Upper Iowa University
Encyclopedia
Established in 1857, Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...

 institution of higher education with its residential campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...

 located in northeast Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 near the Volga River
Volga River (Iowa)
The Volga River is an river in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the major tributary of the Turkey River in the northeastern part of the state. The river runs through Fayette and Clayton counties before joining the Turkey River near Elkport. The Turkey River then runs into the Mississippi River near...

 in the rural community of Fayette
Fayette, Iowa
Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,300. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa University, a small private college...

, where around 900 students are enrolled.

UIU offers distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

 programs that include 15 centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study
Independent study
Independent study is a form of education offered by many high schools, colleges, and other educational institutions around the world. It is sometimes referred to as directed study...

 program, and centers in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, and Malaysia. UIU has a total student population of more than 6,000 students with a 24:1 student/faculty ratio (based on university-wide enrollment).

Upper Iowa offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in more than 40 majors, including art, business, conservation management, education, higher education administration, human services, information technology, liberal arts, math, nursing, psychology, science, and more. It operates on two eight-week terms per semester, allowing students to take two classes per term.

UIU is the only NCAA Division II Athletics Program in the state of Iowa and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with two members in South Dakota and one member each in the states of Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. It participates in the NCAA's...

 (NSIC).

Upper Iowa University is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools , also known as the North Central Association, is a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states, that is engaged in educational accreditation...

.

History

In 1854, Elizabeth Alexander, a pioneer living near what is now Fayette, Iowa, proposed the idea of a college to her husband, Robert, who donated $10,000 toward the cause. Their son-in-law, Samuel Robertson, donated $5,000 and 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) of land. In 1856, the first Board of Trustees meeting was held; articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation
The Articles of Incorporation are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation in the United States and Canada, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.An equivalent term for LLCs in the United States is the Articles of Organization...

 were adopted; and classes began January 7, 1857.

In 1861, a company of male students and faculty members enlisted in the Army to fight in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Student-soldiers participated in 17 major battles, carrying a flag hand-sewn by UIU women students. In 1917, UIU male students joined the armed forces during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, while women students organized American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

 classes on campus; the UIU gym became a barracks, and the athletic field was the scene of military drills. By 1920, a systematic program of extension work throughout northeast Iowa had begun, with Upper Iowa referred to as "a pioneer in the field." Those students who joined the service to fight in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 took advantage of the G.I. Bill to complete their education, which dramatically increased Upper Iowa enrollment between 1947 and 1950. Record enrollments were also seen after the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 (1952–1970).

In 1972, Upper Iowa launched an external degree program that included Independent Study and Online Programs. In 1984 to present, UIU expanded to open locations across the U.S. Upper Iowa was approved by North Central to offer graduate degrees in 1995, and in 1999 started its International Program by establishing centers in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Malaysia, and Vancouver, Canada.

It was also during 1994 to 2003 that UIU underwent an aggressive landscaping and building renovation that brought changes to its Fayette campus. This included the construction of Lee Tower Residence Halls, the acquisition of a new physical plant building and the construction of a recreation center. In 2004, the new Andres Center for Business and Education was built, and Alan G. Walker was appointed the 20th president of the University. During summer 2009, the largest capital improvement project broke ground on the Fayette campus — $75 million — which will include a new student center, suite-style housing, and a Liberal Arts academic building.

Campus

Upper Iowa’s traditional 100 acre (0.404686 km²) residential campus is in Fayette, Iowa. Fayette County is ranked at 26th in the Midwest list of “Best Places to Live.” Student-faculty ratio is 14:1; teaching is by tenured or full-time faculty of whom nearly 75 percent have doctorate degrees; advising is done by faculty; there are free on-campus tutor centers; and there are more than 40 registered fraternities, sororities, clubs and organizations on campus.

The Fayette campus is primarily for undergraduate students, but a master’s degree in education is also offered, along with two-week IXEL classes in the summer. Students can choose from 40 majors, with the most popular being Elementary Education and Teaching, Marketing/Marketing Management, General, and Natural Resources/Conservation. The Pleggenkuhle Prairie, donated by the Pleggenkuhle family to UIU, is 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of virgin prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 northwest of Hawkeye. It is used as a teaching tool for students to learn about the prairie ecosystem and to conduct proscribed burns and research projects at the site.

The academic facilities on the Fayette campus are state-of-the-art due to an aggressive renovation of the old buildings over the past decade and new construction currently underway. The Fayette campus has free wireless Internet access. The recreational facilities include free student events, a free fitness center, and free golf at the local 18-hole course. The university has rock wall climbing and specially designed ropes course.

Academics

Upper Iowa University participates in the North Central Association (NCA) Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), has a UIU chapter of the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society
Alpha Chi National College Honor Society
Alpha Chi National College Honor Society is an American collegiate honor society recognizing achievements in general scholarship. It was founded on February 22, 1922 at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas...

, and 165 student athletes were honored in 2010 for academic excellence. Average ACT score is 22; average high school grade point average is 2.94; tuition for 2009-2010 is $22,350, with 100 percent of UIU students receiving need- and/or merit-based financial aid.

Upper Iowa University awards more than $100,000 each year in merit-based scholarships to its current students.

Distance education

Upper Iowa Distance Education includes 15 center locations across the U.S. in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana and Wisconsin, an Independent Study program, as well as an Online Program recognized by GetEducated.com Best Buy Rankings since 2007 and the Online Education Database (OEDb) Online College Rankings since 2007.

UIU Center locations offer the flexibility of evening and weekend classes with a classroom experience. Independent Study and Online programs offer education "anywhere, anytime." Over 40 undergraduate courses and graduate degrees (MPA, MBA, MHEA) are offered, with the option of mixing classroom and online courses.

International program

Upper Iowa University has three international education centers located in the Pacific Rim. UIU offers undergraduate programs in business, communication and psychology to learners in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Through on-site faculty, faculty exchange, and visiting lecturers, UIU offers a program with a high level of academic rigor and quality.

In addition, UIU also offers a full on-line Master of Business Administration program with global access for students, as well as study abroad opportunities.

Athletics

In 2005, Upper Iowa University was accepted into full membership of the NCAA Division II athletics and became a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with two members in South Dakota and one member each in the states of Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. It participates in the NCAA's...

 (NSIC).

Peacock colors are blue and white. UIU was a Division III member of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is an College Athletic Conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Iowa.-History:...

 until 2003.

Sports Teams

Baseball (Men)
Basketball (Men and Women)
Football (Men)
Golf (Men and Women)
Soccer (Men and Women)
Softball (Women)
Spirit Squad (Men and Women)
Tennis (Women)
Volleyball (Women)
Wrestling (Men)

Military friendliness

UIU is recognized for being a military-friendly college by Military Advanced Education (MAE) magazine’s “3rd Annual Guide to Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities” and the 2010 list for top military-friendly schools published by G.I. Jobs online magazine. UIU is a member of the Post 9/11 GI Bill’s Yellow Ribbon Program and works closely with Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges, GoArmyEd, Navy College Program Distance Learning Program, Army National Guard Education Support Program, Coast Guard Institute, and the Air Force AU ABC program. UIU offers credit for military training, military spouse scholarship opportunities, and tuition discounts for the Total Military Family.

Notable alumni

  • William V. Allen
    William V. Allen
    William Vincent Allen was a jurist and twice a U.S. Senator from Nebraska.Allen was born in Midway, Ohio. He moved with his parents to Iowa in 1857, where he attended the common schools and Upper Iowa University at Fayette, Iowa...

    , United States Senator
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from Nebraska, 1893 – 1901.
  • William F. Albright
    William F. Albright
    William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...

    , archaeologist who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls
    Dead Sea scrolls
    The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...

  • Raymond F. Chandler
    Raymond F. Chandler
    Raymond F. Chandler III is the current Sergeant Major of the Army in the United States. He was sworn in as the 14th Sergeant Major of the Army on March 1, 2011. Chandler has served in all tank crewman positions and has had multiple tours as a troop, squadron and regimental master gunner...

    , current Sergeant Major of the Army
    Sergeant Major of the Army
    The Sergeant Major of the Army is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Army. The holder of this rank is the most senior enlisted member of the Army, unless an Army NCO is serving as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman, when in that case that NCO will be the most senior...

  • Richard C. Clark, former United States Senator
    United States Senate
    The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

     from Iowa, 1973–1979
  • Mike Eischeid
    Mike Eischeid
    Mike Eischeid is a former professional American football punter with a 9-year career in the American Football League and the National Football League from 1966 to 1974. He was the regular punter for the Oakland Raiders from 1966 to 1970, but played in only 2 games in 1971...

    , football
    American football
    American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

     player and punter
    Punter (football position)
    A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a...

     in the National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     for 9 seasons, 1963
  • David B. Henderson
    David B. Henderson
    David Bremner Henderson , a ten-term Republican Congressman from Dubuque, Iowa, was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903...

    , the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from west of the Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

    , 1861
  • Mary Lundby, Iowa State Senate
  • John Mott
    John Mott
    John Raleigh Mott was a long-serving leader of the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation...

     (attended), leader of the Y.M.C.A. movement and won the Nobel Peace Prize
    Nobel Peace Prize
    The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

     in 1946 for his work with prisoners of war
  • Larry Nemmers, National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

     game official, B.S. Biology, 1965
  • Gerald C. Olesen
    Gerald C. Olesen
    Gerald C. Olesen is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Air National Guard and former Assistant Adjutant General of Wisconsin for the Air.-Career:...

    , U.S. Air National Guard general, Assistant Adjutant General of Wisconsin
    Wisconsin
    Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

  • George Safford Parker, founder of the Parker Pen Company, 1882
  • Claude Welch
    Claude Welch
    Claude Raymond Welch was a historical theologian specializing in Karl Barth and nineteenth-century theology.-Early life:Welch was born to Virgil and Deone Welch...

    , President and Dean, Graduate Theological Union

External links

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