University of Southern Indiana

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.

In 1985, independence was granted when Governor Robert D. Orr, an Evansville native, signed the school's charter and started a new chapter as the University of Southern Indiana. 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.

Academic Units

USI offers over 70 undergraduate majors, 10 master's programs, and one doctoral program. 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 Indiana University School of Medicine - Evansville, housed in the Health Professions Center, is one of eight regional divisions throughout the state. The center provides classes for first- and second-year medical students. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and carries several discipline-specific accreditations as well.

Rankings

Historic New Harmony

In cooperation with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, 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 Mclure communal experiment.

Center for Communal Studies

The USI Center for Communal Studies is a clearinghouse for information, a research facility, and a sponsor of activities related to historic and contemporary intentional communities. The center encourages and facilitates meetings, classes, scholarships, publications, networking and public interest in communal groups past and present, here and abroad. The center archives contain primary and secondary materials on more than 100 historic communes and several hundred collective, cooperative, and co-housing communities founded since 1965. Noted communal scholars have donated their private collections and their extensive research notes and papers to the center archives.

The New Harmony Theatre

The New Harmony Theatre is a professional theatre operating under an agreement with Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

In fall 2007, USI Theatre partnered with The New Harmony Theatre on The Repertory Project, which allows top Theatre students to perform with Equity actors. Student actors and stage managers involved in The Repertory Project earn points toward joining the union, a membership that is considered the “gold standard” for theatre professionals.

Historic Southern Indiana

Historic Southern Indiana (HSI) is an outreach organization dedicated to preserving, enhancing, and promoting the abundant historical, natural, and recreational resources of southern Indiana. As a community outreach program of the University of Southern Indiana, HSI hosts workshops, produces publications, conducts visitor research, and facilitates and coordinates with many groups and agencies with the goal of creating a sense of regional identity and pride.

The Heritage Area contains numerous sites of historical significance, including Vincennes, Corydon, New Harmony, Madison, and Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home. Forests, caves, rivers, and lakes offer scenic beauty and recreational activities.

Center for Applied Research

The Center for Applied Research (CAR) works with businesses and organizations throughout the region to conduct research, consulting, and other applied projects.

Enrollment

9,029 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at USI in the fall of 2015. 7,661 students came from within the state of Indiana, 1,148 students came from outside the state of Indiana, and 220 students are International students.

More than 39,000 students have graduated since 1971. About 74% of USI's graduates remain in Indiana. The university serves an additional 9,000 persons annually through comprehensive noncredit programs of short duration.

Housing

Nearly all students who live on campus (with the exception of some freshmen who are housed in modern suite-style facilities) are assigned apartments with full kitchens. USI's four Residence Halls (Newman, Governor's, O'Bannon, and Ruston), located on the South side of campus, are freshmen-only modern suites. The apartments, located on the Northeastern side of campus, accommodate all other campus residents (including freshmen).

Greek life

Fraternities:

Sororities:

Former Fraternities and Sororities:

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 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.

The total number of classrooms has more than doubled since the opening of the campus in 1967. Recent additions to the campus include the Business and Engineering Center (opened in 2010), the Applied Engineering Center (2013), the Performance Center (2014) and the Griffin Center (2016).

Athletics and Recreation

USI Basketball and Volleyball games are located in the Physical Activities Center, which also houses a swimming pool and training facilities for student athletes. Baseball, softball and soccer games all take place on campus. USI students and faculty also have access to the Recreation, Fitness and Wellness Center.

The campus is connected to Burdette Park by the 3-mile, paved USI-Burdette Trail, and multiple lakeside and forest trails are available to the public through the Bent Twig Outdoor Education Center.

Media

USI is home to the Southern Indiana Review, a national literary journal. Stories published in the Southern Indiana Review have been anthologized in the Best American Short Stories and the Best American Essays.

The university contains within it three media outlets including the award-winning radio station, The Edge/WSWI, SETV12 the student-run television station, and the two-time "Division II Newspaper of the Year" student newspaper, The Shield. All programs are completely student-run entities within the campus that deal with student and community related topics and discussions.

Athletics

The athletic teams of USI are known as the Screaming Eagles. The university competes at the NCAA Division II level as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. USI sponsors 17 varsity intercollegiate sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships (men's basketball, 1995; baseball, 2010 and 2014), 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.

Notable alumni