Boise State University (BSU) is a public university in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees since 1965.
Boise State confers more undergraduate degrees than any public university in Idaho and offers more than 100 graduate programs, including the MBA and MAcc programs in the College of Business and Economics; Masters and PhD programs in the Colleges of Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Education; and the MPA program in the School of Public Service. Boise State has invested in the future over the past decade, including spending over $300 million since 2003 on academic, residential, and athletics facilities across campus.
The university's intercollegiate athletic teams, the Broncos, have participated in NCAA Division I since 1978; the football program moved up to FBS in 1996.
Video Boise State University
History
The school became Idaho's third state university in 1974, after the University of Idaho (1889) and Idaho State University (1963). Boise State now awards associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. As of 2010, the university has over 75,000 living alumni.
Maps Boise State University
Campus
The 175-acre (71 ha) campus is located near downtown Boise, on the south bank of the Boise River, opposite Julia Davis Park. With more than 170 buildings, the campus is at an elevation of 2,700 feet (825 m) above sea level, bounded by Capitol Boulevard on the west and Broadway Avenue to the east.
Boise State broke ground in May 2017 on a $42 million Center for the Fine Arts, which will house sculpture, metalwork, painting, graphic design and other visual arts, as well as gallery space and a digital "World Museum" devoted to high-tech arts experiences.
Albertsons Library
The school's library is named for grocery pioneer and longtime Boise resident Joe Albertson. It houses more than 650,000 books, over 100,000 periodicals, 107 public terminals for student use, and access to over 300 online databases. The physical structure also features a Starbucks and public lounge area, and houses the College of Innovation and Design, including the fast growing degree program in Gaming, Interactive Mobile and Media.
Student Union Building
The "SUB" brings together an eclectic mix of services under one roof, including the Boise State Broncoshop, bowling lanes, arcade, an art gallery, several fast food restaurants, banquet facilities and other student services. The building is located along University Drive, and is connected to the "SPEC" or Special Events Center. This part of the building houses a smaller auditorium used for community productions, including the Idaho Dance Theatre.
Morrison Center
The "Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts" has 2,000 seats in its primary performance hall, and hosts a wide variety of fine arts performances, including the Broadway in Boise series, concerts and other events. The venue opened its doors in April 1984.
Other campuses
Extended Studies at Boise State offers regional programming at the College of Western Idaho in Nampa, Idaho, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Gowen Field, Twin Falls, Idaho, Lewiston, Idaho and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Boise State also offers 29 degrees and certificates fully online. Beginning in 2016, Boise State began partnering with the Harvard University Business School to offer the HBX online business fundamentals program to Idaho students and the business community. This is the only such Harvard collaboration with a public U.S. university.
Campus events
An active student association provides a large number of activities and programs to engage students outside the classroom. In addition, the school rallies around its popular football program in the fall - and to a lesser degree, men's basketball during the winter months.
The Distinguished Lecture Series brings speakers such as journalist Seymour Hersh, author Michael Cunningham and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Wa??sa to campus. Other notable lecturers are sponsored by the Brandt Foundation and the Campus Read Committee. The university hosts the Martin Luther King, Jr./Human Rights Celebration every January and presents numerous cultural festivals and activities, including the International Food Song and Dance Festival and the Seven Arrows Pow Wow.
Academics and organization
Boise State's more than 190 fields of study are organized these colleges:
- Arts and Sciences
- Business and Economics
- Education
- Engineering
- Graduate Studies
- Health Sciences
- School of Public Service
- Innovation and Design
Boise State's fall enrollment in 2016 was 23,886 students. Approximately 76 percent of these students were Idaho residents, with the remaining 24 percent coming from out of state or out of country. Boise State University has the largest graduate enrollment in Idaho. More than 90 percent of Boise State's first-year students come directly from high school.
In the 2015-2016 school year, Boise State awarded diplomas to 3,916 distinct graduates, including 18 doctorates, 10 education specialists, 670 master's and 2,998 bachelor's degrees. Idaho State Board of Education figures indicate that about one third of all the students enrolled in Idaho's public higher education system are Boise State students.
Publishing
Since 1971 the university has published the Western Writers Series, monographs focusing on authors of the American Frontier and American West. The university also maintains an on-line library of publications and documents related to Idaho history through the Albertsons Library.
A not-for-profit literary publisher, Ahsahta was founded in 1974 at Boise State University to preserve the best works by early poets of the American West. Its name, ahsahta, is the Mandan word meaning "Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep," and was first recorded by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition; the founding editors chose the word to honor the press's original mission to publish Western poetry.
The Center for Idaho History and Politics offers a nine-credit place-based field school called "Investigate Boise" which focuses on heritage, government, and urban affairs. Each series of classes results in a student written and faculty edited publication.
Athletics
Boise State's athletic nickname is the Broncos. The official mascot is Buster Bronco. BSU fields many different teams in sports. Its men's teams include football, basketball, cross country, track and field, golf, tennis, and baseball to resume play in 2020 after a 40-year hiatus. Its women's teams include volleyball, basketball, cross country, swimming and diving, soccer, track and field, gymnastics, golf, softball and tennis. Most of these teams compete in the Mountain West Conference.
Football
During the 2006 season, Boise State won the WAC championship for the fifth straight time and finished the regular season undefeated for the second time in three years. Because of rule changes that made it slightly easier for a "mid-major" school to earn a Bowl Championship Series bid, the Broncos became eligible for a berth after finishing with a #8 national ranking (they needed to finish 12th or higher). The Broncos were selected to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 2007. The Broncos became the second team (after the 2004 Utah Utes) from a conference not guaranteed an automatic BCS bid to go to a BCS bowl game. The Broncos defeated the Sooners 43-42 in overtime. The winning score was a successful two-point conversion by running back Ian Johnson on a variation of the Statue of Liberty play that was made possible after a Hook and Lateral play on 4th-and-18 went for a touchdown to force the game into overtime. On the first play, the Sooners scored on a 25-yard Adrian Peterson run and successfully kicked the point after touchdown. Boise State countered with a trick play that sent starting quarterback Jared Zabransky in motion as a receiver. Running back/receiver Vinny Perretta threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Derek Schouman. Zabransky was named the game's offensive Most Valuable Player, while Marty Tadman was selected as defensive Most Valuable Player. Due to the 41-14 loss Ohio State suffered to Florida, Boise State became the only team to finish the 2006 season with an undefeated record. The Broncos extended their string of consecutive victories to 14 in 2007 with a 56-7 win over Weber State, but the streak (then the longest in the nation) ended with a 24-10 loss in Seattle to the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on September 8, 2007.
On January 11, 2007, head coach Chris Petersen was awarded the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award as the nation's best head coach during the 2006 season.
The Broncos are currently coached by Bryan Harsin.
The Boise State Spirit Squad consists of the BSU Cheerleaders and the Boise State Harvey Neef Mane Line Dancers. They perform at basketball and football games, as well as gymnastics meets and occasionally soccer games.
Albertsons Stadium
Albertsons Stadium is home to the Boise State football and Track & Field programs. It has played host to the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships in 1994 and 1999, and is home to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Bronco Stadium is best known for its bizarre blue playing surface. Originally nicknamed the "Smurf Turf", "the Blue", as it is commonly known to fans, was originally a bright blue AstroTurf installed in 1986. The NCAA considered banning BSU from wearing blue uniforms on the field in 2013, due to the unfair advantage that the team receives from the lack of contrast between the artificial blue pigments
Ground was broken for the stadium in 1969, and it opened in September 1970 with a capacity of 14,500. Subsequent expansions were completed in 1975 and 1997, and current capacity sits at around 37,000. In August 2010, the university unveiled a $100 million expansion plan for Bronco Stadium. The first stage will include: adding a new facility to the north endzone to house the football offices, weight room, training room, equipment room and locker room; removing the track; and adding a 13,200-seat grandstand behind the north endzone. Later stages include: lowering the field to add 3,300 seats; completing the south endzone horseshoe; building an east side skybox; and renovating the east concourse. Seating capacity for the fully expanded Bronco Stadium will exceed 55,000.
Taco Bell Arena
Known as the "Boise State University Pavilion" until June 2004, Taco Bell Arena (TBA) is home to BSU basketball, wrestling, women's gymnastics, community events, and several concerts each year. Opened in May 1982, the arena seats 12,380 on three levels. The TBA has hosted rounds one and two of the men's NCAA Division I basketball tournament on eight occasions from 1983-2009, and the third and fourth rounds of the NCAA women's Division I basketball tournament in 2002.
The construction of the pavilion began in February 1980 on the site of the tennis courts and a portion of the BSU baseball field. The Bronco baseball team played their home games in 1980 at Borah Field (now Bill Wigle Field) at Borah High School. Baseball was discontinued as a varsity sport following the 1980 season. The tennis courts were rebuilt immediately west of the arena, on the former baseball field (infield & right field).
Student life
Boise State's fall enrollment in 2016 was 23,886 students. Approximately 76 percent of these students were Idaho residents, with the remaining 24 percent coming from out of state or out of country. Boise State University has the largest graduate enrollment in Idaho. More than 90 percent of Boise State's first-year students come directly from high school.
Housing
The dominant form of school-supported housing is in coed residence halls. Twelve such options are offered on campus. Boise State recently broke ground on a new $40 million complex to house the Honors College and new student housing.
Social Fraternities and Sororities
Boise State has seen a growing in Greek Community on campus, from less than a couple hundred in 2010 to over 1,400 today. There are eight fraternities Alpha Kappa Lambda, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Theta Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Lambda Beta, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and nine sororities Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Pi Sigma, Lambda Theta Alpha, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Zeta Tau Alpha on campus.
Transportation
The Boise State Shuttle Service offers a circulating shuttle on campus, and walking and biking are encouraged. The city of Boise is served by the Boise Airport and the Greyhound Bus company. Transportation is available through Boise's City busing system. Since the campus is close to Downtown there are many bus stops within walking distance. Many students also have cars.
Broadcast media
Boise State Public Radio is broadcast from the Boise State campus. Stations include KBSU-FM 90.3, KBSX-FM 91.5, KDBI 730 AM, and KBSW-FM 91.7.
Notable alumni
References
External links
- Official website
- Boise State Athletics website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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