Mission
Overview
The Faculty
The Student Body
The Campus
Accreditation
UIC provides the broadest access to the highest levels of intellectual excellence. UIC ’s mission is:
- To create knowledge that transforms our views of the world and, through sharing and application, transforms the world.
- To provide a wide range of students with the educational opportunity only a leading research university can offer.
- To address the challenges and opportunities facing not only Chicago but all Great Cities of the 21st century, as expressed by our Great Cities Commitment.
- To foster scholarship and practices that reflect and respond to the increasing diversity of the U.S. in a rapidly globalizing world.
- To train professionals in a wide range of public service disciplines, serving Illinois as the principal educator of health science professionals and as a major healthcare provider to underserved communities.
The University of Illinois at Chicago is a major research university offering the unique cultural, business, and entertainment opportunities synonymous with a world-class city. UIC ranks alongside University of Chicago and Northwestern University as one of the top research-funded institutions in the nation. In many ways, UIC discovers what other institutions teach. UIC is comprised of 15 academic colleges including the UIC College of Medicine, which educates one in six Illinois physicians and is the largest medical school in the nation.
UIC boasts one of the most diverse student bodies in the country, offering a cultural experience second to none with 15,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate and professional students.
On our 240-acre, eco-friendly campus, students will find 100 buildings, 5,000 trees, geothermal energy plants and two state of the art fitness centers. And whether living in residence hall, near campus or commuting, students enjoy a busy social life. With nationally ranked athletic teams, numerous social events, sororities and fraternities, and nearby entertainment venues, there are a lot of opportunities to have fun.
To learn about UIC's leadership and role as one of three campuses of the University of Illinois, please consult the following Web pages: Chancellor and Leadership http://www.uic.edu/uic/about/leadership/index.shtml and the University of Illinois Web site http://www.uillinois.edu/.
The University takes great pride in its faculty. Many of its members have gained national and international reputations as scholars and researchers, artists, writers, clinicians, and educators.
The quality of UIC faculty members is measured by the recognition they receive through publications, national awards, and the level of grant support for their research and teaching. For example, faculty members have earned awards, fellowships, and grant support from such sources as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Academy of Science, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Education, and many other philanthropic organizations and state and federal agencies. Two of our faculty are recipients of MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" fellowships.
One of the best measures of faculty excellence is the federal research funding it receives, and UIC ranks 54th among all U.S. universities in this category. A separate survey released recently by Times Higher Education (UK) ranked UIC 72nd among U.S. universities and 197th worldwide in a survey that looked at research, economic activity and innovation, international diversity and other factors.
UIC faculty researchers are actively engaged in their disciplines and constantly working to advance their areas of study and students benefit directly as the latest trends and insights are brought into the classroom. Research faculty guide advanced undergraduate and graduate students and provide them with research opportunities that may inspire them to enter research careers themselves. Publication of books and articles is another key measure of faculty strength and UIC’s faculty is highly productive, with many holding editorships of prestigious journals. Their scholarship and practices reflect and respond to the increasing diversity of the United States as they create new knowledge both within the traditional disciplines and in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary endeavors.
The nearly 25,000 students who study at the University of Illinois at Chicago come from the city of Chicago and its suburbs, and from all 50 states, three United States territories, and 100 foreign countries. The UIC student body is rich in its diversity. Our 15,000 undergraduate students have high goals: eighty-six percent aspire to postbaccalaureate degrees, ranging from master’s and doctoral level study to law, medicine, and divinity degrees. These ambitious students have reported to us that they come to UIC because of its location, its diversity, its strong academic reputation, and because students who graduate from UIC get jobs and get into graduate school. In the last five years, UIC students received 21 Fulbright, 10 Goldwater, and three Gates-Cambridge Scholarships.
UIC’s undergraduate students study abroad in such locations as Hong Kong, Melbourne, Paris, and Santiago. They conduct research in the tropical forests of Amazonia and the Congo. They work in laboratories researching Parkinson’s disease, sickle-cell anemia, and autism. They work on public policy, issues of social justice, and school-based mental health interventions. They have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, have created Thanksgiving bags for the elderly, sent cards to soldiers overseas, hosted blood drives, worked in soup kitchens, cleaned up Lake Michigan beaches, raised money for breast cancer and HIV/AIDS, worked with children in the pediatric unit at UIC Hospital, and donated hundreds and hundreds of shoes to our annual shoe drive.
They relax in one of our on-campus sports and recreation facilities, play water polo, table tennis, soccer, rugby, or volleyball. They dance, play paintball, fish, fence, and cycle, or join one of our 233 student organizations. A growing number, including half of the freshman class, call UIC residence halls home.
Located a mile west of Chicago’s Loop, the University of Illinois at Chicago features 110 buildings on a 244-acre campus, comprised of east and west sides (see maps at the back of the catalog). Undergraduate education takes place principally on the east side, whereas professional programs in the health sciences form the programmatic core of the west side. UIC offers students a learning environment of contemporary classrooms, lecture centers, laboratories, libraries, on-campus residence halls, and the latest sport and fitness facilities. Students have access to two of the largest student unions in the country, as well as sports and entertainment at the UIC Pavilion. Nearly 25 percent of the UIC undergraduate student body resides in on-campus housing, and the campus is also readily accessible to students commuting from residential neighborhoods.
The University of Illinois at Chicago is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, Illinois 60604-1413, (312) 263-0456, (800) 621-7440, http://www.higherlearningcommission.org. The Higher Learning Commission is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). In 2007, HLC voted to continue accreditation of UIC for the maximum period of 10 years. The next comprehensive evaluation of UIC is scheduled for 2016–2017. Verification of accreditation status is available in the Office of the Chancellor (312) 413-3350.
The undergraduate academic degree programs (and including the Doctor of Pharmacy degree) described in this catalog have been approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, 431 East Adams, Second Floor, Springfield, Illinois 62701-1418, (217) 782-2551, (888) 261-2881 (TTY).
In addition to institutional accreditation, certain individual programs are accredited by the following organizations.
Art and Design
BFA programs in Graphic Design and Industrial Design
National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21
Reston, Virginia 20190
(703) 437-0700
http://nasad.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp
Business
BS programs in Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Information and Decision Sciences, Management, and Marketing
AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
777 South Harbour Island Boulevard, Suite 750
Tampa, Florida 33602
(813) 769-6500
http://www.aacsb.edu/
Engineering
BS programs in Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
The BS program in Computer Science is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET)
111 Market Place, Suite 1050
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
(410) 347-7700
http://www.abet.org/
Health Information Management
BS in Health Information Management
Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)
233 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2150
Chicago, Illinois 60601
(312) 233-1131
http://www.cahiim.org/
Human Nutrition
BS in Human Nutrition
Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE)
American Dietetic Association
120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000
Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995
(800) 877-1600
http://www.eatright.org/
Nursing
BS in Nursing
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 887-6791
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Accreditation/
Pharmacy
Doctor of Pharmacy
Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500
Chicago, Illinois 60602
(312) 664-3575
http://www.acpe-accredit.org/
State Teacher Certification
The curricula for the preparation of elementary and secondary school teachers as listed in this catalog have been approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the University.