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 universit ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

. The university was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

and became a part of the

University of Illinois system The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than ...

on July 1, 1995. As a public liberal arts college, and the newest campus in the

, 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 The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is an organization of state-supported colleges and universities that offer degree programs leading to bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees. AASCU grew out of the Association o ...

and the

American Council on Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,700 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educatio ...

. 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 The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

and

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

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

History

Sangamon State University

In 1967, the

created a Board of Regents to operate

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

and

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

, 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 Richard Buell Ogilvie (February 22, 1923 – May 10, 1988) was the List of Governors of Illinois, 35th governor of Illinois and served from 1969 to 1973. A wounded combat veteran of World War II, he became known as the American Mafia, mafia-fi ...

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 James Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. Previously he served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State ...

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 hal ...

. 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 A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

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. Perform ...

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 Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

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 int ...

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...

Sigma Lambda Beta Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Incorporated () (known as Betas, Lambda Betas or SLB) is a historically Latino based fraternity in the United States, now expanded to include a multicultural membership. Founded in 1986 at the Univers ...

Sororities

* Alpha Kappa Alpha *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

* Gamma Phi Omega *

Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority. Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...

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 an ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois ...

(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 The American Midwest Conference (AMC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with 10 member institutions located in Arkansas and Missouri in the United States. History The c ...

(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 Cheryl Lea Bustos ( ; née Callahan; born October 17, 1961) is an American journalist, healthcare executive, and politician who is the U.S. representative from Illinois's 17th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party ...

- U.S. representative, Illinois's 17th district (M.A. Public Affairs Reporting) *

Mike Cernovich Michael Cernovich (born November 17, 1977) is an American right-wing social media personality, political commentator, and conspiracy theorist. Though he initially called himself alt-right, he dissociated from the movement after Richard Spence ...

- 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 ''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC. Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in stud ...

(2001 B.A. Philosophy) *

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born 1947) is an American author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

- 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 of Co ...

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

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 Vince Demuzio (May 7, 1941 – April 27, 2004) was a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate from January 1975 until his death in April 2004. During his time in the Senate, he represented various portions of southwestern Illinois. At the time ...

- Illinois state senator, 1975–2004 (1981 B.A. in Education and Human Services; 1996 M.A. in Education and Public Policy) *

Karen A. Hasara Karen Hasara is a Republican member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and a past member of the Illinois General Assembly (1986-1995) as well as the Mayor of Springfield, Illinois for two terms from 1995-2003. Early life After gr ...

- former mayor of

, 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 secu ...

inspector general (1975 M.A. Legal Studies) * Jim Langfelder - current mayor of

* Al Lewis - Columnist, Dow Jones Newswires *

Kimberly Lightford Kimberly Ann Lightford (born May 10, 1968) is a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 4th district since 1998. She is Senate Majority Leader and also serves on Labor, Education, Executive, Financial Institutions and Redistr ...

- current member,

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...

* Robert "Bobby" McFerrin Jr.- vocal performer and conductor (attended 1975–76, did not complete degree) *

Milton J. Nieuwsma Milton John Nieuwsma (pronounced "news-ma") (born September 5 1941) is an American writer, journalist and filmmaker noted for his work on the Holocaust. His 1998 book ''Kinderlager'', about three young concentration camp survivors, was the basis f ...

- author,

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning filmwriter-producer (1978 M.A.) *

Richard Oruche Richard Dean Oruche (born August 30, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player of Nigerian descent. He is tall, and he played at the shooting guard position. Oruche played with the senior men's Nigerian national basketball tea ...

- shooting guard on the Nigerian national basketball team (2010 B.A. Business Administration) * Richard Osborne - former CEO of

Scotsman Industries The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

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 Whit ...

- White House Press Secretary for the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administration (1995 M.A. Public Affairs Reporting) *

Elgie Sims Elgie R. Sims Jr. is the Illinois state Senator for the 17th district. The 17th district includes the Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago along with the all or parts of Burnham, Calumet City, Lansing, Ford Heights, Lynwood, Sauk Village, Beech ...

- current member,

Illinois State House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 repr ...

* Russell Smith - movie producer * Thom Serafin - communications consultant

Faculty

* Michael Burlingame, historian *

John Knoepfle John Ignatius Knoepfle (February 4, 1923November 16, 2019) was an American poet, translator, and educator, principally at Sangamon State University, who is credited with helping to revive Midwestern poetry in the 1960s. He also served in the United ...

, poet and translator * Phillip S. Paludan, historian *

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

, 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 Illinois ...

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