| University Of South Carolina |
Article Index for University Of |
Articles about University Of South Carolina |
Website Links For University |
Information AboutUniversity Of South Carolina |
The University of South Carolina, Columbia ('''USC''' or '''Carolina''') is a Public , Coeducational , Research University located in Columbia , South Carolina and is the flagship campus of the University Of South Carolina System . Founded in 1801, the University offers more than 350 programs of study leading to Bachelor's , Master's , and Doctoral degrees from fifteen degree-granting colleges and schools. {Link without Title} USC is the only university in South Carolina to be designated a research institution of "very high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation For The Advancement Of Teaching . This classification is the foundation's highest and places USC in the same research category as Harvard, Duke, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, and California at Berkeley. {Link without Title} The University is also the site for a national institute for tourism research, which is a designation by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation . {Link without Title} USC is home to the nationally recognized South Carolina Honors College, which is designed to offer academically gifted undergraduates the advantages of a small college in the setting of a large metropolitan university. {Link without Title} The Journalism School hosts Ifra's Newsplex® Convergence Monitor, which was created to track convergent news-handling activities worldwide. {Link without Title} Professional schools on the Columbia campus include medicine, pharmacy, and law. The School of Law has been the only law school in the state until recently and continues to be the only ABA -accredited law school in the state. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} HISTORY illustration of the Horseshoe, USC's original campus.]] The University was founded as South Carolina College on December 19 , 1801 . Scholars in its early history included Francis Lieber , Thomas Cooper , and Joseph LeConte , and it offered a traditional classical curriculum. However, the institution was closed during the United States Civil War . It reopened in 1866 and struggled for the next forty years as it was entangled in the political disorder within South Carolina during that time. In 1906, the institution was rechartered as the University of South Carolina and became the first state-supported college or university in South Carolina to earn regional accreditation in 1917. For the next several decades, USC added colleges and programs to offer a more comprehensive curriculum. It became a statewide university during the 1950s by establishing campuses in communities throughout South Carolina. On September 11 , 1963 , as a result of a federal Court Order , the first African-Americans students since Reconstruction were admitted to the University. As the Baby Boomer generation entered college, Carolina experienced a tremendous increase in enrollment (5,660 in 1960 and nearly 26,000 by 1979). As a result, more emphasis was placed on research. More colleges and schools were added, and new and innovative degree programs were introduced. USC celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2001 . {Link without Title} CAMPUS When South Carolina College opened its doors in 1805, the building now known as Rutledge College was the only building on campus. Located one block southeast of the State Capitol, it served as an administrative office, academic building, residence hall, and chapel. However, the master plan for the original campus called for a total of eleven buildings, all facing a large lush gathering area. Therefore, in 1807, the original President's House was the next building to be erected. The building now known as DeSaussure College followed shortly thereafter, and the remaining eight buildings were constructed over the next several decades. When completed, all eleven buildings formed a U-shape open to Sumter Street. This modified quadrangle is known as the Horseshoe. The Horseshoe is listed on the and is the first freestanding academic library in the United States . Over the years the eleven original buildings on the Horseshoe survived a fire, an earthquake, and the Civil War, but in 1940 McKissick Museum replaced the original President's House. The President's House would eventually return to the Horseshoe after extensive remodeling of one of its original buildings, which was dedicated as such in 1952. During the 20th century, the campus began to spread out dramatically from the Horseshoe. Today it includes the student union, 21 residence halls, numerous academic buildings, Longstreet Theatre, the Koger Center for the Arts, the Carolina Coliseum, the Colonial Center , Sarge Frye Field, and various facilities for Olympic Sports . ( Williams-Brice Stadium is located approximately one mile off campus.) Recent additions to the campus are the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center (the largest facility of its kind on a college campus in the United States), the Greek village, and the West Quad. The West Quad was opened in the fall of 2004 as a residence hall and is one of only four in the world to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design (LEED) program. The University is currently expanding west toward the Congaree River in support of its research initiatives (see below). Three separate sites, each specializing in its own research area, will initially cover 500,000 square feet spread over six city blocks and will eventually grow to 5,000,000 square feet. This new district of campus, named Innovista , will mix university and private research buildings, parking garages, and commercial and residential units. At the center will be a public plaza called Foundation Square. Future plans also include a new home for the Arnold School of Public Health and a new baseball stadium along the Congaree River. {Link without Title} See a map of the USC campus at this link: {Link without Title} ACADEMICS
|