More than 1,000 Mean Green
supporters were on
hand

Jordan Case (’81), chair of the volunteer committee raising private donations for the stadium; Dakota Carter, Student Government Association president; UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille and Athletic Director Rick Villarreal turn dirt at the stadium groundbreaking. See more photos at meangreensports.com.

Nov. 21 as UNT broke ground for its new stadium, set to open in 2011.

With Scrappy, cheerleaders and the pep band in full swing, proud Mean Green supporters like NFL Hall of Famer Joe Greene (’69) helped the university celebrate. And the ceremony emcee was George Dunham ('88), co-host
of a top-rated sports radio show on KTCK-AM — "The Ticket" — in Dallas and the play-by-play announcer for the Mean Green Radio Network.

“It’s a great day for UNT,” Athletic Director Rick Villarreal says. “This has been 9 years in the making. It is a great and historic moment for North Texas.”

The multi-purpose facility, which will be under construction beginning in January, will feature increased tailgating space, luxury suites, a club level, a Spirit Store and a Touchdown Terrace.

The stadium will be the centerpiece of UNT's Mean Green Village. In addition to hosting UNT events, it will serve the entire region as a venue for outdoor concerts, community events, high school games and band competitions.

Support from alumni and community members is vital to the future stadium.

“I've waited for years to build a new stadium for the Mean Green,” says Jordan Case (’81), chair of the volunteer committee raising private donations for the facility. “Thanks to the many donors who are making lead gifts and those who will join us in the coming months, our new stadium will be a spectacular demonstration of UNT’s commitment to first-rate athletics.”

UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille and Villarreal led the platform party in the ceremonial groundbreaking. Following the ceremony, the crowd joined fans at Fouts Field to watch the Mean Green take on Army. The victims of the shooting at Fort Hood also were remembered, and first-responders to the tragedy were honored at midfield during the playing of the national anthem.

To learn more about the stadium, visit www.unt.edu/stadium.

A public groundbreaking ceremony for UNT’s new energy efficient football stadium complex, skydiving by the U.S. Military Academy’s Black Knights parachute team and Mean Green football versus Army are scheduled Nov. 21.  

Groundbreaking will be at 11 a.m. on the stadium site east of the Athletics Center, formerly the Eagle Point Golf Course.

The stadium, rendering, right, will be a multi-purpose facility with capacity for about 30,000 fans, and it will be a venue for concerts, community events, high school games and band competitions. The stadium likely will be the nation’s first college venue to be Gold LEED certified, one of the highest levels of sustainable achievement.

• Learn more about the new stadium.
• Learn more about the Black Knights and their Nov. 20 practice jumps.
• Buy tickets to the game, Mean Green versus Army, 3 p.m. at Fouts Field, the final home game of the season.

Nov. 4, 2009

To: UNT community members

With a yes vote on Proposition 4 in yesterday’s election, Texans established the National Research University Fund, which will provide a dedicated and independent source of funding for UNT and Texas’ other emerging research universities once each institution qualifies.

The fund will be created by redirecting about $500 million from the existing Higher Education Fund. To receive support from the new fund, UNT must meet the qualifying criteria laid out in HB 51, which considers the number of new doctoral graduates each year, annual research expenditure, faculty and student academic quality and other measures.

While UNT won’t immediately qualify for monies from this new fund if it passes, we will eventually. Already, we have taken advantage of the state’s new matching funds initiative, which aims to help us grow our research more quickly. In September, we submitted roughly $2.9 million in gifts, which we are hoping will qualify for a matching amount of $1.73 million.

These initiatives are an important step forward for Texas. They mean that as a state, Texas will be able to compete for a larger share of the federal research dollars. And, with more research universities, Texas also will be more attractive to cutting-edge industry. Research universities are at the center of innovation through understanding and they play a critical role in moving communities and industry forward. As each of the emerging research universities grows stronger, Texas’ economy and future will grow brighter.

And at UNT, we are a force to be reckoned with that is only getting stronger. Our restricted research expenditures and awards are each up over 60 percent since 2007, which is incredible progress!

Thank you all for everything you do. I hope you are as pleased as I am that we now have this state support to work toward achieving.

With green pride,
Gretchen M. Bataille
President

Texas voters approved Proposition 4, a constitutional amendment that will establish a new National Research University Fund using about $500 million in existing Higher Education Fund monies. The new fund will provide a dedicated and independent source of funding for UNT and Texas’ other emerging research universities when each institution qualifies.

• Read a note to campus for President Gretchen M. Bataille.

Today’s (Nov. 4) unofficial vote tally by the Texas Secretary of State shows these results from Texas’ 254 counties:

• For: 591,183
• Against: 450,819
• Total votes: 1,042,002
• Number of voters: 12,952,562
• Voter turnout: 8.04 percent

Election results show the measure passing in Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties, home to UNT, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Arlington, respectively. County vote totals were:

• Denton County, approved 9,742 to 9,071
• Dallas County, approved 40,923 to 22,852
• Tarrant County, approved 35,557 to 26,186

Voters in home counties of other emerging research universities also approved Proposition 4. These are Harris County, home to the University of Houston main campus; Lubbock County, Texas Tech University; Bexar County, the University of Texas at San Antonio; and El Paso County, University of Texas at El Paso.

• Find vote totals for all Texas counties.

Legislation creating support more national research universities in Texas was introduced by Dallas Rep. Dan Branch and Laredo Sen. Judith Zaffirini during the 81st Texas Legislature. Gov. Rick Perry signed the measure into law in June.

• Find an endorsement by the Faculty Senate.
• Learn more about UNT’s commitment to research.

A new football stadium is about to become a reality. Plans for the stadium passed their final hurdle today (Oct. 29) when the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the proposal.

A public groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled Nov. 21, prior to the Mean Green-Army game, and the Mean Green will move into the new facility for the 2011 season.

The stadium, rendering, right, will replace 57-year-old Fouts Field, and will be the first collegiate football stadium designed by award-winning HKS Inc. Architects, the firm that designed the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The university will be seeking Gold LEED certification, one of the highest levels of sustainable achievement. UNT likely will be the first college football stadium with a Gold LEED designation.

“If you look at America’s great universities, you’ll see that they all have the three A’s in common: great academics, great arts and great athletics. All are key to a vibrant alumni community and continued growth. And all require great facilities,” says President Gretchen M. Bataille. "I am committed to ensuring that UNT, like many of the nation's best research universities, strives to be excellent in everything we do.”

• Learn more about Mean Green football.
• Buy tickets to the Nov. 21 game versus Army/U.S. Military Academy.
• Learn more about all Mean Green sports and athletes.

UNT has more finalists in the prestigious Siemens competition that any Texas high school. Eighteen students enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science are finalists or semifinalists in the 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, the nation’s leading original research competition in math, science and technology for high school students.

In 2008, TAMS led Texas with 14 semifinalists.

In 2009, four TAMS students are finalists and 14 are semifinalists.

Finalists are:

• Sai Achi
• Somak Das
• Peter Hu
• Sahil Khetpal

Semifinalists are:

• Smitha Janardan
• Brandon Kiasaleh
• Matthew Krenik
• Jesse Lou
• Ruobing Lu
• Alex Mentzelopoulos
• Eva Ng
• Navaneeth Ravindranath
• Jay Shah
• Rena Sheng
• Katheryn Shi
• Tian Tian
• Kathy Wang
• Amruth Venkatraman
  

Early voting for the Nov. 3 election is under way now and will be available through Oct. 30.

You likely are aware that the ballot includes the opportunity to vote on Proposition 4 to establish the National Research University Fund. This fund would provide a dedicated and independent source of funding for Texas’ emerging research universities, including UNT.

Establishing the fund will not involve raising new money or increasing taxes. The fund will be created by redirecting monies from the existing Higher Education Fund. If the fund is established, Texas universities must meet the qualifying criteria laid out in HB 51 to receive support.

If voters approve Proposition 4, there will be significant state funding available for the qualifying institutions to support major research initiatives and generate greater economic activity.
Proposition 4 is “The constitutional amendment establishing the national research university fund to enable universities in this state to achieve national prominence and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the national research university fund.”

If you would like additional information regarding Proposition 4, check out the following resources:

• Text of HB 51: www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB51
• Texas Secretary of State: www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/whatisontheballot.shtml
• League of Women Voters nonpartisan summaries: www.lwvtexas.org/votersintro.php

As with all elections, employees are encouraged to exercise their right to vote and university policy grants a reasonable period of time off during the regular work day for voting when it is not possible for an employee to vote before or after regular working hours. To receive leave for voting during work, employees must first get supervisor approval and present a voting slip upon return to work.

Find your polling location:
team.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionPolling.jsp

With green pride,
Gretchen M. Bataille
President

The campus will return to Central Standard Time at 2 a.m. Nov. 1. Personal clocks should be set one hour backward. As the mnemonic says, Fall back in the fall … and spring forward in the spring. Standard time will return March 7.

Hawaii and Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) are the only states that do not observe DST. Territories Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not use DST.

• Learn about DST from the U.S. Naval Observatory, the official timekeeper for the United States.
• Calculate time in each time zone in the United States.

UNT continues to lead all four-year schools in Texas in its efforts toward creating a carbon neutral campus, according to reports submitted to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

Since President Gretchen M. Bataille signed the commitment in April 2008, UNT has met five of the seven tangible actions required. This means UNT is at the forefront of environmental stewardship in the state. UNT’s accomplishment puts it in the top 17 percent of all colleges and universities nationwide, say reports by the presidents' council, or ACUPCC. Right, Bataille introduced energy expert and activist John Hofmeister during a campus visit.

“I’m very proud that in only 18 months UNT has achieved five of the ACUPCC’s requirements,”  Bataille says. “Environmental stewardship has long been a UNT tradition and our achievement is a testament to the success of the array of sustainability programs under way on our campus.”

UNT was the first large public university in Texas to sign the commitment, a nationwide initiative of college and university presidents and chancellors dedicated to counteracting climate change by taking steps to make their campuses carbon neutral. Left, recycling activities during Earth Week 2009.

By signing the agreement, Bataille committed the university to:
• completing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory,
• setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming carbon neutral,
• taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
• integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience,
• making the climate action plan, emissions inventory and progress reports publicly available.

“We’ve done extremely well to this point,” says Todd Spinks, director of sustainability. “Now we have to develop and implement the climate action plan to achieve our ultimate goal of making our campus carbon neutral.” The climate action plan is expected to be adopted in the spring of 2010.

The university will open UNT on the Square with an invitation-only grand opening at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 21. UNT on the Square, a 2,400-square-foot leased building located on N. Elm St. on the west side of Denton’s historic courthouse square, is the home of the university’s newly created Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and a gathering place and exhibition space for the arts.

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, left, the institute’s first artist-in-residence, will join UNT for the opening festivities and speak about his latest movie, "The Burning Plain," and the experience of filmmaking.

The celebration begins with a public reception launching the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Lightwell Gallery of the Art Building. The reception includes the announcement of the institute’s first faculty fellows, chosen each year based on a competitive application process. The fellows will complete a specific project during the one-year fellowship and will be granted release from teaching assignments for the length of the project.

Arriaga is expected to talk about his directorial debut on "The Burning Plain," starring Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron, and about the process of creating a film. In addition, a graduate student quartet from UNT’s acclaimed College of Music will perform a piece by noted contemporary composer Eduardo Gamboa. Works from UNT’s P.R.I.N.T. Press, including creations from recent Hunting Art Prize winner Robyn O’Neil, will be the first exhibition on display in the building.

“The Institute for the Advancement of the Arts and its new home at UNT on the Square are enabling us to continue our long legacy of excellence in the arts, providing an open door to community partnership and allowing our students and faculty to share their talent with the surrounding area,” says Wendy K. Wilkins, provost and vice president for academic affairs at UNT.

In addition to supporting events for the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts, UNT on the Square could be used for poetry readings, small ensemble performances, student art exhibitions and other activities.

The Institute for the Advancement of the Arts is designed to provide time for artists to focus on their creative work. Arriaga, as the first artist-in-residence, will be granted time to pursue creative projects, as well as share his expertise through interactions with UNT students, faculty and the wider community.

UNT has been named to the list of America's 100 Best College Buys® for the 14th consecutive year. The ranking is compiled annually by Institutional Research & Evaluation, Inc.

UNT's cost to in-state students is the lowest among Texas' three "best buy" schools. The other Texas universities cited in the report are Abilene Christian University and Texas A&M University. The average annual cost for an in-state undergraduate student who enrolls at UNT for 30 semester hours in a year and lives on campus is about $14,194, the least expensive of the three Texas schools named in the survey.

To be considered for the designation America's 100 Best College Buys®, an institution must:
• be an accredited, four-year institution offering bachelor's degrees
• offer full residential facilities, including residence halls and dining services
• have had an entering freshman class in the fall of 2006 with a high school grade point average and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for entering college freshmen
• have an out-of-state cost of attendance in 2007-08 for three quarters or two semesters below the national average cost of attendance or not exceeding the national average cost by more than 10 percent.

Institutional Research & Evaluation, Inc. submitted survey forms to the offices of the directors of admissions of 1,468 accredited U.S. colleges and universities that met the above requirements. Of those surveyed, 1,152 schools responded.

Parking Lot 30, the faculty and staff D permit lot between Kendall Hall and Crumley Hall, will close Oct. 19 to make way for the new Business Leadership Building. Construction of the new building begins Nov. 23. The 180,000-square-foot Business Leadership Building will be located south of Library Mall on the southwest corner of Avenue A and Highland Street.

Preparations for Kendall Hall demolition are under way, and many of the parking spaces along Highland Street are being removed to allow for demolition and construction equipment.

The 16 parking meters on the south side of Highland Street from Lot 30 to Ave A have been removed.
• Four A permit reserved parking spaces and nine D permit staff/faculty spaces also have been removed.
• Asbestos abatement of Kendall Hall began Sept. 16.
• Lot 30 will close Oct. 19.
• Construction of the new Business Leadership Building, rendering, right, will begin Nov. 23.

Faculty and staff members affected by these parking closures will have several alternative parking options:

1. Use other D lots including lots 4, 26, 37 and 50.
• Lot 4 is west of Chilton Hall off of Chestnut Street.
• Lot 26 is northwest of the intersection of Highland Street and Avenue C, next to Bain Hall.
• Lot 37 is between Highland Street and Union Circle, east of Wooten Hall.
• Lot 50 is between Union Circle and West Mulberry Street, east of the RTVF and Performing Arts building.
• Lot 20 (Fouts Field) allows D permit parking, and, after 5 p.m. A permit reserved spaces may be used by D permit holders.

2. Use Lot 20 (Fouts Field) and exchange a D permit for a G permit. Individuals on payroll deduction will have their deduction adjusted to reflect the lower price of the G permit.

3. Use Union Circle Parking Garage. This costs $300 for the fall semester, $300 for the spring semester, $200 for the summer semester or $700 for a full academic year. Upgrading to a garage spot will require a change in payroll deduction or payment for the difference between a D permit and garage pricing.

4. Use the UNT shuttle. The Mean Green route provides easy and quick access to most points around campus, including Fouts Field, University Union, residence halls, Pohl Recreation Center and academic buildings. There is no fare, just show a UNT ID and ride.

• Find a map of campus parking.
• Learn about Rideshare, carpooling and other bus services. 
• Sign up for Connect by Hertz rental car services; no registration fee before Oct. 31.
• Learn more from Parking and Transportation Services, 940-565-3020.