The University of North Texas is a comprehensive, state-assisted, coeducational institution of higher education that offers a wide variety of undergraduate, master's and doctoral degree programs.
The university was established in 1890 as a teacher education facility by Joshua C. Chilton, the school's first president, who leased facilities for the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute above a hardware store on the town square.
The university has gone through six name changes since its founding: (1890) Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute, (1894) North Texas Normal College, (1901) North Texas State Normal College, (1923) North Texas State Teachers College, (1949) North Texas State College, (1961) North Texas State University, and (1988) University of North Texas. The university has been led by 12 presidents: Joshua C. Chilton (1890-93), John J. Crumley (1893-94), Menter B. Terrill (1894-1901), J.S. Kendall (1901-06), W.H. Bruce (1906-23), Robert L. Marquis (1923-34), W.J. McConnell (1934-51), J.C. Matthews (1951-67), John J. Kamerick (1968-70), John Carter (acting, 1970-71), C.C. Nolen (1971-79), John Carter (acting, 1979-80), Frank E. Vandiver (1980-81), Howard W. Smith Jr. (ad interim, 1981-82), and Alfred F. Hurley (1982-present). Since 1980 the president also has carried the responsibilities and title of Chancellor of the University and the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. Senate Bill 751 of the 76th Texas Legislature provided for the establishment of the University of North Texas System, and in July 1999, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board confirmed formal system status for UNT, including the Denton campus, UNT-HSC in Fort Worth and the UNT System Center at Dallas.
UNT is recognized as a comprehensive, metropolitan research university and as a leader in the performance of many public services, assisting in the economic diversification of the DallasFort Worth metropolitan area and the state of Texas. In 1987, the Select Committee on Higher Education designated UNT as one of five comprehensive research and graduate institutions in Texas. Since 1976, UNT has been classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Doctoral/Research – Extensive University (2000 Edition, Carnegie Classification). In 1992, UNT was elected to full membership in the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
With an enrollment of more than 26,500 in 1999-2000 and a faculty of more than 1,000, UNT is one of Texas' "Big Five," the state's largest and most academically challenging universities. It serves students from every state in the nation and from approximately 100 foreign countries.
The university offers 134 undergraduate and graduate degree majors. Undergraduate students may choose from 93 bachelor's degrees. Since its founding, UNT has awarded more than 161,600 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. It has offered master's degrees since 1935 and doctoral degrees since 1950. As of October 1999, there were more than 81,600 active alumni in the DallasFort Worth Metroplex and another 51,250 active alumni residing elsewhere.
The University of North Texas is in Denton, a friendly college town with a population of more than 75,300 located about 30 miles north of Dallas and Fort Worth. The university campus is composed of 140 structures on 498 acres.
Many business, industry, education, government and cultural activities that support university studies are based in the DallasFort Worth Metroplex.
The University of North Texas is the largest and most comprehensive research and doctoral degree-granting institution in North Texas. The university is committed to excellence in teaching and the discovery and application of knowledge through research and creative activities. As a metropolitan university, the institution is dedicated to continued growth as a leader in the DallasFort WorthDenton area; the Metroplex; and state, national and international education communities.
The university:
The university fosters its relationship with the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and cultivates partnerships with elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, other universities, businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of education and community life.
At the heart of the university's efforts to carry out its mission are the faculty. Individually, UNT faculty members have been singled out for contributions to their teaching and research fields through diverse national and international awards.
Collectively, the faculty have contributed significantly to research and scholarship within various fields through numerous publications, presentations at scholarly conferences, concerts, recitals, exhibitions and performances.
Faculty leadership in teaching, research, creative activities, performance and service activities has created national and international reputations for excellence for a number of academic programs within the university's nine schools and colleges.
A wide array of clubs and organizations offer UNT students friendships with people of similar interests and avenues for organized and meaningful service. Included are national honor societies, national professional societies and departmental clubs, an active Greek system, and special focus groups with interests that encompass everything from residence hall improvement to recreational sports. For information, call (940) 565-3807.
Library facilities at the University of North Texas function as the nerve center for teaching and academic research. Four campus facilities house just under two million cataloged holdings, including books, periodicals, maps, documents, microforms, audiovisual materials, music scores and electronic media.
Willis Library holds one of the country's largest music libraries, extensive phonographic disc and tape collections, a broad humanities and social sciences collection, the University Archives, and the Rare Books and Texana collections. Other unique library collections include the private jazz collections of Stan Kenton, Don Gillis, Whit Ozier and Leon Breeden; the private library of Anson Jones, president of the Republic of Texas; Texas county histories; miniatures; and examples of important early publishing, printing and binding styles. The library is a depository for U.S. and Texas government documents and is the only Government Printing Office (GPO) ACCESS Web Gateway Library in Texas.
The Media Library in Chilton Hall houses a large collection of audiovisual materials, including motion pictures, tapes, recordings and videodiscs.
The Science and Technology Library, housed in the Information Sciences Building, emphasizes physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and library science and includes an outstanding collection in mathematics.
The Library Annex houses over 300,000 lesser used materials, sections of the University Archives, and the preservation and technical services departments of the University Libraries. Items located in the annex are so noted in the libraries' on-line catalog, and a reading room is available for users in the annex. The Library Annex, located just off Airport Road on Precision, is near the main campus.
Through the libraries' membership in Texshare, students with a Texshare library card may borrow materials at college, university and public libraries throughout the state of Texas. Contact library staff for details. Active participation in the AMIGOS Bibliographic Council provides access to a variety of computerized library services, including interlibrary loans, bibliographic database searching and shared cataloging. The libraries have a large number of electronic databases available for public use both on and off campus via computer linkage. The UNT Libraries hold a membership in the Center for Research Libraries. The center, which functions as an extension of the local collections, is dedicated to acquiring and lending materials that complement and supplement the collections of the major research libraries of North America. The University Library has been designated a major research library by the U.S. Department of Education.
Centralized computing services that support instruction and research are provided through Academic Computing Services, a division of the Computing Center, located in Room 119 of the Information Sciences Building. These services support a wide range of hardware and software resources as well as training, consulting and information services.
In addition to the services directly supported by Academic Computing Services, computer services also are available from the University Libraries as well as many college, school and departmental computer support centers. Examples include the libraries' on-line card catalog and CD-ROM databases; general access as well as instructional microcomputer laboratories in each college or school; and UNIX-based minicomputers in the Department of Computer Sciences. Computer networks are installed in all academic departments, providing connectivity with a variety of general-purpose and specialized computing equipment.
The primary central computing resources for academic computing at the University of North Texas consists of a modern IBM multiprocessor mainframe computer and several UNIX-based minicomputers.
The IBM mainframe supports two operating systems for instruction and research: VM/CMS and OS/MVS, as well as COMPLETE, a teleprocessing monitor. OS/MVS provides batch processing while CMS is used for interactive computing under VM. UNIX minicomputers run modern versions of the UNIX operating system.
Access to these and other computers is gained through an extensive fiber opticbased local area network (LAN) on campus or, from off campus, through telephone modems connected to the LAN. Thirteen general access microcomputer laboratories, housing approximately 650 computers, are available to all students for access to central computer systems and both IBM-compatible and Macintosh personal computers. Laser printers are provided in all labs. Approximately 30 additional special-purpose labs serve students in particular disciplines or students living in university residence halls.
Academic Computing Services provides support for most major programming languages on the IBM and UNIX systems. Several statistical analysis packages are supported on the various host systems, including SAS, SPSS, and S-Plus. Electronic mail facilities are available for intra-campus communications as well as for communications through the Internet. In addition, access to other Internet services such as the World Wide Web and Telnet are provided from any of the computers on the campus LAN.
The Computing Center also serves as a repository for a substantial body of machine-readable data including the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) data archives, Standard and Poor's COMPUSTAT, and the Center for Research in Security Prices' CRSP data sets. The university libraries also maintain a number of databases and other research materials on CD-ROM servers that are accessible through the campus network.
Academic Computing Services provides support for a variety of microcomputer-based software applications. Site licenses are maintained for microcomputer versions of SPSS, SAS and S-Plus, which provide statistical analysis capabilities.
Consulting and training services are provided by Academic Computing services to facilitate the use of both microcomputer and host computing facilities by students. A series of short courses is offered each semester to allow students to gain the expertise necessary to use campus computer systems effectively, and a number of computer-based training programs are accessible on host systems and from within student laboratories. Should problems arise, experienced consultants are available to assist students.
Students wishing to participate in computer- based conferences on a wide variety of computer related and non-computer-related subjects can take advantage of USENET news bulletin board systems.
Finally, BENCHMARKS, the Computing Center's newsletter, is published on a regular basis and serves as an excellent resource for current information systems at UNT.
The University of North Texas is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097; telephone (404) 679-4501] to award bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.
In addition, the university offers programs approved by the following organizations:
AACSB - The International Association for Management Education
Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications
American Chemical Society
American Library Association
American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology
American Psychological Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Association for Behavior Analysis
Computer Science Accreditation Commission of the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
Council on Rehabilitation Education
Council on Social Work Education
Foundation for Interior Design Education Research
National Academy of Early Childhood Programs
National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
National Recreation and Park Association/American Association of Leisure and Recreation Council on Accreditation
State Board for Educator Certification
Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
Texas Education Agency
Addresses of accrediting organizations are printed following the index.
The University of North Texas holds the following memberships.
Alliance for Higher Education
American Association for Higher Education
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American Council on Education
Association of Texas Colleges and Universities
Association of Texas Graduate Schools
Conference of Southern Graduate Schools
Council of Graduate Schools
Federation of North Texas Area Universities
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
Oak Ridge Associated Universities
John Robert "Bobby" Ray, Chair (2001), Plano
Burle Pettit, Vice Chair (2001), Lubbock
Marjorie B. Craft (2001), Dallas
Roy Gene Evans (2005), Dallas
Richard Knight, Jr., (2005) Dallas
Tom Lazo, Sr., (2005) Dallas
George W. Pepper (2003), Fort Worth
Gayle W. Strange (2003), Aubrey
Martha Fuller Turner (2003), Houston
Alfred F. Hurley, PhD,
Chancellor of the University of North Texas System and President of the University of North Texas
Norval F. Pohl, PhD,
Provost and Executive Vice President
David B. Kesterson, PhD,
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Suzanne V. LaBrecque, PhD,
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Rollie R. Schafer, Jr., PhD,
Vice Provost for Research
Frederick R. Pole, MS,
Vice President for Administrative Affairs and Special Assistant to the Chancellor
Walter E. Parker, MA,
Vice President for Governmental Affairs
Phillip C. Diebel, BBA, CPA,
Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs and Special Assistant to the Chancellor
Mark S. Moore, BS,
Vice President for Development
Bonita C. Jacobs, PhD,
Vice President for Student Development
Richard S. Rafes, JD, PhD,
Vice Chancellor and General Counsel
College of Arts and Sciences,
Warren W. Burggren, PhD, Dean
College of Business Administration,
Jared E. Hazleton, PhD, Dean
School of Community Service,
David W. Hartman, PhD, Dean
College of Education,
M. Jean Keller, EdD, Dean
School of Library and Information Sciences,
Philip M. Turner, EdD, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for Distance Education and Dean of the School
School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management,
Judith C. Forney, PhD, Interim Dean
College of Music,
Will May, PhD, Interim Dean
School of Visual Arts,
D. Jack Davis, PhD, Dean
Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies,
C. Neal Tate, PhD, Dean
University Libraries,
B. Donald Grose, PhD, Dean of Libraries
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science,
Richard J. Sinclair, PhD, Dean
The University of North Texas has a history of seeking to preserve an atmosphere of openness and tolerance. This university is committed to maintaining an unpretentious and accepting atmosphere welcoming to anyone who will strive to achieve his or her personal best. UNT possesses and values an increasing diversity among the individuals who make up its community. This is one of UNT's greatest strengths.
Individuals within the UNT community are unified by a primary purpose: learning. With that primary purpose in mind, UNT works to advance ideals of human worth and dignity by facilitating open discussion, supporting rational resolution of conflict and encouraging examination of values.
Harassment based on individual differences is inconsistent with UNT's mission and educational goals. Every member of the UNT community enjoys certain human and constitutional rights, including the right to free speech. At the same time, individuals who work, study, live and teach within this community are expected to refrain from behavior that threatens the freedom, safety and respect deserved by every community member in good standing.
Every member of the University of North Texas community must comply with federal and state equal opportunity laws and regulations. Such compliance will be not only a given standard, but is, in fact, a baseline from which our community works to assure fairness and equity to all who pursue their educational and professional goals here.
Students, faculty or staff who have concerns or questions should contact the appropriate office. Students should call the Dean of Students at (940) 565-2648. Faculty and staff should call the Office of Equity and Diversity at (940) 565-2456. TDD access: (800) 735-2989.
The University of North Texas does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's disability and complies with Section 504 and Public Law 101-336 (Americans with Disabilities Act) in its admissions, accessibility, treatment and employment of individuals in its programs and activities.
The university provides academic adjustments and auxiliary aids to individuals with disabilities, as defined under the law, who are otherwise qualified to meet the institution's academic and employment requirements. Students needing assistance may call (940) 565-4323. For information, call the Office of Disability Accommodation at (940) 565-4323, TDD access: (940) 565-2958; or the Office of Equity and Diversity at (940) 565-2456.
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