91ÖÆƬ³§

1. Division of University Advancement

The Division of University Advancement encompasses development, public relations, web communication, alumni affairs, advancement services, integrated marketing and and operation of the University Reception Center and the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum. It also serves as a liaison to the 91ÖÆƬ³§ Foundation.

Development

Development works closely with the president and other executives in raising external funds for student scholarships, endowed faculty positions, and other university programs. It also coordinates fund-raising for campus constituencies, including campaign and special event planning as well as prospect research. Through its advancement services arm, it manages a database of alumni, friends, and donors, tracking gifts to a multitude of university programs.

Alumni Affairs

The 91ÖÆƬ³§ Office of Alumni Affairs, which supports graduates and ex-students, is active on a year-round basis. The office coordinates all events and activities for alumni, ranging from public service projects to social events. Activities sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs include organization and class reunions, Golden Circle events for 50+ year graduates, alumni homecoming, and presentation of the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards. The alumni office also produces the monthly Parents and Families e-newsletter and coordinates the 91ÖÆƬ³§ Ambassadors program, which is designed to provide a connection between outstanding LU students and alumni, community sponsors and donors.

Public Relations

Public relations coordinates all media relations, publications, and institutional marketing activities for the university. It supports student recruitment, fund-raising, and special events through the production of print, broadcast, and Web products and materials. It also publishes the university magazine, Cardinal Cadence, mailed to more than 75,000 alumni and friends of the university.

Web Communication

Web communication oversees the university's public web presence and provides leadership, systems and support to academic and administrative units to assist them with developing and improving their web communications. Central to this mission is the management and deployment of the university's web content management system, which supports the distributed ownership of web content and provides a consistent user experience across the university's public web environment.

Reception Center

The University Reception Center manages logistics for special events ranging from meetings and lunches to formal receptions, banquets and weddings, primarily in the main venue on the eighth floor of the Mary and John Gray Library but also at other locations across campus, including the Dishman Art Museum, Montagne Center, and John Gray Center.

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum

The Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum is located on Lamar’s campus at University Drive and Highway 69. The museum is a 16-building replica of Gladys City, the oil boomtown that sprang up overnight when the Lucas Gusher blew in on Spindletop Hill January 10, 1901, marking the beginning of the Petroleum Age.

The museum complex includes the 1941 Lucas Gusher Monument, the replica Lucas Gusher derrick and gusher, and exhibit buildings furnished with items from the late 1890s and early 1900s that depict daily life in Gladys City and Beaumont. The museum's Visitor Center includes the Gift Shop and the Caroline Room, a meeting room available to the public. Other museum facilities are also available for parties, picnics, receptions and evening events. Annual special events include Wildcatter Weekends in the Fall, the Lucas Gusher Anniversary in January, and the Boomtown Ruckus in June, which features live re-enactors celebrating Beaumont before the oil boom. The replica gusher blows water 160 feet in the air during these special events. Visit for more information and a calendar of upcoming events.

2. Division of Distance Learning

LU Online

LU Online offers courses and over 20 degree programs online at the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral level. In addition, professional programs od study prepare post-baccalaureate students in education for certifications in various specializations. Some programs are offered at an accelerated pace of five to eight weeks. LU Online also houses the Center for Military Services, which provides resources, support, and advising for our active duty and veteran servicemembers. For current information on all distance and online courses, degrees, and programs, go to /lu-online. Prospective and current LU Online students may contact the Division of distance Learning by phone at (409) 880-7537 or by email at luonline@lamar.edu .

3. The Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities (TALH)

The Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities (TALH) is an early college entrance residential honors program created by the Texas Legislature that allows academically qualified high school-aged students in the state to earn college credits toward a college degree. Students live on campus and enroll in a full-time college curriculum. Graduates of TALH are awarded a diploma from the Academy. The typical TALH graduate will earn 60 hours of college credit after two years of study. Required for admission are academic transcripts from the 9th grade to date, a minimum SAT composite score of 550 on the critical reading and 500 on the math portions, an autobiographical essay, and at least two recommendations from teachers/administrators familiar with the student´s abilities and character. The successful candidate will have a superior academic record and SAT or comparable ACT score and supporting application materials evidencing the personal integrity, sense of responsibility, and level of maturity requisite for success in the program. Tuition and fees are fully subsidized for 15 credit hours per semester. The application deadline for fall enrollment is April 15. Additional information is available by contacting the program at (409) 839-2995 or visiting the website at .

4. Information Technology Division

The Information Technology Division supports the IT needs of 91ÖÆƬ³§. These services include maintaining the Student Information System (Banner SSB), university email, supporting the learning management system (BlackBoard), technical support for campus organizations, and maintaining campus wireless Internet. The student information technology website is /students/it-services-and-support/index.html. The University Service Desk is located in the Mary and John Gray Library, room 105. Students may contact the Service Desk at (409) 880-2222 or by email to servicedesk@lamar.edu.

5. Mary and John Gray Library

The Mary and John Gray Library is an eight-story building centrally located on campus. Its collection exceeds one million volume equivalents, including books, journals, microforms, maps, music scores, state and federal government publications, software, and audiovisual materials. The library subscribes to more than 800 current print periodicals and provides digital access to aggregated articles from more than 35,000 periodicals. Students, faculty, and staff of 91ÖÆƬ³§ can utilize computers in-house or remotely to locate print and electronic books in the online catalog. They can also access digital citation indexes and databases, full-text journal articles, and interactive guides tailored to specific subject fields of study, style and formatting help for research papers, orientation, and distance education support. A service-oriented library staff provides assistance in the use of reference materials, government documents, special collections and archival materials, reserve materials, and instructional media. The Cardinal One Card serves as a patron's library card for borrowing purposes. Lamar Electronic Access (LEA) credentials are utilized to access the databases and other electronic resources.

The library provides rooms for group study, and the fifth floor is a designated quiet study floor. Coin-operated copy machines for both print and microforms are available. There are 131 computers openly accessible to all students in two computer labs located on the first and seventh floors, respectively. An additional 30 computers are available for classes and special projects in a seventh-floor library classroom. Trained staff provide assistance in the use of computers, printers, and software. There are seven separately administered areas in the Gray Library: (1) University Writing Center; (2) Student Advising and Retention Services (STARS) Tutorial Lab; (3) Office of Planning and Assessment; (4) Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement; (5) IT Services Help Desk; (6) Media Services; and (7) University Reception Center.

Beyond locally provided resources, the Gray Library can supply patrons with other libraries’ books and articles through an efficient interlibrary loan borrowing system. 91ÖÆƬ³§ students and faculty can also borrow in person from the library collections of 51 other publicly funded colleges and universities utilizing credentials from the statewide TexShare program. TexShare borrowing cards are available at no charge at the circulation desk in the front lobby. The library provides services to distance students through email, IM, and phone contact. The library is open seven days a week in the long semesters. Hours of operation are posted on the library website at /library/ and can be heard in a recorded message at (409) 880-8117.

6. Montagne Center

The 10,000-seat Montagne Center, home of 91ÖÆƬ³§ basketball, is a multipurpose facility that provides opportunities for educational and extracurricular programs. The center houses athletic offices, training spaces, reception areas, and a ticket office. This facility is capable of hosting concerts, receptions, banquets, graduation ceremonies, high school proms, workshops, business meetings, conventions, and other activities. The Red Room provides beautiful views of the basketball arena and newly renovated football complex and makes an ideal space for executive business luncheons, meetings, and receptions for groups of 50 or less. Full catering services are available for all events. For reservations call (409) 880-1810.

7. Mail Center

The 91ÖÆƬ³§ Mail Center is located at 211 Redbird Lane. Hours of operation for window services are 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and parcel services 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The University Mail Center is a contracted facility operated by the University and is officially designated as 91ÖÆƬ³§ Mail Center, 77710. Full postal services are offered, including stamp sales for domestic/international mail, incoming and outgoing United Parcel Services, student mail forwarding, express courier deliveries, and standard mail processing (including folding, tabbing, and inserting services). Students, staff, and faculty are allowed to use outbound United Parcel Services with Authorized Return Service at no charge.

Students, staff, and faculty may rent postal boxes on an annual basis. Annual cost is $15. Student box sharing is prohibited. Mail is received from U.S. Postal Services at 4:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. daily Monday through Friday. Outbound stamped and metered mail is dispatched daily at 3:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

8. Research and Sponsored Programs Administration Office

The Sponsored Program Administration Office is administered by the associate provost for research. This office promotes externally funded research; oversees sponsored programs and technology transfer as well as patent, copyright, and intellectual property policies; establishes liaison between the university and state and national funding sources; and assures that proposed projects comply with institutional and governmental regulations. This office also provides assistance to faculty in the development and submission of grant/project proposals by locating funding sources and reviewing proposals for compliance with budgetary and funding guidelines. The office is also responsible for the post-award administration of grants, which includes monitoring expenditures and grant billings as well as research compliance. This office also oversees Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Human Resources research, and Bio Safety, Conflict of Interest, and Responsible Conduct of Research Training.

9. Records Office: Transcripts

The 91ÖÆƬ³§ Records office, under the direction of the university registrar, provides official transcripts to those who have attended 91ÖÆƬ³§. Students may request up to five transcripts per semester at no charge. Additional transcripts are $5.00 each. Transcripts can be ordered in person, by mail, or online. For more information, go to www.lamar.edu/transcripts, call (409) 880-8985 or email transcripts@lamar.edu.

10. Bookstore

Barnes & Noble at 91ÖÆƬ³§ is a one-stop shop for all textbook and academic needs – including low cost rental, used, and digital textbooks. Barnes & Noble at 91ÖÆƬ³§ also provides Lamar Cardinal and Lamar Institute of Technology clothing and merchandise, school supplies, a convenience items, and other books and magazines. Customers can shop in the store (located in the Setzer Student Center) or online at . For more information about the bookstore, call (409) 880-8342. Follow the bookstore on Facebook@ .

11. Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement

91ÖÆƬ³§ has a strong commitment to student and faculty engagement and teaching and learning excellence. Under the direction of the Office of the Provost, the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement supports faculty, administrators, graduate students, and staff in their academic pursuits and provides a range of instructional services to assist all members of the LU teaching community. In order to foster and sustain a culture that practices, values, and rewards teaching and learning as vital forms of scholarship at 91ÖÆƬ³§, the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement takes as its mission to

• promote deep understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning by assisting both individuals and groups of instructors to gather, analyze, and reflect on information about their own teaching and their students' learning;
• cultivate dialogue about teaching pedagogies and learning theories through seminars, orientations, workshops, teaching and learning circles, and other programming;and
• foster the use of research-based best practices, models, and approaches to university teaching and learning—and facilitate access to resources that support them.

For more information, visit the CTLE website at , or call the CTLE at (409) 880-8426. Offices are located on the 6^th floor of the Mary and John Gray Library.

12. Quality Enhancement Plan and ACES

The 91ÖÆƬ³§ Quality Enhancement Plan, Active and Collaborative Engagement for Students (ACES), focuses on improving student learning in core and college-readiness courses by promoting active and collaborative learning.  91ÖÆƬ³§ has selected these freshman courses as an area of need based on student satisfaction surveys, results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2006, 2008), strategic plan goals, and results of core curriculum student learning assessments conducted in 2005 and 2008. These data indicate that students were less satisfied with core classes than with upper-division classes, and that levels of student engagement in  freshman-level classes were disappointing when compared to levels of freshman engagement at peer institutions and when compared to levels of senior engagement at 91ÖÆƬ³§.

The ACES program emerged from recommendations of the Quality Enhancement Plan Development Committee, a university-wide task force with representation from the student body, the Division of Student Affairs, Staff Senate, Faculty Senate, and faculty members from all five colleges at 91ÖÆƬ³§. The ACES mission is focused on enhancing faculty understanding of the importance of active and collaborative learning for student engagement and student success and enhancing faculty skill at utilizing innovative educational pedagogies. Faculty are chosen through a competitive process to serve as ACES Fellows and are committed to implementing active and collaborative teaching methods in their courses.

 For more information, please visit the ACES website at /qep, or call (409) 880-8426. The QEP offices are located on the 6th floor of the Mary and John Gray Library.