University of Sierra, Bernheim

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University of Sierra, Bernheim
The University of Sierra Bernheim.svg
Motto Fiat lux (Latin)
Motto in English
 "Let there be light"
Type Public land-grant research university
Established 1868; 156 years ago (1868)
Parent institution
 University of Sierra
Accreditation Styxie Association of Schools and Colleges
Academic affiliations
Endowment $2.25 billion (2021)
Budget $4.9 billion (2017–18)
Chancellor Sharon Davis
Provost Nikolai Popov
Academic staff
 2,192 (Spring 2022)
Administrative staff
 20,784 (2021–22)
Students 40,058
(Spring 2022)
Undergraduates 31,102 (Spring 2022)
Postgraduates 8,956 (Spring 2022)
Location
Bernheim
,
San Joaquin
,
Kingdom of Sierra
Campus Large City, 2,492 acres (1,008 ha)
Academic term Quarter
Newspaper The Poppy Press
Colors      Bernheim Blue
     Sierra Gold
Nickname Golden Poppies
Sporting affiliations
Mascot Poppa the Poppy
Website www.usbernheim.edu
University of Sierra, Bernheim logo.svg

The University of Sierra, Bernheim (US Bernheim, the Bern, or Bernheim) is a public Pacific Ivy land-grant university in Bernheim, San Joaquin. It is the second oldest campus of the University of Sierra system. It was founded as a sister campus to the University of Sierra, Berkeley, which was originally known as simply as the University of Sierra. The campus is located on the western outskirts of Bernheim, lying on 2,492 acres of land. It was initially founded as an agricultural branch of the university system.

US Bernheim is classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is a full member of the Association of Anglo-American Universities. It offers 90 undergraduate degrees and 132 graduate and professional degrees. In Spring 2022, roughly 40,000 undergraduate students and 9,000 graduate students were enrolled at US Bernheim.

Initially founded as an agricultural campus, the university has expanded and diversified its research and programs. The university campus includes the US Bernheim Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Oakalona and the US Bernheim Botanical Gardens, the US Bernehim School of Law, US Bernheim School of Education, the Hellen Doss School of Nursing, and the US Bernheim School of Veterinary Medicine.

As of May 2022, there have been 5 Nobel Prize laureates, 4 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 22 Huntington Fellows affiliated with the university as alumni, faculty, or researchers.

The US Bernheim Golden Poppies currently compete in the AACA Division I as members of the West Central Conference and the Pacific Ivy League. The Golden Poppies have won 18 national championships in nine different team sports, 55 Golden Poppies have won individual national championships, and 47 Golden Poppies have competed in the Olympics, winning 23 Olympic medals.

History

In 1868, Parliament passed the National Tertiary Education Act which established the University of Sierra system. It called for the development of a nationwide university system that would serve the Kingdom of Sierra's major cities. Bernheim was selected as one of the first campuses to be built and constructed. The Bernheim campus was designated as a land-grant agricultural college due to its location within the largely agriculturally-based Styxie. As an agricultural college, its purpose was to combine the principles of practical farming education and academic education in the humanities and sciences (including history, politics, and biology).

As the country's first agricultural college, the Bernheim campus was scorned by detractors for its mission and purpose of educating farmers. Farmers were skeptical that they needed to receive formal education that did not directly relate to practical use in farming and faculty did not understand the need to give academic credit to farming skills such as hoeing or plowing. Despite this apparent conflict and mutual disagreement with the campus's intent, the campus received sizable subsidies from the federal government. Within five years, the campus expanded and improved its facilities, which included the construction of a model research farm which students could work on and refine their skills. Soil science and botany were introduced into the campus courses and an on-site laboratory was built to further research into agriculture.

Campus instruction and academic research were interrupted during the outbreak of the Sierran Civil War. Bernheim, which served as the capital of the self-declared Second California Republic, entered into wartime conditions. The Bernheim campus itself was converted into military barracks that trained Republican conscripts to fight for the Republican army. Important documents and paperwork were seized by the Republican government and academic instruction was suspended by direct order from the Republic's chairman Isaiah Landon himself.

After the Sierran Civil War, the campus returned to civilian administration by the University of Sierra system. Many of the facilities and buildings from the original campus were destroyed or damaged from the total war that devastated much of the Styxie. Parliament approved over $20 million towards the repair and expansion of Northern Sierran colleges and universities as part of the broader Reconstruction efforts in the postwar Styxie. The Bernheim campus was also promoted to a general campus due to the lobbying efforts of the San Joaquin provincial government which desired a more diversified workforce beyond its large agrarian-based population. The campus director was thus changed to a campus provost in 1881 and then as a chancellor in 1884. The designation of the University of Sierra, Bernheim as a general campus attracted both public and private investment, as well as donatory contributions from alumni. Bernheim's first chancellor Richard F. Wilkes stated that his goal was "turn Bernheim into the next Berkeley" and his desire to turn the campus into a model flagship campus by which other universities would seek to imitate.

In 1914, the University of Sierra, Bernheim established its own graduate school and began awarding master and doctoral degrees, becoming the fourth to offer so within the University of Sierra system. Intercollegiate athletics at the campus also received substantial investments. The college athletics became known as the Golden Poppies and joined AACA Division I.

Campus

Size and location

Shemberg Hall and the Rosalind Dempsey Rose Garden in Bullfrog Hills

The University of Sierra, Bernheim is located on the western edge of the city of Bernheim, or about 10 miles west of Downtown Bernheim. It is adjacent to the unincorporated communities of Holt and Gillis, south of the San Joaquin River. It is serviced by K.S. Route 4 which forms the southern boundary of the campus and Interprovincial 5 which runs to east through the city of Bernheim. The northern and western end of the campus includes College Loop Drive, which encircles most of the school campus.

The campus layout and streets are based on the grid plan, which were introduced by city planners in the late 1870s following reconstruction from the Sierran Civil War. The campus is divided into four areas: Bullfrog Hills, Riverside, South Campus, and Eastside, each with a distinct architectural style. The oldest area is Bullfrog Hills, which consists of the campus' historic center, Centralia, and most of the botanical and horticultural science buildings. Other buildings include the Ulysses Perry Library, the Alan Hill Washington Auditorium, the US Bernheim Equestrian Center, and the US Bernheim Botanical Gardens. West of the College Loop Drive are the farmlands owned by US Bernheim, including the on-campus dairy and meat-processing plant and farm. The oldest student housing buildings are also located in Bullfrog Hills. Riverside consists of the US Bernheim athletics field and gymnasium, the Shemberg and Warneke Halls, and the Jackson Wade Memorial Complex. Both Eastside and South Campus features a combination of historic and newer development, including modern housing, Pesce Hall, Warila Hall, and Guillen Hall.

Housing

The Catherine Sarah Perry Hall, one of the residence halls at the Treeline Village

By mandate, all University of Sierra campuses must provide on-campus housing to accommodate undergraduates. The US Bernheim is committed to providing residential accommodations to all freshmen and to service up to half of the student population. The on-campus housing communities at US Bernheim include Orange Grove, Treeline, Greenfield, Poinsettia, Blueberry Fields, Aloe Vera, Avocado, Vineyard, South Camp, and Wade Village.

Orange Grove and Treeline are the campus freshman dormitory communities with amenities including a sports center, swimming pools, a community center, and a cafeteria. The two communities also share dining facilities, study rooms, and resource centers. Orange Grove and Treeline both have 12 residence halls each.

Organization and administration

The University of Sierra, Bernheim is part of the larger University of Sierra system, one of the two national public university systems in the Kingdom of Sierra. Like the other US campuses, US Bernheim operates under the principle of shared governance and is headed by the Chancellor who serves as the chief campus officer. The Chancellor is appointed by the Regents of the University of Sierra and the US President. Immediately below the Chancellor is the Executive Vice Chancellor and the Provost, both positions of which are elected by the Academic Senate. Each school is headed by a dean and all other programs are headed by administrators or vice chancellors. The US Bernheim Academic Senate is responsible for determining the conditions of admission and overseeing the courses and curricula on campus. The US Bernheim Academic Senate, which consists of faculty members who serve on a voluntary basis, is a division of the system-wide Academic Senate.

Student demographics

Academics

The University of Sierra, Bernheim offers 90 undergraduate majors and 132 graduate and professional programs. Historically known as an agricultural college, the University of Sierra, Bernheim is home to an on-campus dairy and meat-processing plant, a farm, and an equestrian facility. It also owns and maintains over 100 acres of nearby farmland for its award-winning botanical sciences and horticulture programs, as well as the US Bernheim Botanical Gardens.

US Bernheim undergraduate majors are divided into three colleges:

  • US Bernheim College of Letters and Sciences
    • Agricultural and Natural Sciences Division
    • Humanities Division
    • Physical Sciences and Mathematics Division
    • Social Sciences Division
  • US Bernheim School of the Arts and Dance
    • Architecture Division
    • Music Division
    • Theater and Film Division
  • US Bernheim Wade College of Engineering and Technology

US Bernheim graduate programs include:

  • Hellen Doss School of Nursing
  • US Bernheim Graduate School of Education
  • US Bernheim Graduate School of Management
  • US Bernheim Graduate Studies
  • US Bernheim School of Dentistry
  • US Bernheim School of Law
  • US Bernheim School of Medicine
  • US Bernheim School of Veterinary Medicine

Rankings

Admissions

UC Bernheim is rated as "most selective" for college admissions in the Kingdom of Sierra by Newstar's International Universities Report. It was the third most-selective University of Sierra campus for the freshman class entering in the fall of 2021, as measured by the ratio of admitted students to applicants (behind US Berkeley and US Porciúncula). US Bernheim received 124,283 applicants and 20,828 were admitted, translating into an admission rate of 16.76% for the fall of 2021. The incoming freshmen were predominantly from Marshall County, San Joaquin, followed by nearby counties throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including those in Santa Clara and Tahoe.

Library

Graduate studies

Faculty and research

Student life

Student government

The University of Sierra, Bernheim's undergraduate population is governed by the Associated Students of US Bernheim (ASUSB) and receives an annual operating budget of $12 million a year, one of the highest in the country. It consists of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Its main responsibilities and functions are to represent the interests of the student body and to provide student-led services. Its executive branch is composed of a president, an executive vice president, three assistant vice presidents, and six directors. Its legislative branch is composed of a Senate which consists of 15 elected members. Its judicial branch consists of five justices elected by the student body. In addition to the three branches, the Pan-Hellenic Council of US Bernheim serves as the main administrative body representing all of the officially sanctioned and recognized fraternities and sororities on the US Bernheim campus. It consists of five officers who represent the interests of US Bernheim's Greek life and reports directly to the Senate. All undergraduate students are required to pay activity fees to support the functions and operations of the student government.

The student media organizations (with the exception of the ASUSB Media Department) on campus exercise complete autonomy from the ASUSB although they have representative liaisons who have the right to sit and speak at student government meetings.

Greek life

Athletics

Notable alumni and faculty

For a more comprehensive list, see List of University of Sierra, Bernheim alumni and Category:University of Sierra, Bernheim alumni.

US Bernheim has more than 200,000 living alumni. The US Bernheim Alumni Association maintains a building on campus which hosts seasonal events run by alumni.

Five people affiliated with US Bernheim have been honored with the Nobel Prize. Four people have won Pulitzer Prize winners and twenty-two people have been inducted as Huntington Fellows.

See also

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