Undergraduate Catalog

2010-11 Academic Year

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The University

University of North Texas Hurley Administration Building

The University of North Texas is the most comprehensive university in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, offering 97 bachelor's, 101 master's and 48 doctoral degree programs— many nationally recognized. U.S. News & World Report America's Best Colleges 2010 guide 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 following the index). 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 clubs and organizations offer UNT students friendships with people of similar and varied 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 life to politics and sports. For more information, see the Campus Resources section of this catalog or call the Student Activities Center at 940-565-3807.

University Libraries

The University Libraries serve as an integral component of education and research at the University of North Texas, providing access to more than six million items (print and digital) and a wide range of student- and faculty-centered services.

Libraries and Collections

The Willis Library houses several exceptional collections. The Music Library is one of the country's largest music collections, with an extensive phonographic disc and tape collection, and the private jazz collections of Stan Kenton, Don Gillis, Whit Ozier and Leon Breeden. The University Archives include the history of the university, oral histories and Texas county records. The Rare Book and Texana collections include an outstanding miniature book collection; the private library of Anson Jones, President of the Republic of Texas; Texas Society of Sons of the American Revolution archive; the Weaver Collection of Juvenile materials; 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 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 Collections, and UNT electronic theses and dissertations.

The Media Library in Chilton Hall houses a large collection of audiovisual materials, including videos, 16 mm films and audio CDs. Video-on-demand service is provided for curriculum support.

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

The Science and Technology Library in the Information Sciences Building emphasizes physics, chemistry, biology and psychology and includes an outstanding collection in mathematics.

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 preservation and technical services departments.

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 (ACS/US). ACS/US is a division of the Computing and Information Technology Center and is located in Room 119 of the Information Sciences Building. These services include support for a wide range of research computing platforms, student messaging, training, consulting and a university computing help desk (www.unt.edu/helpdesk).

In addition to the services directly supported by Academic Computing Services, 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 Distributed Learning using computing systems supported by the Computing and Information Technology Center.

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 provides support for a variety of microcomputer-based software applications. Site licenses are maintained for microcomputer versions of SPSS, SAS, S-Plus, STATA, and Matlab, which provide statistical analysis capabilities.

Several statistical analysis packages, including SAS, SPSS and S-Plus, are provided in many of the general access labs. Academic Computing also maintains a multi-node computing cluster to support concurrent execution of long-running user-compiled programs for computation-based research.

Academic Computing 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.

Consulting, Training and Help Desk Services

Consulting and training are provided by Academic Computing to facilitate the use of research and instructional computing facilities by students.
A series of short courses is offered each term/semester to allow students to gain the expertise necessary for effective use of campus computer systems and software. A number of computer-based training programs are accessible within student laboratories or via the web (www.unt.edu/training). Experienced consultants are available to assist students with technical problems.

The Computing and Information Technology Center (CITC) operates a campuswide help desk service to provide students with information and help on a variety of computing problems (www.unt.edu/helpdesk).

Benchmarks Online (www.unt.edu/benchmarks), CITC's newsletter, is published monthly and serves as an excellent resource for current information systems 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 Chemical Society

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

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 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 near the end of this book for lists of university officers, UNT System officers and academic deans.

Also found there is information about UNT faculty and librarians, including rank, acadmic unit and degrees earned. The section concludes with lists of faculty, librarians and administrators who have been awarded emeritus status by the UNT Board of Regents.

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“University of North Texas,” “UNT” and “Discover the power of ideas” are officially registered trademarks of the University of North Texas; their use by others is legally restricted. If you have questions about using any of these marks, please contact the UNT Division of University Relations, Communications and Marketing at (940) 565-2108 or e-mail branding@unt.edu.