Campuses of the University of Georgia
The University of Georgia's main campus sits across from the college town of Athens, Georgia, United States. The university's dominant architectural themes are Federal—the older buildings—and Classical and Antebellum style. The campus was ranked among the nation’s most beautiful by Travel + Leisure. The university is home to the University of Georgia Campus Arboretum, owns an additional of land in 31 counties across Georgia, and has off-campus facilities including in Washington D.C., at Trinity College of Oxford University, at Cortona, Italy, and at Monteverde, Costa Rica. Near the main campus is a Botanical Garden and the university's 56-acre UGA Health Sciences Campus.
Main campus
Situated on a main campus, in 2012 the university had a workforce of more than 9,800, an annual budget of about $1.49 billion, and a physical plant valued at some $600 million, making it one of the largest employers in Georgia and a major contributor to the state's economic and cultural vitality. Transit at the University of Georgia is maintained by UGA Campus Transit. Athens has been named one of the top ten places in America to live and is home to many popular music artists including the American rock bands R.E.M. and Widespread Panic. UGA has been ranked number one among "campus scenes that rock!" by Rolling Stone magazine. Every summer since 1996 the city has hosted AthFest, a non-profit music and arts festival in the downtown area.Although there have been many additions, changes, and augmentations, the University of Georgia's campus maintains its historic character. The historical practice has been to divide the main campus into two sections, North Campus and South Campus. Since 1995, new facilities serving the arts, academics, fitness and student housing have been built on what has come to be known as "East Campus." This area includes new apartment-like dorms called East Campus Village. Adjacent is the newest and fourth dining hall on campus called the Village Summit at Joe Frank Harris Commons. Also on East campus is the Performing and Visual Arts Complex, the Ramsey Center for Physical Activity and the relocated Lamar Dodd School of Art. "West Campus" refers to the area adjacent to the main campus where many of UGA's largest residence halls are located; most freshmen live in one of the high-rise dorms on West Campus.
Tradition maintains that UGA's oldest permanent building, Old College, is modeled on Yale University's Connecticut Hall. UGA's North Campus contains the picturesque historic buildings—such as the Chapel, New College, Demosthenian and the Phi Kappa Halls, Park Hall, Meigs Hall, and the President's office—as well as modern additions such as the Law School and the Main Library. The dominant architectural themes are Federal—the older buildings—and Greco-Roman Classical/Antebellum style. UGA's Campus has also been designated an arboretum by the State of Georgia.
A notable North Campus fixture is the cast-iron gateway that stands at its main entrance. Known as "The Arch", the structure was patterned after the Seal of the State of Georgia, and has faced historic downtown Athens ever since it was erected in the 1850s. Although the Seal's three pillars represent the state's three branches of government, the pillars of The Arch are usually taken to represent the Georgia Constitution's three principles of wisdom, justice, and moderation, which are engraved over the pillars of the Seal. There is a superstition about walking through The Arch. It is said that if you walk under The Arch as an undergraduate student, you will not graduate from the University of Georgia on time. Another legend claims that should you walk through The Arch as a freshman, you will become sterile. The steps lining The Arch are noticeably worn due to students avoiding walking under The Arch.
Dividing North and South Campus is the "central campus" area, home of the University Bookstore, Tate Student Center, and Miller Learning Center, as well as Sanford Stadium, home of the football team. Adjacent to the stadium is a bridge that crosses Tanyard Creek and is the traditional crossover into South Campus, home of most of the science and agricultural classroom buildings. Further south and east, across East Campus Road, is East Campus, home of the Ramsey Center, the East Campus Village, and several fine arts facilities, including the Georgia Museum of Art and the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. A new facility for the art school opened its doors in the Fall of 2008. This new state-of-the-art facility replaced the elder that was placed on North Campus.
Adjacent to the campus is the "west campus" area. This extends from the corner of Britain Avenue and Lumpkin Street in the south to Waddell and Wray streets in the north. It is bordered along the east by Lumpkin Street and on the west by Church Street south of Baxter Street and Florida Avenue to the north. Located on the south end are several dormitories including the Hill Community, Oglethorpe House, Creswell Hall, Brumby Hall and Russell Hall. Also located here are Legion Field and Pool, which are recreational facilities.
In 2011, the University of Georgia acquired the former U.S. Navy Supply Corps School on the medical corridor of Prince Avenue near downtown Athens. The two primary occupants of the 56-acre Health Sciences Campus are the AU-UGA Medical Partnership and the UGA College of Public Health. The campus has an extensive landscaped green space, more than 400 trees and several historic buildings. The majority of classes for both medical and public health students are held in Russell Hall, not to be confused with the South campus undergraduate residence hall, which was built in 1974. The nearly 63,000 square-foot building includes rooms for small group and clinical skills teaching, a lab for gross anatomy, pathology and histology, a medical library, faculty offices, and classroom space. The AU-UGA Medical Partnership administrative offices are housed in Winnie Davis Hall, which was built in 1902. In 2013, it was announced that St. Mary's Hospital, Northeast Georgia Health System and Athens Regional Medical Center would be utilized as teaching hospitals and residency sites for the Medical Partnership students. The College of Public Health's administrative offices are housed in Rhodes Hall, which was built in 1906. Six of the College's seven units are now located on the Health Sciences Campus, including the Institute of Gerontology in Hudson Hall, the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in B.S. Miller Hall, and Departments of Health Policy and Management and Health Promotion and Behavior in Wright Hall.
Ramsey Student Center
The Ramsey Student Center is the student recreational and athletic facility located on East Campus. The Ramsey Center is one of the largest student athletic recreation facilities in the United States. It was built and named in honor of Bernard and Eugenia Ramsey. The campus's eight-acre Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities has two gyms, three pools, a 1/8 mile indoor suspended rubberized track, a -high climbing wall, outdoor bouldering wall, ten racquetball courts, two squash courts, bicycle repair stands, eight full-length basketball courts, and of weight-training space. The Ramsey Center also contains the Gabrielsen Natatorium that is home to the university's varsity swimming and diving programs and seats almost 2,000 spectators.This $40-million structure was named by Sports Illustrated as the best recreational sports facility in the country for the year 1997. Men's Fitness named UGA as one of the 25 fittest colleges in America.
Franklin Residential College
Franklin Residential College is a residential college, based on the Oxford and Cambridge model. It is a collaboration of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the University Housing office, and the Vice President of Instruction. It was founded in 2000. The home of the college is Rutherford Hall, which was built in the late 1930s.Students in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences may apply for a space at the FRC during the spring semester of every year. Members are admitted by a committee of current students on the basis of their interest in and commitment to participating in the community of a residential college. A faculty family also lives in Rutherford Hall in the apartment located on the first floor. The faculty family regularly hosts students in their apartment for special events. The residence family works together with the senior dean to develop programs and activities for the students involved in the FRC.
Tate Student Center and the Tate II expansion
On April 19, 2007, ground was officially broken for the $52 million Tate Student Center Expansion and Renovation project.A multi-level parking deck began the first phase of the construction on which the new Student Center was built. Tate II officially opened its doors on June 1, 2009.
Included in the new student center is: an multi-purpose space on the fifth floor, a dining room, meeting rooms, and lounge seating on the fourth floor, a food court, retail space, Print & Copy Services, a large lounge area, gaming area, and open performance space on the third floor. The new food court is operated by UGA Food Services. It includes Hotei's, a hibachi-style grill, Red Clay Cafe @ Tate, and Barberitos. Some of the amenities, such as the Bulldog Cafe and the Tate Theatre, will remain in the old Tate Center. The total cost of the new expansion is approximately $58.2 million. The building is LEED certified. Construction on the $13.5 million, 500-space Tate Student Center parking deck was underway through May 2009.