.

Student Newspaper

The ''UIS Observer'' is the student online news publication.

Greek Organizations

Fraternities

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

* Delta Kappa Epsilon *

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young Afr ...

* Sigma Lambda Beta

Sororities

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

* Delta Sigma Theta *

Gamma Phi Omega The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO) is an umbrella council for 16 Latino Greek Letter Organizations (GLOs) established in 1998. The purpose of NALFO is to promote and foster positive interfraternal relations, commu ...

* Sigma Sigma Sigma * Zeta Phi Beta

Athletics

The Illinois–Springfield (UIS) athletic teams are called the Prairie Stars. The university is a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) since the 2009–10 academic year, which they became a full-fledged Division II member on August 1, 2010. The Prairie Stars previously competed in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 2003–04 to 2008–09. UIS competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

* Cheri Bustos - U.S. representative, Illinois's 17th district (M.A. Public Affairs Reporting) * Mike Cernovich - alt-right social media personality and host of ''

The Alex Jones Show Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

'' on InfoWars (2001 B.A. Philosophy) * Ward Churchill - former

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

(1974 B.A. Communications, 1975 M.A. Communications) * Vince Demuzio - Illinois state senator, 1975–2004 (1981 B.A. in Education and Human Services; 1996 M.A. in Education and Public Policy) * Karen A. Hasara - former mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Illinois state senator, (1972 B.A. Psychology, 1992 M.A. Legal Studies) * Gordon S. Heddell - former

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

inspector general (1975 M.A. Legal Studies) * Jim Langfelder - current mayor of Springfield, Illinois * Al Lewis - Columnist, Dow Jones Newswires * Kimberly Lightford - current member, Illinois State Senate * Robert "Bobby" McFerrin Jr.- vocal performer and conductor (attended 1975–76, did not complete degree) * Milton J. Nieuwsma - author, Emmy-winning filmwriter-producer (1978 M.A.) * Richard Oruche - shooting guard on the Nigerian national basketball team (2010 B.A. Business Administration) * Richard Osborne - former CEO of Scotsman Industries *

Dana Perino Dana Marie Perino (born May 9, 1972) is an American political commentator and author who served as the 26th White House Press Secretary, under President George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009. She was the second female Whi ...

- White House Press Secretary for the George W. Bush administration (1995 M.A. Public Affairs Reporting) * Elgie Sims - current member, Illinois State House of Representatives * Russell Smith - movie producer * Thom Serafin - communications consultant

Faculty

* Michael Burlingame, historian * John Knoepfle, poet and translator *

Phillip S. Paludan Phillip Shaw Paludan, (January 26, 1938 – August 1, 2007) was a professor of Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois Springfield, and a leading authority on the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln. He was born in St. Cloud, Minne ...

, historian * Paul Simon, political scientist

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{Coord, 39.729021, N, 89.617656, W, region:US-IL_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title

University of Illinois Springfield The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public 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 Illinoi ...

Educational institutions established in 1969 1969 establishments in Illinois Springfield Public liberal arts colleges in the United States