Dear Alum,
I spent a lot of time in Austin this month speaking before the Legislature, and I was especially delighted when more than 150 alumni, students and friends of the university joined me Feb. 13 for the inaugural UNT Day at the Capitol. Our Mean Green family visited all 181 legislative offices to ask for continued support of higher education and share highlights about UNT. Our pep band performed a lunchtime concert in the open-air rotunda and there's something special about hearing Glory to the Green and White in Austin.
 We asked for support to keep Texas manufacturing competitive by funding a legislative appropriations request for UNT's Center for Agile and Adaptive Additive Manufacturing (CAAAM). UNT leads the state's manufacturing efforts and is home to one of the most advanced additive manufacturing research labs in the country. Despite our efforts, Texas lags in research and development to advance additive manufacturing technology to meet the needs of businesses and industry that play a major role in the state's economy.
Texas families impacted by autism spectrum disorders were at the heart of a second request to fund the North Texas Autism Collaboration. Nationally, 1 in 58 children are diagnosed with ASD and state support of the autism collaboration would allow UNT researchers to cultivate transition services opportunities for those with ASD between K-12, community colleges and four-year universities.
This month, UNT also was proud to be reaffirmed as a Tier One research university in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education™ rankings. The "very high research activity" designation was awarded to only 131 institutions, and UNT's inclusion is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our outstanding faculty and staff. We are hopeful the legislature will approve UNT's tuition revenue bond request for a 167,700-square-foot Science and Technology Research Building to provide state-of-the-art space for faculty to continue carrying out the solutions-based research that contributes to our Tier One status.
We built a lot of good relationships while we were in Austin, both with legislators and also within the UNT family. The UNT Alumni Association coordinated the event so that students and alumni were paired together for legislative visits and I'm hopeful that at least a few of our students gained a new friend and mentor that day.
We'd love to have you join us in 2021 to advocate for UNT and raise awareness of our university by sharing all the incredible work we're doing.
UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
 @UNTPrez |
