University of California, Irvine

The University of California, Irvine (UCI, UC Irvine, or Irvine) is a public research university located in Irvine, California, in the United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California (UC) system, UCI is the fifth-largest UC campus, with nearly 28,000 students, 1,100 faculty members and 9,000 staff.

Ranking

For 2012, US News & World Report ranked UC Irvine 45th among national universities and 13th among public universities in the US. In addition, many of UCI's graduate programs received top-50 rankings from U.S. News & World Report, earning distinction in literary criticism and theory (1), behavioral neuroscience (5), Criminology, Law and Society (5), creative writing (6), health care management (9), organic chemistry (9), information systems (11), drama and theater (12), third-world literature (12), cognitive psychology (13), English (16), psychology – neurobiology and behavior (16), chemistry (18), experimental psychology (19), gender and literature (19), executive M.B.A. (20), cell biology/developmental biology (21), 19th- and 20th century literature (22), psychology – cognitive science (22), sociology (27), aerospace engineering (29), computer science (29), physics (29), mechanical engineering (30), civil engineering (31), biological sciences (32), history (32), environmental engineering (34), fine arts (34), political science (35), business (38), biomedical engineering (40), engineering (41), medicine (41), materials science engineering (45), mathematics (47), psychology and social behavior (47), economics (48), and electrical engineering (49).

Program

The layout of the core campus resembles a rough circle with its center being Aldrich Park, initially known as Central Park, and lined up by the Ring Mall and buildings surrounding the road. To further emphasize the layout, academic units are positioned relative to the center, wherein undergraduate schools are closer to the center than the graduate schools.

Within Aldrich Park, there are numerous thickly-wooded trees indigenous to the local Mediterranean climate. The very center of the park features a garden and a memorial plaque of UCI's founding. The park itself has a network of paved and dirt pathways shared by pedestrians and cyclists.

Ring Mall is the main pedestrian road used by students and faculty to travel around the core campus. The road measures up to a perfect mile and completely encircles Aldrich Park. Most schools and libraries are lined up by this road with each of these schools having their own central plaza which also connects to the Aldrich Park.

Other areas of the university outside of the core campus such as the College of Medicine and the School of Arts are connected by four pedestrian bridges. Beyond the core campus and the bridges, the layout of the campus is more suburban.

2012-2013 Catalog

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