| Augustana College | |
|---|---|
Ole, Augustana's mascot. |
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| Motto | Verbum Dei manet in aeternum |
| Motto in English | The Word of God endures forever |
| Established | 1860[1] |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America |
| Endowment | USD $43.0 million[2] |
| President | Robert C. Oliver |
| Dean | James Bies, Mark Braun |
| Academic staff | Joseph Dondelinger, Patrick Hicks, Joel Johnson, Reynold Nesiba, David O'Hara, Peter Schotten, Robert E. Wright |
| Students | 1,745 full-time[3] |
| Location | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States |
| Campus | Urban 100 acres (40 ha) |
| Newspaper | The Mirror |
| Colors | Navy blue and gold |
| Athletics | Basketball, Football, Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling |
| Nickname | Vikings |
| Mascot | Ole the Viking |
| Affiliations | NSIC |
| Website | www.augie.edu |
Augustana College is a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The 100-acre (40 ha) campus makes the school the largest private university in South Dakota.[4] Students, alumni, friends, employees, and those who know the college casually refer to it as “Augie.”
Originally named "The Lutheran Normal School" and designated for the purpose of educating teachers, the college in 1918 received its current name after merging with Augustana College in Canton. The consolidation occurred as a result of synod officials finding it fiscally imprudent to have the two institutions so close together, the schools only some 20 miles (32 km) apart. The college nevertheless identifies its founding as 1860, the same as its sister-school (which shares the same name) in Rock Island, Illinois.[1] Augustana derives its name from the Confessio Augustana, the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession of 1530.
Augustana consistently receives high rankings among other Midwestern schools. Publications such as The Princeton Review named Augustana a "Best Midwestern College" and U.S. News & World Report listed Augustana as a "Best Buy" in 2009. U.S. News & World Report has labeled the school a top tier baccalaureate college in the Midwest for 13 consecutive years, with Augustana placing third as of 2009. It achieved this ranking again in 2010.[5][6]
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The institution traces its origin to 1835 when Scandinavian immigrants established the Hillsboro Academy in Hillsboro, Illinois, with the name changing to “The Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church of the Far West" in 1846. The school later moved to Springfield, Illinois under the name Illinois State University. In 1860 Professor Lars Paul Esbjörn and a group of followers moved to Chicago over differences in matters of doctrine. There they established The Augustana College and Seminary, marking the date that the college identifies as the year of its founding.
| Augustana College Heritage Park, the site of several historic buildings, including the Beaver Creek Lutheran Church, the one-room Eggers School, and the Berdahl-Rølvaag House |
As the United States expanded westward during and after the American Civil War, pioneers moved the school to Paxton, Illinois in 1863, and later in succession to Marshall, Wisconsin in 1869; Beloit, Iowa in 1881; and then to Canton, South Dakota in 1888.
The Lutheran Normal School opened in 1889 in Sioux Falls, SD, housed in what is now known as Old Main, with the purpose of educating teachers. But synod officials felt it unwise fiscally having two institutions so close together, the college in Canton only roughly 20 miles (32 km) away. Thus in 1918 the Lutheran Normal School and Augustana College in Canton merged under the name Augustana College and Normal School (ACNS), located in Sioux Falls. In 1926, "and Normal School" was dropped from the name and the site in Canton eventually became Augustana Academy. Despite the similarities in name, it was no longer affiliated with the College and ultimately closed in 1971. The 2010-2011 academic year marks Augustana College’s sesquicentennial.[7]
Augustana draws its name from the origin of the Lutheran Church in the Augsburg Confession, written in 1530 during the period of the Protestant Reformation. "Augustana" stems from the document's Latin name, Confessio Augustana.
Augustana College, as an undergraduate liberal arts school, grants four-year Bachelor of Arts degrees to its students. The school offers 53 majors, 34 minors, and 12 pre-professional programs[8] within a 4-1-4 academic calendar. The top five most popular majors are nursing, biology, business administration, elementary education and psychology.[9]
Augustana's stated academic goals are to "promote sensitivity to and appreciation of values essential for students to become effective citizens in local, national and international communities."[10] Central to these goals are five core values—Christian, Liberal Arts, Excellence, Community and Service—that serve as the foundation for the College’s academic and student life programs.[11]
The college's curriculum is based on a calendar divided into two 15 week semesters, separated by an interim period of four weeks during January, as well as an optional summer term of eight weeks. Classes may be taken during the month of January. The school offers a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio, notable members including L. Adrien Hannus and Robert E. Wright.
Graduation requires completion of 130 total credit hours, 59 of which are general education courses, with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0. "The Augustana Plan," the name of the 59 credit core curriculum, is "designed to develop articulate communicators, competent writers, creative thinkers, skilled problem solvers, and ethically minded, responsible citizens of the world."[6] Extensive internship, study-abroad, undergraduate research and Civitas, the college’s honors program, supplement the curriculum. Between 2007 and 2008, 285 students participated in an international educational experience, and 44% of students study abroad before graduation.[9]
US News & World Report values Augustana's financial endowment at $53.3 million.[5] Donations have allowed the school to expand its academic facilities, such as the recent $7 million renovation of the Mikkelsen Library[12] and the planned $45 million reconstruction of the Gilbert Science Complex.[13]
Augustana's student body consists of 1,820 undergraduates, 1,694 of whom full-time students and 126 part-time.[9] For the class of 2011, out of an applicant pool of 1,353, Augustana accepted 83%; of the 1,105 that enrolled, 63% were female.[14] US News & World Report classifies Augustana as a "more selective" school,[5] with 62% of the students enrolled having graduated from high school in the top quartile of their class, the average GPA being 3.6.[9] 3% of first-year students submitted SAT scores, with the middle 50% range for the mathematical and critical reading components being 530-630 and 490-640, respectively. ACT test score submissions had a 22-27 middle 50% range, with an average ACT composite score of 25.[15] The school's retention rate of freshmen returning as sophomores is 86%.[16]
Those enrolled are primarily from South Dakota (42%) and Minnesota (34%), followed by Iowa (12%) and Nebraska (4%).[17][18] In the fall of the 2010-2011 academic year, Augustana reported its largest ever incoming class of international students. Fifty-four new students representing 20 countries and 5 continents joined 25 continuing international students for a total of 79 international students from 23 countries, making up about 4.5% of the student body.[19] Although only 46% of students claim a preference for the school's Lutheran religious affiliation, the school is nevertheless composed primarily of students following another Christian denomination, Catholicism being the second largest at 21%; 22% of students, meanwhile, are categorized under "other."[9]
In the 2009 U.S. News & World Report ranking of Midwestern colleges, Augustana placed third, and has, for the last consecutive 13 years, been labeled a top tier baccalaureate college.[5] The publication additionally named it a "Best Buy" school, the award based on academic quality in relation to attendance costs. The Princeton Review called Augustana a "Best Midwestern College." Peterson’s 440 Colleges for Top Students featured Augustana, and Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That is Best for You listed the school as one of its “top 100 outstanding (but under-appreciated) colleges." The Templeton Guide selected Augustana as one of 100 select colleges and universities nationwide as part of its "Templeton Honor Roll."[6]
The Augustana Choir and Concert Band tour widely nationally and internationally, and the college is one of the few schools in America to house its own student-run improvisational theater groups; BNi (or Brand Name Improv), specializing in short-form improvisation. Improv remains a vital part of the Augustana campus with other improvisation groups such as GoldMilk Favorites, who specialize in long-form improvised musicals. Other improvisation groups have cropped up over the years, including Suspiciously Delicious, Fuzzy Mulligan, and the all-female group Sibyl. Augustana's concert band toured the People's Republic of China three times (1999, 2003, and 2007), and the Augustana Choir recently toured in the African nation of Tanzania. The choir toured Italy in the summer of 2008 and had a special performance at St. Peter's Basilica during a Saturday evening Mass, a privilege granted to only a few choirs.
The Augustana College Theatre Company presents four main-stage shows a year, as well as several student produced shows. The department furthermore serves as home to the Claire Donaldson 8-in-48 Short Play Festival which occurs every other year. On alternation years the college hosts the Cool Hip Awesome Improv Festival (or CHAI Fest) which has featured well known improv groups such as The Upright Citizens Brigade and Improv88. The 2008-2009 season featured Children of Eden, A Flea in Her Ear, and the world premier performance of Eating into the Fabric (written by faculty member Ivan Fuller). Full-time staff include Dan Workman & RJ Fitzsimmons. Chair of Performing & Visual Arts is Dr. Ivan Fuller.
In 2006, the new Center for Visual Arts replaced the old art department buildings, previously used as WWII barracks. It holds artist/professor studios, studio classrooms for design, drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and an art education lab, as well as the new Eide-Dalrymple gallery, which hosts several art exhibitions throughout the year. Noted artists and professors from the art department include Ogden Dalrymple, Palmer Eide, Robert Aldern, and Carl Grupp.
Directed by English department chairman Jeffrey Miller,[20] planning for Civitas began in 2005 in response to faculty desires to see an honors program similar to those offered at other colleges.[21] Civitas, a Latin word meaning "citizenship," highlights the work of Dietrich Bonhoffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who acted as a founding member of the Confessing Church and a participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism. "The Structure of Responsible Life," an essay written by Bonhoffer, serves as the central focus of the program.[22]
Emphasizing Stellvertretung (roughly translated as "vicarious representative action"), Bonhoffer participated in the Abwehr plot to assassinate Hitler, and subsequently wrote the piece as a justification for his actions. Students examine his work in classes specifically designated for Civitas and in special honors sections of existing courses. 40 students are selected from each graduating class, of whom must maintain at minimum a 3.0 GPA,[20] with entrance priority going to incoming students who possess an ACT score of at least 27 and a 3.5 cumulative high school GPA.[22]
Along with the opportunity of BRIN grants, Augustana College has received a pledge of $2.6 million dollars over five years from the National Institute of Health.[23] An average of 90% of graduating seniors seeking admission into medical school have been accepted over the last three years, double the national acceptance rate, and the school claims a consistent 100% placement record of nursing graduates.[13]
The Augustana Vikings currently participate in NCAA Division II athletics in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Vikings joined the NSIC from the North Central Conference, which folded in 2008. In 2004-2005, Augustana wrestlers finished second in the NCAA Division II championship, the wrestlers also took second in the NCAA Division II championship in 2009-2010. The Elmen Center serves as the home court for the men's and women's basketball teams, the volleyball team, and wrestling team.
On September 26, 2007, it was officially announced that Bob and Kari Hall were making a $7.1 million donation for an on-campus football stadium. The stadium is to bear the name Kirkeby–Over Stadium in honor of Kari Hall’s parents. Construction began on November 12, 2007[24] with the official groundbreaking taking place on November 16, 2007. Augustana College recently completed the Hall Football Complex; complete with its own locker rooms, weight room, and football meeting rooms. This makes Augustana College one of the premier Division II Colleges in the area in terms of facilities. The head football coach is Mike Aldrich.
The college used to operate a radio station, 89.1 FM KAUR, which broadcasted 24 hours per day.
Up until 2009, KAUR specialized in independent or college rock and also broadcast regular Alternative, Blues/Jazz, Folk, Spanish Traditional, Hip-Hop, and Hardcore/Metal shows. KAUR offered a variety ranging from jazz and folk to rap and regional South Dakota musicians. KAUR was founded in 1972 and Augustana College also once managed a self-constructed AM station, which, itself, was founded in 1945.
In the spring of 2009, administrators at Augustana College decided to discontinue KAUR's student operations in favor of broadcasting Minnesota Public Radio News (in lieu of alternative suggestions). The station left the air for a week before returning on September 15, 2009, with the new MPR format. Augustana College continues to own the station while MPR provides programming, maintenance, and funding for the regular operation of the station. The students assigned to operate KAUR for the 2009-2010 academic year, as part of the federal work-study program, were forcibly reassigned to other departments. The college had also received proposals from a number of other parties, including religious and ethnic interests, as well as a non-profit proposal which would have continued the student-run scheme.
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