V. Lane Rawlins

Dear Alum,

In the past year, we've overcome challenges and reached milestones that have helped us improve on the things we do well and in the areas where we can do better.

As an innovative, large public university, we are constantly in the business of change. And we have undergone many changes to maintain our position as a major contributor to the Dallas-Fort Worth region's economy.

I am proud to share with you our accomplishments over the past year in the President's Annual Report 2010. With this report, I wanted to give you a quantitative view of UNT and the things we are doing to ensure that our students continue to have access to a high-quality education. The report also provides a way for you to assess our importance in the region through data that clearly measures our strengths and weaknesses.

Through this report, you can learn about our nationally ranked programs, our commitment to students and the ways we are growing as a research university, expanding our facilities and boosting our computational power to give our students the tools they need for innovative research, art and scholarship.

In light of the tough economic times, I felt it was especially important that the report include how we're being fiscally responsible and continuing to excel.

I hope that you will take the time to read the report and give me your feedback on the work we're doing to build a strong foundation for our students.

Sincerely,
V. Lane Rawlins
President

Features

Moving Forward: U.S. News & World Report ranks UNT graduate programs top in nation

UNT is constantly working to improve its degree programs to make them among the top in the nation. Our graduate degree programs in rehabilitation counseling in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service and counseling in the College of Education ranked among the top 15 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 rankings of the best graduate schools. UNT's rehabilitation counseling program was ranked 13th in the nation and first in Texas, and our counseling program now ranks 12th in the nation, three spots higher than its previous ranking. The program also is the top counseling program in Texas and has had that distinction for the past 10 years. Learn more about our other nationally ranked degree programs in the President's Annual Report 2010.

Athletic Director Rick Villarreal and Coach Karen Aston attend press conference on her new position.

Aston named Mean Green women's basketball coach

Our student-athletes represent the heart of UNT's mission to become a university that excels in academics, the arts and athletics, and this means hiring the best coaches to support them. Athletic Director Rick Villarreal recently named Karen Aston the new Mean Green women’s basketball coach. She returns after serving as an assistant coach at UNT from 1996 to 1998. She brings a wealth of experience to UNT after coaching at the University of Texas at Austin, Baylor University and for the last four seasons as the head coach at UNC-Charlotte, where she led her team to post-season play each year. She was instrumental in the recruitment of two of the greatest players in our program's history, Jalie Mitchell and Rosalyn Reades. Aston replaces former head coach Shanice Stephens.

Students working in College of Engineering lab.

College of Engineering to expand its TWU dual degree offerings

A four-year partnership between UNT and Texas Woman's University to offer students a dual degree in math from TWU and electrical engineering from UNT has undergone a makeover. Students in the program attend both UNT and TWU to simultaneously earn bachelor's degrees from both universities in four years. Degree options under the program have been expanded so that students now have the option of pursuing a degree in materials science and engineering from UNT paired with a TWU math or chemistry degree. The change supports UNT's effort to graduate well-rounded students who will be competitive in the tightening job market. Siemens -- a company with a history of supporting education initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math -- supports the dual degree program and will provide scholarships to students on a merit basis who enroll in the program. The program began in 2007 with a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Ohad Shemmer

Faculty Focus: Ohad Shemmer

Ohad Shemmer, assistant professor of physics, and an international team of astronomers have completed a study that identifies the earliest known epoch of fast growth of the supermassive black holes in the universe. The study, which brings astronomers a step closer to understanding the mysteries of the universe, traced the evolution of supermassive black holes to find how they were actively increasing in size by accreting matter from their host galaxies. The team's research from the seven-year project indicates that the era of fast growth occurred when the universe was about 1.2 billion years old and that the subsequent growth period lasted 100 to 200 million years. The results of their study were reported in The Astrophysical Journal.

College of Music students perform at March 28 Japan benefit concert.

Traditions: Relief and outreach efforts

The diversity on our campus and our many partnerships in the international community represent some of our greatest strengths as a university. UNT has a strong tradition of reaching out to our neighbors in the face of adversity because we know that our students, alumni, staff and faculty have ties beyond our campus. Most recently, the College of Music organized a series of benefit concerts to raise funds for earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Over the years, our campus community has organized similar relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims and for the victims of earthquakes in Haiti, among others.

Featured Link: The North Texan

UNT has a legacy in love affairs. Read about how some alumni found love while attending UNT in the latest online issue of The North Texan, the university's quarterly magazine for alumni and friends. And be sure to watch the short videos of these couples’ stories. Also find out how UNT alumni are making a name for themselves in the fashion and film industries at northtexan.unt.edu.

UNT Alumni Association

Every spring and fall semester, the UNT Alumni Association captures the spirit of pride for students nearing graduation with its official class ring ceremony. Students with 60 or more credit hours are presented with their official UNT class rings and recognized for their accomplishments during the ceremony, which concludes with the singing of the Alma Mater, “Glory to the Green and White.” Learn more about the ceremony and the alumni association by visiting www.UNTalumni.com or contact the alumni association at alumni@unt.edu or 940-565-2834.