Library Facilities
The University Libraries includes the Ned R. McWherter Library and four branch libraries: Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, and Music. Each branch is contiguous to the department or school it serves.
The University Libraries’ collection totals over one million print volumes. The collection also contains information resources in many other formats, including 3.4 million microform pieces, over 9 million archival pieces, 90 licensed databases, 500 federal databases, and a variety of other formats. The Government Publications Department, located in McWherter Library, is the Regional Depository for Federal Documents for the State of Tennessee. The department also serves as a depository for all State of Tennessee documents. The Special Collections Department houses collections of original papers, manuscripts, and rare materials that document the history and culture of the mid-south.
The University Libraries’ holdings are indexed in the tomCat online catalog, which is available on over 200 workstations located throughout the libraries, on the campus network, and through the Internet. Faculty and staff of the University Libraries are available to assist library users with identifying and making the best use of library resources. The Interlibrary Loan staff will borrow resources from other libraries when they are not owned by the University Libraries. The University Libraries maintains agreements with several local academic libraries that enable direct borrowing by students, faculty, and staff of the University of Memphis. For more information on library services or resources, contact the Reference Department or visit the libraries web site.
Information Technology
The University of Memphis is committed to providing campus-wide information technology in support of research and instruction for students and faculty. The Division of Information Technology (IT) provides the infrastructure and support necessary for academic activities, networking, telecommunications, and administrative computing. The division provides education and training for widely used software and applications, maintains the campus information technology infrastructure, provides the leadership to involve students, faculty, and staff in technology decision-making, and leads the strategic planning process for the use of information technologies.
The IT HelpDesk (901.678.8888) is the first area of contact for students, staff, and faculty to establish accounts and report problems. The HelpDesk staff is the primary contact on questions related to software, telecommunications, network, and lab support. In addition they route and track questions to the most appropriate university personnel for resolution. Since the University operates on a Local Support Provider (LSP) model (i.e., schools and colleges as well as administrative units have departmental computer experts to assist them with technology), calls to the HelpDesk are frequently assigned to an LSP for resolution. However, the knowledge management system of the HelpDesk tracks the problem and its resolution for future reference. The HelpDesk also makes available desktop and server software for faculty computers and departmental servers.
Students can access two IT-supported 24-hour computer labs (one of which is a Super Lab and Smart Classroom) and over 65 other departmental labs located in various buildings and residence halls throughout the University. Over 30 smart classrooms with a full range of multimedia equipment are available for use by all faculty members and each classroom building is equipped with EduCarts (SmartCarts) that can turn almost any classroom into a “smart room.” Many departmental labs have extended evening and weekend hours and students have access to the Internet, e-mail, Microsoft software, and a host of academic-related applications in a variety of computing environments. All labs are equipped with printers and other peripheral devices.
Information Technology provides a variety of technology support services to faculty, staff, and students including software training, software distribution, and web consulting. The Advanced Learning Center (ALC) provides consulting assistance for on-line and web-assisted course development. Students and faculty can attend free training seminars at the Training Center in Smith 412. The center is equipped with PCs, Macs, and smart presentation equipment. Faculty may reserve this facility as well as any of the smart classrooms for their instructional needs. Training courses and workshops are offered on all supported software. The Faculty Resource area in the Advanced Learning Center contains the latest multimedia and computer equipment for faculty and instructors to learn technologies or create course material. Online CBT (Computer-Based Training) is available free to all students, faculty, and staff either over the web or through downloadable tutorials. There are currently over 200 courses available to choose from.
Information Technology supports and maintains the University’s fiber network that connects all offices, computer labs, classrooms and auditoriums, and selected residence halls. IT is committed to advancing the use of technology to assist the University in education and research. As part of this effort, The University of Memphis is a full partner and an Early Adopter of Internet-2 technology for research and instruction.
IT provides all telecommunication services (such as FAX and long distance service), cable TV, and calling number ID. Most of these services are also available in the dormitories.
More information on the services provided by Information Technology can be found at: www.memphis.edu/its.
Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change
The Institute pursues a broad programmatic agenda of research and outreach that builds upon Dr. Hooks’ lifetime of work to achieve a more just society. The Hooks Institute is committed to advancing the goals of the American Civil Rights Movement, and making Memphis a national center for the study of the Civil Rights Movement and its legacy. www.memphis.edu/benhooks
Bureau of Business and Economic Research
The Bureau of Business and Economic Research is the organized research and public service unit of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. The programs of the Bureau include public service to government agencies (state and local) and the business community, continuing education, and applied general research. www.memphis.edu/sbber
Center for Applied Psychological Research
The Center for Applied Psychological Research supports research on problems concerning health, mental health, education, schools, crime, the environment, and children and their families. The Center also supports basic scientific research in cognitive psychology, biopsychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, and research design and statistics. www.memphis.edu/psychology/centers/capr
Center for Earthquake Research and Information
The Center for Earthquake Research and Information was established in 1977 by the Tennessee Legislature to provide: (1) prompt reports and background information on regional earthquakes; (2) scientific research on the causes and effects of earthquakes and on the possibility of earthquake prediction; (3) studies related to the desirability of earthquake resistant construction; and (4) advice to business, government, and the public on the methods, means, and feasibility of mitigating earthquake hazards.
The Center operates as a research organization of The University of Memphis and was designated as a Tennessee Center of Excellence in 1985. It supports graduate research in geophysics, active tectonics, and earthquake engineering. It cooperates with the Department of Earth Sciences in offering a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree concentration in geophysics, and a Ph.D. degree in earth sciences.
Center for Health Services Research
The Center for Health Services Research is housed in the Division of Health Administration. The Center emphasizes collaborative, multi-disciplinary research focusing on issues in health care management, leadership, financing, economics, and administration. The Center’s goal is to serve as a strong partner and resource for health care organizations, both public and private, in the Mid-South region. www.memphis.edu/health
Center for Manpower Studies
The Center for Manpower Studies, located in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics, conducts research on employment and training-related topics and provides technical assistance to federal, state, and local agencies. It also offers a variety of training programs for human resource development agencies throughout the southeast.
Center for Research in Educational Policy
The Center for Research in Educational Policy is funded by the State of Tennessee as one of five Centers of Excellence located at The University of Memphis. CREP’s mission is to implement a research agenda associated with educational policies and practices in the preK-12 public schools of Tennessee and the nation and to provide a knowledge base for use by educational practitioners and policymakers. Research outcomes are intended not only to describe the complexities of educational phenomena, but also to offer recommendations for action.
Since 1989, the Center has served as a mechanism for mobilizing community and university resources to address educational problems and to meet the University’s commitment to primary and secondary schools. The Center’s research agenda is developed through analysis of persistent or emerging issues in schools and their communities, changes occurring in teacher education programs, and recommendations from educational authorities. In the past decade, CREP has gained national recognition for its contribution to discussions of issues such as reform of teacher education, educational equity, educational technology, school reform and restructuring, urban and multicultural education, interventions for at-risk students, and using formative evaluation methods for school improvement decision-making.
Center for Research on Women
Founded in 1982, the Center for Research on Women (CROW), located in the College of Arts and Sciences, is nationally recognized for its pioneering work on race, class, and gender. CROW’s mission is to conduct, promote, and disseminate scholarship on women and social inequality. Its approach to research, theory, and programming emphasizes the structural relationships among race, class, gender, and sexual identity, particularly in the U.S. South and among women of color.
CROW-affiliated faculty span the University. They are currently engaged in action-oriented, community-based research on women in Memphis and the U.S. South; in historically grounded research that makes visible global processes affecting the persistence of inequalities in the U.S. South; and in the development of feminist theories and methods.
CROW offers postdoctoral fellowships to scholars studying race and gender in the U.S. South and provides graduate assistantships to students enrolled in the MA program in sociology.
Center for the Study of Higher Education
The Center for the Study of Higher Education, located in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, conducts research and sponsors workshops and conferences in higher and adult education. The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire is located in the Center, as is the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education. www.memphis.edu/cshe
Center for Urban Research and Extension
The Center for Urban Research and Extension provides technical assistance, research and other services for neighborhood improvement in three Memphis Enterprise Neighborhoods. The Center supports the City of Memphis’ Enterprise Community program, and collaborates with neighborhood residents as they embark upon various efforts in revitalizing their neighborhood.
Chucalissa Indian Village and Museum (C.H. Nash Museum)
This partly reconstructed prehistoric Indian village on its original site and the museum are operated by the Department of Anthropology as an educational and research facility. The indoor and outdoor exhibits are designed to reconstruct prehistoric Indian life in the Mid-South. Students are trained in the techniques of excavation, restoration and museum operations. The courses taught are listed in the Department of Anthropology offerings. Chucalissa is located 17 miles southwest of the main campus along the Mississippi River. www.memphis.edu/chucalissa
DNA Laboratory
The DNA Laboratory is a university facility providing access to resources required for modern molecular biology research. Custom nucleic acid synthesis and automated DNA sequencing are available on a fee basis to researchers both inside and outside the University. The Laboratory also houses a high-performance gel documentation system and a workstation with the GCG Wisconsin Package for nucleic acid and protein analysis.
Ecological Research Center
The Ecological Research Center (ERC) of the Department of Biology was established in 1974 on the South Campus of the University to conduct and coordinate research, teaching, and service activities in ecology and related areas.
Major areas of research include: fish culture, wildlife biology, endangered and threatened species, systematics, reproductive physiology, and physiological responses to the environment. The ERC has formal research agreements with private, state, and federal organizations to jointly pursue biological problems of mutual interest. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife and Habitat Management Office, has offices in the ERC.
The teaching program of the ERC provides training for students interested in pursuing careers in various fields and affords an opportunity for students to participate in activities involving contemporary environmental problems.
Public service activities are directed toward promoting environmental awareness and providing information and consultation services to those concerned with the environment.
Edward J. Meeman Biological Station
The Edward J. Meeman Biological Station was established in 1967 to encourage and foster scientific pursuits in natural history, ecology, and environmental biology. Situated on two sites, the main research area encompasses over 600 acres adjacent to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. The second site sits on over 300 acres along the Loosahatchie River in Bartlett. The research sites provide laboratory, classroom, and small conference facilities to faculty and students from The University of Memphis and visiting researchers. Meeman Station is an integral part of the Department of Biology and a unique site dedicated to research, teaching, and community service.
Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
The Institute, which was founded in 1984 and designated a Tennessee Center of Excellence in 1985, is a component of the Art Department at The University of Memphis. The Institute is dedicated to the study of the art and culture of ancient Egypt through teaching, research, exhibition, and excavation. It is staffed by Egyptologists who are faculty members of the Art Department and the History Department. Its research library consists of more than 6000 Egyptological books and periodicals including rare and out-of-print volumes. Supporting the Institute’s programs is the Art Museum at the University of Memphis, which houses the Institute’s growing collection of Egyptian antiquities, the largest in the Mid-South. In Egypt, the Institute sponsors an epigraphic project at the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak Temple in Luxor and partners with the Italian Archeological Mission to Luxor at the tomb of Hawa.
Institute for Intelligent Systems
The mission of the Institute for Intelligent Systems is to explore intelligent systems in humans, animals, computers, and abstract information technologies. It is widely recognized that there are substantial limitations with the conventional systems in computer science, telecommunications, business, management, and science. Conventional systems are static, linear, brittle, inflexible, slow, or not adaptive to changes in the world. Scientists, engineers and scholars throughout the world have therefore been developing intelligent systems that are considerably more powerful. These systems are hybrids of intelligence in machines, biology, and the human mind. The research in the IIS explores new, cutting edge areas of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, complex dynamical systems, educational technologies, neural networks, evolutionary modeling, massively parallel systems, and biological systems.
Integrated Microscopy Center
The Integrated Microscopy Center (IMC) houses microscopes, including light and fluorescent microscopes, a confocal laser scanning microscope, scanning and transmission electron microscopes, and ancillary equipment used to prepare samples. The Center is a resource facility of The University of Memphis, designed to provide expertise in the use of microscopy to graduate students, faculty, and researchers at The University of Memphis and throughout the immediate area.
Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities
The Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching in the humanities at The University of Memphis. Its various programs including several lecture series and the sponsorship of visiting scholars, faculty seminars, and symposia are designed to encourage scholarly collaboration across departmental and college boundaries. It also seeks to promote the University’s scholarly resources in the Memphis community, by offering a variety of public programs. The Center was founded in 1987 and renamed in 1991 in memory of former history professor Dr. Marcus W. Orr.
Regional Economic Development Center
The Regional Economic Development Center represents the University in its outreach function in the field of economic development planning. In providing technical and management assistance to the public and private sectors, the Center also serves as a laboratory for interdisciplinary research and service by faculty and graduate students in solving problems of urban and regional development.
The Center’s professional planning staff have academic appointments and teach courses in the Division of City and Regional Planning.
Speech and Hearing Center
Located in the medical center of Memphis, this facility became affiliated with the University in 1967. An additional site is located on the South Campus. Both locations serve children and adults with communication disorders. Students at the University may receive services at no charge, while faculty and staff are seen at 50% of normal charges. The University administers and operates the Center in cooperation with the Board of Directors of the Memphis Speech and Hearing Center, Inc.
Other Research Units
- Anthropological Research Center
- Barbara K. Lipman Early Childhood Center and Research Institute
- Center for Community Health (formerly the Prevention Center)
- Center for River Studies
- Center for Health Services Research
- Center for Rehabilitative and Employment Research
- Center for Voluntary Action Research
- Computational Research on Materials Institute at U of M (CROMIUM)
- FedEx Center for Cycle Time Research
- Groundwater Institute
- Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Biosurfaces
- Institute for Gambling Education and Research
- Memphis Alliance for Public Health Research
- Neuropsychology Research Laboratory
- Oral History Research Office
- Robert Wang Center for International Business
- Southern Music Archive
- Transportation Studies Institute
- W. Harry Feinstone Center for Genomic Research
Recognized Centers and Chairs of Excellence
The University of Memphis has been designated by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission as a location for centers and chairs of excellence. The units listed below receive special funding by the state in recognition of their status.
Centers of Excellence
Chairs of Excellence
- Bornblum Chair of Excellence in Judaic Studies
- Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence
- Federal Express Chair of Excellence in Management Information Systems
- Helen and Jabie Hardin Chair of Excellence in Economics/Managerial Journalism
- Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence Biomedical Engineering (I)
- Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence Biomedical Engineering (II)
- Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence in Law
- Jabie Sanford Hardin III Chair of Excellence in Combinatorics
- James T. Thompson Chair of Excellence in Accounting Education
- Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Computer Science
- Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philosophy
- Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Psychology
- Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Urban Education
- Morris S. Fogelman Chair of Excellence in Real Estate
- Plough Chair of Excellence in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
- Robert Wang Chair of Excellence in International Business
- Sales and Marketing Executives Inc. Chair of Excellence in Sales
- Sparks Family Chair of Excellence in Global Research Leadership
- The University of Memphis Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise Management
- Thompson-Hill Chair of Excellence in Accounting
- W. Harry Feinstone Chair of Excellence in Molecular Biology
- William A. and Ruth F. Loewenberg Chair of Excellence in Nursing
- William N. Morris Chair of Excellence in International Economics
- Wunderlich Chair of Excellence in Finance
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