University of Wisconsinâ€"Platteville (also known as UWâ€"Platteville) is a public university located in Platteville, Wisconsin, United States. Part of the University of Wisconsin System, it offers both bachelor's and master's degrees. The university has three colleges that serve over 8,000 students on-campus and an additional 3,000 students through its five distance education programs.
History
The university grew from the 1959 merger of two schools: Wisconsin State College, Platteville and Wisconsin Institute of Technology. WSC-Platteville was founded in 1866 as Platteville Normal School, the first teacher preparation school in Wisconsin. It was renamed Platteville State Teachers College in 1926 and Wisconsin State College, Platteville in 1951. The Wisconsin Institute of Technology, founded in 1907 as the Wisconsin Mining Trade School, was founded to train technicians for the numerous mining operations around Platteville. It evolved into the first three-year program for mining engineers in the United States. It changed its name to the Wisconsin Institute of Technology in 1939. The merged school took the name Wisconsin State College and Institute of Technology. In 1966, along with Wisconsin's other state colleges, it was granted university status as Wisconsin State University-Platteville. It took its current name after the Wisconsin State University system merged with the University of Wisconsin in 1971.
Starting in the late 1960s, the University of Wisconsinâ€"Platteville expanded its academic program and established new colleges, the largest being a business college. The mining college was transformed into an engineering college encompassing mining, electrical, mechanical, and eventually electronic engineering. In the late 1980s, the mining engineering degree was phased out because of falling enrollment. By that time it had been overshadowed by the other engineering degrees.
From 1984 to 2000, the Chicago Bears of the National Football League held pre-season training camp at UWâ€"Platteville. They were considered a member of the "Cheese League" that in 1999 consisted of the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs, with each team practicing at a different university in Wisconsin. In 2001, the Illinois General Assembly asked the Bears to move to an Illinois practice facility in order to raise funds for remodeling Soldier Field. Before the Bears left, they donated $250,000 to UWâ€"Platteville for a new computer lab, which was named "The Bears Den".
In the 1980s, UW-Platteville made an effort to bring businesses to the Platteville area to take advantage of university resources. Rockwell Automation started this trend in the 1980s when it recruited two engineering professors at UWâ€"Platteville to start an engineering firm. Rockwell provided financing and awarded them major contracts. The resulting business was Insight Industries, which later changed to AVISTA Inc. (now a division of Esterline, Inc.).
On June 16, 2014, an EF2 tornado struck the UW-Platteville campus, causing $18.6 million in damage.
Campus
UWâ€"Platteville's campus has no city streets that cut through the campus. During the 1960s, all city streets and parking lots within the campus were replaced with wide sidewalks and manicured lawns.
UWâ€"Platteville has 12 residence halls. Southwest Hall opened in the fall of 2006. To accommodate a rapidly growing student body Rountree Commons opened in August 2012 and Bridgeway Commons opened in August 2013. According to the release, the Bridgeway Commons has a "34,000-square-foot dining facility" and the five floors above will have more than 400 beds.
Ullsvik Hall, renovated and expanded between 2006 and 2008, houses administrative offices, academic facilities, visitor center, and other support departments. It also has banquet and catering facilities, including the Robert I. Velzy Commons, and the Nohr Art Gallery.
Student union
In 2002, a new student union, the Pioneer Student Center, was opened at the center of campus. The new location makes the student union the heart of the campus. The union also serves as a technology and activity hub with a large computer lab (the Bear's Den), an involvement center, and on-campus activities. The union houses one of two dining complexes, the Pioneer Crossing, which includes "Signature Line" and "Pioneer Haus." The center also includes a deli and coffee shop. The other location for food on campus is Bridgeway Commons, located in the residence hall section of campus. In 2011 the student center building was named the Markee Pioneer Student Center, after former Chancellor David Markee and his wife Lou Ann.
Organization
The university is part of the University of Wisconsin System, and has an administrative staff headed by a Chancellor. Its colleges are headed by deans and departments chairpersons who report to the deans. The university consists of three colleges that offer bachelor's and master's degrees:
- The College of Business, Industry, Life Sciences and Agriculture - offering programs in modern business and industrial applications, biology and agricultural sciences.
- The College of Liberal Arts and Education - with programs in humanities, social sciences (such as psychology), fine arts and education
- The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science - consisting of electrical, mechanical, industrial, civil/environmental, computer science, software engineering, chemistry, engineering physics, and mathematics.
Students and faculty
In 2004, UWP received approval from the UW system to increase its enrollment from 5,500 to 7,500 students. UWP started a program called the Tri-State Initiative, which aims to attract prospective students from Illinois and Iowa. The enrollment of UWP, as of Spring 2008, stood at 7,795 undergraduates and 830 graduate students. As of 2004, UWP was staffed by 336 faculty.
Distance education
In 1978, the University introduced print-based courses to enable Wisconsin residents living in isolated areas to earn an undergraduate degree in business administration without having to travel to a university campus. In 1996, the residency requirement was amended and the distance program was extended to working adults living throughout the United States. In 1999, online graduate programs in criminal justice, engineering, and project management were introduced, allowing students throughout the world to earn an accredited degree at a distance from UWâ€"P. In addition to accredited degree programs, UWP has also developed online leadership and management courses in association with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and on-site project management courses in association with a project management consulting company.
Extracurricular activities
UWâ€"Platteville has over 250 clubs and organizations including American Foundry Society.
Athletics
UWâ€"Platteville is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 14 sports, including football and basketball. The teams are nicknamed the Pioneers. Men's sports include basketball, football, indoor & outdoor track and field, cross country, wrestling, soccer, and baseball. Women's sports include basketball, soccer, indoor & outdoor track and field, volleyball, cross country, golf, softball, and cheerleading. All teams compete in NCAA Division III and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. There are also a number of club sports teams such as hockey and lacrosse which are partially funded through the university.
The men's basketball team won NCAA Division III championships in 1991, 1995, 1998, and 1999. The Pioneers qualified for the Division III men's basketball tournament from 1991-1999 and returned 10 years later in 2009. Bo Ryan, the former head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, guided the Pioneers to a 353-76 record and the best winning percentage in NCAA Division III basketball. Ryan established one of the best home court advantages of all time as the Pioneers only lost 5 games at home in a decade. The team averaged 26 wins a season in the 1990s, when the Division III men's regular season schedule only allowed 25 games per year. The university named the basketball floor "Bo Ryan Court" in January, 2007.
- Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium is home to the football team, lacrosse team, and soccer team.
- Williams Fieldhouse is home to the Men's and Women's basketball teams.
Media
The student newspaper, The Exponent, is published weekly by a student staff.
Greek life
UWâ€"Platteville has several nationally affiliated and local Greek organizations:
Fraternities
- Alpha Gamma Rho
- Delta Sigma Phi
- Delta Psi Chi
- FarmHouse
- Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
- Phi Sigma - local chapter(Philadelphian Society)
- Sigma Phi Epsilon
- Sigma Pi
- Sigma Tau Gamma
- Tau Kappa Epsilon
Sororities
- Ceres (female fraternity)
- Gamma Phi Beta
- Kappa Alpha Sigma- local chapter
- Sigma Alpha
- Sigma Alpha Iota (Women's Professional Music Fraternity)
- Theta Phi Alpha
- Zeta Beta Chi - No longer a part of campus Greek Life (local chapter, not associated with Dartmouth ZBX organization)
Traditions
The largest celebration by UWâ€"Platteville students is the twice-annual lighting of the Platte Mound M. The "M" is located on Platte Mound, a nearby large hill east of the city of Platteville.
Culture
The city has a large number of taverns, mainly on Second Street. Of the student body over 3,700 live in campus residence halls, with a growing number of students staying in town during the weekends. Students that don't live on campus typically live in houses off campus that are rented by the year. At one time taverns would regularly have standing-room-only nights. The music scene, funded by the taverns was active, producing several bands a year. One band, All Envy Aside (formerly Envy), won the MTV Best Band on Campus contest in 2005.
Notable people
The following have attended or held positions at University of Wisconsinâ€"Platteville:
Athletics
- Geep Chryst - football coach (1987); now San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach
- Rob Jeter - basketball player (1987â€"1991) and coach (1994â€"1998); former University of Wisconsinâ€"Milwaukee's men's basketball coach
- Saul Phillips - basketball player (1991â€"1995); now men's basketball coach at Ohio University
- Chester J. Roberts - football coach (1917); was previously head coach of the Miami Redskins football and men's basketball teams
- Bo Ryan - men's basketball coach (1984â€"1999); former men's basketball coach at the University of Wisconsinâ€"Madison
Alumni
- James N. Azim, Jr. - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Taylor G. Brown - Wisconsin State Senator
- James R. Charneski - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Lee Croft - NFL player
- Glenn Robert Davis - U.S. Representative
- Dr. Tom Davis - former basketball coach for Lafayette College, Boston College, Stanford University, the University of Iowa, and Drake University. Named the 1986-87 Associated Press National Coach of the Year.
- George Engebretson - Wisconsin State Senator
- Charles E. Estabrook - Wisconsin Attorney General
- Gary J. Goldberg - President and Chief Executive Officer, Newmont Mining Corporation
- William H. Goldthorpe - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Mike Hintz - NFL player
- Arthur W. Kopp - Wisconsin politician and jurist
- Dennis R. Larsen - U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General
- James B. McCoy - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Phil Micech - NFL player
- James William Murphy - U.S. Representative
- David Ott - classical music composer
- Elmer Lloyd Rundell - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Edward H. Sprague - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Barbara Thompson - Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Jerome Van Sistine - Wisconsin State Senator
- A. V. Wells - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- T. Harry Williams - historian
- James Wright - historian and president of Dartmouth College.
Faculty
- Duncan McGregor - Wisconsin State Assemblyman
- Kathryn Morrison - Wisconsin State senator
See also
- HiC - C++ development environment for introductory computer science classes - developed by UWâ€"Platteville
- WSUP-FM - student radio station (90.5Â MHz)
References
External links
- Official website
- UWâ€"Platteville athletics website