The University of Southern Indiana (USI) is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

just outside of

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

. Founded in 1965, USI enrolls 9,750 dual credit, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in more than 130 areas of study. USI offers programs through the College of Liberal Arts, Romain College of Business, College of Nursing and Health Professions and the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education. USI is

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

among "M1 – Master's Colleges and Universities: Larger programs". It is also classified among "community-engaged" institutions. Since the 2022–2023 school year, USI athletic teams participated in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

. The teams are known as the Screaming Eagles. Previously, USI participated in Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

History

The University of Southern Indiana began as a regional campus of

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

, 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, ISU–Evansville became an autonomous four-year institution, the University of Southern Indiana. Governor Robert D. Orr, an Evansville native, signed the newly independent school's charter. 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. Linda L. M. Bennett was USI'S third president, retiring in 2017. Ronald S. Rochon followed her in office.

Academics

USI offers over 70 undergraduate majors, 13 master's programs, and 2 doctoral programs as of the fall 2018 semester. 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. USI employs 652 full-time faculty, lecturers, and academic administrators, and 239 part-time faculty.

Student life

New University Center of University of Southern Indiana

Total USI enrollment was 11,033 for the 2017 fall semester, which included students in undergraduate and graduate degree programs and 2,016 students enrolled in USI's College Achievement Program (CAP) classes in 27 high schools across Indiana. Students at USI represented 90 Indiana counties, 39 states and 70 countries. Out of state enrollment, including international students, made up approximately 17% of the student population and minority and international students comprised more than 14%. More than 40,000 students have graduated since 1971.

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 (completed in 2006) 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.

Historic New Harmony

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 Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist, political philosopher and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, co-operative movement. He strove to ...

William Maclure William Maclure (27 October 176323 March 1840) was an Americanized Scottish geologist, cartographer and philanthropist. He is known as the 'father of American geology'. As a social experimenter on new types of community life, he collaborated w ...

communal experiment. File:Ricelibrary.jpg, Rice Hall, Campus Library File:The Cone at the University of Southern Indiana.JPG, The Cone File:The Atheneum, New Harmony, Indiana, 1979.jpg, The Atheneum, home of Historic New Harmony File:Fountain and plaza of the University of Southern Indiana.jpg, Fountain and plaza area

Athletics

The athletic teams of USI are known as the Screaming Eagles. The university competes at the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

level as members of the

. USI sponsors 17 varsity intercollegiate sports. The school has won four NCAA national championships (men's basketball, 1995; baseball, 2010 and 2014; softball, 2018), 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. The NCAA II Softball National Championship in 2018 marked the first softball team in Indiana to win an NCAA championship. The national championship in baseball in 2010 marked the first GLVC member and university in the state of Indiana to win such a title, repeating in 2014 to become the first NCAA II program to win multiple team titles. The men's basketball NCAA II National Championship in 1995 garnered 3.9 million viewers watching them on CBS Sports. On February 7, 2022, the university's board of trustees unanimously approved the athletics program to seek membership at the

level. On February 9, USI announced that it had accept an offer to become a member of the

beginning on July 1, 2022. USI boasts a strong academic record as well, with 228 Academic All-GLVC athletes in 2021–22 and 35 Academic All-America honors. Student athletes maintain an average GPA of 3.29 and are retained at a high percentage. Men's sports *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

* Cross country *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

Women's sports *

* Cross country *

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Notable alumni

* Vaneta Becker, member of the

Indiana Senate The Indiana State Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year ...

. * Kevin Brown, baseball player. * Brad Ellsworth, politician. * Stan Gouard, basketball player and coach. * Cindy Ledbetter, politician. * Darin Mastroianni, baseball player. * Wendy McNamara, politician. * Tim O'Brien, politician. * Zach Payne, politician. * Vince Russo, wrestler. * Jeff Schulz, baseball player. * Jamar Smith, basketball player. * Robert Titzer, author. * Duncan Bray, soccer player.

References

External links

*
Official athletics websiteThe Shield
University of Southern Indiana Student Newspaper {{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Indiana, University Of Education in Vanderburgh County, Indiana Buildings and structures in Vanderburgh County, Indiana Southwestern Indiana University of Southen Indiana Universities and colleges established in 1965 Sports in Evansville, Indiana Tourist attractions in Vanderburgh County, Indiana 1965 establishments in Indiana Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission