University of Texas at Tyler
Encyclopedia
The University of Texas at Tyler, also referred to as UT Tyler, is a coeducational public university
located in Tyler, Texas
. Founded in 1971, it is a component institution of the University of Texas System
.
UT Tyler consists of four professional colleges and one traditional college of arts and sciences, offering over 90 academic degree programs at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels. The University of Texas at Tyler is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university has a student body of over 6,100, a 16:1 student to faculty ratio, and a park-like campus centered around Harvey Lake.
in 1979 as a result of action by the 66th Texas Legislature. Initially, UT Tyler was a "senior" level institution ("senior" as compared to community or junior colleges), teaching only upper division undergraduate courses for juniors & seniors, as well as graduate level courses, and granting bachelors and masters degrees. Thus, until 1998, all U.T. Tyler students were transfer students from other institutions of higher learning—junior colleges or other universities. In 1997, the 75th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1795, signed into law by Governor George W. Bush, authorizing the school to add classes for freshmen and sophomore students. As of the Fall semester 1998, UT Tyler became a 4-year and graduate institution, following the full U.S. university pattern, i.e. educating students from the freshman level through graduate and postgraduate levels.
UT Tyler’s main campus is located on 204 acre (0.82555944 km²), just inside the eastern city limits of Tyler, Texas
. The UT Tyler campus is less than 40 years old, with a modern, master-planned and integrated architectural style of buildings. Because of vigorous growth in enrollment, many new buildings and sports facilities have been constructed at the main campus since 1995. Once located well outside the city's corporate limits, by 2005, the campus was almost completely surrounded by residential housing, and is therefore limited to expansion within its current boundaries.
One of the most prominent features of the UT Tyler campus is the Riter Tower, an 88 feet (26.8 m) carillon
featuring 57 bells. The tower was built with a $1.35 million dollar gift from Mr. and Mrs. A.W. "Dub" Riter Jr. The instrument is not a true carillon, however; there is no console connected directly to the bells. All playing is done on a keyboard in a separate building. The title of largest carillon in Texas goes to the Knicker Carillon at The University of Texas at Austin in the Main Building, which also has a larger tonnage than the Riter Tower carillon.
The Herrington Patriot Center includes a state-of-the-art fitness center with cardio-theater and circuit training, racquetball courts, heated pool and spa, indoor walking/jogging track, and gymnasium/convocation area with basketball/volleyball court and seating for 2,300.
The R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center attracts a wide array of cultural entertainment, and 26,000 patrons attend the performances annually.
On-campus housing options include one dormitory, Ornelas Hall, and two apartment complexes, Patriot Village, which is owned by UT Tyler, and University Pines, which is owned by an outside company but works in conjunction with the college.
UT Tyler offers over 80 student organizations including Greek fraternities and sororities.
- Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives
from Wood County
since 2003
Allen R. Morris
- Emmy Award
winning producer/director/writer; formerly with KLTV
; frequent actor at Tyler Civic Theatre from 1979 to 1990; attended marketing and communications courses in early 80's while working on a Master's Degree.
Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith
(Source: Smith County of Texas; Sheriff’s site http://www.smith-county.com/Law/Sheriff/Default.aspx)
Casey Plummer – Caldwell Zoo veterinary technician whose discovery of a protozoan parasite may help save Attwater’s Prairie Chickens from extinction.
(Source: Vet Tech Finds New Life Form at Texas Zoo; redOrbit; March 19, 2009; http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1654487/vet_tech_finds_new_life_form_at_texas_zoo/index.html)
Jason Borque, charged in February 2010 in connection with a series of church fires which occurred throughout East Texas,attended UT Tyler in 2008 and 2009 as a management major. He was indicted in June 2010 for 5 counts of arson and 3 counts of attempted arson.
Chris Curtis (B.S. Broadcast Journalism 2009)- Sports Anchor/Reporter KTVO Missouri
UT Tyler competes in the American Southwest Conference
of the NCAA's
Division III. Both the men's and women's sports teams are referred to as the Patriots.
UT Tyler participates in the following fifteen sports:
Patriot student-athletes have won 15 American Southwest Conference East Division and overall championships, and had 71 ASC All Academic Team awards.
In May, 2007, UT Tyler finished their four-year provisional status with the NCAA as a start-up athletic program. In September 2007, the Patriots became full members of the NCAA, and for the first time eligible for national rankings and postseason events.
UT Tyler student athletes have been found to earn a higher grade point ratio than the student body as a whole.
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
located in Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
. Founded in 1971, it is a component institution of the University of Texas System
University of Texas System
The University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The system is headquartered in Austin and has a total enrollment of over 190,000 students...
.
UT Tyler consists of four professional colleges and one traditional college of arts and sciences, offering over 90 academic degree programs at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels. The University of Texas at Tyler is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university has a student body of over 6,100, a 16:1 student to faculty ratio, and a park-like campus centered around Harvey Lake.
History
The University of Texas at Tyler was founded in 1971 as Tyler State College. The school was renamed Texas Eastern University in 1975, and then joined the University of Texas SystemUniversity of Texas System
The University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The system is headquartered in Austin and has a total enrollment of over 190,000 students...
in 1979 as a result of action by the 66th Texas Legislature. Initially, UT Tyler was a "senior" level institution ("senior" as compared to community or junior colleges), teaching only upper division undergraduate courses for juniors & seniors, as well as graduate level courses, and granting bachelors and masters degrees. Thus, until 1998, all U.T. Tyler students were transfer students from other institutions of higher learning—junior colleges or other universities. In 1997, the 75th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1795, signed into law by Governor George W. Bush, authorizing the school to add classes for freshmen and sophomore students. As of the Fall semester 1998, UT Tyler became a 4-year and graduate institution, following the full U.S. university pattern, i.e. educating students from the freshman level through graduate and postgraduate levels.
Academics
The University's ten most popular majors are Nursing, Education, Business Management, Communications, Accounting, Marketing, Finance, Biology, History, and Health & Kinesiology.Campus
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
. The UT Tyler campus is less than 40 years old, with a modern, master-planned and integrated architectural style of buildings. Because of vigorous growth in enrollment, many new buildings and sports facilities have been constructed at the main campus since 1995. Once located well outside the city's corporate limits, by 2005, the campus was almost completely surrounded by residential housing, and is therefore limited to expansion within its current boundaries.
One of the most prominent features of the UT Tyler campus is the Riter Tower, an 88 feet (26.8 m) carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
featuring 57 bells. The tower was built with a $1.35 million dollar gift from Mr. and Mrs. A.W. "Dub" Riter Jr. The instrument is not a true carillon, however; there is no console connected directly to the bells. All playing is done on a keyboard in a separate building. The title of largest carillon in Texas goes to the Knicker Carillon at The University of Texas at Austin in the Main Building, which also has a larger tonnage than the Riter Tower carillon.
The Herrington Patriot Center includes a state-of-the-art fitness center with cardio-theater and circuit training, racquetball courts, heated pool and spa, indoor walking/jogging track, and gymnasium/convocation area with basketball/volleyball court and seating for 2,300.
The R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center attracts a wide array of cultural entertainment, and 26,000 patrons attend the performances annually.
On-campus housing options include one dormitory, Ornelas Hall, and two apartment complexes, Patriot Village, which is owned by UT Tyler, and University Pines, which is owned by an outside company but works in conjunction with the college.
Activities
- Greek Sororities
- Alpha Chi OmegaAlpha Chi OmegaAlpha Chi Omega is a women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. Currently, there are 135 chapters of Alpha Chi Omega at colleges and universities across the United States and more than 200,000 lifetime members...
, Kappa Mu chapter - Gamma Phi BetaGamma Phi BetaGamma Phi Beta is an international sorority that was founded on November 11, 1874, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. The term "sorority," meaning sisterhood, was coined for Gamma Phi Beta by Dr. Frank Smalley, a professor at Syracuse University.The four founders are Helen M. Dodge,...
, Zeta Upsilon chapter - Delta GammaDelta GammaDelta Gamma is one of the oldest and largest women's fraternities in the United States and Canada, with its Executive Offices based in Columbus, Ohio.-History:...
, Eta Xi chapter - Delta Sigma ThetaDelta Sigma ThetaDelta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
, Upsilon Epsilon chapter
- Alpha Chi Omega
- Greek Fraternities
- Sigma Alpha EpsilonSigma Alpha EpsilonSigma Alpha Epsilon is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South...
, Texas Zeta chapter - Pi Kappa PhiPi Kappa PhiPi Kappa Phi is an American social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty, Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina...
, Theta Pi chapter - Kappa SigmaKappa SigmaKappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...
, Rho Nu chapter
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon
- Recreational Sports
- Student Activities
- Student Government Association
- Student Organizations
- American Society of Civil EngineersAmerican Society of Civil EngineersThe American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
Student Chapter (awarded Best ASCE Student Chaper in Texas in 2008 and 2009. Ridgway Award (National Top Student Chapter) Finalist for 2009)
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- Online Communities
- Honor Fraternities
- Beta Alpha PsiBeta Alpha PsiΒΑΨ is a national honors business organization for highly successful accounting, finance and information systems students and professionals. It was founded on February 12, 1919 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently headquartered in Durham, North Carolina...
- Beta Gamma SigmaBeta Gamma SigmaBeta Gamma Sigma or ΒΓΣ is an honor society for business students and scholars. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, it has over 650,000 members, selected from over 500 chapters in AACSB-accredited business schools...
- Beta Alpha Psi
- Forensics
Notable alumni and former students
Bryan HughesBryan Hughes (Texas politician)
Douglas Bryan Hughes, known as Bryan Hughes , is an attorney in Mineola, Texas, who has been since 2003 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 5, which includes Camp, Harrison, Upshur, and Wood counties in the northeastern section of his state.-Background:Hughes...
- Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
from Wood County
Wood County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 36,752 people, 14,583 households, and 10,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 17,939 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
since 2003
Allen R. Morris
Allen R. Morris
Allen Robert Morris , a Texan and an American, is an Emmy Award-winning television producer/director/writer. His professional career began when he and his twin sister, as teenagers, provided the voices and operated puppets on a local children’s television show, “Through Magic Doorways.” This...
- Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winning producer/director/writer; formerly with KLTV
KLTV
KLTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for East Texas that is licensed to Tyler. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter in Red Springs...
; frequent actor at Tyler Civic Theatre from 1979 to 1990; attended marketing and communications courses in early 80's while working on a Master's Degree.
Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith
(Source: Smith County of Texas; Sheriff’s site http://www.smith-county.com/Law/Sheriff/Default.aspx)
Casey Plummer – Caldwell Zoo veterinary technician whose discovery of a protozoan parasite may help save Attwater’s Prairie Chickens from extinction.
(Source: Vet Tech Finds New Life Form at Texas Zoo; redOrbit; March 19, 2009; http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1654487/vet_tech_finds_new_life_form_at_texas_zoo/index.html)
Jason Borque, charged in February 2010 in connection with a series of church fires which occurred throughout East Texas,attended UT Tyler in 2008 and 2009 as a management major. He was indicted in June 2010 for 5 counts of arson and 3 counts of attempted arson.
Chris Curtis (B.S. Broadcast Journalism 2009)- Sports Anchor/Reporter KTVO Missouri
Athletics
American Southwest Conference
The American Southwest Conference is a college athletic conference, founded in 1996, whose member schools compete in the NCAA's Division III. The schools are located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi...
of the NCAA's
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division III. Both the men's and women's sports teams are referred to as the Patriots.
UT Tyler participates in the following fifteen sports:
- Baseball
- Basketball, Men's
- Basketball, Women's
- Cross Country, Men's
- Cross Country, Women's
- Golf, Men's
- Golf, Women's
- Soccer, Men's
- Soccer, Women's
- Softball
- Tennis, Men's
- Tennis, Women's
- Track, Men's
- Track, Women's
- Volleyball
Patriot student-athletes have won 15 American Southwest Conference East Division and overall championships, and had 71 ASC All Academic Team awards.
In May, 2007, UT Tyler finished their four-year provisional status with the NCAA as a start-up athletic program. In September 2007, the Patriots became full members of the NCAA, and for the first time eligible for national rankings and postseason events.
UT Tyler student athletes have been found to earn a higher grade point ratio than the student body as a whole.
External links
- The University of Texas at Tyler
- The University of Texas at Tyler Admissions Home Page
- The University of Texas at Tyler Housing Home Page
- The University of Texas at Tyler Athletics
- The University of Texas at Tyler Riter Tower
- UT Tyler Cowan Center
- Student Government Association
- Indian Student Association
- UT Tyler ASCE Student Chapter