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Texas Tech
University is in compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.8.1.
The university is
equipped with a wide range of learning resources to support its
teaching, research, and service mission. The space allocation
for research, teaching, and public service is as follows. Out of
a possible 7,812,215 gross square feet, 4,467,812 can be
described as research, teaching, and public service space.
Assignable space is 4,365,886 square feet, with 2,674, 882
square feet devoted to research, teaching, and public
service. The Experimental Science and Animal Science buildings,
both still under construction, are not included in these
figures. Experimental Science will add 127,810 square feet of
total space and 77,021 feet of assignable space, and Animal
Science will add 55,000 square feet of total space, of which
21,836 square feet is assignable. Housing, athletics,
recreation, administrative and administrative support facilities
are not included unless directly involved in public service
(Police Department, etc.). A complete inventory of Texas Tech
University buildings is available on line at the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board site or at (http://www.irim.ttu.edu/SACSFocusReport/BuildingInventory.pdf).
Facilities that
are specifically dedicated to learning resources are enumerated
below.
Libraries
The university
library is housed in a modern facility that provides a wide
variety of access to information resources. These facilities are
described in the library response to this comprehensive standard
and also under Core Requirement 2.9.
In addition to the
university (main) library (http://library.ttu.edu/ul),
three other libraries are administered through the Dean of
Libraries. These are:
Southwest
Collection/Special Collection Library (http://www.swco.ttu.edu),
an archive that specializes in materials that relate to the
history of the South Plains region and the larger Southwestern
United States. The SW Collection includes print materials,
manuscripts, letters and business records, oral histories
recorded on tape, photographs, and other materials. Special
Collections include the Narrative of Turkish Oral History (http://www.aton.ttu.edu),
Vietnam Archives (http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu),
the James Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and
the Natural World (http://www.swco.ttu.edu/Manuscripts/special_collections.htm),
and the Rare Books collection (http://www.swco.ttu.edu/rare_books/index.htm).
These materials are largely intended for research, and they
support the interests of university programs such as history,
anthropology, agriculture, architecture, and the Vietnam Center.
Access is open to faculty, students, and the public.
Architecture
Library (http://library.ttu.edu/arch/),
housed in the Architecture Building, this collection supports
the programs of the College of Architecture, but is also
accessible to faculty and students from across the campus.
International
Cultural Center Library (http://library.ttu.edu/icc).
The ICC collection contains between 2,900 and 3,000 documentary
and feature films in video cassette and/or DVD format. The
emphasis of the collection is on foreign films and documentaries
made abroad or that feature issues related to foreign areas. The
collection is open to students, faculty, and the general public,
and films may be borrowed for use in classes, home viewing, or,
in some cases where copyright permits, public viewing. Texas
Tech University does not have a central audio-visual facility,
so the ICC film collection is a valuable resource for students
and faculty in a variety of programs where access to information
about foreign areas is essential or desirable.
Texas Tech
University students and faculty also have access to the Law
Library, which is located in the School of Law Building and
administered by the School of Law, and the Preston Smith Library of the
Health Sciences (http://www.lib.ttuhsc.edu/),
housed in the Texas Tech University School of Medicine and
administered by the Health Sciences Center. These library
collections focus on the specialized areas of the disciplines
they support (law and health sciences). Both collections are
readily accessible to students and faculty of Texas Tech
University.
In addition to the
facilities described above, several departments maintain
specialized libraries of their own, which are primarily intended
for the use of department students and faculty. The Geosciences
Department maintains a map library with a complete set of United
States Geological Survey 7 ½ minute topographic maps and many
sheets from the older 15 minute and other series. The Department
of Political Science has the William J. Davis library which
houses a small collection of journals and monographs on
political science and public administration, the College of
Visual and Performing Arts maintains a music library for use of
the School of Music, and the School of Art maintains the Visual
Resource Center, a collection of visual materials (slides, art
books, periodicals, CD-ROMs, and videos) that are used primarily
for teaching.
In addition to the
libraries, the campus has a wide range of laboratory and studio
facilities, computer facilities, classrooms equipped with
internet access, interactive TV, and other state of the art
electronic facilities, and specialized areas such as
experimental farms and rangeland sites that serve the
university’s teaching and research mission. The new Experimental
Science building is dedicated to laboratory space for science
research, primarily in the life sciences. As noted above, it
will add over 77,000 square feet of assignable space for use in
research and will also contribute to the university’s teaching
mission by providing facilities for undergraduate and graduate
students to engage in sponsored research projects.
The Texas Tech
Museum and the National Ranching Heritage Center both provide
many non-traditional learning resources. The museum collections
include historical artifacts, costumes (historical and Latin
American Indian), art, and natural history. The associated
Natural Science Research Laboratory houses one of the largest
collections of mammals in the United States, with over 76,000
specimens. In addition, the NSRL has 11,000 reptile and
amphibian specimens and 4,500 birds. This collection facilitates
the research of faculty and students in the colleges of
Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and Arts and
Sciences as well as the Museum Science and Heritage Management
graduate programs. The Lubbock Lake Landmark is an
archaeological and natural history preserve located on the
northern edge of the city of Lubbock. The LLL features a visitor
center with educational displays (dioramas and historical and
archaeological artifacts) and a well equipped educational center
and auditorium. The site is an active archaeological research
site with evidence of human occupation dating back nearly 12,000
years. Finally, the Moody Planetarium provides weekly star shows
for the general public. The museum is available for class visits
and students may also use the facility to conduct independent
research on class projects.
The National
Ranching Heritage Center, housed adjacent to the museum on the
Texas Tech University campus houses more than 36 historical
buildings, mostly from the 19th century, that represent the
history of ranching in Texas. Buildings from all parts of Texas
have been transported to the NRHC for preservation and display.
The facility is used by students in history, architecture,
museum science, and other programs.
In a modern
university computers provide access to an almost infinite array
of learning resources. The computer facilities available to
students at Texas Tech University are described in the response
to Comprehensive Standard 3.4.14. |
