The UNT System Board of Regents approved the establishment of the UNT Center for Technology Development and Transfer during the board’s annual spring meeting May 13.

In other actions, the regents approved an agreement between the university and the Denton County Transportation Authority and accepted a gift of land for a new urban astronomy center.

The new Center for Technology Development and Transfer will be located in and funded by the Office of Technology Transfer. The center will promote the development of research and technologies — owned in whole or in part by UNT — that can be commercialized. At the same time the center will work to develop collaborations with private industry.

Its technical and business services will include a small business incubator and investment support.

The agreement between UNT and DCTA allows DCTA to take over operation of the e-Trans shuttle bus system. The initial term of service will be five years with an option for the university to renew for an additional five years.

Richard Rafes, senior vice president for administration, said that establishment of UNT’s e-Trans bus system has resulted in significant reductions in traffic congestion on campus streets and the need for more parking facilities.

Joe Richmond, associate director for transportation services, estimated that as the spring semester drew to a close, the service has provided rides to more than 940,000 students, faculty and staff members so far this academic year — growth of about 450 percent over the total number of riders in 2001-02, the program’s first year.

Student transportation fee revenue, estimated to be $2.25 million in the 2004-05 academic year, will fund the agreement that promises to expand the service the e-Trans system brings to the campus community.

The board also accepted a gift of approximately 2.4 acres of land located west of the Denton Municipal Airport from Rafes and his wife, Tommye, that will become the university’s new urban astronomy center.

The current astronomy site at the missile base north of Loop 288 on FM 2164 (Locust) must be relocated because of increasing light interference.

In recognition of the Rafes family’s contributions to the university — with this gift they have given more than $190,000 and created four endowed scholarships — the regents authorized that the new site be named the Richard and Tommye Rafes Urban Astronomy Center.

In other actions, regents:

UNT 2005-06 holiday schedule Nov. 24-25: Thanksgiving Dec. 26-30: Winter break Jan. 16: Martin Luther King Jr. Day March 13-15: Spring break May 29: Memorial Day July 4: Independence Day UNT also will be closed March 16-17 for the remainder of spring break. Optional state holidays: Oct. 3-4: Rosh Hashanah March 31: Cesar Chavez Day April 14: Good Friday

• Approved a proposal to name the Library Mall plaza (currently under construction between the Hurley Administration Building and the Library Mall fountain) the Grace W. Cartwright Plaza in honor of the 1929 North Texas alumna and first woman to be a member of the UNT Board of Regents.
• Approved 2005-06 promotion and/or tenure for 19 faculty members and approved tenure for two new faculty appointees. To view a list of those individuals, click here.
• Approved faculty development leaves for 20 faculty members.
• Approved 13 holidays for 2005-06, including the addition of Memorial Day on May 29, 2006, to the standing holiday list. In addition to approving three holidays for spring break — March 13-15, 2006 — regents approved closing the university the remaining two days that week — March 16 and 17, 2006 — in order to allow utility savings by keeping the university closed a full week. Staff members will be required to use vacation or compensatory leave for those closure days. See the table above for the full list of holidays and read UNT Policy 1.4.5 at www.unt.edu/policy for more information.