Louisiana Tech University



Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 national university by the 2013 U.S. News & World Report college rankings and is the only Tier 1 national university in the nine-member University of Louisiana System. As a designated space grant college, member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and Carnegie Research University with high research activity (RU/H), Louisiana Tech conducts research with ongoing projects funded by agencies such as NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Louisiana Tech is one of only 35 comprehensive research universities in the nation and the only university in Louisiana to be designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The university is known for its engineering programs.

Louisiana Tech University opened as The Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana in 1894 during the Second Industrial Revolution. The original mission of the college was for the education of white students in the arts and sciences for the purpose of developing an industrial economy in post-Reconstruction Louisiana. Four years later, the state constitution changed the school's name to the Louisiana Industrial Institute. In 1921, the college changed its name to the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute to reflect its evolution from a trade school to a larger and more capable technical institute. Under the leadership of Dr. F. Jay Taylor, the college continued to grow and change over time. The Louisiana Polytechnic Institute became desegregated in the 1960s, and officially changed its name to Louisiana Tech University in 1970.

Louisiana Tech enrolled 11,581 students in five academic colleges during the Fall 2011 academic quarter including 2,444 students in the graduate school. In addition to the main campus in Ruston, Louisiana Tech holds classes at the Louisiana Tech University Shreveport Center, Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City, and Barksdale Air Force Base. Tech also maintains an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Detachment 305.

Louisiana Tech fields 16 varsity NCAA Division I sports teams (7 men's, 9 women's teams) and has been a member of the Western Athletic Conference since 2001. The university has accepted an invitation to join Conference USA starting in 2013. The university is known for its football team and Lady Techsters women's basketball program which won three national championship titles (1981, 1982, 1988) and made 13 Final Four appearances in the program's history.

Early years
On May 14, 1894, the Lincoln Parish Police Jury held a special session to outline plans to secure an Industrial School for Lincoln Parish. The police jury called upon State Representative George M. Lomax to introduce the proposed legislation during the upcoming session. Representative Lomax, Jackson Parish Representative J. T. M. Hancock, and lawyer and future judge John B. Holstead fought for the passage of the bill. On July 6, 1894, the proposed bill was approved as Act Number 68 of the General Assembly of Louisiana. The act established "The Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana", an industrial institute created for the education of white children in the arts and sciences.

In 1894, Colonel Arthur T. Prescott was elected as the first president of the college. Colonel Prescott moved to Ruston and began overseeing the construction of a two-story main building. The brick building housed eight large classrooms, an auditorium, a chemical laboratory, and two offices. A frame building was also built nearby and was used for the instruction of mechanics. The Main Building was located on a plot of 20 acre that was donated to the school by Francis P. Stubbs. On September 23, 1895, the school started its first session with six faculty members and 202 students.

In May 1897, Harry Howard became the first graduate. Colonel Prescott awarded him with a Bachelor of Industry degree, but there was no formal commencement. The first formal commencement was held in the Ruston Opera House the following May with ten graduates receiving their diplomas.

Article 256 of the 1898 state constitution changed the school's name to Louisiana Industrial Institute. Two years later, the course of study was reorganized into two years of preparatory work and three years of college level courses. Students who were high school graduates were admitted to the seventh quarter (college level) of study without examination. As years went by, courses changed and admissions requirements tightened. From 1917-1925, several curricula were organized according to the junior college standards and were offered as Bachelors of Industry. In 1919, the Board of Trustees enlarged the curricula and started granting a standard baccalaureate degree. The first of these was granted on June 15, 1921, a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.

The Constitution adopted June 18, 1921, changed the name of the school in Article XII, Section 9, from Louisiana Industrial Institute to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute.

Expansion
The Main Building, a.k.a. Old Main, burned to the ground in 1936, but the columns that marked the entrance remain in place behind Prescott Memorial Library. By June 1936, construction on a new administration building had begun. On completion in January 1937, it was named Leche Hall in honor of then Governor Richard W. Leche of New Orleans. The building was renamed after the death of former university president, J.E. Keeny, and remains the remodeled Keeny Hall.

Louisiana Polytechnic Institute experienced an infrastructure growth spurt in 1939 and 1940. Seven buildings were designed by architect Edward F. Neild, Jr. and completed at a cost of $2,054,270. The buildings constructed on the Tech campus were Aswell Hall (girls' dormitory), Robinson Hall (men's dormitory for juniors and seniors), Tolliver Hall (880 seat dining hall), Bogard Hall (the Engineering Building), the S.J. Wages Power Plant, Reese Agricultural Hall (located on the South Campus Tech Farm), and Howard Auditorium & Fine Arts Building.

During World War II, Louisiana Polytechnic Institute was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

In 1959, four students were awarded the first master's degrees by the institution.

University era
In 1962, Foster Jay Taylor became the 12th President of the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. During his twenty-five years at president, Dr. Taylor oversaw the transformation of the former Louisiana Polytechnic Institute into Louisiana Tech University. The university's enrollment grew from about 3,000 students in 1962 to roughly 12,000 students in 1987.

Most of the modern buildings on the Main Campus were either built or renovated during Taylor's tenure as university president. The main athletic facilities were constructed during the Taylor Era including Joe Aillet Stadium, the Thomas Assembly Center, J.C. Love Field, and the Lady Techster Softball Complex. In addition to the athletic facilities, the 16-story Wyly Tower, Student Bookstore, Nethken Hall (Electrical Engineering building), the University President's House, and the current College of Business Building were built on the Main Campus. In order to house the increasing student body of Louisiana Tech, Dr. Taylor led the construction of Graham, Harper, Kidd, Caruthers, and Neilson residence halls.

Taylor's time as Louisiana Tech president also marked the beginning of Lady Techster athletics. In 1974, Taylor established the Lady Techsters women's basketball program with a $5,000 appropriation. He hired Sonja Hogg, a 28-year old PE instructor at Ruston High School, as the Lady Techsters' first head coach. Under Coach Hogg and her successor Leon Barmore, the Lady Techsters won three National Championships during the 1980s. In 1980, Dr. Taylor founded the Lady Techster Softball team with Barry Canterbury serving as the team's first head coach. The team made seven straight teams to the NCAA Softball Tournament and three trips to the Women's College World Series during the 1980s.

The first doctorate was awarded in 1971, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering.

In 1992, Louisiana Tech became a "selective admissions" university. This university has increased their admissions criteria four times since 2000 by raising the minimum overall grade point average, composite ACT score, and class ranking.

Louisiana Tech has earned recognition from the Louisiana Board of Regents for its graduation rate and retention rate. According to a report of the Louisiana Board of Regents published in December 2011, Louisiana Tech has the second-highest graduation rate among the fourteen public universities in the state of Louisiana. The 53.3% 6-year graduation rate is the highest in the University of Louisiana System. Louisiana Tech has a 74.4% retention rate among incoming freshmen who stays with the same school after the first year, the top rate in the University of Louisiana System. The average time-to-degree ratio for Tech's graduates is 4.7 years, the fastest in the UL System.

Louisiana Tech became the first in the world to award a bachelor's of science in nanosystems engineering when Josh Brown earned his degree in May 2007. Continuing its mission as an engineering pioneer, Louisiana Tech will launch the nation's first cyber engineering BS degree in 2012.

As of May 2011, Louisiana Tech had awarded more than 91,300 degrees.

Campus
The campus of Louisiana Tech University is located in Ruston, Louisiana. The major roads that border or intersect the Tech campus are Tech Drive, California Avenue, Alabama Avenue, and Railroad Avenue. Interstate 20 and U.S. Highways 80 and 167 are located within one mile (1.6 km) of the Main Campus. In addition, a set of railroad tracks operated by Kansas City Southern Railway bisects the campus near Railroad Avenue.

The portion of the Main Campus located west of Tech Drive and north of the railroad include all of the university's major athletic facilities except for J.C. Love Field. The land east of Tech Drive and north of the railroad include the Lambright Intramural Center, J.C. Love Field, and the University Park Apartments. Most of the older residence halls are located near California Avenue and along Tech Drive south of the railroad tracks. The older part of the Main Campus is located south of Railroad Avenue. The proposed Enterprise Campus will be located on a 50 acre plot of land east of Homer Street and bordering the oldest part of the Main Campus.

In addition to the Main Campus, Louisiana Tech also has 474 acre of land located on the South Campus, 167 acre of farm land west of the Main Campus, 603 acre of forest land in Winn, Natchitoches, and Union Parishes, 30 acre of land in Shreveport, a 44 acre golf course in Lincoln Parish, 14 acre of land for an arboretum west of the Main Campus, and a Flight Operations Center at the Ruston Municipal Airport.

Main campus
The Main Campus at Louisiana Tech University originated in 1894 as a 20 acre plot of land with only two buildings, The Old Main Building and a frame building nearby used by the Department of Mechanics (the forerunner of the College of Engineering and Science). Today, the Main Campus is housed on 280 acre of land with 86 buildings including 22 apartment buildings for the University Park Apartments on the north part of the campus. Many of the buildings, especially the older buildings, on the Main Campus are built in the Colonial Revival style. Bogard Hall, Howard Auditorium, Keeny Hall, University Hall (formerly the original Prescott Library), Reese Hall, Robinson Hall, and Tolliver Hall are all included on the National Register of Historical Places. The oldest existing building on Louisiana Tech's campus is the Ropp Center. The Italian-style, wood-frame house was constructed in 1911 and is named after R.L. Ropp, Louisiana Tech's President from 1949 to 1962. The Ropp Center served as the home of seven Louisiana Tech Presidents until a new president's house was built in 1972 on the west side of Tech's campus. The Ropp Center was used by the College of Home Economics for thirteen years until the Office of Special Programs moved into the building in 1985. In 2002, a $1 million renovation was completed to transform the Ropp Center into a faculty and staff club that is used for special events and housing for on-campus guests. The Quadrangle (the Quad) is the focal point of the oldest part of the Main Campus. The Quad is considered to be one of the most peaceful and beautiful locations at Louisiana Tech. Large oak trees and park benches all around the Quad provide students and visitors a quiet place to study and relax. At the center of the Quad is The Lady of the Mist sculpture and fountain, a landmark for students and alumni alike. The buildings surrounding the Quad are Keeny Hall, Howard Auditorium, the Student Center, the Bookstore, the Wyly Tower of Learning, the current Prescott Memorial Library, and the original Prescott Library now known as University Hall.

Another popular location on the Main Campus is Centennial Plaza. In 1994, Centennial Plaza was constructed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Louisiana Tech's founding. The plaza was funded by a student self-assessed fee and designed specifically for the use and enjoyment of the student body. Centennial Plaza is used for special events throughout the year, such as Christmas in the Plaza, movie events, and student organizational fairs. Centennial Plaza is one of the main gathering points of the students due to the plaza's close proximity to the on-campus restaurants, coffee shops, dining halls, university post office, and offices for Student Life, SGA, and Union Board. At the center of the plaza is the Clock Tower which has the sound and digital capabilities to play the Alma Mater, Fight Song, and any other songs and calls as needed. The Alumni Brick Walkway runs through Centennial Plaza and around the Clock Tower. A large Louisiana Tech seal marks the middle of Centennial Plaza just west of the Clock Tower. Centennial Plaza is enclosed by Tolliver Hall, the Student Center, Howard Auditorium, and Harper Residence Hall.

Louisiana Tech has two main dining halls on Wisteria Drive on the west end of Centennial Plaza. The first dining hall is the Student Center which is home to the cafeteria, a smaller dining hall for eating and socializing, the LA Tech Cafe, several small restaurants including Chick-fil-A and Burger King, and the Tonk. The Student Center is also home to the CEnIT Innovation Lab, several large study areas, and a conference room. One of the three bronze bulldog statues is located on the first floor of the Student Center near the entrance of the Tonk. Students pet the bulldog statue for good luck as they walk by the statue.

The second student center on the Tech campus is Tolliver Hall. Tolliver Hall, named after Tech's first full-time dietitian Irene Tolliver, is located at the west end of Centennial Plaza near the Wisteria Student Center. This two-story building was built in the 1920s as one of three dining halls at Louisiana Tech. The eating area in the second floor remained open until it was shut down in the 1980s. In 2003, nearly $3 million was spent to renovate Tolliver Hall into a modern cyber student center. The second floor now houses a cyber cafe which includes computer stations, a McAlister's Deli restaurant, several smaller restaurants, a large dining area with big-screen televisions, and smaller tables surrounding the floor for dining and studying. The offices of the Louisiana Tech Student Government Association, Union Board, the International Student Office, and multicultural affairs are also housed on the second floor. The first floor is used as the post office for Tech's students, faculty, and administration officials. In the past decade, Louisiana Tech built new buildings and renovated some of the Main Campus' older buildings. The university erected Davison Hall (home of the university's Professional Aviation program), the Micromanufacturing Building, and the Biomedical Engineering Building on the south end of the Main Campus along Hergot Avenue. Tech tore down the old Hale Hall and constructed a brand-new Hale Hall in the style and design of the predecessor in 2004. On the eastern edge of the campus, the university renovated the building now known as University Hall, redesigned the bookstore interior, and made needed repairs to Keeny Hall and Howard Auditorium. All of the major athletics facilities on the north part of the Main Campus have received major upgrades and renovations in the past five years.

Construction started in early 2011 on a new College of Business building. The 42000 sqft facility will serve as the centerpiece of the entrepreneurship and business programs of the College of Business. The building will feature new classrooms, two auditoriums, computer labs, research centers, meeting rooms, and career and student support centers. Louisiana Tech has announced plans to construct a new 60000 sqft College of Engineering and Science building adjacent to Bogard Hall.

The campus also hosts the Idea Place, a science museum; A.E. Phillips Lab School, a K-8 school which is recognized as a "Five Star School" by the Louisiana Department of Education; and the Joe D. Waggonner Center for Bipartisan Politics and Public Policy.

South Campus
South Campus is located just southeast of the main campus in Ruston and covers over 80 acres. It is home to the School of Forestry, Department of Agricultural Studies, Center for Rural Development, Equine Center, and Tech Farm. The Tech Farm Salesroom markets dairy, meat, and plant products produced and processed by Tech Farm to the public.

Enterprise Campus
In Fall Quarter 2009, the University broke ground on the new Enterprise Campus which will expand the campus by 50 acres upon completion. The Enterprise Campus will be a green building project and will be a research facility available to technology companies and businesses. The Enterprise campus will also try to bridge the Engineering and Business colleges with the addition of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC).

In 2010, Louisiana Tech finished the renovations of the old Visual Arts Building by transforming that building into the new Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) Center. The E&I Center will serve as the central hub for the Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology's (CEnIT) programs and is located between the College of Business building and Bogard Hall (COES).

Louisiana Tech broke ground on Tech Pointe, the first building on the Enterprise Campus, in 2010. Tech Pointe will house the Cyberspace Research Laboratory as well as high-tech companies and start-up technology companies. The 42000 sqft facility will include access to the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI), fiber-optic and Internet networks, advanced computing capabilities, and other information technology supports needed to meet the demands of 24/7 high-tech companies and specialized cyber security research. Tech Pointe is scheduled for completion sometime in 2011.

The university recently unveiled plans to build a new College of Engineering and Science (COES) building between Bogard Hall (the current COES building) and Tech Pointe. The three-story, 60000 sqft building will provide new active learning class labs, engineering shops, meeting rooms for classes in math, science, and engineering. The new COES building will provide new learning space for the university's first-year and second-year engineering and science students for the first time since the completion of Bogard Hall in 1940. Upon completion of the new College of Engineering and Science building, Louisiana Tech plans to renovate and improve Bogard Hall.

Barksdale Campus
Since September 1965, Louisiana Tech has offered on-base degree programs through its satellite campus at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana. The university works in conjunction with the Department of the Air Force to provide postsecondary education programs that are designed to meet the needs of Air Force personnel. While the primary focus of the Barksdale campus is to educate Air Force personnel, civilians are permitted to take part in the classes offered at the Barksdale campus if space is available. All courses offered at Tech Barksdale are taught on-base or online. The administrative offices for the Louisiana Tech Barksdale Air Force Program are located in the Base Education Center.

Student body
As of the Fall 2011 quarter, Louisiana Tech had an enrollment of 11,581 students pursuing degrees in six academic colleges. The student body has members from every Louisiana parish except Cameron Parish, 46 U.S. states and 64 foreign countries. Louisiana residents account for 85.4% of the student population, while out-of-state students and international students account for 8.9% and 5.7% of the student body respectively. The student body at Louisiana Tech is 61.1% white, 13.0% black, 5.7% international students, and 20.1% other or "unknown" ethnicity. The student body consists of 52.7% women and 48.3% men.

The Fall 2011 incoming freshmen class at Louisiana Tech consisted of 1,632 students. This incoming freshmen class had an average 23.81 ACT score, with 22% scoring between 27-36, and 47% between 22-26. 88.3% of the 2010 freshmen class are Louisiana residents, 10.6% are out-of-state students, and 1.1% are international students. The university has 19 National Merit Scholars, including five from the 2009 freshman class.

As of September 2010, the College of Education had the largest enrollment of any college at Louisiana Tech with 29.0% of the student body. The College of Engineering and Science enrolled 18.4%. The College of Liberal Arts, the College of Applied and Natural Sciences, and the College of Business had 14.7%, 14.2%, and 8.7% respectively. About 14.9% of the student body were enrolled in Basic & Career Studies.

Rankings
In the 2013 U.S. News and World Report ranking of public universities, Louisiana Tech is listed 115th, and LA Tech is ranked in the "Top Tier" of national universities at 199th. Forbes 2012 edition of America's Top Colleges ranks Louisiana Tech as the 187th best research university in the nation. According to The Washington Monthly's 2012 national universities rankings, which consider research, community service, and social mobility, Louisiana Tech ranks 198th nationally.

In the Newsweek/The Daily Beast's College Rankings 2012, Louisiana Tech was ranked 13th nationally in affordability for in-state students and 25th nationally for out-of-state students. The Forbes Top 100 Best Buy Colleges 2012 ranked Louisiana Tech as the 67th best college in the nation when considering overall quality and tuition. In 2012, Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Louisiana Tech as the 96th best-value public university in the nation on the basis of in-state and out-of-state tuition. According to U.S. News and World Report, Louisiana Tech's class of 2010 graduated with the 10th least amount of debt per student compared to all other national universities. According to the 2011–2012 PayScale College Salary Report, Louisiana Tech alumni earn a median starting salary of $43,300 and a median mid-career salary of $85,100. According to the Association for University Technology Managers, Louisiana Tech is ranked as the nation's 2nd best academic institution for innovation productivity as measured by number of new inventions generated per research dollar expended. RateMyProfessors.com ranked the Louisiana Tech professors 2nd on their "Top University Faculty List" in 2008. In 2009, Small Times magazine ranked Louisiana Tech as the 7th best institution in nanotechnology commercialization. G.I. Jobs named Louisiana Tech to its "2012 Military Friendly Schools List," which recognizes the top 15% of institutions doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students. Louisiana Tech was named to the "2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll," which recognizes institutions of higher education that support exemplary community service programs and raise the visibility of best practices in campus-community partnerships.

Colleges
The university confers associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees through its five academic colleges. Additionally, LA Tech offers doctoral degrees in audiology, business administration, counseling psychology (accredited by the American Psychological Association), industrial/organizational psychology, computational analysis and modeling, engineering, and biomedical engineering, with a joint MD/PhD program with the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport.

Applied and Natural Sciences

The College of Applied and Natural Sciences is made up of the Departments of Agricultural Science, Biological Sciences, Forestry, Health Informatics and Information Management, Human Ecology, and Nursing.

College of Business The College of Business comprises the Departments of Accounting, Economics & Finance, Graduate Studies & Research, Management & Information Systems, and Marketing & Analysis.

Louisiana Tech College of Business also houses Academy of Marketing Science. Academy of Marketing Science is the premier body of both national and international marketing scholars. Academy of Marketing Science publishes the top marketing journal -"The Journal of Academy of Marketing Science". College of Business has one of the strongest professional selling and sales management scholarship.

In 2009, Louisiana Tech launched their Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program designed specifically for executives and managers. The curriculum of the EMBA program places an emphasis on strategic thinking, leadership skills, and management decision-making. The 30 credit hour (10 course) program is taught at the Technology Transfer Center in Shreveport and the CenturyLink headquarters in Monroe. The Shreveport EMBA program hosted their first EMBA class in January 2009, and the second group of EMBA students will start their studies at Shreveport in 2011. The Monroe EMBA program held their first EMBA class in January 2010 in conjunction with the University of Louisiana at Monroe's College of Business, and their second group of EMBA students are scheduled in start their classes in 2012.

Education

The College of Education is made up of the departments of Curriculum, Instruction and Leadership, Kinesiology, and Psychological and Behavioral Sciences.

College of Engineering and Science The College of Engineering and Science (COES) is the engineering school at Louisiana Tech University. The COES offers thirteen undergraduate degrees including seven engineering degrees, two engineering technology degrees, and four science degrees. The college also offers seven Master of Science degrees and four Doctorate degrees.

The college started as the Department of Mechanics in 1894 with a two-year program in Mechanic Arts. Since its founding, the college expanded its degree program to include chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and mechanical engineering. The COES began offering one of the first biomedical engineering curriculum programs in the United States in 1972 and the first nanosystems engineering BS degree in 2005. Louisiana Tech launched the nation's first cyber engineering BS degree in 2012.

Bogard Hall is the second and current home of the College of Engineering and Science. Louisiana Tech constructed the building in 1940 and named it after Frank Bogard, the former Dean of Engineering at Louisiana Tech. The college also utilizes Nethken Hall, the Biomedical Engineering Building, the Institute for Micromanufacturing, and parts of Carson-Taylor Hall for the college's activities. In early 2011, Louisiana Tech announced plans to construct a new Integrated Engineering and Science Building adjacent to Bogard Hall. The 60000 sqft building will provide new classrooms, shops, and meeting rooms for engineering, science, and math students at Louisiana Tech. When the new engineering building is complete, the university will begin renovations of Bogard Hall.

Liberal Arts

The College of Liberal Arts consists of nine academic departments: Architecture, Art, History, Journalism, Literature and Language, Performing Arts, Professional Aviation, Social Science, and Speech. The college offers 26 degree programs, including 19 bachelors, 6 masters, and the doctorate degree in audiology

The College of Liberal Arts hosts the Louisiana Tech University Honors Program and the Air Force ROTC Detachment 305.

Interdisciplinary centers
Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology (CEnIT) In 2001, Louisiana Tech proposed the creation of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology (CEnIT), a collaboration between the College of Engineering & Science (COES) and the College of Business (COB). The CEnIT focuses the resources of the two colleges and their related centers in promoting entrepreneurial research, technology transfer, and education. The CEnIT was approved in 2002 by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors and the Louisiana Board of Regents. As of 2011, the CEnIT is housed in the 3,000 sqft CEnIT Innovation Lab on the main floor of the Student Center next to The Quad. The center will move to the newly-renovated University Hall building located next to the College of Business sometime in 2011.

The Top Dawg Competition was created in 2002 by the Association of Business, Engineering, and Science Entrepreneurs (ABESE), now known as Bulldog Entrepreneurs. The annual competition is hosted by Bulldog Entrepreneurs and in conjunction with the CEnIT, COES, College of Business, and the Technology Business Development Center (TBDC). The competition started as the Top Dawg Business Plan Competition in 2002 and expanded six years later to include the Idea Pitch Competition. Participants in the Top Dawg Competition create teams to develop innovative ideas into real businesses and showcase intellectual properties developed by Louisiana Tech researchers and students. The teams must foster an idea, create a business plan, and compete for cash prizes and resources needed to further develop the team's concept. The total amount of money awarded during each competition to the competing teams has grown since 2002 to $14,500 for the 2011 Competition. In addition to prize money from the COES and College of Business, additional prize money is awarded by Jones Walker, Louisiana Tech's Innovation Enterprise Fund, and the Ruston-Lincoln Parish Chamber of Commerce.

Continuing education and distance learning
Global_Campus

Louisiana Tech established the Global_Campus on September 16, 2008. The mission of the Global_Campus is "to position Louisiana Tech as a world-class leader in electronic learning, offering new educational opportunities for a global community that meets the needs of undergraduate, graduate, and non-traditional students". The campus offers a variety of degree programs, certificate programs, and general education courses. Global_Campus focuses on providing more flexibility and choices to Tech's traditional students and complete online education services to non-traditional students, such as military, international, and dual enrollment students.

As of 2011, Global_Campus offers over 275 distance learning courses while more courses are in development. Louisiana Tech has six master's degree programs, two bachelor's degree programs, and one associate's degree program available via distance learning. In addition to the nine degree programs, Global_Campus offers eight professional development programs.

MurphyUSA@LaTech

In January 2011, Louisiana Tech and Murphy USA announced a partnership called "MurphyUSA@LaTech" with the first classes scheduled to start in the 2011 Summer Quarter. The joint venture is designed to provide "targeted educational and professional developmental programs" to MurphyUSA managers around the world. MurphyUSA@LaTech will be housed in the Division of Continuing Education and Distance Learning and is available only to active and eligible employees of Murphy Oil USA.

MurphyUSA@LaTech offers Certificates of Completion in Communications, Liberal Studies, Business, Psychology, History, English, and Social Services. The joint venture also offers the Bachelor of General Studies, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Engineering and Technology Management degree programs.

Activities
Louisiana Tech has over 163 officially recognized student organizations. Students can opt to participate in Student Government, Union Board, The Tech Talk, Louisiana TechTV, Lagniappe, Greek, religious, honor, service, spirit, intramurals, club sports, pre-professional, and special interest organizations.

The Louisiana Tech University Union Board organizes entertainment activities for Louisiana Tech students throughout the entire school year. About 80 students participate in Union Board each academic school year. The Union Board receives an annual budget of about $210,000 in Student Assessment Fees and uses the money to organize and produce the annual Talent Show, Spring Fling, Christmas in the Plaza, the Miss Tech Pageant, and other special events.

The Student Government Association (SGA) is the official governing body of the Louisiana Tech University Student Association (the student body) and consists of three branches; the Student Senate, Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court. The organization is responsible for the Welcome Week/Dawg Haul activities, Homecoming Week, the Big Event, short term student loans, voter registration drives for the student body, and other various activities throughout the year. Louisiana Tech and neighboring Grambling State University operate an ROTC exchange program. Louisiana Tech operates the Air Force ROTC while Grambling operates the Army ROTC, and students from either school may participate in either program.

Since 2006, Louisiana Tech has played host to Summer Leadership School for Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from public school systems all over the United States. It is operated by normal USAF retirees, but mostly by college level Cadet Training Officers. These sessions are held towards the end of the month of June for nine days.

Media
The Tech Talk is Louisiana Tech's official student newspaper for the past 86 years. The Tech Talk is published every Thursday of the regular school year, except for finals week and vacation periods. The award-winning newspaper has been honored in the past few years by the Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC), Louisiana Press Women, National Federation of Press Women, Louisiana Press Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists. The Tech Talk was named the 10th Best Newspaper in the South in 2010 and the 3rd Best Newspaper in the South in 2011 by the Southeast Journalism Conference.

The Lagniappe is Tech's yearbook. The Lagniappe, which literally means "something extra" was first published in 1905 and has been published every year since except for 1913–1921 and 1926. The yearbook's annual release date is around the last week of the regular school year in the middle of May. The Lagniappe was recognized in May 2011 as "First Class" by the Associated Collegiate Press and as one of the top 2 percent of high school and collegiate yearbooks by Balfour Publishing's "The Yearbook's Yearbook". Mary May Brown, the recently-retired faculty advisor of the Lagniappe for 23 years was named the Collegiate Publications Advisor of the Year by the Louisiana Press Women in 2011.

Louisiana Tech's local radio station is KLPI. The radio station was founded as WLPI-AM in 1966 and originally housed in a rented office on Railroad Avenue in downtown Ruston. By 1974, construction was completed on KLPI-FM, and the radio station began broadcasting at 10 watts. Afterward, WLPI-AM was shut down due to maintenance problems with the station's equipment. Today, KLPI transmits at 4,000 watts of power and is located at the southeast corner of the Student Center at the heart of the Tech campus.

Louisiana TechTV is the official student-run television station at Louisiana Tech since its launch in 2000. TechTV shows newly-released movies, TechTV news, personal news clips by the general student body, original programming like Tech Cribs, Tech Play, and informational slides for upcoming campus events.

Residential life
Louisiana Tech requires students to live on campus for 7 quarters or 80 credit hours, in turn coming to a little over two years, unless deemed a commuter.

A building program is underway to move from traditional dormitories to apartment-style complexes. The first of these, University Park, was opened in 2005 and houses up to 450 students. The second phase, known as University Park 2 (UP2) opened for the Fall 2008 quarter. The third phase, Park Place, opened fall quarter of 2009.

While the university is constructing new apartment-style student housing complexes, Louisiana Tech is moving to demolish some of the traditional dormitories. The Kidd Residence Hall on the southern part of the Tech campus was demolished in 2004. The University is also planning to demolish the Caruthers and Neilson Residence Halls on the north side of the campus in the future. The planned demolition of Caruthers Hall was postponed in 2005 to allow 300 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina to stay in the dorm for three months.

Greek life
Louisiana Tech has 21 nationally-recognized Greek organizations. Each fraternity and sorority on the Tech campus promotes community services, philanthropy, and university involvement through each organization's own locally and/or nationally designated service project. The local Kappa Delta sorority raised over $10,000 this year from their annual Shamrock 5K & 1 Mile Run to benefit the Methodist Children's Home of Ruston. Since 2002, the Phi Mu sorority has held a golf tournament to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. The Phi Mu Golf Tournament raised $7,000 in 2007 and $10,000 in 2009. Sigma Kappa has held the "Kickin' Grass" kickball tournament to benefit the Alzheimers Research Foundation since 2009 and raised $2,300 during the 3rd Annual tournament in 2011.

The Greek organizations also participate in other university activities including the Big Event, Homecoming Week activities, the Homecoming Step Show, and Bulldog Football tailgating at Hide-Away Park near Joe Aillet Stadium. The fraternities and sororities participate in Greek Week each year during the spring quarter.

Louisiana Tech's Greek fraternities and sororities are governed by three governing boards. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) governs the nine male fraternities, Panhellenic governs the four female sororities, and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (also known as "the Pan") governs the six multicultural sororities and fraternities. Louisiana Tech is also home to the Delta-Lambda chapter of Sigma Pi, chartered since December 2001, but not recognized as a member of the university's IFC.

Athletics


Louisiana Tech's sixteen athletic teams have competed in the Western Athletic Conference since 2001. During May 2012 it was announced that Louisiana Tech has been extended, and has accepted, an invitation to join Conference USA beginning July 1, 2013. The university's seven men's teams are known as the Bulldogs, and the nine women's teams are known as the Lady Techsters. The teams wear the university colors of red and blue except for the women's basketball team that wears their signature Columbia blue.

In the past four years, Louisiana Tech launched a campaign to improve the on-campus athletic facilities. The facility improvements include renovations to Joe Aillet Stadium, the Thomas Assembly Center, J.C. Love Field, and the Lady Techster Softball Complex. In addition to the recent renovations, Tech constructed new facilities including the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex, Lady Techster Soccer Field, Lambright Bowling Alley, and Louisiana Tech Tennis Complex. In 2010, Louisiana Tech announced the "Quest For Excellence" campaign. The $20 million project will finance the construction of a 90000 sqft facility in Joe Aillet Stadium's south endzone. The endzone facility will include a new sports medicine facility, strength & conditioning center, academic center, coaches' offices, locker rooms, administrative suites, and meeting rooms for the university's athletic department personnel. The South endzone complex will also include a Hall of Fame memorabilia area and large premium seating club.

Football
Louisiana Tech's football team played its first season in 1901 and has competed at the Division I FBS level from 1975–1981 and 1989–present. In its 111 years of existence, Tech's football program has won three National Championships (1972-National Football Foundation Co-National Champions, 1973-Division II National Champions, 1974-UPI College Division National Champions), played in six Division I bowl games (2-3-1 overall record), and earned 25 conference titles. Its former players include 50 All-American players including Terry Bradshaw, Fred Dean, Willie Roaf, Matt Stover, Ryan Moats, Josh Scobee, Troy Edwards, Tim Rattay, Luke McCown, and Tramon Williams.

The football team competes as an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institution in Conference USA. The Bulldogs are coached by head coach Skip Holtz and play their home games at Joe Aillet Stadium on the north end of the Tech campus.

Men's basketball


The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball program started in the 1925-26 season under Head Coach R.C. Kenny. The basketball team has won 19 conference titles, and earned 6 NCAA Tournament and 6 NIT appearances. The Bulldog program reached the NCAA or the NIT tournaments nine straight years from 1984 to 1992.

Three Bulldogs have had their numbers retired by Louisiana Tech. These are Lady Techster Head Coach Leon Barmore (#12), Karl Malone (#32), and collegiate All-American player Jackie Moreland (#42). Other notable former Bulldog players include Paul Millsap, P.J. Brown, and Tim Floyd.

The Bulldogs are led by head coach Michael White and play their home games on Karl Malone Court at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Women's basketball
The Lady Techsters women's basketball program was founded in 1974 with Sonja Hogg as its first head coach. The Lady Techsters have won three national championships (1981, 1982, 1988), 20 conference titles, and 16 conference tournaments. The program has also appeared in eight AIAW/NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament finals, 13 Final Fours, and 27 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournaments including 25 in a row from 1982 to 2006. After a two-year hiatus from postseason play, the Lady Techsters have played in postseason tournaments each of the last three years (WNIT in 2009, NCAA Tournament in 2010 & 2011).

Alumnae of the program include WNBA All-Stars Teresa Weatherspoon, Betty Lennox, Cheryl Ford, and Kim Mulkey, the first and only woman to have won NCAA Division I basketball titles as a player and head coach. Three former assistant coaches of the Lady Techsters basketball team have won NCAA National Women's Basketball Championships as head coaches: Leon Barmore (1988 with Louisiana Tech), Kim Mulkey (2005 with Baylor), and Gary Blair (2011 with Texas A&M).

The team played their home games at Memorial Gym on Louisiana Tech's campus from 1974 until 1982 when the Thomas Assembly Center was constructed. The team is coached by former Lady Techster and WNBA All-Star Teresa Weatherspoon and plays its home games at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Lady of the Mist
The Lady of the Mist is one of the most recognizable landmarks on the Louisiana Tech Main Campus. The granite sculpture sits in the midst of a fountain in the middle of the quadrangle (The Quad), one of the focal points of the university and part of the older section of the Main Campus. The Lady of the Mist symbolizes "Alma Mater" who welcomes new students and bids farewell to Tech graduates. The statue also symbolizes the hope that Louisiana Tech graduates will fulfill their ambitions and highest callings in life.

The statue and fountain was funded in 1938 by the Women's Panhellenic Association of Ruston, the governing body of the university's sorority groups. The Lady of the Mist was the idea of Art & Architecture faculty member Mary Moffett and Art Department Chair Elizabeth Bethea. The Lady of the Mist was created by Duncan Ferguson and Jules Struppeck and specifically located in the middle of the Quad facing north toward the old North entrance columns of the Tech campus. This was done to welcome everyone to the campus as people looked through the North entrance columns to see the statue's open arms waiting to greet them.

The Lady fell into disrepair in the years after its construction. In 1985, the statue was restored through the efforts of the Student Government Association, Panhellenic, the Residence Hall Association, and the Association of Women Students. Today, the statue remains a focal point of students and alumni who return to the Tech campus.

Alumni brick walkway
The alumni walkway was constructed in 1995 as part of the centennial celebrations at Louisiana Tech. The brick path stretches from the corner of Adams Blvd & Arizona Avenue through the heart of Centennial Plaza and ends at the footsteps of Tolliver Hall near Wisteria Street. As of May 2011, the walkway contains 72,000 engraved bricks representing all Louisiana Tech graduates up to the year 2000. In September of 2012, the class of 2001 bricks were added to the end of the walkway near Tolliver Hall. The plan is to extend the alumni brick walkway through the new University Park student housing apartments that were built near J.C. Love Field in 2004–2005.

Notable alumni
Some of Louisiana Tech's notable alumni include:


 * Businessmen: Charles Wyly, Sam Wyly, Glen F. Post III, James E. Davison, and Michael McCallister.Phil Robertson of Duck Commander
 * Entertainers: Kix Brooks, Trace Adkins, and Muse Watson.
 * Football players: Terry Bradshaw, Fred Dean, Willie Roaf, Luke McCown, Josh Scobee, Ryan Moats, Troy Edwards, Tim Rattay, Tramon Williams, and Matt Stover.
 * Men's basketball players: Karl Malone, P.J. Brown, Paul Millsap, Tim Floyd, and Leon Barmore.
 * United States politicians: Saxby Chambliss, Newt V. Mills, Jim McCrery, Rodney Alexander, Joe Waggonner, and James P. Pope.
 * Women's basketball players: Teresa Weatherspoon, Venus Lacy, Cheryl Ford, Betty Lennox, Vickie Johnson, Janice Lawrence Braxton, Pam Kelly, and Kim Mulkey.