University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, [ [http://www.louisiana.edu/Advancement/PRNS/media/universityname.shtml Proper use of the University's Name by UL Lafayette webpage] ] is a coeducational public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana. It is the largest campus within the eight-campus University of Louisiana System and is the second largest university in the state of Louisiana.

Founded in 1900 as an industrial institute, the university became known by its present name in 1999. The university is a member of the [http://www.sura.org Southeastern Universities Research Association] and is categorized as a Carnegie RU/H: Research University (high research activity), the only UL system campus to receive the latter doctoral distinction and among the top 5% of all U.S. colleges. [ [http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications/index.asp Carnegie Classification listings] ]

UL Lafayette is recognized for excellence in computer science and its graduate program in evolutionary and environmental biology. It offers Louisiana's only PhD in Francophone studies, only doctoral degree in cognitive science and only industrial design degree.

History

Timeline

*1898 - State approved the creation of an "industrial institute and academy."
*1900 - Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute (SLII) established.
*1901 - SLII opened Sept. 18 with 100 students and eight faculty members.
*1903 - 18 students were the first to graduate from SLII.
*1920 - Began a four-year course culminating with a bachelor of arts degree.
*1921 - SLII was upgraded to the Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI).
*1960 - SLI became the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL).
*1984 - USL attempted to change its name to the University of Louisiana, which only lasted a few days until overturned by a district court. [ [http://www.geocities.com/ulragincajuns/battle.html University of Louisiana: Battle for a Name ] ]
*1999 - USL was renamed the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette).

Notable firsts

*1954 - Within months of the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, SLI admitted 70 African American students, to become the first all white college in the Deep South to achieve racial desegregation.
*1961 - Established the first university chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for students.
*1994 - Created North America's first Francophone studies Ph.D. program.
*2007 - The Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment (CAPE) successfully launches the State of Louisiana's first university student built satellite. [ [http://www.astronautix.com/chrono/20072.htm CAPE-1 Launch in chronology to others] ]

Campus and other facilities

;Campus:UL Lafayette's campus consists of 137 acres (554,000 m²) lined by live oak trees planted in 1900. Its quadrangle is encircled by a "Walk of Honor" path which contains more than 80,000 bricks bearing the names of every graduate, beginning with the first graduating class of 1903.

Also centered in the main campus is Cypress Lake, a swamp-like microcosm of the nearby Atchafalaya Basin, home to alligators, turtles, birds and fish.

;Athletic complex:The athletic complex and Cajundome sit on 243 acres (983,000 m²). The complex also includes Cajun Field, Blackham Coliseum, several other athletic facilities for training and competitions, fraternity and sorority rows, and the physical education and recreational facilities.

;Research park:Adjacent to the athletic complex is the University Research Park of 148 acres (599,000 m²), which is home to the National Wetlands Research Center, a NASA [http://www.rac.louisiana.edu/ Regional Application Center] , and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The nearby Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology has 51 acres (206,000 m²).

;Renewable resources labs:The university has a convert|600|acre|km2|sing=on farm/renewable resources laboratory with a 30 acre pond for crawfish and catfish culture in Cade, Louisiana. It also has a 48 acre [http://nirc.louisiana.edu/ New Iberia Research Center] in New Iberia, Louisiana, which is among the world's largest private non-human, primate breeding colonies. The university also has a horse farm in the center of Lafayette and several other farmlands around Acadiana.

Organization

UL Lafayette has 10 colleges and schools, one of the largest honors program in Louisiana and offers 80 undergraduate degree programs, 29 master's degree programs, and 9 Doctor of Philosophy programs, which are applied language and speech sciences, biology, cognitive science, computer engineering, computer science, educational leadership, English, Francophone studies and mathematics. It is the sole Louisiana university with a separate College of the Arts. The Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum permanent collection consists of more than 1,500 works of art, including paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, and photographs. This collection represents 18th, 19th and 20th century Louisiana, as well as the United States, Europe and Japan.

Academic profile

UL Lafayette is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. All undergraduate programs at UL Lafayette that are eligible for accreditation by professional agencies are accredited.

UL Lafayette was featured in the 2006 edition of America's Best Value Colleges, a Princeton Review/Random House college guidebook, which spotlighted fewer than 100 U.S. schools. The university was included in the 2005 edition of The Best 357 Colleges, its MBA program was included in the 2005 edition of The Best 143 Business Schools and its business school was featured in the 2007 edition of The Best 282 Business Schools — all three publications of The Princeton Review. The university graduates about 1,100 students each fall and spring.

Colleges and departments

College of the Arts:Architecture & Design, Fashion Design & Merchandising, Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts

B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration:Accounting, Economics & Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems & Multimedia Lab, Management, Management of Information Systems, Marketing & Legal Studies, Micro Business Development, Small Business Development

College of Education:Counselor Education, Curriculum & Instruction, Educational Foundations & Leadership, Kinesiology

College of Engineering:Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Engineering & Technology, Industrial Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering

General Studies

Graduate School

Honors:One of the most renowned and largest in the state.

College of Liberal Arts:Humanities Resource Center, Cognitive Science, Communication, Communicative Disorders, Counselor Education, Criminal Justice, Cultural & Eco-Tourism, English, History & Geography, Latin American Studies, Louisiana Studies, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology

College of Nursing & Allied Health Professions

Ray P. Authement College of Sciences :Biology, Chemistry, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Computer Studies, Advanced, Geology, Health Information Management, Mathematics, Military Science, Physics, Renewable Resources

University College

tudent life

*UL Lafayette students represent 53 states and possessions.
*709 are international students from diverse countries.

Academic achievements

A group of UL Lafayette students participating in the [http://cape.louisiana.edu/ Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment (CAPE)] are building a small artificial satellite, known as a CubeSat, that will be launched into orbit from the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2006. In 2004, UL Lafayette students and faculty produced [http://www.cajunbot.com/site.php CajunBot] , one of 25 autonomous vehicles that competed in the U.S. Department of Defense DARPA Grand Challenge. CajunBot, which was featured on CNN, uses artificial intelligence and GPS positioning to navigate a designated route while detecting and avoiding obstacles.

The biology department has several distinguished professors who are contributing significantly to research on restoration of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. The university also inaugurated the $29M technology initiative L.I.T.E., which offers the largest known three-dimensional-immersive auditorium for visualization of fully interactive 3D models and data sets for seismic analysis, computer-aided modeling, product stress test analysis and a host of other applications that require visualization of large data sets for scientists.

Organizations

* [http://sga.louisiana.edu/ Student Government Association]
* [http://vermilion.louisiana.edu The Vermilion] is the university's weekly student newspaper and was established in 1904.
* [http://www.louisiana.edu/AboutUs/Organizations/ Complete list of Student Organizations]

Greek life

UL Lafayette has several social, Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that back as early as 1920. [ [http://louisiana.edu/Student/Greek/fraternities.html UL Lafayette :: Greek Affairs ] ] [ [http://louisiana.edu/Student/Greek/sororities.html UL Lafayette :: Greek Affairs ] ]

North-American Interfraternity Conference

*Kappa Alpha
*Kappa Sigma
*Lambda Chi Alpha
*Phi Kappa Theta
*Pi Kappa Alpha (aka. PIKE)
*Sigma Alpha Epsilon
*Theta Xi (1920)

National Panhellenic Conference

*Alpha Omicron Pi (1956)
*Delta Delta Delta (1957)
*Kappa Delta (1956)
*Phi Mu (1956)
*Sigma Sigma Sigma (1931)

National Pan-Hellenic Council

(historically black, international Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities)

Fraternities
*Alpha Phi Alpha
*Kappa Alpha Psi
*Omega Psi Phi
*Phi Beta Sigma

Sororities
*Alpha Kappa Alpha
*Delta Sigma Theta
*Sigma Gamma Rho
*Zeta Phi Beta

Academic National Organizations

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (1947) and Sigma Alpha Iota (1943), although not affiliated with any certain conference or council, hold charters as campus organizations.

Athletics

UL Lafayette's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I FBS for football) in the Sun Belt Conference. Sports media often refer to the university as Louisiana-Lafayette. The letters "ULL" are used to identify the school by several publications and television stations based outside of Lafayette, although the university does not recognize it as an official designation. [ [http://louisiana.edu/Advancement/PRNS/media/universityname.shtml UL Lafayette: Department: Main Page ] ]

Noted people

UL Lafayette notable alumni have held posts as business bellwethers, government and military leaders, Olympic and professional athletes, artists and entertainers. Also several distinguished faculty members have taught at the university.

Presidents

UL Lafayette has only had six presidents. Ray Authement holds the longest term of a U.S. public university president, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

On April 28, 2007, Ray Authement announced to the University of Louisiana System board and the UL Lafayette campus his resignation, effective when the new president is ready to take the position. The new President was announced on December 6, 2007 as E. Joseph Savoie [http://ulsystem.net/site100-01/1001055/docs/savoie_named_6th_ull_president_12-6-07.pdf]

References

External links

* [http://www.louisiana.edu University of Louisiana at Lafayette] , official university website
* [http://www.louisiana.edu/Academic/programs.shtml List of departmental websites]
* [http://www.ragincajuns.com Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns] , official athletics website
* [http://www.louisianaalumni.org/site.php UL Lafayette Alumni Association] , official alumni website