Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Top Questions

I loved the small classes. Our professors knew everyone in my class. They would go out their way to help us out anyway they could. People always say. "Party School!" when I tell them that I go to IUP. I just tell them that all schools are party schools, it's what you make of it.

The best thing about IUP is the high quality of teachers that are in the Education and Communication areas. They are so good and do a great job of keeping up with the current trends in their fields. They really use excellent pedagogy in their student teacher training and even have programs for students to get real world experience in teaching in inner city locations. The town is small and at times a bit like "Northern Exposure" meets "Mayberry", but very quaint and filled with very kind people. It is close enough to Pittsburgh to have the safety of a small town atmosphere, but near enough to Pittsburgh to enjoy all the features found in a big city. The athletic teams are still building athletic abilities, although they have a small following it is not as spirited as the pride found for the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Penquins. Many students carpool to the city to follow their favorite sport. This summer with the Penguins run for the Stanley Cup, students without tickets just went to stand outside the arena and to show their support. Many thought that was even more fun than watching the match inside. My favorite part about IUP is the Oakgrove. It is the most beautiful, peaceful place. Wonderful in the summer with the picnics and so beautiful in the fall as the leaves begin to change color. Most of the administration has been very kind and quite engaged with the well being of the students. The latest controversy with over the May commencement, it was changed so each student's name would be called at the ceremony. There seemed to be confusion about the departmental ceremonies, but seemed to have worked out okay. The biggest student complaint is usually about parking. There is a great deal of construction going on. many old buildings coming down and new ones going up. This has created a real parking mess with areas closed to parking. But the new buildings will definitly be worth the inconvenience. I don't know if this is unusal about IUP, but they have just started using a new way to pay your bills on-line and it is so much better than the old paper billing method.

IUP cares only about its money. Of course, you won't see this in the politically staged tours of the school and very biased guidebook. The entire structure of the school is poorely set up and regulated. For example, the Financial Aid office is filled with an incompetent staff that gives conflicting advice and answers. During the summer various buildings will close randomly and without warning, without even a courteous email to the students. The library, which is important to students taking summer classes, has done this several times in the summer. During the last fiscal school year, the library had to cut hours due to funding problems. The various departments are also poorely run and full of petty politics. For example, the Nursing Dept. office also closes randomly at the discretion of the staff without warning to the students and so has random office hours. For an example of the petty politics, the Nursing Dept. has a closed admission process instead of a rolling admissions process purely for the purpose of making itself more selective. I transferred into the nursing dept late and so had 3 of my 5 required summer classes crammed into the summer merely because the department chairhead wants the program to look good on paper, and it would be easier for students to get in if admissions were year round. The current president of the school had alcohol served at his inaguaration dinner, then turned around and waged a war on campus drinking. What an example he set. The school is undergoing residential reconstruction at the cost of the entire student body and a higher tuition. Those of us who don't live in the dorms still pay the price? What is the real reason IUP is doing this? The guidebooks will say that IUP wants to provide a top-notch learning environment to the students. What a load of crap. The real reason is that IUP faces a potential drop in admissions as the demographics of PA faces a decline in an incoming student population. As IUP is already a low budget bottom of the tier school system it appeals mostly to in state students that are tight on money. With a decline in exaclty its main source of revenue, IUP must build new dorms and facilities as part of a larger plan to compete with in state private schools and out of state schools to maintain its enrollment standard. It's all a political game. The new dorms are nice (I've been in them) but vastly overpriced, especially since they will be trashed in several years and IUP will still need to pay off the debt. Right now it is a pain to go to this school as the construction is loud and annyoing.

IUP is a great school with different types of people that you can easily become friends with. I dont think i'd change anything about it. The school is just right, population wise. Everyones like, "IUP oh you go there!" ..in a good way. I spend most of my time at the field house with all the sports. Def. a college town cause during the summer it is dead up there. Admin is great with workin with you, figuring out what you need to do to fix a problem. Biggest controversy was when t-pain didnt show up for a concert and the crowd got rowdy and people got peppered sprayed. But also Bill Clinton came and gave a speech there as well. School Pride is pretty good. One experience I will always remember is the branch campus was a great time so if you get accepted there your first year don't worry it's great.

IUP is undergoing many new renovations, which I feel are MUCH needed. I think that these changes being made are making the university more modern and up to date with other universities. I wish that IUP had more things to do within the town of Indiana. It would be great if they had a mall with better shopping, more places to go out to eat, more night life, more stores in town, etc.. I think that IUP really needs to work with the town to accomplish a more college town feel. I also think that IUP should have more than one 24-hour computer lab available for students. IUP keeps one computer lab open 24-hours, but, it is on the edge of campus and I don't always feel like walking all of the way over there late at night. Even though IUP is a fairly safe campus, being a woman, I don't feel safe walking there alone late at night. Maybe if they kept the library open 24-hours or possibly a more centrally located computer lab.

I personally thought the school was perfect size for me. I personally chose IUP because I saw oppertunities in baseball as well as academically. This year we set the record for records broken in a single year, and I made Dean's list in the Spring semester. The people I have met also make the school what it is. I wasn't ignored because I was the freshman on the team, rather I was welcomed and taken under everyones wing to show me the ropes. The only controversy I encountered with the campus was when I was in crutches. i didn't feel like there were enough accomidations for people in crutches. I would crutch up and down the big hill by Foster everyday and be drenched in sweat everywhere I arrived. I was late to a few classes because to weather. Another great thing about IUP is the town, Indiana. I love this small college town, I would wear IUP baseball stuff around in the mall and I would get compliments from random towns people wishing us luck in our last game or congradulating after a victory. I am orriginally from a small town in Maryland, and Indiana reminds me a lot from where I come from. There are so many experiences and moments last year that I wil always remeber, that I don't have evnough time to cover them all, but most of them occured in the dorms. Although our room was right above the boiler room, and it reached temperatures in the 100's in our room, I still had a great time. The dorms is where I met most of my friends, and you all become your own family and watch out for each other. All in all, I have nothing but good things to say about IUP.

Indiana (the town) has a love-hate relationship with IUP. Businesses with a high percentage of students as customers deflate into husks during the summer and swell during the spring and fall terms (I drove a taxi here for a while, and believe me when I say it's a night and day difference.) Many businesses cater to students, who represent a large chunk of spending ability in this town. On the hate side, there's an ongoing zoning war in regards to student housing-- Much of the student housing in the boro is transformed from what was initially single-family dwellings, and many of them look pretty shabby. It's next to impossible now to convert a house in a residential district into student housing, but the residences grandfathered in are a sore point for the residents. (On my block we have one, and the smell of pot often drifts this way when the wind is blowing in the right direction.) On the student side of things, the entire central part of the boro is pretty much considered 'residential', now, with the exception of frat row and some of the other huddled buildings near campus.. So anything new (and therefore not trashed) is away from the main part of campus. Much of the student population lives increasingly in apartment complexes now-- Closest to campus are the Lazor brothers buildings, and up Oakland avenue a little ways is Carriage House and Essex House (Carriage house is considered one of the 'drug centers' of the area.) If you don't mind the noise from neighbors, Copper Beech is a really popular place to stay.. For quieter fare, try Spring Meadows, Westgate, and Hampton Court. IUP's last president (Lawrence Pettit) received a vote of no-confidence from the faculty-- Frankly (and personally speaking) I think Atwater is really doing a lot to make IUP a respectable university again. Still, The Penn (student newspaper) is awash every issue with DUIs, disorderlies, and underaged drinking reports. The team used to be called Indians, by virtue of being in a town called Indiana. A few years back it was renamed to the Crimson Hawks. Why people didn't google it first, I'll never know-- Crimson Hawks is the name of an adult comic, although they were kind enough to change their name. (The Gazette article about this is at http://www.indianagazette.com/index.php?Itemid=39&id=2095&option=com_content&task=view ) What part of IUP you go to makes a big difference. The business college, Eberly, is flat-out gorgeous for a college of this size. The computer labs are top notch, many interesting lecturers come to speak there, receptions with white table cloths and fancy food from the culinary students are served. In wood-trimmed cases, piles of Wall Street Journals are there for the free reading pleasure of anyone promenading the smart, tidy halls of the building. If you're in the college of humanities and social sciences like me, well, I hope you like dixie cups. Keith hall (once the Keith School) is one of the oldest buildings on campus-- It's lovely in another way, with huge windows and 1900-something architecture. The only problem is, the paint on those windows outside is peeling, and has been since I started here at IUP. I want to know why, if Eberly gets wood-grain newspapers and housing gets the Suites, IUP cannot scrape the peeling paint off and re-paint some damned windows on one building. In the next few years IUP is planning on deciding whether to rennovate Keith or tear it down. I think I'd be devastated to see it go and be replaced with something modern that'll fall apart in a decade, but at the same time I seethe every time I look at those windows, which are an outward symbol of the esteem (or lack therof) that IUP's administration looks at the history department with. Business is where the money is, I can't deny that.

IUP is a great school, and I do not regret my decision to attend here. It is a large scale school with a small town atmosphere. It is a nice place to meet new people and experience new things without being overwhelmed. It is important to get involved with some organization, as that is the best way to broaden and heighten you experience. The one bad thing about IUP is the lack of things to do other than party. If sports and culture are your thing than IUP may not be such a good choice.

The school's just about right in size, I think, but it spends way too much time focusing on regulating alcohol consumption when it ought to be educating students about what happens when they've consumed too much and how they ought to handle potential alcohol abuse, for their own health. The biggest recent controversy on campus that caught my attention was the fuss over the mascot; kudos to us for finally having something a little bit less offensive, but it took way too damn long. School pride tends to be synonymous with alcohol consumption and stupidity, depending on the crowd you're in, but if you can get past that, you're in good shape. When IUP's classes are in session, the population of the town doubles. Locals either accept that students are their business or they hate students; one approach is productive, the other simply results in "good" students getting treated like the asshole who peed on somebody's lawn (which, in turn, makes the townies look like assholes themselves, but it's difficult to blame them when the loudest students are generally the drunkest and these are the ones receiving the most attention).

I am doing an internship in Pittsburgh with a federal agency, a position that I was able to obtain through the help of IUP faculty. The agency I work for does a lot of work with other federal law enforcement within Western Pennsylvania and I have met numerous agents from FBI, Secret Service, IRS, Federal Probations, Postal Inspection Service, District Attorney's Office, etc. Many of these agents are IUP alumni and have all provided me with their contact information and have encouraged me to get in touch with them if I need anything during my job search when I graduate. IUP students and alumni share a unique bond and always look out for one another. Because IUP offers such a great education, they graduate some of the finest and have contacts throughout various professional fields. These contacts become very useful as IUP students graduate and enter the workforce. The comraderie among IUP students, faculty, and alumni is unlike I any other I have witnessed within a university. IUP offers great opportunities, both while studying on campus and post-degree!