University of Louisiana at Lafayette

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

University of Louisiana at Lafayette
French name	l'Université des Acadiens
Established	1900
School type	Public, Coed
President	Ray P. Authement (Ret.) Dr. Joseph Savoie assuming position as soon as Fall '08 semester.
Location	Lafayette, LA USA
Campus	Urban Main Campus: 137 acres (0.55 km²) Other Campuses: 1,090 acres (4.4 km²) Total: 1,227 acres (4.97 km²)
Enrollment	15,564 undergraduate 1,511 graduate 17,075 total enrollment
Faculty	713
Athletic teams	Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Mascot	Cayenne
Colors	Vermilion and White
Affiliations	Sun Belt Conference Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Homepage	www.louisiana.edu

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette,^[1] 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 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.^[2]

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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Timeline 1.2 Notable firsts 2 Campus and other facilities 3 Organization 3.1 Academic profile 3.2 Colleges and departments 4 Student life 4.1 Academic achievements 4.2 Organizations 4.3 Greek life 4.3.1 North-American Interfraternity Conference 4.3.2 National Panhellenic Conference 4.3.3 National Pan-Hellenic Council 4.3.4 Academic National Organizations 4.4 Athletics 5 Noted people 5.1 Presidents 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 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. ^[3]
• 1999 - USL was renamed the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette).

[edit] 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.^[4]

[edit] 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 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 600-acre (2.4 km²) farm/renewable resources laboratory with a 30 acre pond for crawfish and catfish culture in Cade, Louisiana. It also has a 48 acre 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Colleges and departments

[edit] Student life

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

[edit] Academic achievements

A group of UL Lafayette students participating in the 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 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.

[edit] Organizations

• Student Government Association
• The Vermilion is the university's weekly student newspaper and was established in 1904.
• Complete list of Student Organizations

[edit] Greek life

UL Lafayette has several social, Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that back as early as 1920. ^[5][6]

[edit] National Pan-Hellenic Council

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Athletics

Main article: Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

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.^[7]

[edit] Noted people

Main article: List of University of Louisiana at Lafayette 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.

[edit] 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 ^[8]

President	Years
Edwin Lewis Stephens	1900-1938
Lether Edward Frazar	1938-1941
Joel Lafayette Fletcher	1941-1966
Clyde Lee Rougeou	1966-1974
Ray P. Authement	1974-2008
E. Joseph Savoie	2008-Present

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• University of Louisiana at Lafayette, official university website
• List of departmental websites
• Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns, official athletics website
• UL Lafayette Alumni Association, official alumni website

v • d • e Public colleges and universities in Louisiana Research universities Louisiana State University • Louisiana Tech University • University of Louisiana at Lafayette • University of New Orleans Comprehensive universities Grambling State University • Louisiana State University at Alexandria • Louisiana State University in Shreveport • McNeese State University • Nicholls State University • Northwestern State University • Southeastern Louisiana University • Southern University • Southern University at New Orleans • University of Louisiana at Monroe Specialized centers LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans • LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport • LSU Law Center • Southern Law Center Community and technical colleges Baton Rouge Community College • Bossier Parish Community College • Delgado Community College • L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College • Louisiana Delta Community College • Louisiana State University at Eunice • Louisiana Technical College • Nunez Community College • River Parishes Community College • South Louisiana Community College • Southern University at Shreveport • Sowela Technical Community College

v • d • e Sun Belt Conference Football Arkansas State Red Wolves • Florida Atlantic Owls • FIU Golden Panthers • Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns • Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks • Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders • North Texas Mean Green • Troy Trojans Non-football Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans • Denver Pioneers • New Orleans Privateers • South Alabama Jaguars† • Western Kentucky Hilltoppers† † - Will join the conference for football in 2009