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The University of Texas at Dallas, often called 'UT Dallas' or just UTD, is a university in the University of Texas System. Despite its name, the UTD main campus is located in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas, just adjacent to the city of Dallas' northern limits. However, a satellite location (the Callier Center for Communication Disorders) of UT Dallas is located adjacent to the UT Southwestern campus, in central Dallas. Known for its computer science, engineering, management, and behavioral/brain sciences 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). It ranks third among public universities in Texas in the percentage of National Merit Scholars in its freshman class.* UTD 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 (by then renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies) 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. University Presidents Campus
Typical architecture There are three distinct styles on the university's campus. Many of the buildings are a dull off-white precast concrete with bronze glass and bronze aluminum frames. There are also two prefabricated storage units that serve as classrooms for many of the advanced math and science courses. Three buildings have modern styling. They are the Engineering and Computer Science building, the School of Management, and the new Natural Science and Engineering Research building. These are unique in appearance, with marbled floors, large glass windows, unorthodox layouts, and in the case of the Natural Science and Engineering Research building, rather colorful. Landscaping Starting the weekend of Sept. 23, the 10 million dollar The UTD Campus Landscape Enhancement Project, largely funded by the wife of founder Eugene McDermott, is meant to enhance the current feel of campus. The project will encompass all aspects of landscaping on the 500 acre campus. The first of several enhancements to be made will involve UTD’s campus perimeter and entrance roads, as well as the central plaza, where the major north-south and east-west pedestrian routes meet. Additions to the campus perimeter and entrance roads could include planting, fencing, landscaping, lighting and signage. World renown landscaping firm Peter Walker and Partners is spear heading the project. PWP is also known for creating the 1000 acre Millenium Park in Sydney, Australia for the 2000 summer Olympics. They are also in charge of the World Trade Center Memorial Park. Other projects include the Nasher Sculpture Garden at the Dallas Museum of Arts. 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 1,297 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 Dallas Observers 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. University authorities took the allegations seriously enough to institute an internal inquiry. Recently $826,000 dollars in repairs were recommended by an inspection agency that was brought in in response to this article, these repairs included things as simple as replacing bad smoke alarms and many other general repairs. Building Plans 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 Richardson, Texas's Telecom Corridor, known for its telecommunications campuses, including that of Nortel. 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 basketball, 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. In 2006, the Comets women's volleyball team claimed an ASC East Division regular season co-championship (shared with East Texas Baptist University). Already one of the larger universities in the ASC and in all of NCAA Division III, the Comets have high expectations for continued success. To support UTD teams and build school spirit, UTD has the Power Dancers and cheerleaders that are lovingly called "hale boppers". 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 2006. Intramural sports UTD has grown as a collegiate level flag football powerhouse. Its 2004 intramural flag football champs, the Killer Bees, went on to defeat many NCAA Division I schools at the Texas regional tournament, including UT Austin (in a shut-out win) where they were crowned regional champs. They progressed to the national championships where 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: 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 Executive MBA (EMBA) Program among the top 25 in the U.S. and the top 46 in the 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 Recent news | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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