University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Encyclopedia
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls (also known as UW–River Falls or UWRF) is a liberal arts undergraduate and graduate university and a member of the University of Wisconsin System
. UW–River Falls is located in River Falls, Wisconsin
on the famed trout fishing Kinnickinnic River
. The 226 acres (91 ha) campus consists of 32 major buildings, ten of which are residence halls. The university also operates two laboratory farms containing a total of 440 acres (178 ha) of land.
Nicknamed the Falcons, the University has eighteen varsity sports for men and women competing in Division III of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
. From 1991 to 2009, the Kansas City Chiefs used many of the university's athletic facilities during their annual summer training camp. The Chiefs moved their training camp to Missouri Western State University
in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2010.
Founded as the "River Falls Normal School
" in 1874, the institution's primary focus was to prepare students for teaching careers. In 1926 it became the River Falls State Teachers College. It adopted its present name in 1971.
In accordance with its original purpose of teacher training, it operated the Campus School for many years. When the Campus School closed in the early 1980s, it was the last of its kind in the state.
Today, UW–RF has a reputation for academic excellence. It is home to over 6,900 students in various majors including Agriculture, Business, Education, Journalism, Food Science, Music, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Geosciences and more. The University has been accredited by Council on Social Work Education
, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
, American Association of Agricultural Engineers, National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and many more.
and was renamed University of Wisconsin–River Falls in 1971, when the former University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State Universities merged.
called University Center in January 2007 to replace the Hagestad Student Center (renamed to Hagestad Hall). A day care center (The CHILD Center) was constructed and dedicated in 2004. In 2005, the university opened a suite-style residence hall named George R. Field South Fork Suites, serving 240 students. A new locker room addition for the Hunt-Knowles Complex opened in 2005, serving the college athletic department and the Kansas City Chiefs
during their summer training camp. In October 2007, the Dairy Learning Center complex was dedicated at the Mann Valley campus laboratory farm. The complex contains nine buildings that include classrooms, labs, a milking parlor, herd weighing and tracking systems, and an ecologically friendly animal waste disposal system. A new Residents Hall (current name South Fork Suites 2), containing an additional 240 beds is currently under construction. A new Health and Human Performance Building is currently in the planning phase to replace the aging Karges Physical Education Center.
University of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
. UW–River Falls is located in River Falls, Wisconsin
River Falls, Wisconsin
River Falls is a city in Pierce and St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 15,000 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest city in the Twin Cities Wisconsin suburbs, which is the eighth largest metropolitan area in the state...
on the famed trout fishing Kinnickinnic River
Kinnickinnic River
Kinnickinnic River may refer to one of two rivers in the United States state of Wisconsin:* Kinnickinnic River, a tributary of the Milwaukee River in southeastern Wisconsin* Kinnickinnic River, a tributary of the St. Croix River in northwestern Wisconsin...
. The 226 acres (91 ha) campus consists of 32 major buildings, ten of which are residence halls. The university also operates two laboratory farms containing a total of 440 acres (178 ha) of land.
Nicknamed the Falcons, the University has eighteen varsity sports for men and women competing in Division III of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. As the name implies, member teams are located in the state of Wisconsin, although there are three associate members from Minnesota and one from Michigan...
. From 1991 to 2009, the Kansas City Chiefs used many of the university's athletic facilities during their annual summer training camp. The Chiefs moved their training camp to Missouri Western State University
Missouri Western State University
Missouri Western State University is a public, co-educational university located in Saint Joseph, Missouri. The school enrolls 6,010 undergraduate students and 124 graduate students.-History:...
in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2010.
Founded as the "River Falls Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
" in 1874, the institution's primary focus was to prepare students for teaching careers. In 1926 it became the River Falls State Teachers College. It adopted its present name in 1971.
In accordance with its original purpose of teacher training, it operated the Campus School for many years. When the Campus School closed in the early 1980s, it was the last of its kind in the state.
Today, UW–RF has a reputation for academic excellence. It is home to over 6,900 students in various majors including Agriculture, Business, Education, Journalism, Food Science, Music, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Geosciences and more. The University has been accredited by Council on Social Work Education
Council on Social Work Education
The Council on Social Work Education is the national association for social work education in the United States of America.The CSWE sets and maintains standards of courses and accreditation of bachelor's degree's and Master's degree programs in social work.The CSWE specifies foundation social work...
, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics was founded in 1920. It has grown to be the world's largest organization concerned with mathematics education, having close to 100,000 members across the USA and Canada, and internationally....
, American Association of Agricultural Engineers, National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and many more.
History
The University of Wisconsin–River Falls was founded in 1874 as River Falls State Normal School, which was renamed River Falls State Teachers College in 1927. From 1951 to 1964, the school was called Wisconsin State College–River Falls. In 1964, it became Wisconsin State University–River Falls. The school became a member of the University of Wisconsin SystemUniversity of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
and was renamed University of Wisconsin–River Falls in 1971, when the former University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State Universities merged.
Campus
In the past few years, UWRF has updated many of its aging buildings. North Hall, which, prior to the construction of the Ames Teacher Education building, housed the Campus School, is now an administration building. The university opened a new student unionStudent activity center
A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center...
called University Center in January 2007 to replace the Hagestad Student Center (renamed to Hagestad Hall). A day care center (The CHILD Center) was constructed and dedicated in 2004. In 2005, the university opened a suite-style residence hall named George R. Field South Fork Suites, serving 240 students. A new locker room addition for the Hunt-Knowles Complex opened in 2005, serving the college athletic department and the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
during their summer training camp. In October 2007, the Dairy Learning Center complex was dedicated at the Mann Valley campus laboratory farm. The complex contains nine buildings that include classrooms, labs, a milking parlor, herd weighing and tracking systems, and an ecologically friendly animal waste disposal system. A new Residents Hall (current name South Fork Suites 2), containing an additional 240 beds is currently under construction. A new Health and Human Performance Building is currently in the planning phase to replace the aging Karges Physical Education Center.
Academic buildings
- Agricultural Engineering Annex (AEA)
- Agricultural Science Hall (AGS)
- Centennial Science Hall (CSH)
- Chalmer Davee Library (DL)
- Falcon Union Center on the Kinnikinic
- Food and Animal Science Addition (FSA)
- Emogene Nelson Building (ENB)
- Greenhouse (GH)
- Hunt Ice Area (ICE)
- Karges Center (KC)
- Kleinpell Fine Arts (KFA)
- Knowles Complex (KNO)
- North Hall (NH)
- Rodli Commons (ROD)
- South Hall (SH)
- Wyman Education Building (WEB)
Student life
- Student Population: 6,900 (As of the 2010-11 school year)
- Male (41%) Female (59%)
- Student/Faculty Ratio is 20:1
- Public-access televisionPublic-access televisionPublic-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
Station: Cable Channel 19 (http://uwrf.orgsync.com/org/focusproductions) - Radio Station: WRFW FM(88.7 MHz) or online at (www.pureradio887.com)
- Newspaper: Student Voice (www.uwrfvoice.com)
- Library Book Count: 220,447 volumes.
- Student Senate, 25 students representing student body.
- 16 varsity men/women teams that compete in NCAA Division III.
Residence Halls
- Crabtree Hall
- George R. Field South Fork Suites
- Grimm Hall
- Hathorn Hall
- Johnson Hall
- May Hall
- McMillan Hall
- Parker Hall
- Prucha Hall
- South Fork Suites: II
- Stratton Hall
In The Media
- In 2007, the HBO sports documentary Hard KnocksHard Knocks (TV series)Hard Knocks is a reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO. The series follows a select National Football League team through its training camp and provides an in-depth perspective of the team's preparation for the upcoming season. The series is described as one of...
followed the Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
throughout their summer training camp at UWRF. The series featured a number of university buildings, including: the new student union, Rodli Commons, McMillan Hall, Ramer Field Complex, Hunt Ice Hockey Arena and Laboratory Farm #1.
Notable alumni
- William BerndtWilliam BerndtWilliam Berndt is a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and Wisconsin State Senate.-Biography:Berndt was born on July 18, 1956. He graduated from River Falls High School in River Falls, Wisconsin before attending the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the University of Minnesota...
, Wisconsin State SenateWisconsin State SenateThe Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly... - Daniel BrandensteinDaniel BrandensteinDaniel Charles Brandenstein is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of United Space Alliance. He is a former naval aviator and NASA astronaut who flew four space shuttle missions....
, astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.... - Nate DeLongNate DeLongNate DeLong was a center in the National Basketball Association.-Biography:A native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, DeLong was a long-time resident of Hayward, Wisconsin. From 1989 to 2008, he served on the Board of Supervisors of Sawyer County, Wisconsin...
, NBA player - Kristen DexterKristen DexterKristen Dexter is a Democratic Party politician and former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, who represented the 68th Assembly District from 2009 to 2011. She succeeded long-time incumbent Representative Terry Moulton...
, former member of Wisconsin State AssemblyWisconsin State AssemblyThe Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.... - Steve DrazkowskiSteve DrazkowskiSteve Drazkowski is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 28B, which includes portions of Goodhue, Wabasha and Winona counties in the southeastern part of the state. A Republican, he was first elected in an August 7, 2007 special election...
, Minnesota politician - Jim HallJim Hall (programmer)Jim Hall is a computer programmer and advocate of free software, best known for his work on FreeDOS. Hall began writing the free replacement for the MS-DOS operating system in 1994 when he was still a physics student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls...
, programmerProgrammerA programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to... - Boyd HuppertBoyd HuppertBoyd Huppert is an American television personality. He is presently a news reporter for KARE 11 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. He is host of the television series Land of Ten Thousand Stories, which has been recognized for its strong photojournalism.-Television work:In 2007, Huppert received...
, Journalist (Kare 11) - Robert P. KnowlesRobert P. KnowlesRobert P. Knowles was a Wisconsin politician.Born in River Falls, Wisconsin, Knowles graduated from the University of Wisconsin–River Falls. Knowles served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1955 until 1975; his older brother was Warren P. Knowles, Governor of Wisconsin...
, Wisconsin State SenateWisconsin State SenateThe Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly... - Michael NormanMichael NormanMichael Norman is an American author known for his Haunted superstitious series with Beth Scott. Norman holds a Master's degree from DeKalb's Northern Illinois University in 1969. He worked at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls journalism department from 1973 until his retirement in May 2003...
,author - Michael J. NelsonMichael J. NelsonMichael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, comedianComedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
(did not graduate) - Mark W. Neumann, former congressman
- Francis Paul Prucha, Roman Catholic priest and educator
- Tom TiffanyTom TiffanyTom Tiffany is an American politician who has been elected to serve as member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 35th District from 2011.-Early Life, Education, and Career:...
, Wisconsin State Assembly - Harvey StowerHarvey StowerPharis Harvey Stower, Jr. was a Wisconsin politician and legislator.-Early Life, Education, and Career:Born in Frederic, Wisconsin, Stower and his family moved to Amery, Wisconsin, where he attended high school...
, Wisconsin State Assembly - David SwensenDavid SwensenDavid F. Swensen has been the Chief Investment Officer at Yale University since 1985. He is responsible for managing and investing the University's endowment assets and investment funds, which total $19.4 billion...
, Chief Investment OfficerChief investment officerThe chief investment officer is a job title for the board level head of investments within an organization. The CIO's purpose is to understand, manage, and monitor their organization's portfolio of assets, devise strategies for growth, act as the liaison with investors, and recognize and avoid...
, Yale University and member of President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's Economic Recovery Advisory Board - Cathy WurzerCathy WurzerCathy Wurzer is an American journalist and author. She and her husband Eric Eskola are longtime hosts of Almanac on Twin Cities Public Television. She also hosts the regional portion of Morning Edition on Minnesota Public Radio...
, Journalist - Mike YoungMike Young (coach)Mike Young is the current Australian cricket team fielding coach as well as former minor league and Australian baseball manager, player and coach...
, minor league player and manager, Australia national baseball teamAustralia national baseball teamThe Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. They are ranked as the top team in Oceania, and are the Oceanian Champions, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand withdrew from the Oceania Baseball Championship. They...
player and coach and Australia national cricket team fielding coach
Notable faculty
- Osborne Cowles, basketball coach
- John Q. EmeryJohn Q. EmeryJohn Quincy Emery was an American educator.Born in Liberty, Ohio, he moved with his parents to Albion, Wisconsin. He went to Albion Academy and became a teacher. Emery was school supervisor and principal at several places including River Falls Normal School now University of Wisconsin–River...
, one of the early presidents of the university - Edward N. PetersonEdward N. PetersonEdward N. Peterson was an American historian and professor at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls from 1954 until his death in 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1953...
, historian - Michael NormanMichael NormanMichael Norman is an American author known for his Haunted superstitious series with Beth Scott. Norman holds a Master's degree from DeKalb's Northern Illinois University in 1969. He worked at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls journalism department from 1973 until his retirement in May 2003...
,author