Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi
Motto The Island University
Type State university
Established 1947
Parent institution
 Texas A&M University System
President Flavius C. Killebrew
Provost Kelly Quintanilla
Academic staff
 294
Students 12,174 (Fall 2016)[1]
Location Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
27°42′44″N 97°19′31″W / 27.7121°N 97.3254°W / 27.7121; -97.3254Coordinates: 27°42′44″N 97°19′31″W / 27.7121°N 97.3254°W / 27.7121; -97.3254
Campus Urban, 240 acres (970,000 m²)[2]
Colors Blue, Green, and Silver[3]
              
Nickname Islanders
Mascot Izzy the Islander[2]
Sporting affiliations
 NCAA Division I – Southland
Website www.tamucc.edu

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (abbreviated Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, or TAMUCC, or A&M-Corpus Christi, or A&M-CC) is a state university located in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States, on Ward Island in Oso Bay. The university is part of the Texas A&M University System.

History

The university's island campus.
Pottery exhibit by Art students in the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Plaza

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was formerly known at various times by one of the following three names: Corpus Christi State University, Texas A&I University at Corpus Christi, and the University of Corpus Christi (a Baptist university founded in 1947) before joining the Texas A&M University System in 1989. The school became a public university in 1973 when the Baptist General Convention of Texas sold it to the State.[4]

Academics

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi offers 33 undergraduate majors, 25 graduate programs, and five doctoral programs through five colleges.[5]

The College of Liberal Arts[6] has 7 departments, housing 12 undergraduate and 6 graduate degrees, ranging from the arts to criminal justice to psychology.

The College of Business[7] offers 8 undergraduate and 4 graduate degrees and is accredited by AACSB.

The College of Education and Human Development[8] offers teacher certification in more than 30 areas as well as three undergraduate degrees, 11 graduate programs, and 2 doctoral programs.

The College of Science and Engineering[9] offers 12 undergraduate and 5 graduate degrees.

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences[10] offers two undergraduate degrees.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is English as a Second Language International (ESLI) member university.[11] ESLI, through its Language Centers, prepares students from non-English speaking countries to successfully enter and study at North American universities

Research

According to the Scimago Lab, between 2007 and 2011, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi ranked 261 in the World by normalized impact of publications. In 2013 it ranked 2247 in the World by quality of publications, and 2548 by publication output.[12]

As of March 2016, the total number of Google Scholar citations of the first 20 researcher affiliated with the university is 39,283.[13] According to the Ranking Web of Universities, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi ranks 1551 in the World, 491 in North America and 360 in the USA.[14]

Centers, institutes, and affiliates

TAMUCC Entrance and Harte Research Institute building
The Carlos Truan Natural Resource Building, opened in 1993, was named in honor of late State Senator C. Truan of Corpus Christi, who helped to obtain funding for the facility.[15]

The Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science is a research institute dedicated to geospatial science.[16] The Institute was founded by an endowment from the Conrad Blucher family. Research by the institute includes the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (a tide monitoring system), Texas Spatial Reference Center research for the Texas Height Modernization, and other geospatial research relating to surveying and mapping.

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies brings scientists to the campus to strengthen TAMU-CC's research on environmental issues facing the Gulf of Mexico, area wetlands, coastal waterways, and beaches. Other centers on campus conduct research on biodiversity through offshore scientific diving expeditions,[17] and aid in oil spill response, hurricane tracking, and commercial shipping.

The Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation is one of the six unmanned aircraft system test sites in the USA, designated by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2014.[18]

Student life

Student government

The Student Government Association at TAMU-CC hosts the officers of the student body. The SGA runs a three-branch system, with the Executive Board consisting of the Student Body Officers, the Legislative Board consisting of the Student Senate, and the Judicial Board consisting of the Chief and Associate Justices.

The current legislative branch, or Student Senate, has two underlying groups of senators: the classification senators, which holds 3 graduate senators, 4 senior senators, 3 junior senators, 3 sophomore senators, and 3 freshman senators, as well as the college senators, which holds two senators for each of the five colleges: Business, Education, Liberal Arts, Nursing, and Science & Technology.

Elections for SGA are held twice a year, once near the close of the spring for all positions, and then at the opening of the fall for the freshman senators and remaining vacancies from the spring elections.

Publications

TAMU-CC has an entirely student-run newspaper, Island Waves. It was first published in 1993, and is, in part, funded through student fees and advertisement sales. Issues are put out every Thursday throughout the fall and spring semesters, with three issues printed over the summer.

Islander Magazine is a biannual news publication for Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, first published in the Fall of 2006.

Greek life

TAMU-CC is home to five Interfraternity Council Fraternities (IFC). Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Chi, and Kappa Sigma. The university has four National Panhellenic Sororities (NPC). Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Delta Delta, Gamma Phi Beta, and Zeta Tau Alpha. The university also has 6 Multicultural Greek Council organizations (MGC). Lambda Theta Alpha, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Omega Delta Phi, Alpha Phi Alpha, and Beta Xi Chi. Greek Life is a growing aspect of the TAMU-CC campus gaining notoriety and size over the years since it began at the university in 1998. In 2016, two of their fraternities received suspension for three years, Delta Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon, for hazing.

Athletics

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi joined the Southland Conference as of 2006-07 as a non-football member. Before that, it had been an independent since it began offering Division III sports in 1999.

TAMUCC offers 5 men's sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; as well as 8 women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

TAMUCC teams all compete under the team name Islanders, the name taken from TAMUCC being located on an island. Their mascot is "Izzy the Islander", a costumed man with a tiki mask headdress, grass skirt and spear. Prior to that, the official mascot was "Tarpie" the Tarpon.

Men's basketball

The Islanders basketball team is coached by Willis Wilson and play their home games at the American Bank Center as well as at the Dugan Wellness Center on the University's campus. They have played in the NCAA tournament once, in 2007, losing in the first round.

Women's Cross Country

The Islander cross country team is regarded as the most successful sport in school history, as the women's team has won 7 out of the 9 conference titles (more than any other team in the history of Texas universities). In 2009, they scored the highest at the regional meet, with a 6th-place finish.

Notable people

University presidents

Presidents of TAMUCC years as president
1 E. S. Hutcherson (1947–1948)
2 R. M. Cavness (1948–1951)
3 W. A. Miller (1952–1965)
4 Joseph Clapp (1966–1968)
5 Leonard Holloway (1968–1969)
6 Kenneth Maroney (1969–1973)
7 Whitney D. Halladay (1973–1977)
8 Barney Alan Sugg (1977–1989)
9 Robert R. Furgason (1990–2004)
10 Flavius C. Killebrew (2004–2016)

Alumni

Faculty members

See also

References

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