Butler University

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From the College

Butler University has a proud tradition of excellence and innovation. Challenging and enabling students to meet their personal and professional goals has guided the University since 1855. Today, Butler is a nationally recognized comprehensive university with a total undergraduate enrollment of more than 3,800 students. Butler is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Butler students represent almost every state in the nation and sixty-nine countries, reflecting a diversity of cultures, interests, aspirations, personalities, and experiences. Students can choose from a number of housing options, including a newly built upperclass residential apartment village, an apartment-style residence hall, one all-women residence hall with an optional living-learning center, two coeducational residence halls with optional living-learning centers, fraternities, and sororities. A health and recreation complex is equipped with recreation courts, an indoor jogging track, an aquatics area, a weight and fitness space, a lounge, and a juice bar. Since opening in 2006, the complex has also won two national awards, including one for innovative architecture and design and one for its outstanding indoor sports facilities.

There are more than 135 official student organizations, fifteen Greek organizations, and nineteen Division I varsity athletic teams. Students take advantage of Broadway shows at Butler’s Clowes Memorial Hall, the city’s premier performing arts center. Basketball fans cheer on the Bulldogs at the 10,000-seat historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the final game in the movie Hoosiers was filmed.

Located near the center of campus, Atherton Union serves as a natural gathering space for students. Atherton Union has numerous amenities, including e-mail stations, wireless capabilities, a 24-hour computer lab, Starbucks coffee shop, bookstore, food court, dining hall, and convenience store. Atherton is also home to the Efroymson Diversity Center. The center houses the Office of Diversity Programs, Office of International Student Services and a number of student organizations.

Graduate degrees include business administration, public accounting, education administration (EPPSP), effective teaching and leadership, English, English literature, history, music conducting, music composition, music education, music history, music theory, music performance, piano pedagogy, pharmaceutical science, physician assistant, school counseling, and writing. In addition, Butler offers a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) program. A dual Pharm.D./M.B.A. program allows pharmacy students to develop management skills and entrepreneurial capabilities in conjunction with pharmacy experience while earning both a Pharm.D. and an M.B.A. in six years.

Butler University is located on 290 acres of Indianapolis’ historic Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, which is also home to Indiana’s governor. The campus maintains its heritage with centuries-old trees; open, landscaped malls; curving sidewalks; and fountains. Most of the University’s full-time students live on campus and enjoy a nature preserve, prairie, historical canal, formal botanical garden, an observatory, and jogging paths.

Just 6 miles from downtown Indianapolis, Butler’s urban location offers internship opportunities that provide excellent graduate school and career preparation. Indianapolis, Indiana’s state capital and the thirteenth-largest city in the nation, boasts a variety of cultural activities, including the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (just two blocks from campus), the Eiteljorg Museum, the Indiana State Museum, and the world’s largest children’s museum.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the anchor of Indianapolis’ professional sports, while basketball, football, hockey, and baseball have homes in three major sports arenas. Indianapolis is home to the NCAA headquarters, its Hall of Champions, and the men’s and women’s Big Ten basketball championships. In 2012, Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl.

Butler has been the proud co-host of the NCAA Final Four championship in 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2006. The University will co-host again in 2010.

As a comprehensive university with a strong liberal arts foundation, Butler is committed to graduating students who have a well-rounded yet focused education. A core curriculum affords students the opportunity to gain knowledge in the humanities, the arts, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics.

Baccalaureate degrees are offered through Butler’s five colleges: Business Administration, Education, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Fine Arts. Unique programs include the engineering dual-degree program, offered jointly by Butler University and the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indianapolis. Students receive both a Butler Bachelor of Science degree in a selected liberal arts and sciences major (biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, physics or science, technology and society) and a Purdue Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical, computer, electrical, or mechanical engineering.

For students who are undecided about their major field of study, there is an Exploratory Studies Program, where students develop a personalized academic plan to help choose the major that best suits their interests and abilities.

The College of Education is dedicated to preparing outstanding teachers. The administration and the faculty and staff members of the College of Education are committed to providing the best possible learning experience for students. For the past seven years, the College has experienced a 99 percent (or above) placement rate for its students, an indicator that Butler students place first in education. Undergraduate majors offered through the College are elementary education and secondary education.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences creates lifelong learners. The College affirms the central role of liberal arts education while offering opportunities for specialization. Majors include actuarial science, anthropology, biological sciences, chemistry, classical studies, communication disorders (speech language pathology), communication studies, computer science, economics, English, French, French and business studies, German, German and business studies, history, international studies, journalism, , mathematics, philosophy, philosophy and religion, physics, political science, psychology, public and corporate communications, religion, science technology and society, sociology, sociology and criminal justice, software engineering, Spanish, Spanish and business studies, and urban affairs.

The College of Business Administration prepares students to be tomorrow’s business leaders through hands-on experiential learning and two required internships. A unique program in the College–the Butler Business Accelerator–allows students to serve as consultants for central Indiana businesses. Majors in the College include accounting, economics, finance, international management, management information systems, and marketing.

The Jordan College of Fine Arts integrates intensive conservatory training with broad objectives and a strong academic curriculum. The College is well respected for its tradition of educating students as emerging professionals in the arts. Majors offered are applied composition, arts administration, theater, dance, music, music history, music theory, music education, piano pedagogy, critical media studies, digital media production, electronic media, and recording industry studies.

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences graduates serve society as caring, ethical health professionals and community leaders. The College’s professional programs combine intensive classroom education with clinical experiences in the professional phases of the degrees. Majors offered are pharmacy and physician assistant.

Butler offers preprofessional programs in dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, physical therapy, seminary, and veterinary medicine. Preprofessional programs supplement a major, and are designed to prepare students for professional school and graduate school placement.

All candidates for the baccalaureate degree must complete the University core requirements and at least 45 semester hours of work. Thirty of the 45 hours must be in the college granting the degree. Eligible students may participate in the honors program. By the end of the sophomore year, honors course work is generally completed. Students then begin the next phase, an independent study to help them research, write, and eventually present their honors thesis. Butler is a sponsoring institution for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Butler also offers advanced placement with appropriate academic credit in most subjects covered by either the AP examinations or the CLEP tests. Students may choose to enroll in Air Force and Army ROTC programs.

Butler students have the chance to originate research projects and participate in them with faculty members and then develop these projects into professional presentations and publications. Hundreds of Butler students present their projects at the Undergraduate Research Conference, hosted by Butler every April. In addition, the Butler Summer Institute awards accepted students a $2000 grant plus housing while they work on summer research projects with faculty members.

Butler offers more than 110 study abroad programs in over forty countries to meet the diverse needs of the student population. Butler students have studied in Argentina, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, England, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Students can choose to study for a semester, academic year, or summer term.

Butler’s academic facilities include the latest technology. These include Mac and PC computers, two Ethernet connections per residence hall room, eighteen networked computer labs, electronic and multimedia classrooms, Internet access and e-mail service, wireless capabilities, student home pages, language labs, international studies center, telephone systems with free voicemail, and 24-hour computer labs in Atherton Student Union and each residence hall. Additionally, some classrooms have Smart Boards which allow instructors to email class notes directly from the white board.

The Richard M. Fairbanks Center for Communication and Technology includes state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, conference rooms, television studios, graphics production and editing facilities, recording studios, student newspaper offices, online magazine production space, and speaker labs.

Many student performances, including theater, dance, and music, can be seen in Butler’s 2,200-seat Clowes Memorial Hall and the 140-seat Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall. The Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium houses the largest telescope in the state of Indiana, a 38-inch Cassegrain reflector. Butler’s libraries house approximately 250,000 monograph volumes, 110,000 government documents, 1,500 current journal subscriptions, 14,000 audiovisual materials, and more than 17,000 musical scores. The library system also features a searchable computer database, rare books collection, archives, online catalog access, and research tools.

For the 2008–09 academic year, tuition was $27,500 for full-time undergraduate students. Average room and board were $8940 per year. Books are estimated at $800 per semester, and other fees are estimated at $770. Tuition for the professional pharmacy program was $29,740 and $32,980 for the sixth year. Tuition for the professional health sciences program was $29,740 and $425 per hour for the fifth year master of physician assistant program.

Butler University offers a variety of financial assistance programs based on the demonstration of academic excellence, performance talent, or financial need. Butler awards merit-based academic scholarships to students who have displayed outstanding high school achievement and have excelled in leadership and community service. Performance awards are available in the areas of music, dance, theater, and athletics. Academic departments offer scholarships for students in selected majors. On-campus employment and work-study programs are also available. All students who seek need-based financial assistance are required to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The University offers National Merit, National Achievement, and National Hispanic Recognition Program scholarships. Semifinalists in these programs are guaranteed a minimum Freshman Academic Scholarship. However, based on academic screening, these students may qualify for a higher award. Finalists in these programs who designate Butler as their sponsor and file their FAFSA by March 1 are eligible for an additional award that ranges from $750 to $2000.

The University also offers Dr. John Morton-Finney Leadership Program Awards to students who exhibit leadership and a commitment to diversity in their high schools and communities. Awards are based on class rank, SAT/ACT scores, and leadership roles in school and the community. These awards include an expectation of continued campus and community leadership while at Butler.

Teaching is the top priority for Butler’s 306 full-time faculty members; 81 percent hold the highest (terminal) degree in their fields. Many are active in national research programs, write for publications, counsel in government and business, and participate in the arts. With a comfortable teaching load, Butler’s faculty members have time to work with students individually. The student-faculty ratio is 11:1. All classes are taught by professors; there are no teaching assistants.

As the official student governing body, Student Government Association (SGA) is the liaison between faculty and administration members. The organization is also responsible for budgeting funds from the student activity fee. These funds promote SGA’s Program Board activities, including the film series, concerts, and all campus special events as well as the purchase of the Butler yearbook, The Drift.

Applicants are expected to complete a minimum of 17 academic units in high school, including 4 years of English, 3 years each of laboratory sciences and mathematics, 2 years each of history or social studies, and 2 years of the same foreign language. A candidate for admission typically ranks in the upper third of his or her high school class and should submit satisfactory results of the SAT or the ACT, including the optional Writing Test. The Jordan College of Fine Arts requires an audition. In addition to these factors, the Admission Committee considers the applicant’s leadership skills, motivation, and writing sample. Students who wish to transfer from another regionally accredited college or university are considered if they are in good standing and have a grade point average of 2.0 or better in their previous academic work. Transfer students must submit official transcripts of all college work.

Butler offers three nonbinding admission programs: Early Action, Nov. 15; Early Action II, Jan. 15; and Regular Decision, Feb. 15.

Campus visits are strongly recommended, though not required, and are arranged on a daily basis. Several open-house programs are also scheduled throughout the year. Interested students and their families are encouraged to visit http://go.butler.edu to make arrangements for campus visits.