Upper Iowa University officially opens Quad Cities Center
Local officials from the Quad Cities and members of the Chamber of Commerce joined Upper Iowa University President Dr. Alan G. Walker (holding scissors) to officially open the Upper Iowa University Quad Cities Center on March 22. Additional photos available on Flickr.
FAYETTE, Iowa (March 23, 2012) — Upper Iowa University cut the ribbon on its new educational center at 1401 Kimberly Road, Bettendorf, on March 22. UIU President Dr. Alan G. Walker was joined at the podium by Bettendorf Mayor Bob Gallagher, and Richard Troendle, a UIU junior at the Center, during formal ceremonies. UIU operates 18 education centers in the United States, including a traditional residential campus in Fayette, as well as 3 education centers in Asia.
Attending Thursday’s event were Davenport Mayor Pro Tem Barney Barnhill, Rock Island Mayor Dennis Pauley, and Mayor of East Moline John Thodos. Local community college leaders Dr. Donald Doucette, chancellor of the Eastern Iowa Community College System, and Dr. Rose Campbell, executive vice president and vice president of instruction at Black Hawk Community College, also joined in the festivities. Both community colleges have articulation agreements with Upper Iowa that allow their two-year degree graduates to more easily complete a bachelor’s degree at UIU.
Also attending were UIU senior administrators, alumni, students, and representatives from the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, led by Kristin Glass, vice president of investor relation.
“UIU has been providing an outstanding college education for 155 years,” said Walker. “Although we began as a traditional, residential University, we are equally committed to the needs of our more non-traditional students, many of whom are completing their degree at night while working full-time and balancing a family. We know how difficult that is, because many UIU administrators have done it themselves, including me. Our programs, like the ones offered here in the Quad Cities, are designed to help the non-traditional students by being affordable and flexible enough to meet their needs.”
UIU Quad Cities Center Director Daniel Marvin said there are currently 30 students enrolled in UIU classes at the center, but that enrollment increases each term. The Center can accommodate up to 300 students, he added. UIU offers courses in six, 8-week terms each year.
The UIU Quad Cities Center offers degrees in accounting, business administration, criminal justice, emergency and disaster management, health services administration, human resources management, human services, interdisciplinary studies, management, marketing, psychology, and public administration. Students also may take courses online to complete their degree. Marvin said as the Center grows, plans include adding an education major and an RN-to-BSN program.
After its founding in Fayette in 1857, the University formulated a systematic program of extension work throughout Northeast Iowa by 1920, sending UIU representatives into neighboring communities as instructors. From 1981-84, UIU began establishing off-campus educational centers, reaching Madison, Wis.; Des Moines, Iowa; Waterloo, Iowa; Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Wausau, Wis. Enrollments quadrupled as the University expanded and restructured itself. In the 1990s, UIU continued to expand its extended university offerings and opened new centers in Fort Polk and DeRidder, La.; Janesville, Wis.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; and Jackson Barracks, La. As the University’s focus shifted to becoming an entrepreneurial university to meet the educational needs of learners worldwide, UIU began to open programs in the Pacific Rim, starting with Hong Kong and now including Malaysia and Singapore. In 2001, UIU received programmatic accreditation from the International Assembly of Collegiate Business Educators for what is now known as Academic Extension and opened additional centers, including a facility in Ankeny, Iowa; Elkhorn, Wis.; Alexandria, La; Rockford, Ill.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.. Recently, UIU added a center at Fort Sill near Lawton, Okla., and the center in the Quad Cities. This spring, UIU will also open its rebuilt center at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans.
For more information about Upper Iowa University, go to uiu.edu.
About Upper Iowa University
Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private, not-for-profit university providing undergraduate and graduate degree programs and leadership development opportunities to over 6,800 students—nationally and internationally—at its Fayette campus and learning centers worldwide. Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in offering accredited, quality programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems, including online and independent study.
Contact:
Monica Bayer Heaton
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
Phone: 563-425-5773
Cell: 515-291-2070
heatonm@uiu.edu