Louisiana Tech University

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Louisiana Tech University

Image:techlogo.jpg
Motto (none)
Established 1894
Type Public coeducational
President Daniel Reneau
Staff 394
Undergraduates 9,331
Postgraduates 2,379
Location Ruston, LA, USA
Campus Rural
Sports teams Bulldogs and Lady Techsters
Colors Red & Reflex Blue
Mascot Tech XIX, an English bulldog and Champ
Website www.latech.edu

Contents

[edit] Overview of the University

Louisiana Tech University, located in Ruston, Louisiana is a coeducational public institution of higher learning with an approximate enrollment of 12,000 students. First instituted as the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana in 1894, and then as Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in 1921, it is perhaps best known for its engineering programs and its athletics, especially women's basketball. Louisiana Tech has since 1970 been classified as a university and is attended by students from 50 states and 70 countries.

Despite the technical focus implied by its name, Louisiana Tech has always provided a fairly broad spectrum of academic and professional progams. The University maintains a selective admissions policy.

Louisiana Tech operates on the quarter system while awarding semester hours. Three quarters (fall, winter, spring) equal two semesters at other universities. Louisiana Tech operates a satellite campus at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City and maintains an academic relationship with Grambling State University, the area's historically African-American university located a few miles west of Ruston in Grambling, La.

Following Hurricane Katrina Louisiana Tech, like many other universities, opened its doors to those displaced by the storm. Students and non-students alike were welcomed into the Ruston community while the reconstruction efforts continued in southern Louisiana. Affected students were offered deferred tuition while non-students were allowed to stay in a dorm previously scheduled for demolition. Additionally, the Bulldog athletic program also opened up the football facilities including dorms, weight rooms, practice fields, and stadium to the Tulane Green Wave.

Louisiana Tech, a member of the University of Louisiana System, has recently moved up from the Fourth to the Third Tier in the prestigious US News & World Report listing of National Universities. The only other Louisiana public university to rate as highly is the much larger Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Requirements for admission for all applicants includes at least a 15 Composite ACT Score or a 710 combined SAT score, and at least a 2.0/4.0 high school grade point average. Louisiana Tech supports 394 faculty, 80% of whom hold the doctoral or equivalent degree. The University's program in Nanosystems Engineering has become very highly regarded by both industry and media on a national scale.

Dr. Daniel Reneau has led the University as President since 1987 and the length of his tenure has now nearly equaled that of former longtime President F. Jay Taylor, who led the university through a period of expansion from 1964 through 1986.

[edit] Colleges

  • Business[1]
  • Engineering and Science[2]
  • Education[3]
  • Applied and Natural Sciences[4]
  • Liberal Arts[5]
  • The Graduate School[6]

[edit] Specialty Programs

  • Program in Nanosystems Engineering[7]
  • Institute for Micromanufacturing[8]
  • Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Computational Analysis and Modeling[9]

[edit] Student Life

The city of Ruston offers limited entertainment options, so students spend a large amount of their free time participating in on-campus activities. Students can opt to participate in a strong Greek system, intramural athletics, or Student Government. For students interested in more focused activities, Louisiana Tech offers many special interest organizations. Among these are a student-run radio station and closed-circuit television station Louisiana TechTV, as well as service organizations such as Circle K (Kiwanis) and Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, students often haunt one of several local bars or take roadtrips to Monroe, Louisiana (~30mi), Shreveport, Louisiana (~70mi), or Dallas, Texas (~200mi) in order to find entertainment. Due to Louisiana's location in the Bible Belt, religion is a large component of many student's lives and this is reflected in the abundance of on-campus religious organizations.

Though Louisiana Tech would not fit the traditional definition of a commuter school, a large number of students leave the campus on weekends. For this reason, many students refer to Tech as a "suitcase college." Some students opt to spend the weekend at home visiting friends, while others hold down jobs outside of Ruston. Though those students remaining on campus enjoy the increased availability of parking and other ammenities, administrators continue to search for ways to keep students in Ruston during the weekend. Things may be improving: In 2005, several chain restaurants opened their doors in anticipation of a movie theater chain which has since been built, becoming the first extant cineplex in northern Ruston and the only theatre in North Louisiana between Monroe and Shreveport on the I-20 corridor.

Louisiana Tech makes students live on campus for 7 quarters or 80 credit hours, in turn coming to a little over two years, unless deemed a commuter. Housing is an issue on campus, as most of the dorms are deformed and decrepit, some have been condemned, which included Caruthers, McFarland, and various others. Often dorms will flood with several inches of water due to busted pipes, toilets and various other events, the university claims not to be responsible for damages to student property due to the malfunctions of their equipment. On campus apartments have been built, but due to small quantity, and impartial treatment of athletic players, and various family members of university employees, the wait to get into an on campus apartment is rather long. Many students not from the region transfer to other colleges due to the lack of housing opportunity and quality.

[edit] Quick Facts

  • Type - Four-year selective admissions university awarding bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees
  • Enrollment - 12,000 students from 50 states and 70 countries
  • Freshman class - 2,914 students
  • Student/Faculty Ratio - 23:1
  • Average Freshman ACT - 22.7
  • Academic Calendar - Quarter system awarding semester hours. Three quarters (fall, winter, spring) equals two semesters at other universities.
  • Affordability - Approximately 80% of students receive some form of financial assistance. Tuition in 2004-05 is $3,647 for state residents and $7,442 for out-of-state students (based on 8 or more credit hours per quarter - excludes summer school)
  • Athletics - with 16 sports, the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters compete in the Western Athletic Conference of Division I of the NCAA
  • Louisiana Tech's colors are Red and Reflex Blue.
  • President Daniel Reneau, a Sigma Nu at Tech, began the biomedical engineering program at Tech while a professor in 1972.
  • In 2005, Louisiana Tech began the first undergraduate program in the nation in Nanosystems Engineering
  • Social Greek-letter organizations' memberships comprise approximately 10% of the undergraduate population. The campus has nine North-American Interfraternity Conference-recognized fraternities and four sororities recognized by the National Panhellenic Conference.
  • Ryan Peters is the President of ASHRAE.
  • Michael Hochstetler is the Vice President of ASHRAE.

Fraternities Include: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu, Kappa Sigma, Pi Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order, Delta Chi, Alpha Tau Omega, Alpha Gamma Rho, Sigma Pi; Sorrorities Include: Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Sigma Kappa, Phi Mu Previous Fraternities and Sorrorities: Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Gamma, Delta Zeta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Phi Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha

[edit] Points of Interest

  • Louisiana Tech University Arboretum
  • The Quadrangle, featuring a fountain containing the original sculpture The Lady of the Mist
  • Hide-A-Way Park, featuring a walking trail and disk golf course
  • 16-story Wyly Tower of Learning
  • Centennial Plaza and Clock Tower

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] Athletics

Louisiana Tech currently competes as a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institution in the Western Athletic Conference. The football team has competed at the Division I FBS level since 1989 after previously competing at both the Division I Football Championship Subdivision and Division II levels. Division I life has proven a mixed bag for the Bulldogs who, despite several recent and memorable upsets of major programs, frequently contend with issues ranging from relatively small athletic budgets to student apathy to lack of a suitable conference home. Tech's athletic budget is currently the fifth lowest amongst all Division I FBS athletics departments. Notable alumni, including Charles Wyly, Karl Malone, and Terry Bradshaw, have recently made significant donations intended to enhance both Tech's athletic facilites and sense of insitutional sports history.

Tech's regional rivals in the WAC, notably Rice, SMU, and Tulsa, all bolted for Conference USA during the most recent spurt of conference realignments, leaving Tech as a central time-zone team in a conference full of mountain and west coast teams. Louisiana Tech's former rivals include the University of Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Louisiana Tech's current 'rival' is WAC conference mate Fresno State. The Bulldogs are currently coached by Derrick Dooley, former Miami Dolphins assistant and son of legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley.

The women's basketball program is notable for having won several NCAA national championships, including a title in the first NCAA National Women's Basketball Championship in 1982. The Lady Techsters most recent title came in 1988. Until they missed making the 2007 tournament, only Tennessee and Louisiana Tech had been a part of every NCAA postseason women's basketball tournament.

The Bulldogs football team has since 1968 competed at Joe Aillet Stadium, a 30,600 seat facility located on the Ruston campus. The stadium playing surface has recently been replaced with an all-new artifical surface (Field Turf Mono) for the 2006 campaign. Lighting enhancements have also recently taken place to better accommodate television broadcasts. The Tech football team has also occasionally opted to play 'big name' opponents in Shreveport at the larger Indepdendence Stadium, a 2003 home contest with Miami (FL) being a prime example. Both the men's and women's basketball teams compete at the 8,000 seat Thomas Assembly Center, a relatively new arena which opened in 1982.

[edit] External Links

Public universities in Louisiana
Grambling • LSU • LSU-Alexandria • LSU-Eunice • LSU Health Sciences-New Orleans • LSU Health Sciences-Shreveport • LSU Law • LSU-Shreveport • Louisiana Tech • McNeese • New Orleans • Nicholls • Northwestern State • Southeastern • Southern • Southern Law • Southern-New Orleans • Southern-Shreveport • UL-Lafayette • UL-Monroe
Western Athletic Conference
Boise State • Fresno State • Hawai'i • Idaho • Louisiana Tech • Nevada • New Mexico State • San José State • Utah State
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