University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas, often called UTD, is a university in the University of Texas System. Despite its name, UTD is in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas. Known for its computer science, engineering and management programs among others, the average SAT scores of the school sometimes exceed that of UT Austin, the flagship university in the system (the average SAT score of incoming UTD fall 2005 freshmen was 1240). UTD is regarded by many to be the third best Texas public institute after the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University at College Station. It is located in the heart of Telecom Corridor, and has its roots in the development of the Metroplex's high tech industry.

History

The university was originally started as a research arm of Texas Instruments as the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in 1961. The institute was later donated to the University of Texas system by its founders Eugene McDermott, Cecil Howard Green and J. Erik Jonsson. By law, UTD conferred only graduate degrees until 1975. Upper-division undergraduate students were allowed to start enrolling in UTD starting in 1974. Eventually freshmen and sophomores were allowed by legislative decree in 1990.

Campus

Although a relatively new campus, it has grown by leaps and bounds. Having more room than the UT System's flagship school, University of Texas at Austin, there is plenty room for growth. Future development for the land can be found in UTD's Master Plan as created in 2003. The area controlled by UTD totals 866 acres (3.5 km²), with half of that (460 acres or 1.9 km²) designated as the real limit to "campus" development. The remainder is held and strategically subdivided and sold over time to increase the University's endowment.

Typical architecture

The buildings on campus are modern in appearance with materials mainly consisting of and limited to precast concrete with bronze glass and bronze aluminum frames to provide a contiguous campus appearance.

Landscaping

President Daniel recently announced a $10 million campus beautification project after the campus received an undisclosed "multi-million" dollar donation from a donor who wished to be anonymous. Since President Daniel does not wish to disclose the donation amount, questions have been raised as to the actual significance of the donation in comparison with the entire $10 million project.

Campus appearance has been an issue to some for a long time. Many areas on campus are showing their age and have not received significant "up keep" to maintain a quality appearance. Some example areas include the tiles in the campus mall area where the they have cracked (due to shifting of the soil) and become discolored. Many students also have complained informally about the lack of trees and shrubbery in open spaces.

Since the beginning of Daniel's tenure at UTD, a new fence has been erected around the back of the Visual Arts building, picnic tables erected near the Multi Purpose building, new campus signs have begun construction at both Waterview Pkwy. and Floyd Rd. intersecting with Campbell Rd, and repair to the tiles has been completed.

Residential housing

On-campus housing for students is provided in Waterview Park, generally referred to simply as Waterview, a complex of 1297 apartments. Apartments are shared by up to four students, and have individual hygiene and cooking facilities, as well as wireless network access. Leisure facilities, including clubhouses and pools, are shared between the residents of each building.

Waterview has attracted a certain amount of controversy, being dubbed "the Dorm from Hell" in an April 2005 article in the Dallas Observer ^*. The article criticised the apartment complex as poorly designed, poorly maintained, and a hotbed of violent crime. The Observer's cover showed a man smothering a woman with chloroform, a reference to a rape that occurred in the apartment complex. The accuracy of the article has been called into question, since it was written by an investigative journalism class at nearby Southern Methodist University, but university authorities took the allegations seriously enough to institute an internal inquiry.

Building Plans

As of 2006, a state of the art $85 million Natural Science and Engineering Research Building is nearing completion on the northern end of campus.
A Greek Village; consisting of a Greek center to house offices, meeting rooms, guest quarters and study rooms, and Greek Lodgings
A cluster of modern dormitories, which would resemble suites
A new administration building
Expansion of classrooms and offices
The construction of a new visual and performing arts center
6,000 additional parking spaces

Additional information

Pop Culture

The independent movie Primer was partially filmed at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2004 by Shane Carruth. The film went on to win the Grand Jury and the Alfred P. Sloan awards at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

The country singer Cowboy Troy, known for his unique style of country-rap or Hick hop, is also a graduate of the school.

Telecom corridor

UTD is located right next to the Telecom Corridor known for its telecommunications companies. It is a hotspot in the tech world.

Athletics

The University of Texas at Dallas athletics program started when UTD joined the NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference in 1998.

Since joining the ASC in 2002, the Comets have become traditional powerhouses and title contenders in several sports – including men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball and most recently volleyball. Additionally, athletes from several individual sports have made their mark on conference competition.

Upon completion of the mandated four-year provisional period, UTD was granted full membership privileges in the NCAA and the ASC conference for fall 2002. That first season, the men's and women's soccer teams competed for conference championships. The women won the 2002 ASC title and UTD ended up hosting the conference tournament as well as the first round of NCAA playoffs in UTD's first year as active members. The success contined in 2003-04 when men's and women's soccer, men's basksetball, baseball and softball all advanced to the post-season.

In 2005, the UTD Athletic Program claimed three ASC Championships – men's soccer and men's basketball as well as a co-championship in women's soccer. The men's soccer and basketball teams advanced to the NCAA Division III national playoffs in their sports. Baseball and softball also made its third consecutive appearance in the ASC post-season tournament.

Already one of the larger universities in the ASC and in all of NCAA Division III, the Comets have high expectations for continued success.

Chess team

Nearly a decade ago, the university launched a chess program that quickly became a perennial contender for national championships. UTD's chess players have won or tied for the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship title, emblematic of the top college chess team in the Western Hemisphere, four out of the last five years. The university recruits worldwide for its chess team, and has been able to attract International Grandmaster level players.

In addition, students from UTD have enjoyed success in Destination ImagiNation, an international creative problem solving competition – including two first-place finishes in a global tournament held in June.

Intramural sports

UTD has grown as a collegiate level flag football power house, with its 2004 intramural flag football champs, the Killer Bees, went onto defeat many NCAA D1 schools at the Texas regional tournament including UT Austin (in a shut-out win) where they were crowned regional champs and went on to progress to the national championships. They finished third at the National Tournament in New Orleans beating college football powerhouses Nebraska and North Carolina State along the way.

UTD played host to the 2005 Texas Regional Flag Football Tournament Nov. 11-13.

Academic programs

UTD offers seven different academic programs with various specific and interdisciplinary concentrations, granting bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees:

School of Arts and Humanities
School of Arts and Technology
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Sciences
School of General Studies, including Gender Studies and American Studies
School of Management
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
School of Social Sciences, with Sociology, Government and Politics, and Public Administration

According to its own rankings, the School of Management ranks among the top 40 in the world in research (Study). Also Financial Times Ranks UTD's EMBA Program Among the Top 25 in U.S., Top 46 in World.

Industrial Practice Program

UTD's Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science provides students with an internship/co-op program called the Industrial Practice Programs, or IPP. Employers registered with IPP send internship/co-op requests to the program. IPP then compiles a list of students whose skill sets match those required by the employer and sends the list to the employer for review.

Notable alumni

Sam Gilliland - director, chairman, and CEO of Sabre Holdings Corporation; president and CEO of Travelocity
Alan Halliburton - president of Halliburton Investor Relations
Dipak C. Jain - dean of the Kellogg School of Management and professor of marketing
Melendy Lovett - president of Texas Instruments (TI) Educational & Productivity Solutions and senior vice president of TI
Richard D. McCullough - dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University
Shannon Hughes - Runner-Up Finalist Cover Model on "SI Swimsuit Model Search" on NBC | UTD Mercury Article
James F. Reilly - NASA astronaut, Geosciences PhD, MS, & BS from UTD

External links

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools | Universities and colleges in Texas | Universities and colleges in Dallas | University of Texas System

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