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University of Idaho

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University of Idaho
University of Idaho Seal
MottoOpen Space. Open Minds.
TypePublic Land Grant University
EstablishedJanuary 30, 1889
PresidentDr. Thomas P. White Ph D.
Academic staff
847
Students12,824
Location
Moscow
,
ID
,
USA
CampusRural, 1,585 acres (6.4 km²)
ColorsSilver and Gold            
MascotJoe Vandal
Websitewww.uidaho.edu
University of Idaho signature

The University of Idaho is the state's most prominent land-grant and primary research university, located in the city of Moscow in Latah County. Its official abbreviation is UI, but is informally referred to by students and alumni as U of I.

It was formed by the Territorial Legislature of Idaho on January 30, 1889, and opened its doors on October 3, 1892 with an initial class of 40 students. The first graduating class in 1896 contained two men and two women. Today, the university has an enrollment of over 12,000. The university offers 154 degree programs, from agribusiness to zoology, including bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and specialists' degrees. Certificates of completion are offered in 16 areas of study.

The University of Idaho has one of the most scenic campuses in the Western United States. The campus was originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (of the Olmsted family firm); the same firm that designed the U.S. Capitol grounds and Central Park in New York City. The campus is the largest in size in the state of Idaho.

Washington's land-grant institution, Washington State University, is located just eight miles west in Pullman.

History

The original Administration building shown here burned to the ground in 1906. It was replaced by the brick Gothic Revival structure which exists today.

On January 30, 1889 Governor Stevenson of the Idaho Territory signed the Territorial Legislature's Council Bill No. 20 which officially established the University of Idaho as a land-grant institution. Two years later, on October 3, 1892, the university opened for classes.

  • 1898 First graduate degree awarded
  • June 21, 1899 - UI opens first summer school in Pacific Northwest
  • 1901 - College of Agriculture opens
  • June 11, 1902 - Department of Domestic Science (later Home Economics) established, first in Pacific Northwest
  • March 30, 1906 - Administration building burns down
  • 1909 - New Administration building opens
  • April 9, 1911 - Theodore Roosevelt is first U.S. President to visit campus
  • June 7, 1920 - School of Education established
  • March 26, 1938 - Eleanor Roosevelt speaks at Memorial Gym
  • November 2, 1957 - UI Library dedicated
  • September 1975 - Kibbie Dome completed
  • November 1993 - University receives its own zip code: 83844
  • July 1, 2002 - Budget crisis forces reorganization; Letters & Science split, Mines and Art & Architecture merge into new colleges
  • October 24, 2002 - Albertson building dedicated

Source

Campus

Administration Building

According to the UI Facts Books, the Moscow campus is an 1,585 acres (16.4 km²) including 253 buildings with a replacement value of $812 million, 10 miles (16 km) of streets, 49 acres (198,000 m²) of parking lots, 1.22 miles (2 km) of bike paths, 22 computer labs, 150 acre (607,000 m²) golf course (18 holes), 80 acres (32.4 hectares) of arboreta, and 860 acres (3.5 km²) of farms.

There are several distinctive areas on campus.

Administration Building

The Tudor Gothic-style Administration Building (1909), with its 80 foot (24 m) clock tower, is a UI icon. In addition to many classrooms, the offices of the President and Provost are located here. The north wing was added in 1912, the south wing in 1916. The original building, a single tall spire, was reduced to embers in March 1906. Arson was suspected, but never proven.

Idaho Commons

The Idaho Commons is the heart of the campus, study space, wireless connectivity to the Internet, laptops available for free, and many services. The building contains a food court, bookstore, copy center, coffee shop, bank, and convenience store. The offices of the Associated Students of the University of Idaho (ASUI), Academics Assistance, and Student Support are all located here.

Student Union Building

The Student Union Building houses Financial Aid, Admissions, New Student Services, the Registrar's Office, the office of the Graduate & Professional Student Association(GPSA) and student meeting rooms. There is also wireless access, laptops available for check-out, and a student computer lab. The UI Bookstore is located directly across the street.

Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center

West entrance to the Kibbie Dome

UI's multi-purpose "Kibbie Dome", home to Vandal athletics, is best appreciated from all angles. Both football and basketball are played here, as well as tennis and indoor track & field. Its Trus-Dek roof system uses wood and granite arches to span 400 feet (122 m) at a height of 150 feet (45 m). The roof was completed in 1975, enclosing the former outdoor venue known as Neale Stadium, a wooden stadium which was first condemned and then burned (suspected arson) on November 22, 1969. The stadium was rebuilt with concrete grandstands and re-opened for the 1971 football season, and the Vandals responded with an 8-3 season and the Big Sky title. Astroturf was installed in 1972, and the roof and walls were completed in time for the 1975 football season. The new roof won the America's Outstanding Structural Engineering Achievement award from the ASCE in 1976.

  • 14,700 bench seating
  • 7,000 basketball seating (called the Cowan Spectrum since 2001)
  • 7,500 concert seating

Arboretum and Botanical Garden

North entrance to the University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Referred to as "Tree City" or "The Arb" by UI students, this 65 acre (26.3 hectare) site features display gardens, ponds and a variety of trees and plants from Asia, Europe and North America.

Student Recreation Center

The 85,000 square foot Student Recreation Center boasts a 55 foot (17 m) freestanding climbing wall, as well as a weight training area, cardio, 60 square feet of climbing area, jogging track, and two full size gyms.

UI Library

The UI Library is the state's largest, with more than 1.4 million books, periodicals, government documents, maps, videorecordings, toys and special collections, such as those for Sir Walter Scott and those of famous Idahoans like Ezra Pound, Vardis Fisher, Frank Bruce Robinson, and Carol Ryrie Brink.
University of Idaho Library

Hello Walk

Hello Walk

UI's "Hello Walk" on the Administration Lawn perpetuates a tradition of friendliness that dates from the 1920s. Students today still greet each other with a "hello" on this walkway across the "Ad Lawn."

Memorial Gym Tower

Memorial Gymnasium

Memorial Gym is another UI icon known for its athletic gargoyles perched along the brick building's ledges. The 1,500 seat multi-purpose arena, which opened in 1928, was built as a memorial to the UI students and alumni who died in World War I (1917-18). The original home of Vandal athletics, it was the primary venue for the men's basketball team until the Kibbie Dome was enclosed in September 1975. The "Mem Gym" is still in active use today; it is the home court for the women's basketball and volleyball teams. The swim center and physical education (ex-"Women's Gym") buildings (both opened in 1970) are adjacent to the south.

Under the Elms

Rare Camperdown elms line the walkway between the Music building, Child Development Center and Administration Building. These trees have been on campus for over 80 years and are among few of their kind in the Northwest. The Camperdown elm stands out because of its unusual voice. The weeping branches and knotty trunk are formed by being grafted upwards.

Student life

The University of Idaho is a residential campus, with a number of residence hall communities to chose from on campus as well as fraternities and sororities. Living on campus is not required at the University of Idaho, but 90 percent of first-year students choose to live on campus. There are also apartments on campus for families, married couples, graduate students, law students and non-traditional students. The law cluster, is a group of apartments reserved for law students, allowing for a community close to campus for law students, facilitating study groups.

Campus Housing

Transportation

East entrance to the campus

All students are permitted to have cars on campus. For a parking permit contact Parking Services. Public transportation also serves the campus. The nearest airports are in Pullman (5 miles, 8 km), Lewiston (34 miles, 55 km) and Spokane (90 miles, 145 km). The nearest passenger train station is in Spokane, and the nearest bus station is in Moscow.

Student employment

School employment is available, with approximately 35% of undergraduates working on campus during the 2003-04 academic year. The average amount undergraduates may expect to earn per year from part-time on-campus work is $2,340.

Student Organizations

Many students participate in a wide variety of clubs and organizations. Clubs range anywhere from the Economics Club to the community service and action club UI Circle K.

Campus events

The most popular cultural and campus events are the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Palousafest, and NCAA Division I-A football and basketball in the Kibbie Dome, which is transformed into the Cowan Spectrum for basketball.

Moscow

Moscow is a college town of about 23,000 residents. It is located in the rolling hills of the Palouse region of North Central Idaho. The UI campus is adjacent to the southwest side of town; most stores and restaurants are within easy walking distance, with some exceptions.

Colleges

Since 1894, the University of Idaho has granted 66,348 Bachelor's Degrees, 17,120 Master's Degrees, 224 Honorary Degrees, 774 Specialist Degrees, 2,865 Law Degrees, and 1,983 Doctorate Degrees. The University is organized into ten colleges.


Degrees

154 undergraduate majors are offered, with a variety of emphases in many. UI also offers 71 master's programs and 25 doctoral degrees, and is home to the state of Idaho's only law school. A complete list of majors can be found at UI's Major Finder.

Demographics

Moscow enrollment

  • Undergraduate - 8,723
  • Graduate - 1,836
  • Law - 302
  • Resident - 8,040
  • Non-resident - 3,401

Enrollment by college

  • Agricultural and Life Sciences - 1,011
  • Business and Economics - 1,205
  • Education - 2,096
  • Engineering - 1,789
  • Law - 302
  • Letters, Arts and Social Sciences - 3,862
  • Natural Resources - 751
  • Science - 773

Student demographics

  • Students enrolled from all 44 Idaho counties, 50 states and 92 countries
  • 645 international students
  • Student population is 54.2 percent male and 45.8 percent female
  • 69% In-state students
  • 31% Out-of-state students
  • 2% American Indian/Alaskan Native
  • 3% Asian/Pacific Islander
  • 1% African American/Non-Hispanic
  • 5% Hispanic
  • 84% White/Non-Hispanic
  • 1% Non-Resident Alien
  • 4% Race/ethnicity unreported
  • 80% had high school GPA of 3.0 and higher
  • 20% had high school GPA of 2.0 - 2.99

Athletics

The school's official colors are silver & gold (although black & gold are the prevalent colors for the athletic teams). Its teams, the Vandals, participate in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). In addition to Football (men's), the intercollegiate athletic program fields two teams (men's & women's) in the following sports: Basketball, Cross-Country, Golf, Track (indoor & outdoor), and Tennis. Volleyball, Soccer, and Swimming are sports offered only for women.

UI joined the WAC in 2005. For the four previous seasons (2001-04), the UI football team was a member of the Sun Belt Conference, while all other Vandal teams competed in the Big West Conference, which it joined in 1996. The Big West discontinued football following the 2000 season.

Prior to the fall of 1996, UI competed in the Big Sky Conference, of which it was a charter member in 1963. The Big Sky has been a Division I-AA conference since the formation of I-AA in 1978. From 1922-58, Idaho had competed with eight of the present Pac-10 schools as a member of the Pacific Coast Conference, which disbanded in 1959 due to irreconcilable differences.

The University of Idaho has numerous facilities for the athletic program. The "Kibbie Dome" indoor stadium is also houses the department offices, locker rooms, weight room, and training facilities. The 16,000 seat arena is the venue for football and basketball (men’s & women's) although when basketball is played in the Kibbie Dome they hang curtains and call it Cowan Spectrum. The historic Memorial Gymnasium is the home for Idaho volleyball (women's) and basketball exhibition games. The Kibbie Dome's indoor facilities offer track & field and tennis a place to practice and compete with the five-lane, 290 meter track and nine tennis courts. Outdoor facilities include the university’s 18-hole championship golf course, 400 meter outdoor track & field stadium, numerous outdoor tennis courts, and athletic practice fields.

Since returning to Division I-A status for football in 1996, Idaho has rekindled its rivalry with Washington State, eight miles (13 km) to the west in Pullman. The annual game, played at Martin Stadium in Pullman, was renewed in 1998 after just two meetings in two decades, and is referred to as the "Battle of the Palouse." The Cougars hold an immense advantage in the series, but the Vandals did win back-to-back meetings in 1999-2000.

Idaho has had a major in-state rivalry with Boise State since 1970, when BSU joined the Big Sky. Boise is 300 highway miles (480 km) south of Moscow. Since the year 2000, the Vandals' football and men's basketball teams have not been competitive against BSU, losing 8 straight football games and 12 straight men's basketball games. The one-sidedness of this rivaly is a new development as the Vandals football team won 12 straight games from 1982-1993.</http://cfreference.net/cfr/all_time_schedule/559?vs_id=1078>

Idaho had an intense interstate rivalry with the University of Montana, having played football 84 times (second only to the 91 games with Washington State). UI and Montana first played in 1903, and played every year from 1914-1995 (except during the war years of 1918, 1943, and 1944 when neither school had a team). Montana was also a member of the Pacific Coast Conference until 1950. Idaho leads the overall series 55-27-2. The teams have played just five times since Idaho moved to I-A in 1996, with Montana winning the last four, the most recent meeting being in 2003. The winner of the Idaho-Montana game claims the "Little Brown Stein."

Olympic Bronze medalist in the men's shot put, Joachim B. Olsen competed for the Vandals from 1999 to 2003. Dan O'Brien, a former member of the UI track team, (although he never was able to compete for Idaho due to being academically ineligible[citation needed]), won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as well as multiple World Championships. The outdoor track stadium, (immediately west of the Kibbie Dome), where O'Brien trained for these titles now bears his name.

Activities

Recognition

  • Yahoo! Internet Life magazine listed UI as among the top 13 of 200 most wired universities in the country.
  • Kiplinger magazine ranks the University of Idaho among the top 50 best values in public universities.
  • UI is consistently listed in such publications as How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University and in America's 100 Best College Buys.
  • One of the 77 Best Value Colleges in the United States according to the Princeton Review. The ranking is based on data about academics, college costs and financial aid and includes information from both college administrators and students.
  • U.S. World & News Report magazine ranks UI in its top category of national universities having the widest range of undergraduate and graduate majors.
  • Intel ranked UI 33rd on its list of the 100 "Most Unwired College Campuses." An advanced campus network provides the freedom to wirelessly connect to the Internet in all academic buildings on campus.
  • Consumers Digest magazine ranked UI 24th on its list of "Top 50 Best Values for Public Colleges and Universities." UI was the only Idaho university to be ranked in the survey.
  • Outside magazine listed UI 29th on its list of Top 40 colleges offering the best in heroic outdoor adventure.

Presidents

The following individuals have held the office of President of the University of Idaho.

James H. Forney, (Acting) 1891–1892
Franklin B. Gault 1892–1898
Joseph P. Blanton 1898–1900
James Alexander MacLean 1900–1913
Melvin A. Brannon 1914–1917
Ernest H. Lindley 1917–1920
Alfred H. Upham 1920–1928
Frederick J. Kelly 1928–1930
Mervin G. Neale 1930–1937
Harrison C. Dale 1937–1946
Jesse E. Buchanan 1946–1954
Donald R. Theophilus 1954–1965
Ernest W. Hartung 1965–1977
Richard D. Gibb 1977–1989
Elisabeth A. Zinser 1989–1995
Thomas O. Bell, (Acting) 1995–1996
Robert A. Hoover 1996–2003
Gary G. Michael, (Interim) 2003–2004
Timothy P. White 2004–

Notable alumni

  1. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2007060452,00.html
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6341055.stm
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