Dear UNT Faculty and Staff,
After a great semester full of student accomplishments, engaging events, and countless faculty and staff successes, we've arrived at my favorite time of year — commencement weekend! We look forward to conferring UNT degrees for more than 5,600 new UNT graduates Friday through Sunday at 12 commencement ceremonies. It's been a tremendous honor to witness our students, faculty, and staff exhibit resilience during two hard years, and I know our newest alumni will make us proud as they make an impact in the workforce.
This year, we saw research grow an amazing 25 percent, thanks to the focused, top-tier work of our dedicated scholars. This progress will have an indelible mark on our national reputation, which will continue to rise as we renovate the Science Research Building, build a netted test facility for unmanned aerial vehicle research, construct a new STEM building, and modify Hickory Hall to better meet the needs of our rapidly expanding research enterprise.
I want to thank each member of our Mean Green Nation for the hard work you've put in and for the many ways you've adapted to meet the needs of our students and university. This summer, we plan to close our leadership searches for UNT's next provost and vice president for university advancement. We look forward to building an even stronger team to create a better future for our students.
Next year, I look forward to the opening of UNT at Frisco's first permanent building, Frisco Landing, as well as breaking ground on a freestanding Multicultural Center and welcoming an even larger incoming class to whom we'll introduce a Career First-Year Seminar to ensure our students become thriving young professionals. It will be a promising year as we enter our next legislative session and set more enrollment and research records.
I want you to know again how much I deeply appreciate all of your efforts and your collaborative teamwork. I hope this summer provides you opportunities to take time off for adventure, relaxation, and self-care. Great things are ahead for UNT thanks to individuals like you.
UNT Proud,Neal SmatreskPresident