V. Lane Rawlins

Dear Alum,

UNT is progressing in ways that are better positioning us as a high-quality, competitive public research university. Our focused, strategic effort to consider how we should grow and to what end is ensuring we grow for the sake of our students and their success.

For instance, our spring enrollment figures are up from last spring, but that's not just because we're adding more students. We're retaining more students and we're improving in important areas, including the number of freshman and doctoral students. Our students also have increased the number of courses they're taking. These trends show they are focused on graduating and we are providing the right kind of resources and support they need to reach their goals.

Our success also can be attributed to the bright, driven students we are attracting. UNT is increasingly a student's first choice, which is a result of our rising reputation and standards. Our freshman class has about 900 more students than it did three years ago and a higher average SAT score. Half of the freshmen come from the top quarter of their high school class. We have become more competitive without compromising our accessibility -- a point that our provost, Warren Burggren, eloquently made in a recent column in the Denton Record-Chronicle.

We've been strategic about budgeting as well. We've made sure to support areas of the most importance -- like our students' education -- and to protect our areas of excellence. Because of our careful fiscal management, cost-saving measures and what we hope will be sufficient state funding from this legislative session, we can pursue new opportunities and achieve more important milestones in the coming years.

Sincerely,
V. Lane Rawlins
President

Features

Moving Forward: Online graduate programs in education, business among nation's best

Offering 1,000+ online courses each semester, UNT has long been one of the state's largest providers of online classes. We're also one of the best at online education, with graduate programs among the nation's best in U.S. News & World Report's 2013 Best Online Education Programs rankings. The College of Education ranks 13th nationally for Best Online Graduate Education Program and our M.B.A. program, which offers concentrations in marketing, strategic management and finance, is 20th in the nation for Best Online Graduate Business Program. Two of our education faculty members also are recognized among Texas' Top 25 education professors. Through these programs and our new accelerated online programs, you can get a great UNT education anywhere, anytime.

Rendering of the new UNT Union atrium created by architects of Perkins+Will

University Union to get overhaul

A great by-product of our growth is that many more students are getting involved on campus. We now have 400 student organizations. The University Union is the heart and soul of campus life, and our students voted to use student fees to fund the renovation and expansion of a new union for our growing student body. The project, which recently was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, is expected to begin this June and be completed in 2015. The new union will house a larger bookstore and will more than double the space for student organizations and student lounges. It also will provide more space for food service, entertainment, meetings and events. And like all of our new buildings, it will be built green and is expected to achieve LEED certification.

Cyber security education leader

Cyber security is an important industry in our computer-driven world, and UNT is a leader in research and education. With a nearly $1 million National Science Foundation grant, we will provide scholarships to doctoral students to study cyber security and information assurance through our colleges of engineering, business and information. The grant is a collaborative effort among the three colleges. Six students will be accepted into the program beginning this fall and each will receive $45,000 for nine months with possible additional funding during the summer. The grant builds on our standing as one of seven institutions in the U.S. to be designated by the National Security Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research in 2012. We also are designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, one of only about 32 institutions nationally with both designations.

John Ruiz

Faculty Focus: John Ruiz

Researchers are closer to determining a possible link between social vigilance and risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Led by John Ruiz, assistant professor of clinical health and experimental psychology, a team of researchers is embarking on the three-year North Texas Heart Study, funded by a $1.63 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The researchers hope to uncover how chronic vigilance, or hyper-vigilance, may be an important link between stress and a greater risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular heart disease, which is commonly known as hardening of the arteries. Dr. Ruiz also led an analysis that finds that Hispanics tend to be as healthy as or healthier than Caucasians, even though Hispanics' socioeconomic status is lower on average and associated with worse health. The findings are featured on the Huffington Post.

Traditions: 100 years of football and Conference USA -- Go Mean Green in 2013!

Are you ready for a meaner, greener era of football? With 100 years of football behind us and a move to Conference USA this year, we're ready for some great competition and more national media exposure. And it gives fans better opportunities to see the Mean Green on the road, since many of the away games are within driving distance. Come cheer on the Mean Green in Apogee Stadium and join us on the road for some great football! We will open the 2013 season Aug. 31 against Idaho with a home game for the first time since 2001. And we will play eight C-USA games, including three home games against Texas schools -- the first time that has happened since 1994. Our first official Conference USA game will take place in New Orleans, where the Mean Green will play Tulane Oct. 5. Help us celebrate 100 years of Mean Green football by voting for the North Texas All-Century Football Team. Voting ends March 13.

Featured Link: UNT Research

In the annual issue of UNT Research magazine, you can read about how UNT researchers are inspired by nature to design technologies and products that minimize human impacts on the environment while continuing UNT's long legacy in green research. You also can read about how UNT has distinguished itself as a premier university for everything from creative writing to forensic science.

UNT Alumni Association

Join your fellow alumni March 7-11 in Hot Springs, Ark., to cheer on the Mean Green in the Sun Belt Conference basketball tournament. The Mean Green will host pre- and post-game gatherings at our Hot Springs headquarters, Lucky's Bar & Grill. In April, you can join the UNT Alumni Association, students, faculty and staff in Denton from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 6 as we celebrate a day of service through the Big Event and support our local communities. Sign up to work on the Stop Hunger Now project, packaging meals in the Silver Eagle Suite of the University Union. Register by March 1. To learn more about the UNT Alumni Association, visit www.UNTalumni.com or contact the association at alumni@unt.edu or 940-565-2834.