Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (abbreviated
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, or
TAMU–CC, or
A&M-Corpus Christi, or
A&M-CC) is a state university located in
Corpus Christi, TexasCorpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, on
Ward IslandWard Island is an island located in the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The entire island is used for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi base.Ward Island is situated in Oso Bay in the Coastal Bend of Texas...
in Oso Bay. The university is part of the
Texas A&M University SystemThe Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
. TAMU-CC 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
BaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
university founded in 1947) before joining the
Texas A&M University SystemThe Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
. The school became a public university in 1973 when the
Baptist General Convention of TexasThe Baptist General Convention of Texas is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. The churches cooperating with the Baptist General Convention of Texas partner nationally and internationally with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,...
sold it to the State.
Academics
TAMU-CC offers 33
undergraduateUndergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
majorsIn the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
, 25
graduateA graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
programs, and two doctoral programs through five colleges.
The College of
Liberal ArtsThe term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
has 7 departments, housing 12 undergraduate and 6 graduate degrees, ranging from the arts to
criminal justiceCriminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
to
psychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
The College of Business offers 8 undergraduate and 4 graduate degrees and is accredited by
AACSBThe Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business was founded in 1916 to accredit schools of business worldwide. The first accreditations took place in 1919. The stated mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership. It is regarded...
.
The College of Education offers
teacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
certification in more than 30 areas as well as three undergraduate degrees, 11 graduate programs, and 2 doctoral programs.
The College of Science and Technology offers 12 undergraduate and 5 graduate degrees in areas like biology,
Computer Science, environmental science and engineering. The Geographic Information Science (GIS) program is accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and TechnologyABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology...
(ABET). The Engineering and Technology program offers
B.S.A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degrees in
Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
(ME),
Mechanical Engineering TechnologyMechanical engineering technology is the application of physical principles and current technological developments to the creation of useful machinery and operation design. Technologies such as solid models may be used as the basis for finite element analysis and / or computational fluid dynamics ...
(MET) and
Electrical Engineering TechnologyElectrical engineering technology is an engineering technology field that implements and applies the principles of electrical engineering...
(EET). The EET program offers three options: Control Systems, Electronic Systems, and Computer Systems, while the MET program offers
ConstructionIn the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
and
MaintenanceMaintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
options—all
ABETABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology...
accredited.
The recently formed College of
NursingNursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
and Health Sciences offers two undergraduate degrees in Nursing and Health Science and one graduate degree in Nursing.
TAMU-CC is English as a Second Language International (ESLI) member university..
ESLI, through its Language Centers, prepares students from non-English speaking countries to successfully enter and study at North American universities
Research
The Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science is a research institute dedicated to geospatial science. 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 ModernizationHeight Modernization is the name of a series of state-by-state programs recently begun by the United States' National Geodetic Survey, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
, and other geospatial research relating to surveying and mapping.
The
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico StudiesThe Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies is a recently endowed and developing research institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.- Mission :...
brings scientists to the campus to strengthen TAMU-CC's research on environmental issues facing the Gulf of Mexico, area
wetlandA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s, coastal waterways, and beaches. Other centers on campus conduct research on biodiversity through offshore scientific diving expeditions, and aid in oil spill response, hurricane tracking, and commercial shipping.
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.
Newspaper
Island Waves is the official student newspaper at TAMU-CC. It was first published in 1993.
Island Waves is entirely student-run, on account of the University not having a journalism department. Thus,
Island Waves 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.
Athletics
TAMU-CC has joined the
Southland ConferenceThe Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
as of 2006-07 as a non-football member. Before that, it had been an independent since it began offering Division I sports in 1999.
TAMU-CC offers 5 men's sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, and track and field; as well as 7 women's sports: basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
The
mascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
for TAMU-CC is
Izzy the Islander, a costumed man with a
tikiTiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...
mask headdress, grass skirt and spear. Prior to that, the official mascot was "Tarpy" the Tarpon.
Men's basketball
The Islanders basketball team is coached by
Willis WilsonWillis Thomas Wilson, Jr. is the head coach of the Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders men's basketball team. He previously served an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers basketball team. Previously, Wilson was head coach of the college basketball team at Rice University for 16 seasons...
and play their home games at the
American Bank CenterThe American Bank Center is an entertainment complex located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The complex consists of an auditorium convention center and arena. The facility hosts numerous conventions, trade shows, exhibitions, live performances and sporting events. It is home to the Corpus Christi...
as well as at the Dugan Wellness Center on the University's campus. They have played in the NCAA tournament once, in
2007The 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 NCAA schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball season...
, 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 alumni
- Film directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks graduated with Communication Arts degrees in 1999. Their debut motion picture The Wild Man of the Navidad
The Wild Man of the Navidad is a 2008 horror film picked up by IFC Films shortly after its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. - Plot :This movie is allegedly based on the real-life journals of Dale S...
, released by IFC FilmsIFC Films is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center....
, was co-produced by a professor at the university at that time, Kim HenkelKim Henkel is an American screenwriter, director and producer.Henkel was born in Virginia and grew up in several small towns in South Texas. He started at the University of Texas at Austin in 1964 majoring in English and graduated in 1969...
, who just so happened to be the co-writer/producer of another famous horror film The Texas Chain Saw MassacreThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, who cowrote it with Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, and Gunnar Hansen, who respectively portray Sally Hardesty, Franklin Hardesty, the...
.
External links