History of UL Lafayette and the College of the Arts < back

The governor-appointed Board of Trustees established the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, formerly called the University of Southwestern Louisiana, in 1898 as the Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. The board elected Edwin L. Stephens as president and accepted the town of Lafayette as the institute's site at their first meeting. SLII opened its doors on September 18, 1901, accepting students who had successfully completed sixth grade. Admission standards were raised over the years. Completion of the tenth grade was required by 1916, making SLII a combination senior high school and junior college.

On September 18, 1901, one hundred students were on hand for the first day 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. Two years later, 18 students were the first to graduate from SLII.

In 1920, SLII began offering a four-year course that culminated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1921, the Louisiana Constitution designated the school as one of the state's institutions of higher education and changed its name to Southwestern Louisiana Institute. The first bachelor's degrees were conferred by SLI the same year. Over the next couple of decades, SLII raised admission standards, added faculty, and strengthened the curriculum. By the 1930s, the campus had grown to 422 acres and the college enrolled 1,525 students. Stephens retired in 1938. Lether Frazar, who supervised one of the biggest building programs in the university's history, succeeded him. Federal funds were used to construct more than a dozen major buildings on campus. Frazar resigned when the political climate in Louisiana shifted in 1940 with the election of Sam Jones as governor. Joel Lafayette Fletcher, former Dean of SLI's Department of Agriculture, replaced him.

Southwestern Louisiana Institute's existence was threatened in the 1940s when enrollment dropped drastically due to World War II. SLI was chosen as the site for the V-5, V-7, and V-12 military training programs that drew young officers from across the country and kept the school open.

Fletcher led SLI through the dark days of World War II and grappled with campus overcrowding after the war ended, as veterans took advantage of the GI Bill, a popular federal program of educational and economic assistance. SLI matured as an institution of higher learning as it expanded geographically in the 1940s and 1950s. Creation of a graduate school in 1957, boosted SLI's academic standing and positioned it to become a university.

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 a black student.

By 1960, Southwestern Louisiana Institute had six colleges and 5,000 students. Its university status had been recognized by education agencies on regional and national levels for many years. The Louisiana Legislature acknowledged its stature that year by changing the school's name to the University of Southwestern Louisiana. USL distinguished itself in the 1960s by creating its computing center and adopting the nickname "Ragin' Cajuns" for its athletic teams. By 1964, USL offered one of the first graduate programs in computer science in the United States.

Upon Fletcher's resignation in 1965, Clyde R. Rougeou was named USL's fourth president. He supervised another significant campus expansion, which included construction of a 27,000-seat football stadium and an athletic complex. Rougeou took a year-long leave of absence in 1973, which was followed by his retirement.

Dr. Ray P. Authement, who had served as vice president of the university since 1970, was named to replace Rougeou in 1974. That same year, USL became only the third university in Louisiana to compete in the NCAA's Division I, the highest level of collegiate athletics. USL continued to advance steadily, despite drastic state budget cuts. By the end of the 1970s, it was the fastest growing university in the state. Under Authement's direction, USL emerged as a leader in efforts to diversify the Acadiana economy after a crippling oil bust.

In the 1970s, LouisianaÑparticularly LafayetteÑenjoyed an oil boom. 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.

For a few weeks in 1984, USL managed to shed its double-directional, regional name to become the University of Louisiana. But the name change did not withstand legal challenges; the university's name reverted to USL. With the help of Congressmen J. Bennett Johnston and John Breaux, Authement began developing the University Research Park in the 1980s. USL also acquired the Gulf South Research Center in New Iberia, which it later developed into the New Iberia Research Center, a premier primate testing facility for pharmaceutical companies worldwide. USL created the Center for Advanced Computer Studies and was one of the first universities in the southeastern United States to offer a graduate-level degree program in computer engineering. The 12,800-seat Cajun Dome opened in 1984 as a sports and convention center. During the same period, under the leadership of its fifth and current president Ray P. Authement, the university focused its energies on its roles in research, scholarship, and graduate education.

By all measures, the 1990s were extraordinary in the university's history. For instance, USL became the first Doctoral II university in Louisiana and implemented selective admissions. The University Research Park became the home of several Federal, State and local enterprises.  The UL Lafayette Office of Research and Sponsored programs has a complete and up to date description of the Research Park.  (http://research.louisiana.edu/VP/research-park.shtml) Research funding has rapidly increased from about $13 million in 1990 to $25 million in 1999 to $39.5 million in 2005-2006. USL received the largest federal grant in its history in 1996, $10 million to establish the Energy and Environmental Technology Application Program. USL established a multi-disciplinary institute of cognitive science in 1999 after receiving the Louisiana Board of Regent's approval to offer a doctoral degree in cognitive science. Five years earlier, it had become only the third university in the world to offer a doctoral degree in francophone studies.

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 two years later.

In 1999, USL changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as it began its 100^th birthday celebration. The university received permission to change its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a name that better reflects its status as an institution with state, national and international influence. The name change coincided with the kickoff of the university's centennial celebration. The theme of the 100th anniversary observance, which concluded Jan. 1, 2001, sums up UL Lafayette's status at the beginning of its second century of service: "Prepared for a New Century."

The university takes its place among the limited number of Carnegie Research-Intensive institutions in the nation. With a student body of over 16,000 and over 600 full-time faculty, it offers 80 undergraduate degree programs, 28 master's degree programs, one post-master's degree, and nine doctoral degree programs.

History of College of the Arts and the School of Architecture and Design < back

The University has, since its inception, had coursework in the arts.  In fact, in addition to drawing courses, the University taught dance from the very beginning.  All arts courses, theatre, dance, music and art were taught in the College of Liberal Arts, the oldest College in the University.  While the Department of Art has a long history, its progression to become the College of the Arts is tied inexorably with architecture.

Prior to 1949, Tulane University in New Orleans was the only university in the state to offer a professional curriculum in architecture. In order to serve the population of southwest Louisiana, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana Institute) established a two-year pre-architecture program under the auspices of the Department of Art. Demands to expand the architecture program were met with the addition of a third year in 1956, and in 1957 the program title was changed from pre-architecture to architecture, and the Department of Art became the Department of Art and Architecture within the College of Liberal Arts. By 1958, the department was reorganized into three sections: architecture, fine arts and applied arts. The first graduating class of the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree program attended commencement exercises in June 1962.

UL Lafayette was officially recognized as one of the state's three architectural degree-granting institutions under the newly revised Louisiana Architects License Law in 1964. The following year, the Department of Art and Architecture was elevated to the status of a school, but still administered within the College of Liberal Arts. In the spring of 1972, a full accreditation review was conducted and the architecture program received a three-year accreditation in the fall. Shortly thereafter, each of the three sections under the School of Art and Architecture was designated as a ÒDepartmentÓ and given full departmental status with separate budgets and considerably more policy-making responsibilities within the School of Art and Architecture still operating under the newly re-organized College of Arts, Humanities and Behavior Sciences. The interior architecture program is established, and then renamed the interior design program.

In 1976, the School of Art and Architecture moved into its present building, Fletcher Hall, and in 1977 the school reorganized once again. In response to a National Architectural Accrediting Board recommendation and in order to retain the integrity of the school, the departments of Architecture, Fine Arts and Applied Arts were again designated as sections with a newly appointed Director.  It is worth noting that Applied Arts uniquely included Dance and Choreographic Design.  Theatre was a part of the Department of Communications in the College of the College of Arts, Humanities and Behavior Sciences.

In 1983, after many years of help from the NAAB and the South Louisiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture, the School of Art and Architecture attained the organizational status of a college, remaining a school in name only, with architecture, fine arts and applied arts again designated as departments. Within this structure, the director of the school coordinated the activities of the three departments, formulated the policies and goals of the school and reported directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and departmental heads reported directly to the Director of the School of Art and Architecture.

In 1986, the school's departments were re-organized to include the departments of architecture (architecture and interior design), performing arts (dance and, in a move from the Department of Communications, theater) and visual arts (fine arts and applied arts).

In 1990, the Interior Design degree program in the College of Applied Life Sciences merged with the existing Interior Architecture degree program in the Department of Architecture.

The Board of Regents approved a new degree program in 1994 in Industrial Design, located in the Department of Architecture. The first class began in 1995, and in 1998 granted its first bachelor degrees. In 1999 the National Association of Schools of Art and Design(NASAD)  accredited visual arts degree program, the industrial design program and the interior design program. In 2005 the Interior Design program received continuing accreditation from the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER).

In 1995, the School of Art and Architecture became the College of the Arts, with the move of the School of Music from the College of Arts, Humanities and Behavior Sciences.  The School of Music offered both the professional degree of Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music degree.  With this move, the Department of Architecture was elevated to a School and administered with a director. In 1996, the School of Architecture established the Community Design Workshop (CDW), a community outreach program. The School of Architecture initiated the first student-owned computer requirement on campus in 1997, and in the fall of 2000 the design studios were networked.

In 2001, the School of Architecture was renamed the School of Architecture and Design to more accurately reflect the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the three programs. That year the Board of Regents approved the conversion of the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree to the four-year Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies degree, and the Master of Architecture as the professional architecture degree.

In 2002 the School of Architecture and Design established the Building Institute to give students a hands-on construction experience.

In 2003 the Facility Design Management studio was established by the Interior Design program. The Transportation Studio in Industrial Design was also established in 2003. Currently, the program is responding to the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with faculty also now teaching courses in the Visual Arts, Human Resources, and Performing Arts.

In 2006, the degree program of Apparel Design and Merchandizing was moved from the College of Applied Life Sciences and that college was dissolved.  The degree title was changed to Fashion Design and Merchandizing.

So, you can see that the history of the College of the Arts is a product of the dreams and aspirations of its faculty and their recognition of the needs and interests of the region and its students. 

College of the Arts Mission < back

The College of the Arts is composed of the School of Architecture and Design, School of Music, Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Visual Arts. Its mission is to provide quality professional, undergraduate, and graduate educational programs in the design, visual, performance and musical arts consistent with the mission of the University. This is sought through the development of individual artistic expression while engendering a collaborative spirit and entrepreneurship. The vision of the College is to be known for its emphasis on education that awakens, nurtures and challenges the creative capacities of our students. This vision will be accomplished through our faculty's teaching, scholarship, creativity and public service. The College will achieve excellence through innovative use of advanced technologies in teaching, research, performance, design practice and artistic expression. Encouraging collaboration across the disciplines in the College enriches the learning environment.  The sprit of entrepreneurship is imbued in each of our students to ensure they can achieve self-sufficiency. The College supports the arts in Acadiana thereby enriching our artistic and cultural environment. The College celebrates the uniqueness of each student and faculty and promotes diversity of all kinds. It works to preserve the particular culture of the Acadiana region by recognizing and supporting its unique character. The College of the Arts seeks to be recognized among the nation's highly competitive and best-regarded colleges of arts.

Students concentrate their studies in the design arts: architecture, graphic design, interior design and industrial design; fine arts: painting, sculpture, drawing/printmaking, metalwork/jewelry, photography and experimental video/media, animation and computer art; performing arts: theatre, dance/ choreography; and music: media, piano performance, theory/composition, music performance, jazz studies and piano pedagogy. To complement its aims and objectives, the College arranges field trips and an active series of speakers, concerts, films and visiting artists, designers, performers and musicians in order to keep students abreast of current knowledge and happenings in the art world. The new award-winning Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum offers an exciting schedule of works of recognized artists and will exhibit senior project shows.

School of Architecture and Design Mission < back

The mission of the School of Architecture and Design is to cultivate student centered educational programs in Architecture, Industrial, and Interior Design.  We seek this through a pedagogy that is heuristic and responsive to the natural, technological, cultural, and social environments. 

Vision:

Our Vision is to contribute a critical, ethical, and poetic voice for the ongoing development of the professions and diverse and multiple communities.

Commitment:

        Natural Environment

        Technological Environment

        Cultural Environment

        Social Environment

Strategic Plan:

The School of Architecture and Design is currently developing its 2005-2010 strategic plan. The following was adopted by the program on December 2, 1999 and is the 2000-2005 plan. This strategic plan follows the structure and objectives as adopted by the university for the SACS accreditation.

Vision: To be a distinguished professional program in teaching through the research and practice of architecture.

Philosophy: To obtain the mission of the architecture program, the program endeavors to equip students with the abilities to analyze and synthesize aesthetic, cultural, ethical, social and technical criteria architectural design. Its intent is to prepare students and instill in them a commitment to engage their communities through life-long learning. To achieve this, the architecture program fosters a heuristic pedagogy that emphasizes the development of the individual's unique abilities in relation to the specific body of knowledge of architecture. In this way, the architecture program effectively responds to the challenges of contemporary life.

GOAL I: Strengthen Academic Quality

Objective 1:     Strengthen Undergraduate Academics

Strategy: Fully implement Board of Regent's requested consortia of duplicative programs in architecture.

Strategy: Sustain or improve undergraduate instruction as indicated by pass rate on the National Council of Architectural Registration Board professional Architectural Registration Examination (ARE). To initiate a requirement of students to enroll in the Intern Development Program (IDP) upon completing their fourth year by 2003. To establish continuing education review courses for alumni preparing to take the ARE.

Strategy: In response to selective admissions, to develop criteria and programs to evaluate creativity in addition to high school GPA and ACT scores while increasing the student profile by 2001.

Strategy: Improve freshmen to sophomore retention rate by Fall 2001. Develop criteria to verify course of study and develop programs of guidance to redirect students to other disciplines in the university.

Objective 2: Strengthen Graduate Academics

Strategy: Pursue degree title change for architecture degree to Master of Architecture degree to more accurately reflect the level of work of the fifth-year program. This reflects a move nationally to revise five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree programs to five-year Master of Architecture degree programs.

Strategy: Initiate a number of internally or externally supported graduate research assistantships.

Objective 3: Promote and Support a Student-Centered Academic Community that Enables Students to Achieve Their Educational Goals.

Strategy: Enhance recruiting and retention efforts to sustain ethnic, racial, gender and international student diversity in a selective admissions environment.

Strategy: Expand the existing service-learning program of the Community Design Workshop and establish other service-learning programs to promote undergraduate sponsoredresearch and internship participation opportunities for qualified students.

Objective 4: Improve and Expand Research and Sponsored Program Productivity.

Strategy: Pursue and secure Board of Regents Support Fund funds by 2002.

Strategy: Improve quality of faculty research as measured in the appropriate citation indices, peer review journals, or peer review of professional work by 2001.

Strategy: Increase faculty generation of publications, built work, and exhibitions by 15 percent by 2002-3.Strategy: Increase competitive research funding from government and other sources.

GOAL II: Increase Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning Activities.

Objective 1: Increase Student Access to Technology and Computing.

Strategy: Install equipment for Internet access in Fletcher 122 and 104 design studios by spring 2000.

Strategy: Seek to establish staff support for maintenance and accessibility of School of Architecture equipment in response to curriculum requirement of student-owned computersby 2002.

Objective 2: Increase Use of Technology in Research.

Strategy: Enhance and maintain high-level facilities, cutting-edge infrastructure and equipment support for faculty and students.

GOAL III: Expand the Role of the University in Support of Regional Economic Competitiveness and Cultural Development.

Objective 1: Expand Assistance to Local and Regional Communities.

Strategy: Develop consultative processes with business and industry to advise academic units on economic and curricula directions by 2001. The architecture program will establish an advisory board to formalize the current activities of alumni, professionals, and the community.

Strategy: Increase external funding for applied research by 2003.

Objective 2: Enhance the Cultural Life of Acadiana

Strategy: Increase faculty and student intellectual contributions to the historical, literary, visual, and built environment of Acadiana by 20 percent by 2000. Expand existing programs that include the Community Design Workshop, historic building documentation, creative education and art programs for children.



Industrial Design Mission < back

The School of Architecture and Design at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers a four-year professional degree in Industrial Design. The Industrial Design program is dedicated to achieving excellence in the education of professional design. It is our goal to provide students with a diverse exposure to the necessary proficiencies for a professional career in Industrial Design and Design Education. The program encourages collaborative and experiential learning with diverse disciplines. It is our philosophy to embrace a hands-on learning environment that is conducive to creative exploration.

Our design studios emphasize a broad understanding and sensitivity to environmental and social concerns while fostering an environment that develops critical thinking and problem solving. We believe that user needs, universal design, sustainability, human-centered design, ergonomics all play an integral role in the design process. We seek to develop designers who advance industrial design knowledge, cultivate aesthetic sensibilities, and improve the material conditions and the needs of people and their environments. The Industrial Design program encourages proficiency in technical skills such as drawing, visual communication, graphic layout, form development, and physical model making. In addition, the program continually seeks new methodologies to incorporate technology into the curriculum, such as advanced computer modeling, photorealistic rendering, rapid prototyping, and CNC milling. We aim to graduate a student who is well prepared for the professional design world and will also have the ability and passion to make a positive contribution to the betterment of humankind. Our program promotes the exploration of national and world issues of design through teaching, research, practice, and service.