Tennessee Technological University. College of Arts and Sciences

Dates

• Usage: 1938 - 1947
• Usage: 1947 - 1965

Historical Note

The Tennessee Tech University College of Arts and Sciences provides a liberal arts education to students.

In 1938, Tennessee Polytechnic Institute reorganized its academics into two divisions, one of which was the Division of Arts and Sciences. At that time, the division included Biological Science, English, Foreign Languages, History and Political Science, Music, and Physical Education.

In 1947, the administration elevated the division to the School of Arts and Sciences. The School included the Departments of Biological Science, Chemistry, English, Foreign Languages, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Music, Physics, and Social Science, and pre-professional programs in Arts-Law, Science-Dental, Science-Medical, and Science-Medical Technology. In 1949, the administration moved the Department of Health and Physical and Department of Music out of the School of Arts and Sciences. The School began offering graduate programs in the 1950s. The first graduate degree awarded by the School was a Master's degree in Biology in 1960. In 1962, the School divided the Department of Social Science into the Department of History and Political Science and the Department of Geography, Philosophy, and Sociology.

In 1965, the state of Tennessee elevated Tennessee Tech from a college to a university. The former School of Arts and Sciences became the College of Arts and Sciences as part of the 1965 restructuring. The Office of the Dean was moved to Henderson Hall in 1965. In 1966, the Department of Geography, Philosophy, and Sociology split into the Department of Sociology and Philosophy and the Department of Earth Sciences. During the 1966-1967 academic year, the Dean founded the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee to study curriculum needs and potential expansion. The Department of History and Political Sciences split into the Department of History and the Department of Political Science in 1971. In Fall 1973, the College began offering undergraduate degree programs in psychology, computer science, and speech and theatre. The College developed a plan for a honors program, which received approval in the 1974-1975 academic year. The College established the Tennessee Tech Foundation for the Humanities and Sciences in the 1976-1977 academic year. During the 1980s, the Foundation raised money for College scholarships, funded lectures, and published and sold lab manuals.

During the 1983-1984 academic year, the new dean Dr. Joseph Lerner initiated the College of Arts and Sciences Lecture Series, formalized the College of Arts and Sciences Executive Committee, and created a Dean's Advisory Committee. In 1986, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science divided into the Department of Mathematics and Department of Computer Science.

In 1989, the state of Tennessee began requiring all state-assisted university and college students to be exposed to English, math, sciences, social sciences, foreign languages, and visual and performing arts.

By Fall 2004, the Department of Political Science merged with the Department of Sociology and Philosophy to become the new Department of Sociology and Political Science.



Deans of the College of Arts and Science have included:

William H. Adams, 1964-1966

Donald Caplenor, 1966-1970

Richard H. Fraser, 1970-1983

Joseph Lerner, 1983-1995

Jack Armistead, 1995-2007

Paul Semmes, 2007-



References:

School of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1964-1965, page 1

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1965-1966, page 1

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1966-1967, page 1, 3

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1971-1972, page 8

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1972-1973, page 1

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1974-1975, page 1

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1976-1977, page 1

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1983-1984

College of Arts and Sciences Annual Report for 1983-1985, page 15-17

College of Arts and Sciences Self-Study Report, 1985, page 1-3

College of Arts and Sciences Self-Study Report, 1986, page 2

College of Arts and Sciences Self-Study Report, Fall 1993

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