Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Encyclopedia
Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (abbreviated Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, or TAMU–CC, or A&M-Corpus Christi, or A&M-CC) is a state university located in Corpus Christi, Texas
, United States
, on Ward Island
in Oso Bay. The university is part of the Texas A&M University System
. TAMU-CC was formerly known at various times by one of the following three names: Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University at Corpus Christi, and the University of Corpus Christi (a Baptist
university founded in 1947) before joining the Texas A&M University System
. The school became a public university in 1973 when the Baptist General Convention of Texas
sold it to the State.
majors
, 25 graduate
programs, and two doctoral programs through five colleges.
The College of Liberal Arts
has 7 departments, housing 12 undergraduate and 6 graduate degrees, ranging from the arts to criminal justice
to psychology
.
The College of Business offers 8 undergraduate and 4 graduate degrees and is accredited by AACSB
.
The College of Education offers teacher
certification in more than 30 areas as well as three undergraduate degrees, 11 graduate programs, and 2 doctoral programs.
The College of Science and Technology offers 12 undergraduate and 5 graduate degrees in areas like biology, Computer Science, environmental science and engineering. The Geographic Information Science (GIS) program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
(ABET). The Engineering and Technology program offers B.S.
degrees in Mechanical Engineering
(ME), Mechanical Engineering Technology
(MET) and Electrical Engineering Technology
(EET). The EET program offers three options: Control Systems, Electronic Systems, and Computer Systems, while the MET program offers Construction
and Maintenance
options—all ABET
accredited.
The recently formed College of Nursing
and Health Sciences offers two undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Health Science and one graduate degree in Nursing.
TAMU-CC is English as a Second Language International (ESLI) member university..
ESLI, through its Language Centers, prepares students from non-English speaking countries to successfully enter and study at North American universities
, and other geospatial research relating to surveying and mapping.
The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
brings scientists to the campus to strengthen TAMU-CC's research on environmental issues facing the Gulf of Mexico, area wetland
s, coastal waterways, and beaches. Other centers on campus conduct research on biodiversity through offshore scientific diving expeditions, and aid in oil spill response, hurricane tracking, and commercial shipping.
The current legislative branch, or Student Senate, has two underlying groups of senators: the classification senators, which holds 3 graduate senators, 4 senior senators, 3 junior senators, 3 sophomore senators, and 3 freshman senators, as well as the college senators, which holds two senators for each of the five colleges: Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing, and Science & Technology.
Elections for SGA are held twice a year, once near the close of the spring for all positions, and then at the opening of the fall for the freshman senators and remaining vacancies from the spring elections.
TAMU-CC has joined the Southland Conference
as of 2006-07 as a non-football member. Before that, it had been an independent since it began offering Division I sports in 1999.
TAMU-CC offers 5 men's sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; as well as 7 women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
The mascot
for TAMU-CC is Izzy the Islander, a costumed man with a tiki
mask headdress, grass skirt and spear. Prior to that, the official mascot was "Tarpy" the Tarpon.
and play their home games at the American Bank Center
as well as at the Dugan Wellness Center on the University's campus. They have played in the NCAA tournament once, in 2007
, losing in the first round.
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, on Ward Island
Ward Island (Texas)
Ward Island is an island located in the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The entire island is used for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi base.Ward Island is situated in Oso Bay in the Coastal Bend of Texas...
in Oso Bay. The university is part of the Texas A&M University System
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
. TAMU-CC was formerly known at various times by one of the following three names: Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University at Corpus Christi, and the University of Corpus Christi (a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
university founded in 1947) before joining the Texas A&M University System
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
. The school became a public university in 1973 when the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Baptist General Convention of Texas
The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. The churches cooperating with the Baptist General Convention of Texas partner nationally and internationally with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,...
sold it to the State.
Academics
TAMU-CC offers 33 undergraduateUndergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
majors
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
, 25 graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
programs, and two doctoral programs through five colleges.
The College of Liberal Arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
has 7 departments, housing 12 undergraduate and 6 graduate degrees, ranging from the arts to criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
to psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
The College of Business offers 8 undergraduate and 4 graduate degrees and is accredited by AACSB
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business was founded in 1916 to accredit schools of business worldwide. The first accreditations took place in 1919. The stated mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership. It is regarded...
.
The College of Education offers teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
certification in more than 30 areas as well as three undergraduate degrees, 11 graduate programs, and 2 doctoral programs.
The College of Science and Technology offers 12 undergraduate and 5 graduate degrees in areas like biology, Computer Science, environmental science and engineering. The Geographic Information Science (GIS) program is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
ABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology...
(ABET). The Engineering and Technology program offers B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degrees in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
(ME), Mechanical Engineering Technology
Mechanical engineering technology
Mechanical engineering technology is the application of physical principles and current technological developments to the creation of useful machinery and operation design. Technologies such as solid models may be used as the basis for finite element analysis and / or computational fluid dynamics ...
(MET) and Electrical Engineering Technology
Electrical Engineering Technology
Electrical engineering technology is an engineering technology field that implements and applies the principles of electrical engineering...
(EET). The EET program offers three options: Control Systems, Electronic Systems, and Computer Systems, while the MET program offers Construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
and Maintenance
Maintenance, Repair and Operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
options—all ABET
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
ABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology...
accredited.
The recently formed College of Nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
and Health Sciences offers two undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Health Science and one graduate degree in Nursing.
TAMU-CC is English as a Second Language International (ESLI) member university..
ESLI, through its Language Centers, prepares students from non-English speaking countries to successfully enter and study at North American universities
Research
The Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science is a research institute dedicated to geospatial science. The Institute was founded by an endowment from the Conrad Blucher family. Research by the institute includes the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (a tide monitoring system), Texas Spatial Reference Center research for the Texas Height ModernizationHeight Modernization
Height Modernization is the name of a series of state-by-state programs recently begun by the United States' National Geodetic Survey, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
, and other geospatial research relating to surveying and mapping.
The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies is a recently endowed and developing research institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.- Mission :...
brings scientists to the campus to strengthen TAMU-CC's research on environmental issues facing the Gulf of Mexico, area wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s, coastal waterways, and beaches. Other centers on campus conduct research on biodiversity through offshore scientific diving expeditions, and aid in oil spill response, hurricane tracking, and commercial shipping.
Student government
The Student Government Association at TAMU-CC hosts the officers of the student body. The SGA runs a three-branch system, with the Executive Board consisting of the Student Body Officers, the Legislative Board consisting of the Student Senate, and the Judicial Board consisting of the Chief and Associate Justices.The current legislative branch, or Student Senate, has two underlying groups of senators: the classification senators, which holds 3 graduate senators, 4 senior senators, 3 junior senators, 3 sophomore senators, and 3 freshman senators, as well as the college senators, which holds two senators for each of the five colleges: Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing, and Science & Technology.
Elections for SGA are held twice a year, once near the close of the spring for all positions, and then at the opening of the fall for the freshman senators and remaining vacancies from the spring elections.
Newspaper
Island Waves is the official student newspaper at TAMU-CC. It was first published in 1993. Island Waves is entirely student-run, on account of the University not having a journalism department. Thus, Island Waves is, in part, funded through student fees and advertisement sales. Issues are put out every Thursday throughout the fall and spring semesters, with three issues printed over the summer.Athletics
Southland Conference
The Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
as of 2006-07 as a non-football member. Before that, it had been an independent since it began offering Division I sports in 1999.
TAMU-CC offers 5 men's sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; as well as 7 women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
The mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
for TAMU-CC is Izzy the Islander, a costumed man with a tiki
Tiki
Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...
mask headdress, grass skirt and spear. Prior to that, the official mascot was "Tarpy" the Tarpon.
Men's basketball
The Islanders basketball team is coached by Willis WilsonWillis Wilson
Willis Thomas Wilson, Jr. is the head coach of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's basketball team. He previously served an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers basketball team. Previously, Wilson was head coach of the college basketball team at Rice University for 16 seasons...
and play their home games at the American Bank Center
American Bank Center
The American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the Corpus Christi...
as well as at the Dugan Wellness Center on the University's campus. They have played in the NCAA tournament once, in 2007
2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season...
, losing in the first round.
Women's Cross Country
The Islander cross country team is regarded as the most successful sport in school history, as the women's team has won 7 out of the 9 conference titles (more than any other team in the history of Texas universities). In 2009, they scored the highest at the regional meet, with a 6th place finish.Notable alumni
- Film directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks graduated with Communication Arts degrees in 1999. Their debut motion picture The Wild Man of the NavidadThe Wild Man of the NavidadThe Wild Man of the Navidad is a 2008 horror film picked up by IFC Films shortly after its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. - Plot :This movie is allegedly based on the real-life journals of Dale S...
, released by IFC FilmsIFC FilmsIFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
, was co-produced by a professor at the university at that time, Kim HenkelKim HenkelKim Henkel is an American screenwriter, director and producer.Henkel was born in Virginia and grew up in several small towns in South Texas. He started at the University of Texas at Austin in 1964 majoring in English and graduated in 1969...
, who just so happened to be the co-writer/producer of another famous horror film The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
.