AUBURN UNIVERSITY, chartered in 1856, is located in Auburn, Alabama, and traces its beginning to the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts institution whose doors opened in 1859. From 1861 to 1866 the college was closed because of the Civil War. The college had begun an affiliation with the Methodist Church before the war. Due to financial straits, the church transferred legal control of the institution to the state in 1872, making it the first land-grant college in the South to be established separate from the state university. It thus became the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.
Women were admitted in 1892, and in 1899 the name again was changed, to the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. In 1960, the school acquired a more appropriate name, Auburn University, a title more in keeping with its location, size and complexity. The institution has experienced its greatest growth since World War II, and today enrolls 21,775 students, the largest on-campus enrollment in the state. The majority are Alabama residents.
Auburn University at Montgomery was established as a separately
administered branch campus in 1967. The institution has developed
rapidly, especially since moving to a new 500-acre campus east
of Montgomery in 1971. Current enrollment at AUM is 5,408.
Auburn University, Alabama's 1872 Land-Grant University, has a unique role in the state's total higher education enterprise, embracing and enhancing the interrelated functions of instruction, research and extension. In fulfillment of this mission, Auburn, in its 143-year history, has developed into a premier comprehensive University, offering outstanding, economically accessible instruction to its undergraduate, graduate and professional students, conducting research in an ever-expanding array of disciplines, and reaching a growing number of Alabamians through public service and extension programs.
By striving for excellence in all its activities, Auburn represents
a major resource in the state's economic, social and cultural
development. In recognition of obligations to society, instruction,
research and extension programs are also sensitive to national
and global concerns. The primary resource for realizing these
goals, as at all great universities, is the faculty; and it is
through systematic recruitment, assignment, development, recognition
and compensation programs that Auburn nurtures such a prominent,
highly productive professional staff.
Auburn offers the baccalaureate in more than 130 areas that span the spectrum of disciplines, and provides the state's only publicly supported programs in many fields, including several in agriculture, forestry, architecture, building science, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. Particularly strong academic programs can be found in the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Mathematics, Business, Education and Engineering. Through the years, ROTC programs at Auburn have been nationally prominent in providing leadership for the military. Auburn supports a comprehensive graduate school, providing master's level programs in more than 64 areas and the doctorate in more than 40 fields, many unique in Alabama. Strong graduate programs are found in agriculture, the biological and physical sciences, forestry, mathematics, engineering, education, the human sciences, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. More recently, excellent graduate offerings have emerged in the liberal arts, social sciences and business. As a comprehensive center for graduate education and research, Auburn develops its academic programs to adapt to the changing of modern society.
While Auburn has long been widely recognized for its quality and diversity in undergraduate and first-professional offerings, more recently and in relation to expanding research efforts the scope of graduate degree programs has risen to prominence. Notable growth is anticipated in programs with expanded research activity, especially in agriculture and the biological sciences, the physical sciences, engineering, education, business and the veterinary and pharmacal sciences. At the master's level, larger enrollments will be seen in the social sciences, liberal arts, education, business, human sciences and the professional programs.
The liberal arts and sciences, at the heart of Auburn's undergraduate instruction, not only form the foundation for professional and career programs but also provide the structure for Auburn's traditional commitment to the enhancement of students' personal and intellectual growth and the development of a more responsible citizenry. The core curriculum, by providing students with a common set of experiences, developing analytical and communication skills, and encouraging the understanding of culture and the natural world, has brought national attention to Auburn as an institution recognized for high academic quality.
The traditional commitment to excellence in teaching at both
the undergraduate and the graduate level is reflected in the diversity
of course offerings and in the variety of instructional approaches.
Increasingly, electronic technology provides instructors the means
for innovative and creative strategies, and the high academic
aptitude of AU's incoming students make accelerated learning opportunities
an important consideration in the continuing review and development
of instruction.
Research is the means through which new knowledge is created and new information is developed. As such, research at Auburn University is an essential link in its three-prong mission of instruction, research and outreach. Successes among the varied research activities within each of its 12 schools and colleges continue to bolster Auburn among the nation's top universities. These successes have been recognized by the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation and several national magazine surveys.
Auburn's role as a land-grant university emphasizes strong research programs in agricultural sciences, natural resources, and the biological sciences. Additionally, Auburn has a long-term commitment to engineering and the physical sciences which has developed these areas into primary research disciplines. Emphasis is placed on expanding research programs in education; veterinary medicine; the liberal arts; human sciences; business; architecture, design and construction; and nursing.
Results from Auburn research flow directly into the classroom through instruction and to the public through outreach. Auburn's research thrusts, the essential element in fulfilling its land-grant mission, are many, and all cannot be listed separately in this limited space. Yet, programs underway through the various research institutions at Auburn, such as the Space Power Institute and Center for the Commercial Development of Space; the National Center for Asphalt Technology; the Institute for Biological Detection Systems; the Scott-Ritchey Research Center; the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station; Engineering Experiment Station; forestry; and the Pulp and Paper Research and Education Center continue to bring Auburn University to the forefront in research developments and in forming links with the state's business and industry.
Whether in the laboratory, the field or in the classroom, Auburn's research endeavors are diverse and comprehensive, at once focusing upon developing solutions to major problems that confront humankind and expanding the base of knowledge and technologies available to improve our quality of life. Additionally, major efforts designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative aspects and the protection and development of intellectual properties are central to Auburn's continual drive for improvements in its research mission.
These efforts mesh to create a research environment that enhances
the state's economic, cultural, social and intellectual development
and, at the same time, undergirds the university's undergraduate,
graduate and outreach programs.
University Outreach is the primary means whereby Auburn expresses its land-grant responsibilities to the state by providing access to its knowledge-based programs and service. In Auburn's vision for outreach, Alabamians routinely make effective use of the University's resources to serve their needs, solve their problems and improve the quality of their lives.
Across the state, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System links AU's resources directly to the people through offices in each of Alabama's 67 counties. These offices are part of a comprehensive communications and satellite network with the campus, a distribution system for hundreds of publications, and a contact point for more than 800 staff professionals. The Center for Arts and Humanities conducts programs across the state.
On campus, University Outreach staff and participating faculty from each of Auburn's schools and colleges provide expertise and resources. Interdisciplinary centers include Distance Learning & Outreach Technology, Outreach Information & Marketing, the Outreach Program Office, the Center for Governmental Services and the Alabama Industrial Extension Service. A number of outreach units are headquartered in the schools and colleges. Drawing on this university-wide expertise, Auburn's Outreach programming addresses crucial issues such as economic development, youth at risk, excellence in government, continuing education for professionals, improving quality of life, enhancing agricultural resources and protecting the environment.
Many Outreach programs use the Auburn University Conference
Center, a state-of-the-art educational meeting facility featuring
advanced audio/visual and computer technology in a comfortable
conference setting. The AU Satellite Uplink provides C and Ku-band
satellite capabilities for both national and international transmission
of video programming. A microwave link telecommunications system
connects Auburn University at Montgomery users with the satellite
uplink.
Based on its Statement of Role, Auburn University is dedicated to these purposes which have been approved by the faculty and the Board of Trustees:
Providing for its students, a broad general education, enhancement of personal and intellectual development and specialized education through the University's undergraduate, professional and graduate programs;
Preparing graduates whose knowledge, intellectual discipline, and experience in the multiple aspects of our culture will be manifest in service to the people in this state, the nation and the world;
Conducting a broad program of research, both basic and applied, to stimulate the faculty and students in the quest for knowledge, to promote their intellectual growth and development, to broaden the foundations of knowledge, to increase understanding of our world, and to aid society in resolving its scientific, technological, economic and social problems.
Creating and implementing effective programs of education and service that will provide special assistance throughout the state and the nation through the extension of the scientific, professional and cultural resources of the University to individuals, communities, institutions and industries, thereby contributing to an improved technology, better environmental and health conditions, enhancement of the general quality of life and the development of a more responsible citizenry;
Fulfilling the University's responsibilities for instruction, research, and service in science and technology, including agriculture and engineering and programs in biological sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences and statutory mandate for the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System;
Encouraging scholarly and creative efforts in the arts and humanities so that the University may serve its students and the larger community as a vital source of general education and cultural enlightenment and as a stimulus toward participation of an educated citizenry in all avenues of life;
Fostering programs of education and research in those professional curricula uniquely or traditionally associated with Auburn University.
Auburn University is committed to reassessing its objectives
and programs continually to assure their consistency with new
knowledge and changing economic and social conditions and to seek
more efficient and imaginative means of fulfilling the University's
purposes.
The main library on campus is the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, a 377,000 square-foot structure with seating for 2,500 and shelving space for about 2.5 million volumes. Branch libraries are located in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. The Draughon Library houses Special Collections, which includes rare books, maps, theses and dissertations, and material about the University and Alabama. It is also home for the Archives and Manuscripts Department, a collection of University records and archival and manuscript material relating to Alabama history.
Collections include more than 2.4 million volumes, more than 2.3 million items in microformat, 1.5 million government publications and 136,000 maps. The libraries receive more than 19,000 current serials, including 160 newspapers. As participants in the U.S. government documents depository library program, Auburn University Libraries receive publications issued by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA and the bulletins of the state agricultural and engineering experiment stations. It participates in the depository programs of the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency. It also provides a World Wide Web gateway to the Government Printing Office's GPO Access - a database of federal publications.
Auburn University Libraries' World Wide Web home page provides users with access to the Internet and a number of remote databases, as well as, CD-ROM databases mounted on a local area network. The various periodicals contain references to selected journal and newspaper articles and research reports covering a spectrum of subject areas, and also include a growing number of full-text documents. Use of these databases is generally limited to AU students, faculty and staff and may also be limited to use on campus. Materials available in the Libraries' local collections are listed in AUBIECat, the Libraries's World Wide Web-accessible catalog. AUBIECat lists all books, journals, newspapers and most government publications AU Libraries hold. AUBIECat is available anywhere using the World Wide Web or telnet.
A fee-based service involving on-line searching of bibliographic databases is available to faculty, graduate students and others. Researchers have access to more than 800 databases, as well as to selective dissemination of information (SDI) searches.
The Draughon Library contains 306 carrels for faculty and graduate student use, a room equipped for listening to approximately 6,500 sound recordings or viewing videos assigned for classroom purposes, and an instructional microcomputer classroom. Photocopiers are located in a central photocopying facility on the second floor of the library, as well as on each of the other floors and in both branch libraries. Other services available to library users include course reserve, electronic document delivery and interlibrary loans, as well as reference service and library use instruction by subject specialist librarians.
Circulation of library materials is fully automated through
combined use of the on-line catalog and a barcoded user identification
card. Borrowing privileges are extended to enrolled students;
members of the administrative, research, instructional and extension
staffs of the University; student and staff spouses; and active
alumni association members. Alabama residents over the age of
18 may obtain borrowing privileges for an annual fee of $35. The
libraries also have reciprocal borrowing agreements with the University
of Alabama system and Auburn University at Montgomery.
Information technology services provided for the University community include computing and communications technologies, as well as training and consultation. These services are provided through the Division of University Computing (DUC), Telecommunications and Educational Television (Telecom/ETV), Instructional Media Group (IMG) and the AU Technology Hotline.
Auburn's campus network, AUNET, is a fiber-optic Ethernet backbone linking all buildings to campus. This campus-wide network connects departmental networks to the University's servers. The campus is connected to the Alabama Supercomputer Network and the Internet through three high-speed fiber optic connections. AUNET employs the TCP/IP networking protocol.
On-campus residents may subscribe to AU ResNet, which connects dorm residents' computers directly to the campus network and the Internet for a monthly fee.
Access to the University's information technology resources is provided via the global user ID and password that come with a DUC computing account. Accounts are provided free of charge to all students and qualified faculty and computing staff. Accounts remain active as long as a person is enrolled for the current quarter or employed by the University, and AU retirees retain eligibility. Students receive their computing accounts on the DUC Sun network upon registering for classes. The computing account provides access to e-mail, file storage and Web home page directory space, to the computing labs and to Web-based student services. A student's computing ID and initial password are distributed through the Voice Automated Information System, the same system used to register for courses.
DUC maintains a Sun/UNIX network, which is connected to the campus network, as the host system for instructional computing. The network servers provide e-mail delivery, storage and forwarding, the University's Web server, directory services and more.
DUC operates 10 computing labs, regularly upgraded to the current hardware and software standards and available to anyone with a DUC global ID and password. The labs are connected to the campus network, Internet and World-Wide Web and provide access to laser printing. Network connectivity software and a Web browser are provided.
DUC computing lab software includes database, graphics, work processing applications and access to special-purpose software for specific classes. The DUC labs are generally open whenever the buildings are open during the quarter; some may be reserved for classes or closed during special campus events.
The official AU Web site resides at www.auburn.edu. Student
registration and records (oasis.auburn.edu) and a range of instructional
(austudy.auburn.edu) and administrative applications employing
Web interfaces are currently in use and will continue to be developed.
The Campus Cable TV service provides intracampus instructional
programming. A classroom facility connected to the Interactive
Intercampus Telecommunications System allows access to state conferencing
networks and other worldwide group videoconferencing systems.
Telecom/ETV assists departments with the production and distribution
of multimedia presentations across campus and around the world
through the use of C and Ku band satellite uplink facilities.
Test scoring and analysis services are available to instructors
through DUC.
Training, documentation and consulting are provided for students,
faculty and staff members via courses, videotapes, publications
and the AU Technology Hotline (334/844-4944). The Hotline is available
during University business hours to answer or refer to a specialist
any question regarding AU computing, telecommunications or information
technology. The accompanying web site at www.auburn.edu/hotline
is always available and serves as the central dissemination point
for information regarding all aspects of computing, information
technology and telecommunications at AU. DUC also publishes the
Survival Guide, a quarterly designed to help AU students learn
about the University's computing resources. AU's central information
technology service organizations do not conduct an academic program.
Inquiries concerning computer curricula should be directed to
the College of Engineering or the College of Business.