V. Lane Rawlins

Dear Alum,

UNT is on the right path to being recognized as a major research university that offers the best undergraduate education in Texas, which means the quality of our degrees is constantly improving.

As one of Texas' top research universities, we will provide students with a high-quality and relevant education, because good research universities also create an environment of discovery and learning.

This is increasingly challenging because Texas is making substantial cuts in higher education. While these realities may slow our progress, they will not change our destination or lessen our determination.

To ensure that we offer our growing student body the same level of support currently found at UNT in the face of these state funding cuts, the UNT System Board of Regents approved a 2.8 percent increase in tuition and fees starting fall 2011. The additional revenue -- which represents a $118 increase in tuition and fees for an undergraduate taking 15 hours -- will help us keep the educational experience at a high-quality level. The funds will be used to:

• Hire more faculty to keep our student-to-faculty ratios at healthy levels
• Improve classroom spaces to provide better learning environments
• Meet basic operating needs so we can offer more classes, open closed majors, serve students, and continue providing advising, counseling and financial aid at high-quality levels

In short -- as I have promised our students -- this money would go directly back into their education. We know this increase will be tough on some of our already hard-working students and parents, but I believe that it is a good investment in the future. Even with this increase, we likely will remain less expensive than most of our peers.

I want to assure you that we will work to find ways to ensure that the total cost of an education at UNT remains affordable for our students.

Sincerely,
V. Lane Rawlins
President

Features

Annual Alumni Awards Dinner to celebrate achievements of alumni and friends

The annual Alumni Awards Dinner is a chance to celebrate the achievements of our outstanding alumni and friends. I hope you will join us for this year's dinner at 7 p.m. April 15 in the Gateway Center Ballroom, when we honor the 2011 Alumni Awards winners. I am giving away a pair of tickets to the dinner in a random drawing. To enter, e-mail president@unt.edu with "Alumni Awards Dinner" in the subject line by 5 p.m. April 5 and include your name, address and phone number. To buy dinner tickets, contact Jasmine Lee at 940-565-4851 or jasmine.lee@unt.edu.

Students and faculty at the new Design Research Center in Dallas

Moving Forward: UNT opens Design Research Center in Dallas

Research collaborations are a key part of UNT's growth as a major research university, whether in the arts or the sciences. UNT's new Design Research Center in downtown Dallas combines research and design in an urban laboratory where students and faculty can explore social, environmental, economic and public policy concerns. Researchers will work with local nonprofits such as KERA and Downtown Dallas Inc. to create innovative solutions that enhance quality of life. Led by faculty members from diverse disciplines, the center's research projects will challenge students to dissolve disciplinary boundaries, transform theory into practice and explore real-world solutions that benefit our research partners and diverse population groups. The 3,000-square-foot center also offers classroom space that supports the college's M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in innovation studies. For more information, contact the center at drc-ucd@unt.edu or 214-752-5556.

2011 Sun Belt Conference championship game

Men's basketball team finishes another great season

Our Mean Green men's basketball team gave us another outstanding season. In a bid to secure a second straight Sun Belt Conference title and return to the NCAA tournament, our players faced off against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the conference final. The matchup, which UALR won 64-63 with a last-second 3-pointer, ended a strong season with remarkable performances by our team. The Mean Green finished the year 22-11, its fifth consecutive 20-win season. The players' efforts to achieve another championship win for the Mean Green nation speak to their commitment to make athletics an important part of the UNT experience. And alumni such as Eric McDuffie, owner of Little Caesars Pizza in Hot Springs who donated a post-game meal, found many ways to show their Mean Green pride.

Researchers discover process that strengthens plastic

UNT's Laboratory for Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials is one of the leading polymer science and engineering laboratories in the world. Thanks to our researchers' latest discovery, plastics could soon have more uses. The research team has discovered that polymer agents can strengthen plastics at lower temperatures, allowing manufacturers to make stronger plastics while saving energy and improving their production efficiency. Earlier approaches to making stronger plastics required more energy, not less. The ability to make stronger plastics also means manufacturers can replace products traditionally made of metals or ceramics with lighter-weight polymeric materials, including airplanes and plastic-bodied cars that are lighter and get better fuel mileage. The group, led by Witold Brostow, Regents Professor of materials science and engineering, is now exploring other filler-polymer combinations that can produce similar results.

UNT stage will feature college's top musicians at Denton Arts & Jazz Festival

You can't have a proper jazz festival without top-notch musicians from one of the nation's leading music programs. Student, faculty and alumni performers from UNT's College of Music will showcase their talent at the 2011 Denton Arts & Jazz Festival. This year's festival is April 29-May 1, and for the second year we will have a stage featuring 23 UNT music ensembles, including all nine lab bands. And on the festival's Jazz Stage, former students Tom “Bones” Malone, Lou Marini and Marvin Stamm will be part of a tribute to the late Leon Breeden, former jazz studies director who led the program to international prominence. You also can learn about our new stadium at Mean Green Village and Business Leadership Building, get information on how to attend UNT and walk away with UNT branded items. Look for a complete schedule of the UNT Showcase Stage.

Angela Nievar

Faculty Focus: Angela Nievar

Angela Nievar, assistant professor of educational psychology, completed a study of existing research on home visiting programs in Texas, the United States and several other countries. Her study sought to answer lingering questions about home visiting programs created to give low-income families access to parenting resources, such as Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Nurse-Family Partnership and the Parent-Child Home Program. She discovered that low-income parents who participate in these intensive home visiting programs provide a better learning environment for their children, and programs that employ paraprofessionals are as effective as other types of home visiting programs. Her findings were published in the Journal of Infant Mental Health, a prestigious international journal.

Traditions: UNT Art Path

UNT Art Path highlights UNT's legacy in the arts and showcases the artwork of well-known artists, our faculty, alumni and students that can be found around campus. Art Path allows you to take self-guided walking tours of 36 pieces of artwork guided by a pocket-sized, color-coded map that tells the stories behind each piece of art. The first part of the tour begins with artist Gerald Balciar's bronze eagle, In High Places, outside the Hurley Administration Building and continues with 25 more pieces in eight buildings. The second part of the tour is a 15-minute walk covering the remaining pieces on display. Each piece of art on the tour carries a statement, marks a university milestone, or honors faculty and student contributions.

Heejung Kang, adjunct instructor of piano, revives music by Reinhard Oppel on her upcoming CD.

Featured Link: Lost Composers and Theorists Project

UNT is known for having one of the nation's best and most comprehensive music schools, prominence that comes from both making and preserving music. Timothy Jackson, professor of music theory, is bringing the College of Music national recognition through the creation of the Lost Composers and Theorists Project of the Center for Schenkerian Studies. The project is dedicated to recovering the work of composers whose music was obscured by the cultural policies of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Piano professor Joseph Banowetz's Grammy-nominated performance this year was from a recording featuring music the center had recovered by Paul Kletzki, a Polish-Jewish composer whose work was buried during the Holocaust. The Reinhard Oppel Memorial Collection at UNT also is part of the project. To learn more about composers featured, visit the Lost Composers and Theorists Project online.

UNT Alumni Association

Join the UNT Alumni Association and sign up for its award-winning e-newsletter to stay connected to the university and other alumni. The association's monthly e-newsletter, which won a 2011 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District IV award, goes out to more than 17,000 members, alumni and friends of the university, and it's helping keep them informed and connected to their alma mater and the latest alumni news. The association earned a silver CASE award based on the publication's overall appearance, suitability for its targeted audience, writing, images and use of technology and design elements. Learn more about the association and its free monthly e-newsletter by visiting www.UNTalumni.com or contact the alumni association at alumni@unt.edu or 940-565-2834.