Southern Illinois University Automotive celebrates 70-year historyLEFT: Students remove a battery-pack from a 2012 Toyota Camry hybrid to diagnose. RIGHT: Students work on a vehicle engine in 1960. Color photo by Russell Bailey, University Communications and Marketing. Black and white photo courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Morris Library. Southern Illinois University Automotive celebrates 70-year history By Staff/Wire Reports on May 18, 2022 The program has a 90 percent job placement rate before graduation with 300 students for the spring 2022 semester and close to 3,000 alumni.