Idaho State University is a public university operated by the state of Idaho. Its main campus is in Pocatello with outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls.
ISU has more than 280 programs. Its seven colleges offer programs in the natural and physical sciences, humanities, performing and visual arts, education, engineering, business, pharmacy, and technology.
Enrollment for fall semester 2007 was 13,208 students. ISU previously enrolled a large number of older, non-traditional students who live and work off-campus; this demographic is making up less of ISU's population as it attempts a transition towards a more traditional undergraduate population. The student-teacher ratio at ISU is 17:1.
Notable programs at ISU include pharmacy, biology, liberal arts, anthropology, business and health care. ISU is in the process of opening the state of Idaho's first medical school, which is located at ISU's Boise campus.
History
On March 11, 1901, Governor Frank W. Hunt signed Senate Bill 53 establishing the Academy of Idaho contingent upon private land donations being made for its site. The Academy of Idaho was officially opened in Pocatello on May 1, 1901². By 1910 enrollment had reached nearly 300 students. The academy purchased four city blocks in Pocatello to help meet its needs.
In 1915, it became Idaho Technical Institute. The end of World War I brought an influx of students to the school, and the enrollment surged to over 1,000 students. The early 1920s saw the beginning of intercollegiate competition. At this time the institute adopted the Bengal as the school mascot, as one of its early coaches was from Princeton. Princeton's colors are also black & orange, and its mascot is the tiger.
In 1927 the school was renamed the University of Idaho - Southern Branch. In 1947 it was renamed Idaho State College and became a four-year school for the first time. The following year its enrollment reached 2,000.
On April 10, 1952 ten employees of Idaho State College organized Idaho State College Federal Credit Union with just $5 each to provide a cooperative system of low cost loans to coworkers. On October 28, 1963 the Credit Union was renamed Idaho State University Federal Credit Union to reflect the college’s new name.
In 1963, the school was renamed to Idaho State University, reflecting its new status as a full four-year public university, the state's second. In the ensuing years, ISU continuously expanded in both enrollment and programs offered. The presidency of Dr. Richard L. Bowen from 1985-2005 is regarded as an era of particular growth. Bowen resigned after a vote of No Confidence from the faculty, who were angered by generous pay raises for administration members during calls for fiscal austerity. As of 2006, ISU had colleges in arts and sciences, business, education, engineering, health professions, pharmacy, and technology.
On July 1, 2006, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Houston System and Vice President of the University of Houston Dr. Arthur C. Vailas became president of the university, replacing Michael Gallagher—who had served as president on an interim basis since Bowen's retirement in 2005.[1]
Student life
Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho.
Student government is administered by the Associated Students of Idaho State University (ASISU). Each year a president and vice president are elected by the student body to administer and oversee a variety of activities either partially or fully funded by tuition-based fees. The ASISU Senate is the Association's legislative body. Made up of 20 student members elected by the students of each individual college (allocation of seats being based on enrollment of each college), the ASISU Senate is primarily responsible for allocating the ASISU budget.
The Student Activities Board, formerly the ASISU Program Board, oversees most of the student activity programming on campus. The board plans concerts, movie showings, homecoming activities, athletic-related events and other activities generally associated with student life.
Off-campus, many Pocatello businesses are geared towards the university community. Many ISU students take advantage of Pocatello's proximity to outdoor activities in eastern Idaho and northern Utah. ISU is approximately 150 miles (240 km) from the urban center of Salt Lake City.
Reed Gym features recreational facilities including a climbing wall, swimming pool, tennis courts, and more. The Pond Student Union operates a movie theater, billiard room and bowling alley and hosts many student club activities. Fine arts events are regularly featured at the performing arts theater.
Greek Life
Idaho State University currently has four active fraternities, of which embody the larger Greek Council on campus:
Male Fraternities:
Female Fraternities:
Athletics
Idaho State University athletic logo
The Idaho State University Bengals compete in the NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) Big Sky Conference. ISU won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in football in 1981. It also won NCAA national championships in boxing as Idaho State College in 1953 and 1957.
In more recent years ISU has been competitive in track and field winning the Big Sky Conference Indoor title in 2005 and 2006. The women's track and field team won their first outdoors women's Big Sky conference in 2007 with a score of 140.5 over Weber State. Dave Nielson was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year in Women's track and field and was later named the Mountain Region's Outdoor Women's coach of the year.
Home football games are played at the 12,000-seat Holt Arena (known as the Minidome until 1988), the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States. Holt Arena also hosts indoor track and field events. After several seasons of playing at cozy Reed Gym (capacity: 2500), the men's basketball team will again play its home games inside Holt Arena.
For years the Bengals enjoyed athletic rivalries with the Boise State Broncos and the University of Idaho Vandals. However, these rivalries diminished significantly after both BSU and UI left the Big Sky in 1996 to move up to Division I-A. With this change, the Weber State Wildcats of nearby Ogden, Utah, and the Montana Grizzlies have become ISU's main rivals.
In 2008, Athletic Director Paul Bubb resigned after University officials discovered a long-standing $800,000 shortfall in the Athletic Department budget. The men's golf team was eliminated as a money saving measure although it was one of the least expensive teams that ISU fields.[citation needed]
The ISU football team is arguably one of the worst programs in the nation. Winning just one game in the 2008 season and winning only one game in the 2009 season, the athletic administration believed it would be in the program's best interest to keep Coach Zamberlin as the head coach, despite a losing record, with just 4 wins prior to the extension[2]. Many students/faculty at the university have voiced dismay with the choice and have even called for an end of the football program.[3]
Basketball
In March 1977, the men's basketball team made national headlines by defeating the UCLA Bruins 76-75 in the West regional semifinal of that year's NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. The win qualified the Bengals for their only appearance to date in the Elite Eight. This is by far the high-water mark for Bengals basketball, and marked the first time since 1966 that UCLA failed to reach the Final Four. The Bengals were subsequently eliminated in the West regional final by the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.
The Bengals men's basketball team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament was in 1987, when it was eliminated in the first round by UNLV.[4] The most recent appearance of the women's team in the NCAA tournament was 2007, when it was eliminated in the first round by the Stanford Cardinal.[5]
Notable alumni
- Jared Allen — Minnesota Vikings defensive end
- Don Aslett — author, speaker and founder of Varsity Contractors Inc.
- Bill Byrne — athletic director, Texas A&M University
- Ron Boone, current Utah Jazz announcer and former ABA player
- Wally Buono — current Canadian Football League head coach; winningest coach in CFL history
- Jeff Cook, former NBA player
- Stacy Dragila — 2000 Olympic gold medalist, women's pole vault
- Eddie Johnson — punter
- Matt Gutierrez, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback
- Merril Hoge — ESPN commentator and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back
- Stanley L. Klos — author, Professional Basketball Player in Italy, 1994 US Senate Candidate for West Virginia.
- Dirk Koetter — current Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator, former Head Coach for Boise State and Arizona State Football
- Marvin Lewis — Cincinnati Bengals head coach
- James A. McClure — former U.S. Senator
- Bruce Nelson — CEO, Office Depot
- William Petersen — actor, star of CSI: Las Vegas
- Jake Putnam — journalist
- Ed Sanders — Boxer, 1952 Olympic gold medalist
- Antonio Taguba — Retired United States Army major general
- Roger Williams — pianist
Notable faculty
- Corey Schou, University Professor of Informatics, director of the National Information Assurance Training and Education Center (NIATEC)
- Jeffrey Meldrum, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, and leading expert on the Sasquatch[6]
- Sean K. Anderson, Professor of Political Science, co-author of "The Historical Dictionary of Terrorism"
- Susan H. Swetnam, Professor of English, author of "My Best Teachers Were Saints: What Every Educator Can Learn from the Heroes of the Church"
- Richard D. Hansen, Archaeologist, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mesoamerican Research, specialist on the ancient Maya
See also
External links
References
History of Idaho State College, by Merrill D. Beal (1952) ISC Press.
- ^ [1].
- ^ http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?s=11323482
- ^ http://outsidebengal.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/idaho-state-extends-john-zamberlins-contract-through-the-2011-season/
- ^ 1987 NCAA Basketball Tournament
- ^ USATODAY.com - Women's Basketball - Idaho St. vs. Stanford
- ^ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bigfoot-anatomy
Coordinates: 42°51′41″N 112°26′03″W / 42.861261°N 112.434286°W / 42.861261; -112.434286
