University of North Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Established | 1890 |
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| Type | Public |
| President | Dr. Gretchen M. Bataille |
| Staff | 911 full-time; 311 part-time |
| Undergraduates | 25,406 |
| Postgraduates | 6,775 |
| Location | Denton, Texas, USA |
| Campus | Suburban, 860 acres (3.3 km²) |
| Endowment | $45 million |
| Colors | Green and White |
| Nickname | Mean Green |
| Mascot | Eagles |
| Website | www.unt.edu |
The University of North Texas (informally UNT or North Texas) is a public university located in Denton, Texas. UNT is the flagship[1] of the University of North Texas System, which also includes the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the University of North Texas Research Park and the University of North Texas at Dallas.
UNT was founded in 1890 by Joshua Chilton as the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute. Since its inception, the institution has had its name modified six times to reflect its growth and change. In 1894, the name became North Texas Normal College, followed by North Texas State Normal College in 1901. The institution was known as North Texas State Teachers College in 1923, North Texas State College in 1949, and North Texas State University in 1961, before becoming the University of North Texas in 1988. With an enrollment of more than 32,000 students, it is the largest university in north Texas and the fourth largest in the state.
The university is a member of the Federation of North Texas Area Universities, offering various graduate degrees in coordination with Texas Woman's University and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
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[edit] Academics
North Texas confers degrees from ten colleges and schools:
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Business Administration
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Music
- College of Public Affairs and Community Service
- School of Library and Information Sciences
- School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management
- School of Visual Arts
- Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
Additionally, students in any major may apply to join the Honors College, a course of academic study comprised of students who have access to honors classes and to a wide array of special programs and privileges. Membership is open to undergraduates regardless of their major, and graduates of the College are entitled to wear the Honors College Medallion upon commencement.
[edit] College of Music
The University of North Texas is home to one of the largest music schools in the nation. Enrollment figures are similar to Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.
The College of Music is known for its competitive standards and rigorous coursework. It includes recognized programs in compositition, theory, history, performance, and education. Additionally, the college hosts an extensive collection of early music period instruments and is supported by the third largest music library in the U.S., with thousands of scores, periodicals, books, and recordings.
UNT features a symphonic wind ensemble directed by Eugene Migliaro Corporon and associate director Dennis W. Fisher. Their most successful choir is part of the Collegium Musicum and is directed by Dr. Lyle Nordstrom.
North Texas was the first university to offer a degree in Jazz Studies in 1947. The College of Music is noted for building a world-class jazz program along with the world-renowned One O'Clock Lab Band, which is often highlighted on campus radio KNTU. Jazz musician Stan Kenton donated his entire library to the department, and the Stan Kenton Jazz Recital Hall is named in his honor.
[edit] School of Library and Information Sciences
The School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) offers programs in a range of traditional and non-traditional information fields, including school library media, information science, legal information services and medical informatics. UNT SLIS, which is accredited by the American Library Association, offers classes at its campus in Denton, in Dallas and Houston, and in Nevada and Minnesota. The school also hosts the University's Interdisciplinary Information Science Ph.D. program.
[edit] School of Visual Arts (SOVA)
Art has been a vital part of UNT since it was first taught there in 1894, just four years after the institution was founded. Today, with an enrollment of more than 2000 students, SOVA is one of the largest and most comprehensive visual arts programs in the nation. Thirteen degree programs offer both undergraduate and graduate work that leads to the BA, BFA, MA, MFA, and Ph.D. degrees as well as a graduate certificate in art museum education. A nationally and internationally recognized faculty provides students excellent role models upon which to pattern their career. The school advertises that a number of internationally known artists, designers, and scholars are UNT alumni.
[edit] College of Engineering
In the spring semester of 2003, UNT opened the College of Engineering at its Research Park campus in Denton. Bachelor degrees are offered in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and engineering technology (with focus areas in electronics, mechanical, manufacturing, or construction). Master degrees are offered in computer science, computer engineering, engineering technology, and materials science. Electrical engineering will begin offering a master's degree in 2007. Doctoral degrees are offered in computer science and materials science.
[edit] Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
The Toulouse School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Texas offers 114 master's and 49 doctoral programs in all nine colleges listed above plus a Master of Arts and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies.
[edit] Emergency Administration and Planning
UNT offered the first bachelor's degree program for emergency management in the United States in 1983. In the years since, the EADP program [1] has drawn students from throughout the US and internationally from Barbados, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Sweden, and Taiwan. Students in the program often benefit from UNT's close proximity to FEMA's Region VI headquarters (which provides federal disaster assistance to Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) as well as to the dozens of state and local government entities in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
[edit] Public Administration
The Department of Public Administration offers a master of public administration degree that provides professional education for persons pursuing a management career in government or non-profit organizations. The MPA degree at UNT is one of the oldest and most respected in the country. In 2004, U.S. News and World Report ranked the UNT MPA program as being the best in Texas and the Southwest in the field of city management/urban policy, and 10th nationally. In 2005, the department launched a doctoral program offering a Ph.D. in public administration and management.
[edit] Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
One of the highlights of UNT is the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. TAMS is an early college entrance program that annually admits 200 gifted students into full-time college studies following their 10th grade year. This program has produced numerous Intel Talent Search finalists and semi-finalists, Goldwater Scholars, and National Merit Scholars.
[edit] Athletics
UNT Athletics competes at the Division I-A level as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. It is a competitive participant in the following sports:
[edit] North Texas firsts
- First aging studies program in the U.S., now the Department of Applied Gerontology, Center for Studies in Aging.
- First jazz studies program in the U.S., which is consistently ranked the nation's best.
- First emergency administration and disaster prevention program in the U.S.
- First peace studies program in the Southwest.
- First oil and petroleum accounting program in the U.S.
- First patent for silicon-based ultra-sensitive chemical sensor for use in integrated circuit fabrication.
- First business computer information systems program in the U.S.
- First PhD program in art education in the U.S.
- First bachelor's degree in electronic merchandising in the U.S.
- First online school library preparation program in the U.S.
- First accredited counseling program in the U.S., which still ranks among the nation's best.
- First school in the country to offer a degree in Mechanical and Energy Engineering
- First college in the South to integrate; Class of 1956 was first integrated graduating class.
- First football team in modern history to go to a bowl game after posting a losing overall record. The Mean Green finished 5-6 overall in 2001 but won the Sun Belt with a 5-1 conference record, thus earning an automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl.
[edit] Residence Halls
Students living on campus have the choice of residing in the following UNT dormitories:
- Bruce Hall
- Clark Hall
- College Inn
- Crumley Hall, an all female dorm that is also the home to the central offices for Housing and Dining.
- Kerr Hall
- Maple Street Hall
- McConnell Hall, the dorm reserved solely for TAMS students.
- Mozart Square
- Santa Fe Square
- Traditions Hall
- Victory Hall
- West Hall
Two new dormitories are currently being built:
[edit] Mascot
The university as a whole still uses the eagle mascot it adopted in 1922. The costumed eagle character, Scrappy, appears at sporting and university events, though he didn't always go by that name; in 1974, students who felt "Scrappy" was too warlike dubbed the bird "Eppy," and he kept that name until 1995.
In recent years, however, many of UNT's athletics programs (especially football) have adopted the name Mean Green. The name is associated with football star and 1969 graduate "Mean" Joe Greene, a legendary member of the famous Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers; however, stories about the actual origins of "Mean Green" vary.[2]
In the spring of 2002, the school's chapter of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society attempted to make the group's namesake the school's secondary mascot. The student body narrowly rejected the measure; if it had passed, it would have made North Texas the nation's second university to have a secondary mascot. In August of 2006, the albino squirrel, believed to bring luck to students who spotted him before an exam, was attacked by a hawk and died.
[edit] Traditions and symbols
- The Spirit Bell is a 2,000-pound bell brought in from Michigan in 1891 to signal class changes and curfew. Members of the Talons spirit group later began running it up and down the field at football games; it was retired to the University Union in 1982 after it developed a crack. A 1,600-pound Spirit Bell is currently in use at games.
- McConnell Tower, the clock tower atop the Hurley Administration Building in the center of campus, is bathed in green light for each victory by a UNT athletic team. It appears on the official class ring with two different times on its faces: 1:00 (for the One O'Clock Lab Band) and 7:00 (the 1892 curfew time for Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute students).
- The eagle claw hand gesture is made by curling the thumb, index and middle fingers forward, leaving the ring finger and pinky closed against the palm.
- A Bonfire is built with thousands of pallets donated by Miller Brewing of Denton and the local Peterbuilt plant. The pallets are stacked in a 40 foot by 40 foot footprint then stacked to a final height of 25 feet. It is assembled by members of the Talons spirit group the week before Homecoming and is lit on the Friday night of Homecoming week (when a burn ban is not in effect).
- Boomer, the 2/3 scale M1841 6 pound cannon, has been used to signify scores by the Mean Green since Fall 1970. The cannon was replaced in Fall 1996 when a representative from the US Field Artillery Association for Texas deemed the cannon unsafe to fire. The second cannon, Boomer II, has been faithfully firing since then.
- The Mean Green Machine is a green 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan and is driven by members of the Talons Cannon Crew at home football games and special events.
- "In High Places", a 22-foot-tall bronze statue of a flying eagle created by Gerald Balciar, is a popular landmark and meeting place, and is often decorated in green for school spirit. It was dedicated during the university's centennial celebrations in 1990.
[edit] Student media
- The Aerie, student yearbook
- KNTU (88.1 FM), campus radio station with a primarily jazz format
- The North Texas Daily, student newspaper published Tuesday-Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer
- North Texas Review, student-submitted, student-run literary journal
- NTTV, 24-hour cable television station featuring student-produced and student-centered programming
[edit] Notable alumni
[edit] External links
- University of North Texas
- North Texas Athletics
- North Texas Daily, the campus newspaper
- Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
- North Texas Exes Alumni Association
- The North Texan, an alumni magazine
- University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections
- The Portal to Texas History
- Residence Halls
[edit] References
- ^ University of North Texas - All About UNT UNT Division of University Relations, Communications, and Marketing Accessed 20 July 2006.
| University of North Texas System |
|---|
| Denton • Research Park • Dallas • Health Science Center |
| Sun Belt Conference |
|---|
| Arkansas–Little Rock • Arkansas State • Denver • Florida Atlantic • Florida International • Louisiana–Lafayette • Lousiana–Monroe • Middle Tennessee • New Orleans • North Texas • South Alabama • Troy • Western Kentucky |
