Mission, Values, Vision
Mission
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers an exceptional education informed by diverse worldviews grounded in tradition, heritage, and culture. We develop leaders and innovators who advance knowledge, cultivate aesthetic sensibility, and improve the human condition.
Values
We strive to create a community of leaders and innovators in an environment that fosters a desire to advance and disseminate knowledge.
We support the mission of the university by actualizing our core values:
- Equity: striving for fair treatment and justice
- Integrity: demonstrating character, honesty, and trustworthiness
- Intellectual Curiosity: pursuing knowledge and appreciating its inherent value
- Creativity: transcending established ideas
- Tradition: acknowledging the contributions of the Acadian and Creole cultures to this region and to our University’s history
- Transparency: practicing open communication and sharing information
- Respect: demonstrating empathy and esteem for others
- Collaboration: understanding our connection with others and working to realize synergies through teamwork and collegiality
- Pluralism: believing in the inherent worth of diverse cultures and perspectives
- Sustainability: making decisions and allocating resources to meet the needs of the present, while preserving resources for the future
Vision
We strive to be included in the top 25% of our peer institutions by 2020, improving our national and international status and recognition.
President’s Welcome
Welcome to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
This is truly a time of opportunity and excitement for our University. Building on a strong foundation, we are moving forward with confidence.
As a research institution, we are committed to acquiring knowledge and making discoveries that can help solve problems or improve lives.
As a university rooted in the distinctive Cajun and Creole cultures, we celebrate diversity.
As a hub of ideas, the University plays a key role in economic development - at local, state, and national levels. Through partnerships with public bodies, business, and industry, we are dedicated to keeping our region and Louisiana economically secure.
Above all, we are committed to student success. That commitment refers to more than graduation rates. It includes the transmission of ideals, such as ethics and civic responsibility. It incorporates our intention to prepare our students to thrive as global citizens. And, it reflects our intent to make each student’s college experience as fulfilling as possible.
We invite you to learn more about the University of Louisiana at Lafayette through this website. Better yet, visit our campus for a first-hand look at what we offer.
Dr. Joseph Savoie
A Brief History
In 1898, Louisiana State Senator Robert Martin introduced legislation to establish the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. About three years later, on September 18, 1901, 100 students were on hand for the first day of class at Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. They were greeted by Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens, the school’s first president, who had led the transformation of a former sugar cane field into a campus. In 1903, 18 students were the first to graduate from SLII.
Over the next couple of decades, SLII raised admission standards, added faculty, and strengthened the curriculum. In 1921, SLII dropped “Industrial” from its name and awarded its first bachelor’s degrees. By the 1930s, the campus had grown to 175 acres and the College enrolled 918 students.
Southwestern Louisiana Institute’s existence was threatened in the 1940s when enrollment dropped drastically due to World War II. But SLI was chosen as the site for the V-5, V-7 and V-12 military training programs, which drew young officers from across the country and enhanced the student body.
After the war ended, SLI administrators grappled with a new problem-overcrowding- caused, in large part, by the number of military veterans who took advantage of federal financial assistance to earn academic degrees.
The campus and its academic programs grew during the prosperous 1950s. SLI began to offer master’s degrees and became the first all-white, state-supported public college in the South to enroll black students.
In 1960, SLI was granted university status and changed its name to the University of Southwestern Louisiana. In the 1960s, it adopted the nickname “Ragin’ Cajuns”® for its athletic teams. Creation of the Computing Center in 1960 brought national attention, since computer science was in its infancy. USL also began offering doctoral degrees in the Sixties.
In the 1970s, Louisiana-particularly Lafayette-enjoyed an Oil Boom. But when that boom disintegrated in the 1980s, university administrators grappled with repeated budget cuts as state revenue dwindled. USL led efforts to diversify Acadiana’s economy and a major fund drive raised $10 million in private gifts that were endowed to provide a steady funding source for scholarships and faculty salary supplements. During the same period the University focused its energies on its roles in research, scholarship, and graduate education.
By 1997, enrollment had grown to a record 17,018. A community college system was created in Louisiana in 1997, enabling the university to implement selective admissions criteria.
In 1999, USL changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as it began its 100th birthday celebration.
Today, UL Lafayette’s diverse offerings range from the humanities to the hard sciences; it is among national leaders in areas such as computer science, biology, nursing and architecture. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has been ranked among the top 100 public research universities in the United States, based on external funding its faculty members have attracted. The university has integrated an enriching student experience with the intellectual energy and solution-focused capabilities of a research university.
With the recent creation of an Office of Distance and Electronic Learning, UL Lafayette’s evolution includes the addition of more online courses and online degree programs that expand students’ learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom.
PRESIDENTS SINCE FOUNDING
E. Joseph Savoie (2008-present)
Ray P. Authement (1974-2008)
Clyde L. Rougeou (1966-1974)
Joel L. Fletcher (1941-1966)
Lether Edward Frazar (1938-1941)
Edwin L. Stephens (1900-1938)
The University’s Locale and Campus
Acadiana
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is located in Lafayette, a city of 125,000 situated in an area of south Louisiana known as Acadiana. Many of the inhabitants of Acadiana–the numerous parishes (or counties) that encompass Lafayette–are descendants of African, French and Spanish settlers.
Culturally, the region is characterized by a joie de vivre, or joy of life. Acadiana residents are known for working hard and playing hard. Fairs and festivals throughout the year celebrate everything from A to Z–alligators to zydeco music. Lafayette’s annual Festival International de Louisiane has showcased musicians from French-speaking countries from around the world.
Lafayette offers many recreational and cultural opportunities to UL Lafayette students. Girard Park, adjacent to campus, has tennis and basketball courts and a jogging path. The University’s recreational complex at Bourgeois Hall provides access to an indoor track, racquetball courts, a weight and fitness room, tennis courts, and a new outdoor Student Aquatic Center. The University Art Museum brings some of the finest art in the world to campus, such as the sculpture of Rodin, the paintings of Andrew Wyeth, and the photography of Ansel Adams.
The Natural History Museum and Planetarium is within easy reach of the University, as is the Heymann Performing Arts Center, which offers a variety of concerts and plays. The Cajundome on the South Campus hosts top entertainers and sporting events.
Campus and Facilities
The campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which includes demonstration farms, recreational areas, the New Iberia Research Center, and the University Research Park, is in fact an “in-use arboretum” and reflects the beauty and culture of Acadiana. The campus today consists of 274 buildings with over 4 million square feet of building area and more than 1,300 acres of grounds. The main campus occupies 145 acres in Lafayette. The immediate environs of the University are attractive residential areas, shopping venues, and a public park.
Cypress Lake, filled with both cypress trees and alligators, lies in the very heart of campus, surrounded by the Student Union and several other buildings offering academic and support services. The oldest section of the campus consists of eight buildings arrayed around a quadrangle behind Martin Hall, the University’s main administration building. Buildings that comprise this core area of the main campus are built in the Georgian architectural style, while newer campus facilities reveal influences of Art Deco and Post Modern architecture. Bourgeois Hall, the site of recreational facilities, the Cajundome and the rest of the Ragin’ Cajun athletic complex are situated on the South Campus, a short distance from the main campus.
Accreditation
University Accreditation
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award Baccalaureate, Master’s, and Doctoral Degrees contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane Decatur, GA 30033-4097 or call (404) 679-4501 for questions about the accreditation of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is a member of Southern University Conference, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Conference of Southern Graduate Schools, Council of Graduate Schools.
Accredited Programs by Program and Accrediting Agency
- Accounting - Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- Architecture - National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)
- Athletic Training - Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)
- Business Administration - Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- Chemistry a - American Chemical Society
- Computer Science a - Accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Communication - Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications
- Education - National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- Engineering
- Chemical Engineering a - Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Civil Engineering a - Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Electrical Engineering a - Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Industrial Technology - Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE), www.atmae.org
- Mechanical Engineering a - Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Petroleum Engineering a - Accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org
- Health Information - Management Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)
- Hospitality Management - Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA)
- Industrial Design - National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
- Interior Design - National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
- Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA)
- Music - National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)
- Nursing b
- The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.
- The master’s degree program in nursing at Intercollegiate Consortium for a Master of Science in Nursing (Consortium of McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, and University of Louisiana at Lafayette) is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.
- The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program in nursing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.
- Professional Land and Resource Management c - Curriculum approved by the American Association of Petroleum Landmen
- Speech Pathology and Audiology - Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
- Teacher Education d - National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
- Visual Arts - National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
a Undergraduate programs only
b Accredits both undergraduate and graduate programs
c The national professional association; not an official accrediting agency
d Graduate programs only
Athletics
- Ragin’ Cajuns
- Vision: To be a nationally prominent Division I athletics program that promotes a cULture of excellence for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff.
- Mission: To geaux beyond by inspiring elite performance and achieving greatness.
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