UNT Insider: President's newsletter

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Straight from Smatresk

Dear Alum,

Summer is behind us and we've officially welcomed UNT students to campus for the fall semester.

It was great to see so many bright and talented students in the class of #UNT19 arriving on campus for their first semester. We're focused on giving them and every student the best educational experience.

President Neal Smatresk planning with faculty and staff We're off to a strong start this academic year. Enrollment is up and our number of new National Merit Scholars is up from five to 15 in one year, a sign that we're increasingly a first-choice university for academically talented students.

This is one of the many priorities that we're focused on in our planning process. At this year's annual Planning Implementation Workshop, Owning Excellence, a group of about 125 internal and external stakeholders explored how UNT can:

Own excellence to reach Tier One status
Build community and win hearts and minds
Close the gaps

Watch a recap of the workshop. Also, read my message to campus on how we're planning for the future.

I'm excited to report that we've resolved our financial obligation to the state as part of changes we've made to improve UNT for the better. Our transformation also depends on having a strong leadership team that shares a common vision for how to move our university forward. With Finley Graves, our former College of Business dean, now serving in a two-year appointment as provost and vice president for academic affairs, I have the right team in place to help UNT advance.

I'll share more about how we're laying the groundwork for the university's long-term progress and upcoming priorities for the 2015-16 academic year during my annual State of the University address Sept. 16.

Last year was about overcoming our challenges and building a stronger UNT. This year is about fulfilling our potential because, if we're going to reach national prominence, we must achieve excellence in all that we do.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
@UNTPrez

The Inside Scoop

Alumni Awards

Julie Anderson, Bob Kimmel and Leroy Whitaker

Honoring success and service

Our signature alumni awards event marks its 50th anniversary this year, and we're honoring seven outstanding UNT alumni. We'll recognize honorees -- including Julie Anderson, Bob Kimmel and Leroy Whitaker (from left) -- at the UNT Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards, which coincides with Homecoming and our 125th anniversary celebrations. I hope you'll join us for this momentous event at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 in UNT's Gateway Center Ballroom. Email president@unt.edu by Sept. 10 to win one of two pairs of tickets that I'm giving away to the awards ceremony. Include your name and mailing address.

See 2015 Alumni Award
honorees and categories »

UNT Giving Week

125 hours, 4,000 giving opportunities

Our first-ever UNT Giving Week Sept. 14-19, a Founder's Week event, is a great way to honor our 125-year history and our most important legacy -- students. During the week, we'll celebrate our 125th anniversary with 125 hours of giving to any of our 4,000 funds. Our goal is to attract 1,250 new donors. I hope you'll be one of them! I can't think of a better way to celebrate our founding while contributing to student success and helping to build a brighter future for UNT.

Make a gift for UNT
Giving Week »

#UNTMoves

Tell us what moves you in UNT transportation survey

How do you get to, from and around campus? We want to know as part of our 2015 Parking and Transportation Master Plan study to enhance campus parking, traffic and connectivity. Whether you're a student, alum, visitor, staff or faculty member, you can give your feedback in our online survey, and you'll be helping to improve UNT and our campus. When complete in spring 2016, the study will serve UNT for the next 10 years and beyond.

See how the study
impacts you »

Top 10

What makes a Best College Town? Denton + UNT

I know firsthand that UNT and Denton are great places to call home. I'm excited to see that Denton is ranked No. 5 on Livability.com's list of Top 10 Best College Towns thanks to UNT and TWU, our highly educated population, diversity and music scene -- among other factors. UNT is a big part of Denton's creative vibe, and I'm proud that our innovative students, faculty, staff and graduates are helping make the city stand out.

See what else makes
Denton a big draw »

Shining a green light

UNT and Scrappy go to Wall Street, help ring NYSE bell

Scrappy and two of our College of Business faculty members -- Marcia Staff and Dave Ragan -- helped ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in July to celebrate UNT's financial services program receiving a $50,000 grant from TD Ameritrade Institutional. The grant is part of an initiative to bring more young talent to financial planning careers and is our second prestigious award from the company. It will be used to create a TD Ameritrade internship program at our Student Money Management Center. Learn more about students getting a jumpstart to careers in finance.

3 football games, 3 times the fun

For our 125th anniversary year, we're celebrating big with fun-filled festivities and these Mean Green football games:

Let's paint Dallas green at 6 p.m. Sept. 12 for the Mean Green vs. SMU game, our season opener at Ford Stadium. Join me at the Mean Green Alumni Rally from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Four Corners Brewery in Dallas and on game day from 3 to 5:30 p.m. for tailgating on The Boulevard at SMU. Buy tickets and tailgating passes.
Be loud and proud at our first home game at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 19 against Rice at Apogee Stadium. Join your fellow alumni for Game Day Grille fun at the UNT Alumni Pavilion.
Celebrate UNT history and traditions at Homecoming 2015, Forever Mean Green: A Journey Through Time, Oct. 5-10, culminating with the Mean Green vs. Portland State game. Be one of the first 50 people to email president@unt.edu by Sept. 10 to win a UNT T-shirt. Include your mailing address and T-shirt size.

Children playing a game with a colorful parachute and a ball.

Fighting human trafficking abroad

A group of UNT students studied human trafficking in Romania this summer as part of a new UNT College of Education study abroad course. Guided by Julie Leventhal, a lecturer in educational psychology, students helped individuals and families in Romania recognize the warning signs for human trafficking. The group also worked with nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits such as the Ruth School, a community school primarily for disadvantaged children from Roma families. See how the trip inspired students to make an impact at home.

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Connect with UNT

Office of the President

University of North Texas
Hurley Administration Building, Room 201
Mailing Address:
1155 Union Circle #311425
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
940-565-2108

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