University of North Texas

"UNT" redirects here. For other uses, see UNT (disambiguation).

University of North Texas
Motto	Discover the power of ideas
Established	1890
Type	Flagship state university
Endowment	$99.2 million[1]
Chancellor	Lee Jackson
President	V. Lane Rawlins
Provost	Warren Burggren
Students	36,067[2]
Undergraduates	28,283[2]
Postgraduates	7,784[2]
Location	Denton, Texas, United States
Campus	Suburban 860 acres (3.3 km²)
Former names	Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute (1890-1894) North Texas Normal College (1894-1901) North Texas State Normal College (1901-1923) North Texas State Teachers College (1923-1949) North Texas State College (1949-1961) North Texas State University (1961-1989)
Colors	Green      and White     [3]
Athletics	North Texas Mean Green
Sports	NCAA Division I-FBS
Nickname	Mean Green
Mascot	Scrappy
Affiliations	Sun Belt Conference
Website	www.unt.edu

The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067.^[4] Of the 77 senior colleges and universities in the state (38 public and 39 independent), the enrollment at University of North Texas Denton campus is fourth largest, behind The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the University of Houston.

Organizational structure

The university is composed of nine colleges, three schools, and one academy:

1. College of Arts and Sciences
2. College of Business
3. College of Education
4. College of Engineering
5. College of Information
6. College of Music
7. College of Public Affairs and Community Service
8. College of Visual Arts and Design
9. Honors College
10. Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism
11. School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management
12. Toulouse Graduate School
13. Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS)

Academic highlights

Since the 1980s, North Texas has expanded its research in science and engineering. In 2006, the National Science Foundation ranked UNT Denton campus 122nd among 417 academic institutions for number of science and engineering doctorates awarded.^[5]

Research in the social sciences, humanities, professional fields, and other disciplines

Based on the number of non-science and engineering PhDs awarded at 2,722 national institutions of higher learning in the country, North Texas was ranked:

• Top 50 for awarding 3,382 non-science and engineering PhDs from 1920 to 1999
• Top 50 for awarding 551 non-science and engineering PhDs from 1995 to 1999
• Top 50 for awarding 1,695 non-science and engineering PhDs to people who also earned their baccalaureate from the same Institution.^[6]

Of the 37 post-baccalaureate institutions in Texas surveyed by the National Science Foundation, UNT ranked third in 2006, behind The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, for non science and engineering doctorates awarded.^[5]

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classifies the University of North Texas as a "Research University" with "high research activity."^[7]

Visual Arts & Design

UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design — one of the eleven colleges and schools on the Denton campus — has the 10th largest enrollment of any art and design school accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and has the second largest of any that awards doctorates.^[8]

College of Music

The University of North Texas College of Music, organized by discipline in eight academic divisions, is a comprehensive music school with the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music,^[9] and the first in the world offering a degree in jazz studies. The College of Music has been among the largest music institutions of higher learning in North America since the 1940s. North Texas has been a member of the National Association of Schools of Music for 72 years.^[10] For at least four decades, approximately one-third of all North Texas music students have been enrolled at the graduate level.

Affiliations

A member of the Federation of North Texas Area Universities, North Texas offers various graduate degrees in coordination with nearby Texas Woman's University and Texas A&M University-Commerce. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Intercollegiate athletics

UNT's athletics programs, nicknamed the Mean Green, compete in thirteen NCAA Division I-A sports and have been members of the Sun Belt Conference since 2001.

History

Winspear Auditorium, University of North Texas College of Music (photo by Craig D. Blackmon, FAIA, courtesy of Holzman Moss Architecture)

The university was founded in 1890 by Joshua Crittenden Chilton as the Texas Normal College and Teachers' Training Institute and was originally housed in leased facilities above a hardware store. In 1893, overworked and facing poor health, Chilton turned the school over to John Jackson Crumley. Renamed North Texas Normal College, the school was once again turned over to Menter B. Terrill in 1894. By 1899 the school had been made a state institution by the Texas Legislature, becoming North Texas State Normal College under its fourth president, J.S. Kendall. In 1923, after president William H. Bruce's suggestion, the school underwent its fourth name change, becoming North Texas State Teachers' College. Under president Dr. W. Joseph McConnell, the college grew tremendously; the first master's degrees were awarded in 1936 and the school was given its own Board of Regents in 1949, changing its name once again to North Texas State College. President Dr. J.C. Matthews' tenure also saw important development. In 1961 the college became North Texas State University, and by 1964 was approved by the Texas Commission on Higher Education to begin several doctoral programs. In 1988, the university changed names one final time, becoming the University of North Texas.^[11]

Academics

Main article: University of North Texas academics

University rankings (overall)
National
Forbes[12]	241
U.S. News & World Report[13]	203–268

The University contains 12 colleges and schools and offers 97 bachelors, 101 masters and 48 doctoral degree programs. The student-faculty ratio at UNT is 23:1, and 28.8 percent of its classes consist of fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors include Business, Management, Marketing, Communication, Journalism, English, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, and Visual and Performing Arts.^[14] The University ranks in the U.S. News & World Report's top 100 programs in Clinical Psychology (99), Fine Arts (58), Library and Information Studies (17), Health Librarianship (3), School Library Media (11), Service for Children and Youth (13), Physician Assistants (38), Public Affairs (57), City Management and Urban Policy (9), and Rehabilitation Counseling (13).^[15]

UNT is well known for its College of Music. The college was founded in 1890 as the Normal Conservatory of Music and is now recognized as one of the top five music schools in the country. Several of the university's colleges were founded in the last ten years, including the College of Information, the College of Engineering, and the Mayborn School of Journalism. UNT is also home to the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, a two-year residential early college entrance program, and the Turkish Institute for Police Studies.

Other University rankings and ratings include:

• Ranked 12th in a list of the Top 25 "Best Buys" for an online MBA by GetEducated.com^[16]
• In the 2010 edition of US News & World Report's America’s Best Graduate Schools
• The College of Education graduate programs are ranked 109th out of 278 institutions. It is placed 89th among the 100 public universities.
• The Department of Family Medicine is ranked 17th in the country.
• The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center is placed in the Top 50, rated 20th in primary care among medical schools and 34th for the Physician Assistant program.

Hurley Administration Building

Campus

Residence halls

Mozart Square

Students who live on campus at UNT have a variety of housing options. There are 13 halls and each hall offers different amenities and communities. All dorms have wired and wireless internet access available and are staffed by resident assistants.^[17]

• Bruce Hall
• Clark Hall
• College Inn
• Crumley Hall
• Honors Hall
• Kerr Hall
• Legends Hall
• Maple Hall
• McConnell Hall
• Mozart Square
• Santa Fe Square
• Traditions Hall
• Victory Hall
• West Hall

Real Communities

UNT’s Residence Life also offers the REAL Communities program, short for Residents Engaged in Academic Living. The REAL communities offer students the ability to live with other residents in their major, and allow them to interact with each other and participate in programs that are geared towards their major or discipline.^[18]

• Jazz Studies – Bruce Hall
• Art & Design – Kerr Hall
• RTVF (Radio Television and Film) - Kerr Hall
• Health & Wellness – Maple Hall
• Health Professionals – Clark Hall
• UNT Serves – Kerr Hall
• Global Learning– Kerr Hall
• Emerald Eagle Scholars Community – Maple Hall
• Transfer Student Community – Traditions Hall
• Journalism – Kerr Hall
• Business – Kerr Hall
• School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management – Kerr Hall
• Exploring Majors- Kerr Hall
• Engineering - Kerr Hall

Student life

The Willis Library

Greek life

The UNT Greek community is made up of four councils and 39 fraternities and sororities.^[19] 5% of male students join fraternities and 4% of female students join sororities.^[20]

Traditions and symbols

Mascot

UNT's mascot is the eagle and was adopted in 1922 in a student election over the dragon, the lion, and the cottontail rabbit.^[21] This selection is said to have reflected the student population's ideals of individual liberty and freedom of expression, values the UNT community continues to cherish.^{[clarification needed]} 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."^[22]

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.^{[23][broken citation]} In August 2006, the albino squirrel, believed to bring luck to students who spotted him before an exam, was killed by a red-tailed hawk.^[24] By May 2007, another albino squirrel had been born on campus.^[25]

UNT Fight Song

After winning a university sponsored contest, alumnus Francis Stroup wrote the school's fight song in 1939. Throughout the years, the song has changed its lyrics to reflect the name changes of the university.

Let's give a cheer for U of NT;
Cheer for the Green and White.
Victory's in store whatever the score,
Our team will ever fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Shoulder to shoulder we march along,
Striving for victory.
Playing the game for the honor and fame,
And the glory of UNT.
U ... N ... T ... Eagles!
UNT Eagles Fight, Fight, Fight!^[2]

Alma Mater

In 1919, Julia Smith, member of the university's band (now called the Green Brigade), composed "Glory to the Green and White" which was adopted as the school's alma mater in 1922.

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!''^[11]

Traditions

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

• The Spirit Bell is a 2,000-pound bell originally 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.^[11]
• McConnell Tower, the clock tower atop the Hurley Administration Building at 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).^[11]
• The eagle talon hand gesture is made by curling the thumb, index and middle fingers forward, leaving the ring finger and pinky closed against the palm.^[11]
• A bonfire is built with thousands of pallets donated by Miller Brewing of Denton and the local Peterbilt 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).^[11]
• Boomer the Cannon, hand crafted from solid oak on the Denton campus, the 7/8th scale M1841 6 pound, smooth bore muzzleloader cannon has been used to signify scores by the Mean Green since Fall 1970. Since that time "Boomer the Cannon" has gone through three different phases of restoration by Talon alumni. The final was in the Fall of 2007 in which the final phase saw him fitted with a custom Limber to assist with transportation and equipment handling.^[11]
• The Green Machine is a green 1931 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. The Green Machine is currently undergoing an overhaul by members of Talons Cannon Crew.^[11]
• "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.^[11]

Media

• KNTU (88.1 FM) is a university-owned student-run campus radio station which plays primarily jazz.^{[citation needed]}
• The North Texas Daily is a student newspaper published Tuesday-Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer.^[26]
• North Texas Review is the UNT student-submitted, student-run literary journal.^{[citation needed]}
• NTTV, UNT's 24-hour cable television station featuring student-produced and student-centered programming.^[27]
• The Aerie, student yearbook^{[citation needed]}

Athletics

Main article: North Texas Mean Green

UNT's Athletic Teams are commonly referred to as the Mean Green

UNT competes at the Division I level and has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference since 2001. In the SBC, Arkansas State, Troy, and Middle Tennessee are rivals for UNT. The school competes in the following varsity sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Diving, Football, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field and Volleyball.

Additionally, UNT offers numerous athletic sports clubs, including the following:[2] aikido, baseball, billiards, bowling, cycling, fencing, ice hockey, inline hockey, men's & women's lacrosse, racquetball, men's rugby, men's soccer, tennis, triathlon, men's & women's ultimate disc, wakeboarding.

Football

Main article: North Texas Mean Green football

A rendering of the completed Mean Green Stadium

Founded in 1913, the Mean Green football team has won 24 conference championships, with the last four coming most recently in 2001-2004 in the Sun Belt Conference.^[28] The team has appeared in a total of 7 bowl games, winning 2, most recently the New Orleans Bowl in 2002. Dan McCarney is the current head coach.

From 1952 to 2010, home football games were played at Fouts Field. In October 2008, students approved a new dedicated athletics fee to fund the construction of a new football stadium. The vote passed 2,829 (58%) YES to 2,038 (42%) NO. UNT played its first game in Apogee Stadium on September 10, 2011, losing 23-48 to the University of Houston.^[29]

Men's basketball

Main article: North Texas Mean Green men's basketball

North Texas has recently experienced success under head coach Johnny Jones. During the 2006-2007 season, North Texas won its first ever Sun Belt Conference title and advanced for the first time since 1988 to the NCAA Tournament. Only three of the state's 20 Division I teams had more wins than North Texas’ 23 in 2006-07. The 2006-07 effort was the beginning of a four year stretch of 20+ win seasons. North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference title a second time during the 2009-10 season to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.

Since 1973, the team has played its home games in the UNT Coliseum.

Notable alumni and professors

Main article: Notable University of North Texas Alumni

Today, the University of North Texas has 175,000 living alumni; 100,000 residing in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex.^[30]

A significant number of notable alumni have succeeded in music, including Roy Orbison, Meat Loaf, Tom "Bones" Malone and "Blue Lou" Marini (both members of The Blues Brothers Band and the Saturday Night Live Band), Lecrae Moore ('02) Reach Records, Grammy Award-winners Don Henley, Norah Jones and Pat Boone. KDGE disc jockey Josh Venable attended the radio school here.^{[citation needed]}

Notable former North Texas athletes include American Football League MVP Abner Haynes, Pro Football Hall of Fame member "Mean" Joe Greene, and PGA champion Don January. Professional wrestlers Stone Cold Steve Austin, David and Kevin Von Erich are also alums of North Texas athletics, under the names of Steve Williams (football), David Adkisson (basketball) and Kevin Adkisson (football) respectively.^{[citation needed]}

North Texas political alumni include Michael C. Burgess, current congressman for the 26th Texas district; Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi ambassador to the United States and former adviser to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia; former congressman Ray Roberts of the United States House of Representatives, Texas District 4 (and namesake of nearby Lake Ray Roberts); and Charlie Fern, former White House speechwriter for First Lady Laura Bush, who worked as a reporter and editor on UNT's newspaper, the North Texas Daily.^{[citation needed]}

Notable professors include former House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey and wind symphony conductor Eugene Corporon, who is considered an authority on wind/band music repertoire.^{[citation needed]}

Other significant alumni include journalist and author Bill Moyers, former 1971 Miss America Phyllis George, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, Phil McGraw ('79) from the American television show Dr. Phil and Mark L. Pierson ('90) Chief of Staff at Hewlett-Packard Software and Solutions, International Lutheran Fellowship Archbishop Robert Hotes with Benedictine University.^{[citation needed]} Eli Young Band

North Texas firsts

Since its founding the university has introduced several different programs and models into the American postsecondary system:^[31]

• First in the U.S. to offer programs in aging studies, jazz studies, emergency administration and planning, oil and petroleum accounting, and business computer information systems
• First bachelor's degree in electronic merchandising 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 fully online master's program in applied anthropology.
• First environmental ethics program in the country to offer the Ph.D., which is considered the best in the nation
• First PhD program in art education in the U.S.
• First patent for silicon-based ultra-sensitive chemical sensor for use in integrated circuit fabrication.
• First online school library preparation program in the U.S.
• First college in the South to integrate African Americans (1952)

References

1. ^ As of September 13, 2011. "U.S. News and World Report 2012 Rankings". http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/unt-3594. Retrieved September 13, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "University of North Texas - Enrollment Fall 2010". University of North Texas. https://factbook.unt.edu/c8_fb/cgi-bin/cognos.cgi. Retrieved 2011-06-24. 
3. ^ "Indentity Guide". University of North Texas. 
4. ^ Certified Comparison of Enrollments of Fall 2009 and Fall 2010, Texas Higher Education Data
5. ^ ^{a b} National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2006
6. ^ Lori Thurgood, Mary J. Golladay, and Susan T. Hill, US Doctorates in the 20th Century: Special Report, National Science Foundation, June 2006
7. ^ Classifications, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2004.
8. ^ HEADS Data – Special Report, 2010-11, National Association of Schools of Art and Design

   	College of Visual Art Design	Size Rank	Size Rank with Doctorates
   2006-07	2443	7	1
   2007-08	2206	10	2
   2008-09	2265	10	2
   2009-10	2290	10	2
   2010-11	2324	10	2

9. ^ HEADS Data – Special Report, 2010-11, National Association of Schools of Music
10. ^ James Lloyd Rogers (1926-2006), The Story of North Texas, University of North Texas Press (c2002)
11. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} University of North Texas
12. ^ "America's Best Colleges". Forbes. 2011. http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
13. ^ "National Universities Rankings". America's Best Colleges 2012. U.S. News & World Report. September 13, 2011. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges. Retrieved September 25, 2011. 
14. ^ U.S. News & World Report [1].
15. ^ U.S. News & World Report
16. ^ Best Online MBA Rankings AACSB - Top Affordable Distance MBA, Elizabeth Elizabeth Phillips (born 1963), editor, Get Educated, Inc. (Vermont)
17. ^ UNT Housing - Residence Halls
18. ^ UNT Housing - REAL
19. ^ UNT Greek Life About Us
20. ^ The College Board's information on Housing and Campus Life
21. ^ "UNT InHouse" (faculty newsletter), December 22, 2005 (retrieved September 17, 2007) Unt.edu
22. ^ University of North Texas North Texan Online Fall 2004: Mean Green video memories
23. ^ North Texas Daily, April 8, 2003 (retrieved September 17, 2007) NTdaily.com
24. ^ North Texas News Service, February 2006 (retrieved September 17, 2007) Unt.edu
25. ^ Albino Squirrel Preservation Society Web site (retrieved September 17, 2007) Unt.edu
26. ^ NTDaily
27. ^ North Texas Television | We Are North Texas
28. ^ "North Texas Championships". College Football Data Warehouse. http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/sunbelt/north_texas/championships.php. Retrieved 2007-08-20. 
29. ^ "Houston Cougars vs. North Texas Mean Green". ESPN. 
30. ^ "North Texan Online 2005". University of North Texas. http://www.unt.edu/northtexan/archives/s05/branding.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
31. ^ "UNT first". University of North Texas. http://www.unt.edu/majors-catalogs.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-16. 

Eli Young Band

External links

• University of North Texas
• North Texas Athletics
• North Texas Daily, the campus newspaper
• University of North Texas on DentonWiki

Coordinates: 33°12′43″N 97°08′57″W / 33.211996°N 97.149138°W / 33.211996; -97.149138