About Us

The heart of this college is research, and the soul of it is problem-solving curiosity. Our curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning, laboratory time, and research opportunities. This is true for every level of student, from freshmen to doctoral.

We are an R1 research university, the highest possible level as designated by the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education and the American Council on Education. Less than 5% of universities share this ranking -- Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production. We are proud to say our college is the main driver of the R1 ranking for this university. A sciences degree from SIU carries weight.

And it only gets better. We are a college on the rise. Rising enrollment in key programs including Agribusiness Economics, Agricultural Systems, Zoology, Forestry, Biochemistry and more are proof that our college is attracting more and better students.

Growth spurs growth. We are recruiting top faculty and hiring more of them. New faculty members bring advanced expertise -- especially in the rapidly growing areas of precision agriculture and global change biology.

We are under new leadership, as we welcome our new dean, Dr. Kristina Boone. Her forward-thinking and ambitious energy and bold vision will guide our growing college to a bright future that includes every member of it.

And we are investing in that future. Most immediately, we plan for a state-of-the-art teaching greenhouse and a new agricultural education building. These are hands-on majors, and we insist on continuing our tradition of inclusive access for every student.

We work hard in this college. We collaborate, encourage each other, and make room for new ideas – ideas we’ll test with rigor and responsibility. With new faculty, growing enrollment, and major facility investments, CALPS is a thriving hub for discovery and innovation in the agricultural, life and physical sciences.