UNT Insider: President's newsletter

Straight from Smatresk

Dear UNT supporter,

Enrollment for UNT The unofficial 12th class day numbers are in and celebrations are in order! In a time when enrollments around the country face continued declines, UNT now has a fourth consecutive record-breaking number with 44,532 students enrolled this fall. We've also seen unprecedented growth in the numbers of new freshmen and graduate students — a 19% increase for each over last year. This makes UNT one of the fastest growing universities in Texas and the nation.

To ensure our enrollment growth is also keeping pace with industry demands so we can best prepare our future grads, UNT continues to offer and grow needed degree programs such as data analytics, biomedical engineering, and a complete suite of business options at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral level. UNT also is expanding access and teaching 2,579 students at its UNT at Frisco location, which will open its first building in January 2023 on the 100-acres donated by the City of Frisco to establish convenient access to the opportunities that a UNT education provides for those in Collin County and beyond.

Our students benefit from a challenging education as well as a diverse and supportive community committed to their success. UNT is proud to be designated a Minority-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution. And for our expanded efforts to support our diverse community — most recently joining 20 other universities as a founding member of the Alliance of Hispanic Research Universities — UNT has received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for the fifth straight year. The HEED Award is given by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine to U.S. colleges and universities committed to cultivating a more inclusive and diverse campus environment. More importantly, UNT is proud to have the highest four-year graduation rate in the North Texas region for Hispanic students.

We remain committed to helping our students succeed so they can thrive beyond graduation in our complex and ever-changing world. UNT continues to be the university of choice for more students than ever before, and we continue to be one of the top producers in awarding degrees in the North Texas region, which speaks to our desire to help our students be successful and to help Texas meet the workforce demands of the future. No other university system in the North Texas region does more than UNT to drive Texas' progress. We truly are the University FOR North Texas.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
@UNTPrez

Kuehne Speaker
Series

Serial entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary, a regular investor on ABC's Shark Tank and chairman of O'Shares Investments, will speak Nov. 9, 2022, as part of the UNT Kuehne Speaker Series. Established in 2013 by benefactor Ernie Kuehne ('66), the semi-annual luncheon brings some of the nation's top speakers to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and helps create scholarships for deserving UNT students. Series sponsorships are available.

Learn more about the
Kuehne Speaker Series »

Presidents for Latino
Student Success

As a Hispanic-Serving and Minority-Serving Institution, UNT is committed to cultivating a learning environment where Latino students thrive. UNT recently joined Presidents for Latino Student Success, a network of college and university leaders created by Excelencia in Education, the nation's premier authority in efforts accelerating Latino student success in higher education. Working with Excelencia's network will bolster our progress to transform higher education and provide opportunities to collaborate with more than 175 affiliate institutions while also pursuing the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification held by only 24 institutions striving to shift their focus from enrolling Hispanic and Latino students to finding meaningful and multidimensional ways to support their success.

UNT researchers in the spotlight via The Lab

The first few episodes of The Lab, a new UNT YouTube series, are now available. The series features UNT researchers describing how their groundbreaking research will impact the lives of people, business or culture. For example, the series featured Dr. Aleshia Hayes in the Department of Learning Technologies explaining how her VR game Stemming from Disaster creates empathy while helping students discover a STEM career path and Dr. Arkadii Krokhin, a professor in the Department of Physics, sharing how phononic crystals can be used to block traffic noise. Subscribe to UNT's YouTube channel so you'll never miss an episode of The Lab.

Mean Green football wins eight conference games in a row

The battle of the birds is on this weekend as UNT takes on the UTSA Roadrunners at the Alamodome. I encourage you – especially all of our alumni living in the San Antonio area – to come out and cheer on the Mean Green Saturday (Oct. 22). And we're ready! Our Mean Green football team achieved their eighth conference win in a row, 47-27, against LA Tech last weekend setting a school record with 475 rushing yards. This record is also the fifth-most in Conference USA history and the second-best total by a FBS school this season. Also notably, senior linebacker KD Davis set a new career-high with 19 tackles and was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Davis is the second UNT player to earn C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors this season joining Ridge Texada who earned the award on Oct. 3. It is the first time since 2020 that the Mean Green have had two different players earn the accolade in the same season. Go Mean Green!

Join us Nov. 5 for Homecoming

Homecoming is a time for members of the Mean Green Nation — students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends — to come together to embrace our traditions and celebrate the university. You're invited to join us for numerous festivities, including the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards, Homecoming Bonfire, tailgating on The Hill at Apogee Stadium, and the Mean Green football game! Purchase your tickets now to watch UNT take on FIU at 3 p.m. Nov. 5.

New bird species discovered

Dr. Ricardo Rozzi, director of the UNT Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program in Chile, and his international collaborators have identified a new terrestrial bird species, Subantarctic Rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica), in the Diego Ramírez Archipelago — the southernmost location in Chile and the Americas. Dr. Rozzi and the team have spent the last six years confirming that the bird is a new species. It's usually spotted close to the grey-headed albatross, and researchers first came across it years ago while studying that large seabird. Also among the researchers was UNT biology alumnus Dr. Ramiro Crego. The team's article about the new species was published in Nature, and the news has been flying around the world thanks to Reuters and others.

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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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