Governors State University

Governors State University was established as a state-supported, upper-division institution of education on July 17, 1969, when Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie signed into law House Bill 666. [ 4 ] Originally scheduled to open to students in September 1973, the four-year planning period was reduced to two years and GSU received its first class of 500 students in September 1971. [ 5 ] The university utilized warehouse space as the temporary home during the campus construction. [ 5 ] Under the university's first president, William Engbretson, academic staff created an experimental educational environment focused on a collaborative learning environment between students and faculty in class sessions called modules that met for eight-week sessions. [ 5 ] GSU was one of the original "Universities without Walls" as well as a university that did not offer grades, but competencies. In place of departments, it had interdisciplinary studies, and all professors held the rank of University Professor. [ 5 ] The university transitioned from the experimental curriculum to a more traditional model after Engbretson stepped down and Leo Goodman-Malamuth became GSU's second president. [ 5 ] GSU developed academic divisions and departments, professors with rank (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor), and renovated the open space main building to classroom and office space. [ 5 ] Structured classes in a trimester schedule, along with traditional transcripts were other changes during the era. [ 5 ] Following the original mandate to serve the underserved student populations such as veterans and nontraditional students with some college credits but no degree, the university developed telecourses in the 1980s. [ 5 ] The classes were held in one of GSU's two television studios then were made available via tape or as programming on cable channels. [ 5 ] The first doctoral program was created in 2007 as a professional doctoral degree in physical therapy .

[ 5 ] GSU further developed other doctoral programs in nursing, occupational therapy, and education. [ 5 ] In 2014, the state approved the university to expand curriculum for freshmen and sophomores. [ 5 ] Along with welcoming freshmen and sophomores to campus, the university opened its first on-campus residence hall, known as Prairie Place. [ 6 ] The university created small class sizes for freshmen with courses taught by full-time faculty and individual sessions capped at 30 students. [ 7 ]

The Campus is located 30 miles (48 km) south of Chicago. It is within 30 minutes' drive from cities Kankakee and Joliet as well as northwestern Indiana . The main campus is located on a 750-acre (3.0 km 2 ) wooded landscape with several lakes and natural trails. Points of interest The Family Development Center (FDC) provides university-quality programs for children and their parents. The Family Development Center will be the Model Early Education Center for the South Suburbs. GSU Family development center programs model the best practices in Early Childhood Education and draw extensively on the expertise of university faculty and staff in Early Childhood Education, Nursing, Communications Disorders (speech and hearing), Psychology and Counseling. University students in these programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are active participants in the Family Development Center. The Family Development Center has been nationally recognized for meeting the highest standards of early childhood education. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation's leading professional organization working on behalf of young children, has awarded accreditation to the FDC. GSU is also home to the Center for Performing Arts, which draws entertainers and artists from around the world, as well as the local community. The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra held monthly concerts on a fall through spring seasonal schedule throughout the 2007–2008 season. [ 8 ] Ethnographic Arts Collection, owned by the University Foundation of Governors State University, the beginning of the Ethnographic Collection dates nearly from the beginning of the University. Objects were generously donated by former faculty, students, and patrons for the purpose of direct instruction in art history classes and ethnic studies so that students might know first hand and be able to study and handle examples from various regions of the world.

Initially, some examples were accepted that are not of prime "museum quality" but retained value as teaching objects. Yet over the years donations from generous collectors increasingly included objects of the highest quality and included multiple examples from certain ethnic contexts.