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    Mar 18, 2024  
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The university



The University of North Texas is a place where students transform their lives through education and opportunity.

The flagship of the UNT System, UNT has a legacy of excellence in a broad range of academic areas. It is one of the nation’s largest public research universities with 39,000 students and is the most comprehensive university in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. UNT students earned 9,600 degrees last year from its 14 colleges and schools and offers 106 bachelor’s, 88 master’s and 36 doctoral degree programs — many nationally and internationally recognized. Ranked a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classification, UNT drives innovation and technology through high-level research and scholarship, and contributes to the region and state through intellectual capital and economic development.

UNT has been named one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 25 consecutive years, a ranking based on having a high-achieving freshman class and affordable tuition. The Princeton Review continually names UNT as a Best in the West school and Forbes has listed UNT as an America’s Top College for 10 consecutive years.

Location

UNT is in Denton, a town of about 138,000 people located 40 miles north of Dallas and Fort Worth. The 900-acre campus includes 175 buildings including Discovery Park, a 300-acre research facility. Discovery Park is accessible by shuttle buses, as are residence halls, athletic facilities and other areas of campus.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is one of the largest, most dynamic regions in the United States and home to many of the nation’s fastest growing cities. UNT fuels the North Texas region through innovation, education and research; forming partnerships with many business, industry, education, government and cultural organizations.

The university’s mission

At the University of North Texas, our caring and creative community empowers our students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

The university’s purpose

Our students will be the innovative leaders of tomorrow.

The university’s vision

We will become globally known for collaborative and imaginative educational innovation and scholarly activity that transforms our students and benefits the world around us.

How we will achieve our vision:

The Mean Green family is a community that combines creativity and caring to provide an extraordinary educational environment where we go the extra mile to help our diverse student body. To achieve our vision, we will work together to solve complex issues and find ways to empower our students to succeed in the face of a rapidly changing world. This challenge calls on us to become more nimble and collaborative as an institution. Because we are a caring, creative campus, we value important connections that happen through collaboration, interdisciplinary engagement, connectivity, and synergistic solutions to challenges at our university, in DFW, and beyond. Thus, we will dedicate ourselves to creating a stronger collaborative environment where we hear and respond to the voices of our diverse internal and external communities to empower our students and meet the needs of Texas. The cross-cutting synergies and connectivity created by building a culture of collaboration will drive our success across all planning areas, and enhance our reputation as an innovative, next generation institution.

History of the university

UNT was founded in 1890 as Texas Normal College and Teachers’ Training Institute. Joshua C. Chilton, the founding president, leased facilities above a hardware store on Denton’s square to establish a teacher training institute. His opening-day remarks remain an important part of UNT’s value system: “It will be our aim to become leaders in the education of the young men and women of Texas, fitting them to creditably fill the most important positions in business and professional circles. We desire the cooperation of all who believe in higher education and who want to see our state in the very front of intellectual as well as material progress.”

The university has had seven names through the years:

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
1988 University of North Texas

Incoming students score well above the national and state averages on the SAT, and choose UNT for the quality of its programs. UNT “firsts” through the years include:

  • First jazz studies program in the U.S.
  • First undergraduate emergency administration and planning program in the U.S.
  • First bachelor’s degree in digital retailing and in consumer experience management in the U.S. and first Master of Science program in merchandising offered completely online
  • First retail program in the U.S. to integrate courses in merchandising, digital retailing, store operations, finance and retail strategy
  • First school library certification program in the U.S. offered completely online
  • First graduate applied anthropology program in the U.S. offered completely online
  • First undergraduate program in applied behavior analysis in the U.S. and first accredited master’s program in behavior analysis in the world
  • First and only Ph.D. program in art education in Texas
  • World’s first graduate program in environmental philosophy and world’s first field station in environmental philosophy, science and policy at Cape Horn, Chile
  • First four-year aviation logistics program at a university in Texas and only such program in the nation
  • First master’s program in international sustainable tourism in the U.S. and the first to require a year abroad

Research

UNT engages in innovative research in a wide range of disciplines, promoting new discoveries through collaborative, multidisciplinary initiatives. UNT supports its world-class faculty, top-notch students and state-of-the-art research facilities through strategic investments. Graduate students actively participate in research and scholarly activities with supportive faculty mentors, building strong research records and expertise for their chosen careers.

Accreditation

University of North Texas is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, masters and doctorate degrees. Questions about the accreditation of the University of North Texas may be directed to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, by calling 404-679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s web site (www.sacscoc.org).

Please note: SACSCOC should be contacted only to inquire about the accreditation status of UNT, to ask questions about the accreditation process, or to pursue procedures for filing complaints against UNT. General inquiries, such as admission requirements, financial aid, and educational programs, should be addressed directly to UNT and not the SACSCOC’s office.

 

In addition, the University of North Texas offers programs accredited by the following organizations.

AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
ABET-Computing Accreditation Commission
ABET-Engineering Accreditation Commission
ABET-Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission  
Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications

American Academy of Forensic Science-FEPAC
American Chemical Society
American Library Association
American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Association for Middle Level Education
Behavior Analysis Accreditation Board of ABAI
Commission on English Language Program Accreditation
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation
Council for Interior Design Accreditation
Council on Social Work Education

National Association of Schools of Art and Design
National Association of Schools of Music
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration

Texas State Board for Educator Certification

Addresses of accrediting organizations are printed following the index.

In addition, the University of North Texas offers programs that are approved or recognized by:

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
Council for Exceptional Children
Educational Leadership Constituent Council
International Society for Technology in Education
National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Institutional memberships

The University of North Texas holds the following memberships.

American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American College Dance Festival Association
American Collegiate Retailing Association
American Council on Education
American Hotel and Lodging Association
American Mathematical Society
American Political Science Association
Association for Symbolic Logic
Association of Texas Colleges and Universities
Association of Texas Graduate Schools
Association of Women in Mathematics
Broadcast Education Association
Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities
Conference of Southern Graduate Schools
Council for Chemical Research
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Public University Presidents and Chancellors
Council of the Great City Colleges of Education Council of Graduate Schools
Council on Undergraduate Research
Dallas Dance Council
Federation of North Texas Area Universities
Greater Denton Arts Council
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International
International Council of Shopping Centers
International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education
International Textile and Apparel Association
Mathematical Association of America

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
National Collegiate Honors Council
National Restaurant Association
National Retail Federation
National Women’s Studies Association
Oak Ridge Associated Universities
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Texas Association of Broadcast Educators
Texas Educational Theatre Association
University Film and Video Association

UNT administration

See Administration, faculty and librarians  for lists of university officers, UNT System officers and Toulouse Graduate School administration.

Information regarding individual faculty members and librarians is available from the Faculty Information System (https://facultyinfo.unt.edu). Select “Faculty Name,” “Department” or “Courses” from the Browse menu and type in the appropriate name.

Graduate faculty of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth (UNTHSC) also are members of the graduate faculty of the University of North Texas and thus can serve as mentors or committee members of UNT graduate students appropriate to their graduate appointment. See the UNTHSC Graduate Catalog for UNTHSC graduate faculty listings.