TI use planning to start soon

President Norval Pohl hopes the first benefit from the $8.9 million purchase of the Texas Instruments property in north Denton will be the freeing of assignable space for program expansion on UNT's main campus.

The almost 300-acre property located approximately four miles north of the main campus — near the juncture of U.S. Highway 77 and Loop 288, just east of Interstate 35 — comes with four interconnected two-story buildings of some 550,000 gross square feet.

Initial planning, set to begin soon, will seek to reallocate as much as 150,000 square feet of space by moving some administrative and support functions and personnel to the new facility.

"These outstanding facilities add considerable strength and bring remarkable opportunity to UNT's drive for recognition as a major research institution," Pohl reports.

"With effective efforts we could begin making good use of classroom, laboratory, office and work space in the new buildings by the 2002-03 academic year," he says. "And that will be a good start toward addressing our current space deficit." The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently determined UNT has a 342,000-square-foot space deficit.

UNT used money from the Higher Education Assistance Fund to purchase the property on Nov. 15. However, UNT's interest in the property became official one month earlier when the Board of Regents unanimously approved a resolution to pursue the purchase in a specially called meeting.

On Oct. 16, a group of regents and university administrators hosted a tour of the property with TI officials for two coordinating board representatives. The favorable result of their assessment of the property was reflected in the coordinating board's unanimous vote in favor of the purchase at its Oct. 26 meeting.

Plans for the newly acquired land include possible partnerships with high-tech corporations to establish a research park dedicated to expanding research and enhancing economic development in Denton and throughout North Texas.

"The location of our new campus — just north of the apex where Interstates 35E and 35W come together — makes it an ideal site for a research park," Pohl says.

Remarking on the negotiation process and the purchasing price, Pohl thanks TI for its generous recognition of the benefit of selling the property to an educational institution. "It is clear from our experience on this agreement that TI's support for technology in higher education is as strong as ever," he says.

In recent years, specialized equipment from TI (worth $3.5 million to UNT) has benefited research conducted by UNT's departments of chemistry, engineering technology, materials science and physics.

In addition, in 1999 the Texas Instruments Foundation committed $300,000 to support activities, equipment, operations and programs at the new UNT System Center at Dallas.

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• UNT to square off with Colorado State in inaugural New Orleans Bowl Dec. 18
• Dallas deeds land to UNT
• Regents approve science space construction
• UNT Health Science Center president to speak at fall commencement
• School of Visual Arts faculty member to participate in Leadership Texas program
• UNT employees raise more than $141,000 for SECC
• Future engineering school, TI plant purchase topics of November Faculty Senate meeting
• Severe winter weather closing information
• Holiday contribution drives in full swing
• UNT experts prove to be useful media resources

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