Located near the heart of Los Angeles, the University of Southern California is one of the nation's top private research universities.

Since its establishment in 1880, USC has conferred degrees on more than a quarter-million students -- leaders who have helped Southern California grow to become a national trendsetter in public policy, economic and business affairs, urban planning and engineering, scientific research, health care and the arts.

Today, USC and its graduates are continuing this tradition of leadership -- developing innovative classroom techniques, exploring new fields of scholarly investigation, and establishing a widening network of service and partnership among the nations of the Pacific Rim.

The traditional function of the university is to teach students -- in the classroom, studio, laboratory, seminar room, on the playing field, and where they live. USC is committed to the principle that this educational mission is most effectively carried out in a context that encourages the creation of new knowledge.

USC places a premium on research and scholarship and on the professional and scholarly credentials of its faculty. Since 1969, the university has been a member of the Association of American Universities, the elective body that unites the 60 premier research universities in the United States and Canada.

USC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Students may review the university's accreditation documents by contacting Jerome Walker, Associate Provost.

The university has traditionally performed a wide variety of roles in service to its communities -- contributing to the welfare of its own members, as well as to Southern California and the nation. In particular, the university's network of affiliated hospitals and its partnerships with business and community organizations enable USC to make its expertise available to the community at large.

Academic Programs

The University of Southern California maintains a tradition of academic strength at all levels -- from the earliest explorations of the undergraduate to the advanced scholarly research of the postdoctoral fellow.

USC offers bachelor's degrees in 82 undergraduate majors as well as master's, doctoral and professional degrees in 150 fields of study. Students may select from a variety of major degree combinations in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, in the Graduate School and under the direction of the university's 19 professional schools.

The heart of USC's liberal education program is the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The largest of USC's academic divisions -- both in student enrollment and faculty -- the college encompasses 26 departments serving approximately 5,700 undergraduates and 1,600 graduate students. In addition to the undergraduate degrees offered by the college, many of the university's professional schools also offer bachelor's degree programs.

Faculty

Of USC's 3,500 faculty, 1,600 occupy tenure-track positions and 76 percent of those have been granted tenure. In addition, approximately 3,600 medical volunteer faculty members are affiliated with the USC School of Medicine, and 430 volunteer pharmacist faculty are affiliated with the USC School of Pharmacy. Research, teaching and service are supported by a staff of 6,000.

USC's faculty includes members of the National Academy of Sciences (7), National Academy of Engineering (14), National Academy of Public Administration (9), and the Institute of Medicine (8). More than 200 faculty members have received prestigious academic and professional awards from organizations as varied as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1994, USC Professor George A. Olah received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Students

Diversity is the hallmark of the USC student community. USC students come from all 50 states and 109 countries. In fall 1995, 69 percent of new freshmen were from California, 28 percent from out of state. Approximately 39 percent of the university's total enrollment is composed of American minorities; a further 15 percent are international students. USC is among the top three American universities in international enrollment. Among undergraduates, 53 percent are men, 47 percent are women.

A total of 31 percent of the incoming 1995 freshman class were honor students with SAT scores of 1200 or better. In 1995-96, 100 freshmen were National Merit Scholars, bringing the total on campus to 293. Since 1988, three USC students have been selected to attend Oxford University as Rhodes Scholars, while another was awarded a Marshall Scholarship.

Research Support

Each year, USC's distinguished faculty and modern facilities attract substantial external funding for educational and scientific research. According to the National Science Foundation, USC currently ranks among the top 10 private universities receiving federal funds for research and development support and in the top 20 among all universities -- with a 1993 total of $149,965,000 (based on the U.S. government fiscal year ending September 30, 1993).

Libraries

The USC Library houses approximately 2.8 million volumes, 453,200 government documents, 3 million photographs, 3.6 million microforms and receives more than 21,000 journals.

USCInfo provides sophisticated search tools and access to Homer, the online catalogue of USC Library holdings, as well as a wide variety of important bibliographic databases and online full-text resources. USCInfo offers access to the online USC Catalogue, online campus publications, (e.g., the USC Chronicle) course materials and campus information. It also provides gateways to other online information systems, such as LegiSlate, MedInfo and USCgopher. To connect to USCgopher, point your gopher client software to cwis.usc.edu. USCWeb provides access to USCgopher and a variety of other USC information sources that take advantage of the special graphic environment of the Web. Notable among them are the many technology and research centers on campus. The Universal Resource Locator (URL) for USCWeb is http://www.usc.edu/. Aside from providing valuable campus information, USCWeb, like USCgopher, provides links to the wealth of resources on the worldwide Internet.

The largest of the USC libraries is the Doheny Memorial Library, which contains the research collection of social sciences and humanities materials. The Doheny Library also houses the Cinema/TV Library, the Government Documents Department, the Music Library, Special Collections and the Boeckman Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies.

In addition to the Doheny Library, the USC Library includes 14 specialized research libraries that serve the unique research needs of the campus. Most of these are located near the school or department they serve. Three independent campus libraries are devoted to specialized collections for their respective professions: the Asa V. Call Law Library, the Eileen and Kenneth T. Norris Medical Library and the USC Dental Library.

The Leavey Library, one of the most technologically sophisticated libraries in the world, features a core collection of books and journals; an electronic information commons of 120 computer workstations, 21 collaborative workrooms, two hands-on learning classrooms and an auditorium; and over 1,400 reader seats in a variety of formal and informal arrangements. Designed to support undergraduate learning, Leavey enables faculty and students to accomplish research using both traditional and advanced technology-based regional, national and international resources. Leavey Library is also the new location of the USC Center for Scholarly Technology, which assists faculty in using technology and information resources to develop materials for instruction and scholarly research; the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies; and the Center for Excellence in Teaching.

The USC libraries have noteworthy collections in the areas of cinema, international and public affairs, American literature, regional history, marine science, philosophy, Latin American studies, Korean studies and the Lion Feuchtwanger collection. The USC Library also houses an extensive collection of photographs chronicling the history of Southern California.

The University Library is the administrative hub of the Southern California Electronic Libraries Consortium. The USC Library is a member of the Research Libraries Group, an international association of major universities and research institutions. In addition, USC maintains borrowing agreements with Hebrew Union College, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Library, California State University, Los Angeles, Caltech and UCLA.

Academic Computing

The academic computing environment at USC is rich in resources and opportunities for students and faculty. University Computing Services, responsible for serving the community's information needs in instruction, research and in support of the USC Library, provides access to a variety of computer systems including high performance systems from IBM, SGI and Convex, UNIX workstations and file servers, and several microcomputer platforms. These are all integrated in a campus-wide network, USCnet, linking USC to the Internet and Usenet as well as the national supercomputer centers.

Several public user rooms containing UNIX, Macintosh and DOS/Windows workstations provide access to the network and its resources to students for class work and independent study. Public workstations are also available in the new Leavey Library information commons and private workrooms. Many departments and laboratories operate specialized computing facilities.

USCInfo, the USC Library's online information system, contains electronic versions of the library's card catalogue and bibliographic databases. Two information servers, USCgopher (gopher://gopher.usc.edu/) and USCWeb (http://www.usc.edu/), contain the USC Catalogue, handbooks, schedules and other information provided by campus offices and organizations. Both are linked to information servers at other universities, research institutions, and public and private organizations. Electronic mail allows students and faculty to communicate with others on campus and around the world or to participate in global newsgroups and mailing lists.

Opportunities to learn about computers and how to use them abound on campus. University Computing Services provides primary training in the use of computers, network navigation tools and many software packages. General and specific consulting support is also available to computer users on all university-supported systems. The USC Library offers additional, discipline-specific instruction on using USCInfo and Internet resources. Programming and Data Processing is an academic program that provides an extensive range of computer courses to non-computer science majors. Campus user groups, including the Microcomputer Users Group, have been created to provide user-to-user education.

Hospitals and Patient Care

The schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, and the health professions departments of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy train professionals in the traditional health care fields, conduct original research in all aspects of biomedicine and health care and provide high quality health care services to the Southern California community.

Health care facilities on the Health Sciences Campus include the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the USC University Hospital, the USC Healthcare Consultation Center and the Doheny Eye Institute. Dedicated in May 1991, the 261-bed University Hospital is the newest addition to the inpatient facilities located on campus. Owned and operated by Tenet Healthcare Corporation -- and staffed by USC medical and pharmacist faculty -- the ultra-modern hospital offers many specialized services and procedures that are beyond the scope of most community hospitals.

The School of Medicine also provides medical direction and house staff for the adjacent Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, which ranks among the nation's largest medical teaching hospitals. Owned and operated by Los Angeles County, the medical center's specialized facilities include a state-of-the-art burn center, a Level III neo-natal intensive care unit, a Level I trauma service and an HIV/AIDS outpatient center that annually cares for more than 4,000 patients.

Community Relations

USC is an active partner in efforts to enhance the social, economic, physical and cultural quality of the neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

To promote these efforts, USC Civic and Community Relations (USC-CCR) assists USC academic and administrative units to implement the five university community initiatives in partnership with community agencies, leaders and public officials. These initiatives encourage more USC employees to own and occupy housing in the immediate vicinity of the two campuses; preferentially employ at USC more persons who live in the immediate neighborhoods; encourage more entrepreneurs to establish businesses in the immediate vicinity of the two campuses; provide special educational, cultural and developmental opportunities for children who live in the immediate neighborhoods; and work with neighbors, city and county officials, and the Los Angeles police to provide safer streets in the areas surrounding the two campuses.

USC-CCR provides resources that strengthen the communities around USC's campuses, deepen USC's ties to these diverse communities, and foster positive relations between USC and those people who are most directly affected by USC's presence in the area.

The 213 community service programs administered by USC serve over 370,000 clients and provide volunteer community service opportunities to more than 7,000 USC students, faculty, staff and alumni a year. Areas of activity include arts and culture, athletics and recreation, business and economic development, children and family, communication and media, criminal justice and legal, disabled, education, employment, environmental, facilities, health, housing, information and referral, international affairs, older adult, public safety, scholarships and awards, and volunteer and community service. Information about these community service programs and data about the USC neighborhoods, can be obtained through the USC-CCR World Wide Web site: http:www.usc.edu/dept/CCR.

Last year, 1,500 USC employees contributed over $200,000 through the USC Good Neighbors Campaign to benefit neighborhood outreach projects. Nine special grants supported, for example, the building of a kitchen at a child care center, a girls sports league, an after-school program at five local schools, and a dental disease prevention effort.

USC is committed to working in concert with its neighbors to build a thriving and safe social and physical environment in Central City South Los Angeles.

Cultural Life

USC and its graduates play an important role in making Los Angeles one of the world's great centers for the arts. The schools of Music and Theatre produce a regular series of concerts, operas, musicals, plays and other events. There are four major music, drama and cinema theatres on campus. For up-to-date information on cultural events at USC, call the University Ticket Office at (213) 740-7111.

Athletics and Recreation

USC sponsors 10 varsity sports for men and 10 for women, involving more than 500 of the nation's top-ranked athletes. In their pursuit of athletic and academic excellence, USC varsity teams have won more national championships than any other NCAA member institution: 13 women's team titles and 68 men's team titles -- including eight unofficial football titles. USC is one of only two universities in intercollegiate athletic history to win five national championships in one year (1962-63 and 1976-77). Forty-six USC athletes have been awarded NCAA postgraduate scholarships.

In Olympic competition, USC has fielded more athletes than any other institution. Since 1904, 273 Trojan athletes have participated in the Olympic Games, accumulating a total of 87 gold, 53 silver and 46 bronze medals.

At least one USC athlete has won a gold medal in every summer Olympiad since 1912, making USC the only university in the world with this distinction.

The Intramural Recreation Department welcomes members of the university community who wish to participate in its competitive and recreational sports programs or make use of its services and facilities. Six separate intramural programs (coed, women's, all-university, HICCUP [Housing Intramural Challenge Cup], fraternity and sorority) are directed by the department, altogether offering more than 100 sports involving 9,500 participants. Some 30 on-campus interest clubs and 15 club sport teams have 750 participants each semester.

Outdoor recreational facilities include the Olympic-size McDonalds Swim Stadium, tennis courts and fields. The General William Lyon University Center houses gymnasia, racquet sport courts, locker rooms, aerobic room, fitness center, cardiovascular room, department offices and student organization space.

General Alumni Association

The USC General Alumni Association operates more than 30 alumni clubs and 20 women's organizations in the United States and oversees several international clubs. In addition, USC regional clubs support local scholarships, mentoring programs and career networking. Widney Alumni House, the university's first building, is designated an historical landmark as the oldest university building in Southern California.

Parents Programs

The alumni association provides programs designed to encourage parents of students to participate in USC activities. These include the Parents Association, orientation receptions and parents' weekend luncheon.

Environment

University Park Campus

Located at the same site since USC's establishment in 1880 on eight acres of land in the city of Los Angeles, the University Park Campus has grown to its present size of 150 acres. Situated three miles south of the Los Angeles Civic Center, the campus is adjacent to the museums and recreational facilities of Exposition Park and is served by a network of freeways that provides access to most cultural, business and recreational areas of Southern California.

The University Park Campus consists of 138 major buildings and residential halls totaling approximately 6.5 million gross square feet. Additional university buildings are located off campus, in the immediate vicinity.

Health Sciences Campus

The Health Sciences Campus is located in northeast Los Angeles, seven miles from the University Park Campus and four miles from the Los Angeles Civic Center. Consisting of 22 buildings totaling approximately 1.4 million gross square feet, the campus occupies approximately 40 acres adjacent to the Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center.

The campus is home to the USC schools of Medicine and Pharmacy, as well as to the Independent Health Professions. In addition to its laboratory and classroom facilities, the campus also encompasses several clinical care centers, including USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Doheny Eye Institute and the facilities of the Richard K. Eamer Medical Plaza -- a 744,000-square-foot complex which includes the 261-bed USC University Hospital and the USC Healthcare Consultation Center.

Other locations

Other teaching facilities include the Orange County Center, the Sacramento Center, the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Santa Catalina Island and the Washington Public Affairs Center in Washington, D.C.

Sacramento Center (916) 442-6911 1201 J. Street Sacramento, CA 95814-2919 Public Administration

Washington D.C. Public Affairs Center (202) 638-4949 512 Tenth Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20004 Public Administration

Orange County Center (714) 752-5505 2361 Campus Drive Irvine, CA 92715 Education, Engineering, Social Work and Business Administration

Wrigley Marine Science Center at Catalina (213) 743-6792 Wrigley Marine Science Center P.O. Box 398 Avalon, CA 90704

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