University of North Texas

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University of North Texas


Established	1890
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 UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth and the UNT Dallas Campus^[2].

The university 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).

[edit] Academics

The Willis Library

North Texas confers degrees from ten colleges and schools:

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 Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is the academic heart of the University of North Texas. It is a learning and discovery community of increasingly recognized and highly capable scholars and artists who interact in a variety of formats with talented students and colleagues across disciplines for the purpose of communicating, pursuing, and advancing knowledge.

Housed within CAS, the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies is the nations' leading program for the study in environmental ethics and environmental philosophy. It is distinguished by a focus upon 'field' philosophy, where philosophers work with scientists, engineers, and policy makers. It is also the home of the journal Environmental Ethics [2].

The College of Arts and Sciences is also home to the Department of Political Science which has consistently been ranked highly in the nation as a productive, research oriented program. The program itself ranks 3rd nationally in “Graduate Training Programs” and 6th nationally in “Affiliation Rankings.” The first of these rankings reflects the productivity of a department's graduate students based on the “average number of Ph.D's granted annually in the last 3 years.” The second ranking measures faculty productivity adjusting for the number of faculty in the department. [3] The department is also home to International Studies Quarterly, one of the premier journals of international relations in the world, until 2008.

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] 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 the UNT A Cappella Choir conducted by Jerry McCoy. Current renowned professors in the music history and theory area are Dr. Frank Heidlberger, Dr. Margaret Notley, Dr. Timothy Jackson, Dr. David Schwarz, and Dr. Paul E. Dworak.

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 the campus radio station KNTU. Jazz musician Stan Kenton donated his entire library to the music 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 [4] 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 proximity to FEMA's Region VI headquarters, also in Denton (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] 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

Main article: North Texas Mean Green

UNT Athletics competes at the Division I-A level as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. When the Sun Belt formed in 2001, North Texas became an instant power. From 2001 to 2004 UNT won four straight Sunbelt Conference Championships. UNT and Southern Methodist University are bitter rivals. UNT has since turned into an SBC basketball power and are in the process of adding baseball to their list of sports. In the SBC Arkansas State, Troy, and Middle Tennessee are rivals for UNT. 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 environmental ethics program in the country to offer the Ph.D., which is considered the best in the nation
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

"In High Places" is a prominent representation of the eagle on campus.

Students living on campus have the choice of residing in the following UNT dormitories:

Bruce Hall (University of North Texas) - the oldest resident hall on campus, with 492 resident spaces.
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

UNT's mascot is the eagle and was 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. Athletic teams are referred to as the "Mean Green." This name is usually 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, accounts vary about the actual origins of "Mean Green".[5]

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 2006, the albino squirrel, believed to bring luck to students who spotted him before an exam, was killed by a hawk.

[edit] Traditions and symbols

[edit] UNT Fight Song

Let's give a cheer for U of NT...
Cheer for the Green and White!
Victory's in store, whate'er the score,
Our teams will ever fight, fight, fight!
Shoulder to shoulder we march along,
Striving for victory.
Playing the game for the honor
and fame and glory of UNT!
U...N...T....Eagles! U-N-T Eagles,
Fight! Fight! Fight!

[edit] Alma Mater

"Glory to the Green and White"

Singing glory to the green,
Singing glory to the white,
For we know our university is
striving for the right,
Down the corridor of years,
We'll forget the joys and tears,
But North Texas, North Texas,
We love!

[edit] Traditions

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 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. This should not be confused with the Mean Green Machine, a large mechanical eagle trailed by remote panel in a truck, controlled by three physics students, that made Homecoming and other appearances between 1968 and 1976.
"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] Trivia

In 1991, the UNT campus was used to depict the then-fictional Texas State University campus for the film Necessary Roughness. Southwest Texas State University changed its name to Texas State University-San Marcos in 2003.

[edit] Notable alumni

Main article: List of University of North Texas people

[edit] References

^ University of North Texas - All About UNT UNT Division of University Relations, Communications, and Marketing Accessed 20 July 2006.
^ [1] UNT System: Campuses and centers. Accessed 16 January 2007

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

http://www.unt.edu/inhouse/september222000/Hurley.htm

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