Graduate Catalog
Table of Contents

Campus and Facilities - 2009/2010


The University

Western Illinois University was established April 24, 1899, and began operation September 23, 1902. The University offers 63 undergraduate degree programs and 37 graduate degree programs to approximately 13,200 students. Western Illinois University offers graduate work in 16 post-baccalaureate certificates. The University serves 2,440 graduate students from Illinois as well as 41 other states and 55 nations. 

Fifty-six buildings are situated on more than 1,000 acres in Macomb. In addition, the University operates the Alice L. Kibbe Life Sciences Station on the Mississippi River, the Frank J. Horn Field Campus, the University Farm, and the Fink Environmental Studies Field Laboratory and Conservancy, which provide nearby facilities for students enrolled in agriculture; biology; and recreation, park and tourism administration courses. Western Illinois University-Quad Cities campus in Moline provides baccalaureate degree, graduate degree and post-baccalaureate certificate programs in various disciplines.

The University is located in Macomb, the McDonough County seat, 40 miles east of the Mississippi River. The city has a population of approximately 20,000. Two U.S. highways, 136 and 67, intersect at Macomb and provide direct access to Interstates 74, 80, and 55. Amtrak service is available twice daily from Quincy and Chicago to Macomb.


Housing

Graduate and Family Apartment Housing: There are several one and two-bedroom apartments on campus for graduate students and students with children, spouses or domestic partners. The University offers both furnished and unfurnished apartments on a first-come, first-served basis.  It is recommended that applications for on-campus apartments be made at least one full year in advance due to the long waiting list. All apartments have a stove, refrigerator, basic cable television outlet, and air conditioning. Furnished apartments are provided with living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture. All utilities and local telephone calls are included in the rental payment. Laundry facilities are also available in the apartment complexes.

Further information and an application for graduate and family apartment housing may be obtained from the Office of Graduate and Family Housing in the Office of University Housing and Dining Services in Seal Hall, (309) 298-3331 or student.services.wiu.edu.

Residence Halls: Competitively priced living accommodations that provide an atmosphere conducive to graduate studies are available on campus. Caroline Grote Hall is a suite-style residence hall which offers single and double rooms as well as private bathrooms for juniors, seniors, and graduate students.  Higgins Hall is located on the northwest corner of campus. It is an air-conditioned, co-ed living environment providing double rooms and a limited number of single rooms.  Tanner Hall, located on the northeast corner of campus, and Lincoln/Washington halls, located on the southeast corner, offer unique living arrangements for returning, transfer, and graduate students. All accommodations are single rooms with all the amenities of residence hall facilities, plus extra closet space, an end table, easy chair, and carpeting. Corbin Hall provides suite-style living arrangements for two, three, or four occupants and is located on the southwest corner of campus. Each floor has two lounges, two bathrooms, and laundry facilities.

All rooms are furnished with air-conditioning, beds, dressers, study desks, chairs, closets, Internet access, and private-line telephones. Laundry facilities, television lounges, vending areas, computer labs, and limited cooking facilities are available in each hall.

Residents of University housing sign a contract for a full academic year and pay room and board by the semester.

Students enrolling for the first time will receive a housing application/contract form upon acceptance to the University. Students should apply for housing as early as possible, since hall and room assignments are made based on the date of the student=s room application.

Off-Campus Housing:Listings of off-campus facilities are available in the Student Tenant Union Office located in the University Union. Further information can be found at wiu.edu/studentlife/macomb.php.


University Libraries

The University Libraries are an integral and valuable part of graduate research at WIU. The Libraries hold over one million cataloged volumes of monographs and periodicals and offer online access to the full texts of hundreds of academic journals and other publications. Items may be borrowed swiftly from over 70 other Illinois academic libraries through the I-Share network or obtained through interlibrary loan from libraries across the nation. The WIU Libraries provide research assistance, instruction in library use, and public access to computers, printers, wireless Internet, photocopiers, and other equipment.

The Malpass Library in Macomb, the main branch, is a gem of the campus with plenty of natural lighting and hundreds of indoor plants, creating an excellent environment for research, group and individual study, and collaborative learning. The Malpass Library also houses the University Archives and Special Collections, as well as substantial holdings of government documents. The Malpass Mocha Café on the first level is a popular meeting spot for coffee and snacks. In addition, there are specialized libraries for music, curriculum, and physical sciences in Macomb as well as the WIU-Quad Cities Library in Moline.

For more information, visit wiu.edu/library or telephone (309) 298-2411 for hours, 309/298-2700 for the Reference and Information Desk (research assistance), and (309) 298-2705 for Circulation.


Laboratories, Clinics, and Special Facilities

The Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Station is a biological reserve of more than 1,600 acres of islands, bluffs, and upland areas in the Mississippi River Valley near Warsaw, Illinois.  Its aquatic habitats, forests, and prairies serve as an outdoor classroom for field studies and are used in environmental research.  The Cedar Glen Eagle Roost, which is adjacent to the field station, is considered one of the Midwest’s most outstanding natural areas and is nationally known as a major winter roosting area for bald eagles.  The field station maintains research sites and equipment for sampling on the Mississippi River.

Students interested in freshwater and marine organisms conduct research at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  These facilities and programs are available through the Department of Biological Sciences.

Horn Field Campus is a 92-acre outdoor educational and research facility located south of Macomb and managed by the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration. Within these 92 acres lies an 8-acre prairie restoration project; woodlands; challenge course; climbing tower; and several historical buildings, which include a lodge and cabins, that contribute to the educational and research opportunities available to the University community.

The University Greenhouse and W.M. Walter Natural Area were developed and are maintained by the Department of Biological Sciences.  The greenhouse has rooms designed for growing aquatic, xeric, and tropical plants.  Space is also available for propagation and research.  The W.M. Walter Natural Area has a pond, wetland, prairie, and forest that are used in teaching classes.  These facilities are adjacent to Waggoner Hall. Also, available for teaching and research is the Rodney and Bertha Fink Environmental Studies Field Laboratory and Conservancy. The 77-acre natural area is located 2.5 miles west of the Macomb campus and contains a mix of restored prairie and bottomland forests bordered by the East Fork of the LaMoine River.

The Department of Biological Sciences herbaria (MWI, WARK) contain collections of more than 50,000 vascular plants, non-vascular plants, algae, and fungi.  The animal collections include both invertebrate and vertebrate animal specimens. The vertebrate animal collections include mammal skulls and furs, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish while the invertebrate collections have a wide diversity of insects and freshwater bivalve mussels. The plant, fungal, and animal collections serve as depositories of distribution records and for research on the biodiversity of western Illinois.  They are available for student and faculty research projects.

Facilities for cell and molecular research are also available in the Department of Biological Sciences.  Equipment available includes a scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, ultracentrifuges, high-performance liquid chromatograph, PCR machines, a DNA sequencer, microbiological equipment, and other supporting equipment used in student and faculty research.

The Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic provides diagnostic and therapy services for University students and area residents. The clinic has a Computerized Speech Laboratory (CSL), Laryngograph, and other instruments used in the assessment and treatment of vocal disorders and other speech disorders. The clinic offers voice output and electronic speech generating device options for individuals without functional speech. Augmentative communication assessment and treatment using computer technology is also available. Deep Pharyngeal Nerve Stimulation and Vital Stim therapies are used with persons who have swallowing disorders. In addition, the Audiology Clinic has diagnostic testing equipment for the adult and pediatric population. Instrumentation for full audiological evaluations, middle ear testing, real-ear measurement, video otoscopy, Auditory Brainstem Response, Otoacoustic emissions, and a full range of hearing aid technology. The clinic offers advanced audiological clinic training and research options.

The Department of Engineering Technology laboratories include facilities for computer aided design/manufacturing, robotics, metrology, material testing, programmable logic controlling, Auto-ID, and CNC machining. The University is a member of the Central Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center. This membership provides opportunities for applied research, professional work projects, and graduate internships with its industrial partners.

The Department of Kinesiology has a modern complex of four electronic classrooms; wireless network; physical education teacher education laboratory with wireless microphones for audio and video recordings, B.E.S.T. software, and Palm Pilots for hand-held assessments; biomechanics laboratory with Peak Motus 8.2 two-dimensional video analysis system, AMTI force platform, and 8-channel Myo Pac Junior EMG; perceptual and motor behavior laboratory with a BIOPAC system that records ECG, EMG, and EEG; a computer laboratory that features the A.D.A.M. software; and a human performance laboratory that includes a Biodex isokinetic measurement system, environmental chamber, Bod Pod, hydrostatic weighing tank, metabolic and 12-lead ECG systems, Cholestech lipid and blood glucose analysis equipment, and microplate reader and washer.

The Department of Psychology houses a psychological clinic and a psychoeducational clinic to provide psychological services to students and area residents. These services include individual therapy, couple therapy, family therapy, psychological and intellectual testing, consultations, and referrals. Psychology faculty members also engage in research, and many have laboratories that contain equipment enabling them and their students to investigate topics from eyewitness memory to neuroscience.

The Department of Geography houses the WIU GIS Center on the third floor of Tillman Hall. The Center is responsible for compiling, managing and storing GIS data layers. Other facilities include a Remote Sensing/GIS lab with over 20 computers that are fully networked and use ERDAS’ Imagine software. Other software includes ESRI GIS such as ArcGIS and ArcView; a meteorology lab featuring a fully-equipped operational weather lab and forecast office with direct access to observational weather data, radar imagery, and weather maps and charts; and a new instructional lab with 32 computers used for both GIS and meteorology-related instruction. Additionally, the department has two wired electronic classrooms, plus wireless connectivity throughout Tillman Hall.

The Center for the Application of Information Technologies (CAIT) is an on-campus center located in Horrabin Hall.  CAIT is a nationally recognized leader in distance learning using Internet technologies.  The CAIT staff develops innovative online instruction and training solutions with WIU faculty and also serves clients outside of the University such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Century Network, Illinois Community College Board, Department of Children and Family Services, Attorney General’s office and McDonald’s Corporation.

The College of Education and Human Services maintains 32 electronic classrooms in Brophy, Currens, Horrabin, Knoblauch, and Stipes halls, permitting students and instructors to access the latest instructional technologies (e.g., computers, CDs, DVDs, SMART Board technologies, the Internet and distance learning).  These classrooms are used by instructors and students to explore and model the use of high-tech teaching tools. The most recent electronic classroom is a 40-seat instructional lab that allows one-to-one computing with hardware capable of running the most current software programs. The College of Education and Human Services also maintains the GTE Electronic Classroom and the GTE Teleconferencing Center.  Both are among the most advanced facilities of their kind.  The GTE Electronic Classroom seats 88 students and incorporates touch screen technology, projection television, and distance education capability through compressed two-way video.  The GTE Teleconferencing Center is an administrative conferencing facility that also has satellite and compressed video conferencing capabilities in addition to advanced computer conferencing capability.  The facility has flexible seating in an executive atmosphere.  International teleconferences are common in this facility with recent conferences involving France, England, Mexico and Canada.

The Office for Partnerships, Professional Development, and Technology is the primary technology support and training center for students and faculty in the College of Education and Human Services.  This office consists of Instructional Development Services, the Interactive Multimedia (IMM) Lab, STAR-Onsite, STAR-Online, and the Technology Resource Center.  The IMM lab has been designed for work with one-on-one and small group instruction for both support and course activities.  This lab has the advanced software and peripherals necessary to develop multimedia projects, scan documents for use as digital artifacts, and convert analog video to digital media. 


Student Union

The University Union is more than a building; it is an organization and a program that serves the University community—students, faculty, administration, alumni, and guests.

Union facilities include guest rooms; dining rooms and catering services; 1864 Bistro restaurant; a convenience store; and food court featuring Burger King, Sbarro, and We Proudly Brew Starbucks Coffee. The Union also contains offices for student organizations, student assistance, student activities and student legal services; conference and event scheduling; transit service; art galleries; a ballroom; conference and meeting rooms; student and parent service center; ATM machines; computer stations; a bookstore with a wide selection of educational and recreational supplies; a computer store; lounges; bowling lanes; billiards room; and a theatre.

Programs open to all University students are arranged, sponsored, and advised by the Office of Student Activities and University Union staff. The University Union serves as the campus community center for all members of the University community.

Through its various organizations, committees, and staff, the Union provides a cultural, social, and recreational program that makes leisure time activity a cooperative factor with education. Its goal is the development of people as well as intellects.


Western Illinois University -Quad Cities Campus

Western Illinois University offers graduate programs at the WIU-QC campus in Moline, Illinois, approximately 70 miles north of the residential campus in Macomb.  Graduate degrees are offered in the following disciplines at WIU-QC:

Graduate Degree Programs

Biology
Business Administration
Counseling
Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies
Educational Leadership (includes specialist, master’s, and doctoral degrees)
Elementary Education
English
Health Education
Law Enforcement and Justice Administration
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Museum Studies
Reading
Special Education

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Programs

Environmental GIS
Health Services Administration
Police Executive Administration
Zoo and Aquarium Studies