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    Mar 18, 2024  
2011-2012 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2011-2012 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

The University



The University of North Texas is the most comprehensive university in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, offering 97 bachelor’s, 88 master’s and 40 doctoral degree programs— many nationally recognized. U.S. News & World Report put UNT among the top national universities that are “leading the pack” in innovative changes.

The flagship of the UNT System, UNT is a thriving university with a legacy of excellence in a broad range of academic areas. It is also one of the largest universities in Texas, enrolling more than 36,000 students. Founded in 1890, UNT takes pride in its outstanding faculty, high academic standards and diverse student body. UNT offers a traditional college experience at an affordable cost and Division I athletics. Named one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 14 consecutive years, UNT also provides more than 60 centers and institutes which serve the public good.

The university is committed to academic excellence, to student success and to serving as an intellectual resource for the community, state and nation.

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 charge to the faculty at its first assembly remains 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 Teachers’ 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 they choose UNT for the quality of its programs, many of which are nationally recognized. More degree programs at UNT are nationally accredited than at any other university in the Dallas–Fort Worth region (see list of accrediting organizations ). UNT “firsts” through the years include:

  • First jazz studies program in the U.S.
  • First emergency administration and planning program in the U.S.
  • First peace studies program in the Southwest.
  • First patent for a silicon-based ultra-sensitive chemical sensor for use in integrated circuit fabrication.
  • 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.
  • First mechanical and energy engineering program in the U.S.
  • First and only accredited undergraduate forensic science program in Texas.
  • First four-year degree offered in aviation logistics in the Dallas–Fort Worth region.

Location

UNT is in Denton, a college town of about 115,000 people located 35 miles north of Dallas and Fort Worth. The campus, which is the largest residential campus in the North Texas region, has 163 buildings on about 875 acres. The campus includes Discovery Park, UNT’s nearly 285-acre research park, which is accessible by shuttle buses, as are a residence hall and athletic facilities at Eagle Point and the Mean Green Village.

Many business, industry, education, government and cultural activities that support university studies are in the Dallas–Fort Worth region, the fourth largest metropolitan region in the country.

The University’s Mission

The University of North Texas is a recognized student-centered public research university where we harness the power of ideas through a culture of learning based on diverse viewpoints, interdisciplinary endeavors, creativity and disciplined excellence.

This is accomplished through a broad and balanced array of programs where well-prepared students and dedicated scholars and artists collaborate with our local and global communities in the creation, integration, application and dissemination of knowledge. In this way, UNT creates an enriched and sustainable future for our students, state, nation and world.

The University’s Vision

The University of North Texas will be recognized for its educational, intellectual, research, public service and cultural achievements. UNT will be a diverse and inclusive institution creating the knowledge and innovations that will shape our future, while cultivating excellence in the next generation of scholars and leaders for the global community.

Achieving the Vision

UNT’s plan for its growth as a student-centered public research university is shaped by four goals and three themes. The four goals focus our energies in key areas of endeavor: education, research, engagement as a community/with our communities, and institutional effectiveness, directing our efforts in a way that will move us quickly forward.

Our three themes speak to the underlying commitments that drive our work, emphasizing the importance of connection as a catalyst for change. They include a commitment to diversity, which draws a variety of voices into close conversation; to internationalization, which recognizes that global interchange is a vital part of education and research; and to collaboration, which includes partnerships within the university as well as alliances with external constituencies. These connections move the university forward, anchoring it within the context of a multicultural, interconnected, collaborative community and providing the synergy needed to accomplish its goals. The themes are woven throughout our goals, in specific strategies and actions. We also highlight them by gathering the strategies most closely related to the themes in a single statement, clearly illustrating their importance to our growth.

Faculty

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 12 schools and colleges.

Student Life

 A wide array of student organizations gives UNT students the opportunity to build friendships with people of both similar and varied interests and provides avenues for organized and meaningful service. Student organizations represent many areas of interest, such as service professional, political, academic, spiritual, athletic, residential, and Greek. Being involved in a student organization promotes a sense of community and connection to the university, while serving to enhance the social, intellectual and developmental growth of students. For more information, see the Campus Resources section of this catalog, call the Student Activities Center at 940-565-3807 or visit studentactivities.unt.edu.

University Libraries

The University of North Texas Libraries is the most used student service on campus. Designated a major research library by the U.S. Department of Education, UNT Libraries five campus facilities house just under six million cataloged holdings, including books, periodicals, maps, documents, microforms, audiovisual materials, music scores, full-text journals and books.

Libraries and Collections

The Willis Library houses several exceptional collections. The Music Library is one of the largest music collections in the country, with an extensive phonographic disc and tape collection, and the private collections of Stan Kenton, Don Gillis, Maynard Ferguson, Whit Ozier, George Bragg and Leon Breeden. Our collections contain more than 325,000 volumes of books, priodicals, scores, dissertations and reference works in many languages, as well as nearly a million sound recording in a variety of formats. The University Archives include the history of the university, oral histories and Texas county records. The Rare Book and Texana collections include exceptional collections such as the private library of Anson Jones, President of the Republic of Texas; the Pat Warde Collection of Suthern Letters; and examples of important early publishing, printing and binding styles. There is a 24/7 computer lab for students.

The third floor of the UNT Willis Library houses the GovDocs Federal and State Depository Collection, which includes U.S. and Texas government documents, including the Texas Register. The library has received national recognition for efforts to preserve online government information through the CyberCemetery and participation in the 2008 End-of-Term Harvest of executive materials. The UNT libraries have the distinction of being one of nine archives affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Digital Library Collections include the Portal to Texas History, the UNT Digital Library, which includes UNT electronic theses and dissertations, as well as UNT Scholarly Works.

The Media Library in Chilton Hall houses a large collection of audiovisual materials, including videos, 16 mm films and audio CDs. Students, faculty and staff may check out video, audio, videogames and equipment. Video-on-demand service is provided for curriculum support.

The Library at Discovery Park supports the College of Engineering and the College of Information. There are two library locations: reference assistance and current periodicals, and the library collection of books, bound periodicals and reserves.

The Eagle Commons Library in Sycamore Hall emphasizes physics, chemistry, biology and psychology and includes an outstanding collection in mathematics. This recently renovated space includes the Collaboration and Learning Commons that offers students the opportunity to work in small groups with access to Smartboards, group study areas, workstations for Mac and PC computers, and software for creating multimedia presentations.

The Library Annex provides storage for more than 500,000 items. These items are included in the library online catalog and may be requested if needed for research. The annex also houses the Collection Management Division which includes Preservation and Technical Services.

Library Services

The libraries provide research and instructional services and support for distributed learning. The libraries have a large number of electronic databases and other materials available for research and instructional use both on and off campus.

Through the libraries’ membership in TexShare, students and faculty may obtain a TexShare card and borrow materials at college, university and public libraries throughout the state of Texas. For materials not owned by UNT libraries, Interlibrary Loan Services will borrow items from libraries throughout the world.

The UNT Libraries is a member of the Center for Research Libraries.

Computer Services

Centralized computing services that support instruction, research and student learning are provided through Academic Computing Services and User Services (ACUS). ACUS is a division of the Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC) and is located in Room 119 of Sycamore Hall. ACUS services include support for a wide range of research computing platforms, student messaging, training, consulting and the university computing help desk (helpdesk.unt.edu).

In addition to the services directly supported by ACUS, computer services are also available from the University Libraries and many college, school and departmental computer support centers. Computer networks are installed in all academic departments, providing Internet connectivity. Wireless networking (Eaglenet) is available in most campus classroom buildings and in public buildings such as the University Union and UNT Libraries. Online courses are offered with support from the Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment and Redesign (CLEAR) using computing systems supported by the CITC.

Student Computing Services

Fourteen general access microcomputer laboratories, housing approximately 700 computers, are available to all students for use of both Windows 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. In addition, all residence hall rooms have network connections, allowing students to have high-speed access to the Internet and the campus network on their own computers.

The Computing and Information Technology Center provides electronic mail to all students via EagleConnect, a web-based e-mail and calendar system. EagleConnect is used as an official communication medium between the university and students. Internet services available to students include personal web page publishing and online file storage. Most buildings, including the University Union and libraries, have wireless network access, which is available to enrolled students. 

Research Computing Support

Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS) supports multiple High Performance Computing (HPC) systems used for computationally intensive scientific research (citc.unt.edu/hpc).

ACUS provides support for SPSS, SAS, R, Matlab, and other statistical analysis mathematics programming languages. SAS, SPSS, R, and Matlab are available for use in many of the general access computing labs. Documentation, training and consultation support are available for all supported statistical programming applications (www.unt.edu/rss). 

ACUS supports access to machine-readable data collections 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.

Consulting, Training and Help Desk Services

Consulting and training are provided by Academic Computing and User Services (ACUS) to facilitate the use of research and instructional computing facilities. Short courses are offered on statistical packages and research techniques that are of particular interest to students involved in research activities.

Computer-based training programs are accessible within general access computer labs or via the web (www.unt.edu/training). Experienced consultants are available to assist students with computing problems. 

ACUS operates the university computing help desk service to provide students with information and help on a variety of computing problems (helpdesk.unt.edu).

Benchmarks Online (www.unt.edu/benchmarks), Computing and Information Technology Center’s (CITC) newsletter, is published monthly and is an excellent source for news about computing and information technology resources in use at UNT. 

Accreditation

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 404-679-4500) to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Inquiries to the commission should relate only to the accreditation status of the institution.

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
Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration
Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications

American Library Association
American Psychological Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Association for Behavior Analysis International
Commission on English Language Program Accreditation
Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs
Council for Interior Design Accreditation
Council on Rehabilitation Education
Council on Social Work Education
Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Association of Schools of Art and Design
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 ABET

See Accrediting Institutions  for addresses of accrediting organizations.

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 Reading Association
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 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

Administration, Faculty and Librarians

See the Administration, Faculty and Librarians  section for lists of university officers, UNT System officers and academic deans.

Information regarding individual faculty members and librarians is available from the Faculty Profile System (faculty.unt.edu/index.php). Select “Faculty Profiles” from the Browse menu. To access faculty information from a specific department or from the Libraries, use the drop-down menu at the head of the faculty list.

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.


UNT Presidents

Joshua C. Chilton (1890–1893)
John J. Crumley (1893–1894)
Menter B. Terrill (1894–1901)
J.S. Kendall (1901–1906)
W.H. Bruce (1906–1923)
Robert L. Marquis (1923–1934)
W.J. McConnell (1934–1951)
J.C. Matthews (1951–1968)
John J. Kamerick (1968–1970)
John L. Carter, Jr. (acting, 1970–1971)
C.C. Nolen (1971–1979)
John L. Carter, Jr. (acting, 1979–1980)
Frank E. Vandiver (1980–1981)
Howard W. Smith Jr. (ad interim, 1981–1982)
Alfred F. Hurley (1982–2000)
Norval F. Pohl (2000–2006)
Gretchen M. Bataille (2006–2010)
Phillip C. Diebel (ad interim, 2010)
V. Lane Rawlins (present)

From 1981 until 2000, the president also carried the responsibilities and title of Chancellor of the University and the University of North Texas Health Science Center at 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, UNTHSC at Fort Worth and the UNT Dallas Campus (UNT System Centerat Dallas). In October 2000, the positions of president and chancellor were officially separated.

UNT Chancellors

Frank E. Vandiver (1981)
Alfred F. Hurley (1981–2002)
Lee Jackson (2002–present)

On August 24, 2002, the UNT Board of Regents named Alfred F. Hurley Chancellor Emeritus of the UNT System and President Emeritus of the university.