University of California–Irvine

The University of California, Irvine (UCI, UC Irvine, orIrvine), is a public research university located in Irvine, California, United States, and one of the 10 general campuses in the University of California (UC) system. UC Irvine is considered a Public Ivy and offers 80 undergraduate degrees and 98 graduate and professional degrees. The university is designated as having very high research activity in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, and in fiscal year 2013 had $348 million in research and development expenditures according to the National Science Foundation. UC Irvine became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1996, and is the youngest university to hold membership. The university also administers the UC Irvine Medical Center, a large teaching hospital in Orange, and its affiliated health sciences system; the University of California, Irvine, Arboretum; and a portion of the University of California Natural Reserve System.

UCI was one of three new UC campuses established in the 1960s to accommodate growing enrollments across the UC system. A site in Orange County was identified in 1959, and in the following year the Irvine Company sold the University of California 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land for one dollar to establish the new campus. President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated the campus in 1964.Fifty years later President Barack Obama spoke at UCI’s 2014 commencement ceremony, held at Angel Stadium.

The UC Irvine Anteaters compete in 18 men’s and women’s sports in the NCAA Division I as members of the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Anteaters have won 28 national championships in nine different team sports, 64 Anteaters have won individual national championships, and 53 Anteaters have competed in the Olympics.

Early years

The University of California, Irvine was one of three new University of California campuses established in the 1960s under the California Master Plan for Higher Education with theSan Diego and Santa Cruz campuses. During the 1950s, the University of California saw the need for the new campuses to handle both the large number of college-bound World War II veterans (largely due to the G. I. Bill) and the expected increase in enrollment from the post-war baby boom. One of the new campuses was to be in the Los Angeles area; the location selected was Irvine Ranch, an area of agricultural land bisecting Orange County from north to south. This site was chosen to accommodate the county’s growing population, complement the growth of nearby UCLA and UC Riverside, and allow for the construction of a master planned community in the surrounding area.

 One of two identical UCI signs that face the main campus’ western entrance.

Unlike most other University of California campuses, UCI was not named for the city it was built in; at the time of the university’s founding (1965), the current city of Irvine (established in 1975) did not exist. The name “Irvine” is a reference to James Irvine, a landowner who administered the 94,000-acre (38,000 ha) Irvine Ranch. In 1960, The Irvine Company sold 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the Irvine Ranch to the University of California for one dollar, since a company policy prohibited the donation of property to a public entity. The University purchased an additional 510 acres (210 ha) in 1964 for housing and commercial developments. Much of the land that was not purchased by UCI (which is now occupied by the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Newport Beach, and Newport Coast) is now held under The Irvine Company. During this time, the University also hired William Pereira and Associates as the Master Planner of the Irvine Ranch area. Pereira intended for the UC Irvine campus to complement the neighboring community, and the two grew in tandem. Soon after UC Irvine opened in 1965, the City of Irvine became incorporated and established in 1971 and 1975, respectively.

UC Irvine’s first Chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich, developed the campus’ first academic plan around a College of Arts, Letters, and Science, a Graduate School of Administration, and a School of Engineering. The College of Arts, Letters, and Science was composed of twenty majors in five “Divisions”: Biological Sciences, Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences (which transformed into the present-day “Schools”). Aldrich was also responsible for implementing the wide variety of flora and fauna on the campus that fit the local Mediterranean climate zone, feeling that it served an “aesthetic, environmental, and educational [purpose].”

 President Lyndon B. Johnson at the university’s groundbreaking ceremony in June 1964

On June 20, 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson dedicated UC Irvine before a crowd of 15,000 people, and on October 4, 1965 the campus began operations with 1,589 students, 241 staff members, 119 faculty, and 43 teaching assistants. However, many of UCI’s buildings were still under construction and landscaping was still in progress, with the campus only at 75% completion. By June 25, 1966, UCI held its first Commencement with fourteen students, which conferred ten Bachelor of Arts degrees, three Master of Arts degrees, and one Doctor of Philosophy degree.

In 1965 the California College of Medicine (originally a school of osteopathy founded in 1896 and the oldest continuously operating medical college in the Southwest) became part of UC Irvine.

In 1976, plans to establish an on-campus hospital were set aside, with the university instead purchasing the Orange County Medical Center (renamed the UC Irvine Medical Center) around 12 miles from UC Irvine, in the City of Orange.

Present day

A UC Irvine alumna shows President Obama how to do the “Rip ’em Eaters” hand sign.

As the largest employer in Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion with an operating budget of almost $1.9 billion for 2008 including $328 million in extramural research funding.Numerous other educational and training opportunities are offered in numerous areas ranging from physician residency programs at UC Irvine’s Medical Center to community certificate programs and other coursework through University Extension.

In 2011-2012, UC Irvine awarded 8,443 degrees: 6,766 bachelor’s degrees 1,105 Master’s degrees, 413 Ph.D.s and Ed.D.s, 102 M.D.s, and 57 J.D.s.

Graduate Criminal Justice Program Overview

University of California–Irvine is a public institution where all of the online graduate-level criminal justice classes are recorded and archived so that students can access lecture material at their convenience. Eighty-five percent of students are already employed when they first enroll. The admissions deadline for these programs is April 15.

Distinguishing characteristics of online program (as submitted by school)

Courses are taught by on-campus, department faculty who are international experts in the field. Program admits approximately 60 students per year and runs in a cohort format. Week on campus course serves as an opportunity for students to interact with their professors, and cohort members, which sets the stage for further dialogue in the online courses.