| The University of Texas Permian Basin | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Latin: Disciplina praesidium civitatis (Education, the Guardian of Society) |
| Established | 1973 |
| Type | State University |
| President | W. David Watts PhD |
| Admin. staff | 140 |
| Students | 3,600 |
| Location | Odessa, Texas, USA |
| Colors | Orange and White |
| Mascot | Falcon |
| Website | www.utpb.edu |
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin (commonly called UT Permian Basin or simply UTPB) is located in Odessa, Texas. It was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973. Its unofficial fall 2007 enrollment was 3,586.
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Among those who pushed for the establishment of UTPB was the oil industrialist Bill Noël, who with his wife, the former Ellen Witwer, became major philanthropists of the institution.[1]
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin began in 1973 with only junior, senior, and graduate level programs. There were 1,011 students when the school opened. The institution permitted student input in the interviews of prospective faculty, and student recommendations were considered when additional faculty were hired.
According to legend, a rivalry with Odessa College (OC) got underway from the very beginning when OC students taunted the UTPB students that they were too old to produce a streaker. A student finally agreed, and with only his head covered, streaked across the campus. The Director of Admissions not only witnessed the feat, but contributed to the bail when the student was arrested.
George E. "Buddy" West, a member of the first graduating class from UTPB, represented Odessa in the Texas House of Representatives from 1993 until his death in 2008. He became the legislative point man on UTPB issues. West worked to obtain the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library, a new student union building, and the performing arts center.
A Stonehenge replica was recently added adjacent to the Visual Arts Studio.
Currently three new building are under construction; the Student Multipurpose Center, the Science and Technology Building, and the Performing Arts Center.
(Discussed further in the article)
Other Places of Interest
Future Developments
Future Developments
Undergraduate Degrees
UTPB has a 18/1 student/faculty ratio, and 90 percent of the tenure track faculty hold doctorates in their teaching fields.
UT Permian Basin is part of the University of Texas System. The average cost for an undergraduate student to attend UTPB full time (12 hours) is about $1,800. The average cost for an out-of-state undergraduate student to attend UTPB full time (12 hours) is about $5,000.
The current student Union was inaugurated in 2001 in a centralized location on the 2nd floor of the Mesa building. There it has Commons area, Student organization suite, Game rooms, Meeting rooms, Multipurpose room, Coffee shop/deli, Office of Student Life, Student Senate offices and Program Board offices. Currently there are about 27 active student clubs and a few more that are active some semesters. Changes are visible at the construction site of the Student Multipurpose Center. The roof is complete as well as most interior partitions. Sheet rocking has begun and masons have started laying up brick on the north wall. The Utility Tunnel will begin the first week of April. Late in the summer of 2010, UTPB students will find a home-away-from home in this building with features like a user-friendly dining room, childcare center, fitness center, meeting and study rooms along with offices for student organizations, a lounge, and external shaded pavilion.
The Parker Ranch House is a new addition to the campus, dedicated November 9, 2004. Parker Ranch House was named by the Parker family in memory of James Early "Jim" Parker, Jr. and Bessie Ola Parker. The Parkers embodied the ranching lifestyle of generations of a family that served the communities of Andrews and Ector counties since 1907. Jim and Bessie Ola Parker weathered the Great Depression and years of drought before the Humble Oil & Refining Company discovered oil on one of their ranches, permitting them to sell the mineral rights. They had three ranches, including one in Andrews. Parker was involved in organizing the municipal structure of Andrews County in 1910. He later served as county commissioner from 1921 to 1924, established the Andrews Bank, and served as its president of its board of directors for many years.
The Mesa Journal is a student publication that provides information, commentary and entertainment for The University of Texas of the Permian Basin community. Opinion/editorial statements and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the UT Permian Basin administration.
Mission Statement: The Mesa Journal is designed to inform, entertain, educate and heighten awareness of students, faculty and administrators at The University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Staff members will be responsible journalists by maintaining high ethical standards with fairness, accuracy and balance.
THE SANDSTORM, an annual magazine publication, is a collection of poems, short stories, and essays submitted by students and selected by a panel for publication. The magazine also prints photographs of student art that includes painting, sculpture, pottery, and photography. THE SANDSTORM is a student publication with its editor and staff selected from the student body. Distribution of THE SANDSTORM takes place each Spring.
UTPB was an upper level and graduate university until the Texas Legislature passed a bill in spring 1991 to allow the university to accept freshmen and sophomores. The first freshmen, called the "Pioneer Freshmen," began attending UTPB in the fall semester of 1991, and students were first designated as sophomores the following fall. Odessan Chris Horton was the first member of the "Pioneer Freshmen" to graduate from UTPB, completing his bachelors degree in political science in May 1994.
In the years after freshmen and sophomores were added, UTPB has upgraded its campus extensively. In 2000, the J. Conrad Dunagan Library and Lecture Center was completed, featuring a twenty-station multimedia lab and classroom. In addition, UTPB has added a visual arts studio, and has installed a Stonehenge replica. Several apartment-style building have also been added to provide housing for university students. While upgrading the campus, UTPB has also added an intercollegiate sports program. After competing in the Red River Athletic Conference of the NAIA since the fall of 1995, UTPB's sports teams debuted as members of the Heartland Conference of NCAA Division II in the fall of 2006. In 2009, UTPB finally got a radio contract to air men's home conference basketball games on KFZX to increase the interest in the school and allow parents who live out of town to listen to the games live online. 6 of the 8 games in 2009 will be broadcast. 2 of them can't be done due to a pre-existing contract with fellow city college Odessa College. These and other changes have helped to attract local students who may have opted for junior colleges or other universities.
Another significant addition to the University has been the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute. The Institute provides seminars, training and research on public leadership all over Texas, and offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Leadership Studies. The Institute is also well regarded for its Shepperd Distinguished Lecture Series, which has brought a variety of internationally recognized individuals, such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert McNamara, Ralph Nader, William F. Buckley, Jr., and most recently Malcolm Gladwell to discuss salient political and social topics.
As of 2006, the university was holding discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about construction of a new High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor which, if successful, would finish licensing and construction around 2012. It would also be the first university based research reactor to be built in the US in roughly a decade and be one of the few HTGR type reactors in the world.[2]
Most recently, on April 17, 2008, the university broke ground on a new Science and Technology Complex. The new building will house the chemistry, biology, physics, computer science, and information technology programs. The new 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) building will contain 41 labs, 56 offices, six classrooms, and 3 sunken lecture halls. Ironically, despite warnings from a university geology professor, the contractor failed to identify an underground aquifer that could cause the building supports to sink. It will replace most of the aging and tight quartered labs that are presently located in the Mesa Building, as well as allow for the use of updated and cutting-edge technology for research. UTPB expects the complex to be completed by 2010. Work is progressing smoothly for the Science & Technology Complex on the main campus. Since all slabs have been poured on the science wing, structural steel for the roof framing is being placed. On the technology wing, forming is being erected for the structural concrete slab for the second floor. When finished, the building will house classrooms, multiple laboratories including two large demonstration labs, a 200-seat lecture hall, and a state-of-the-art Data Communications Teaching Lab for undergraduate and graduate students.
A state-of-the-art building known as the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center is under construction as well near the C.E.E.D. building off Hwy 191 and FM 1788. Construction began in 2009 and should be completed in late in 2011. Concrete decks have been poured on mezzanine and upper balconies, and the steel frame has been erected and the slab poured for the Academic Wing. Masons will begin block walls in late March, and parking lot light pole bases are being completed. It will be utilized for fine art classes as well as to attract performances from across the world to the Midland/Odessa area, unlike anything ever seen in the area.
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