2015 President's State of the University Address

[Christopher Walker]

http://president.unt.edu/state-university-2015

Just a reminder that President Smatresk' annual State of the University address goes live here at 2 PM CST. There's a live stream running in that link above.

it will be interesting to see what he has to say of athletics...

[UNTexas]

He'll say athletics are great and looking towards the future. However, football and basketball are in a state of complete garbage which won't be mentioned.

[Christopher Walker]

I'll kind of jeep a running live blog as we go along.

Lottttts of National, State, and local politicians here including the complete Denton City Council.

Oh for anyone who doesn't happen to know... This is year 125 for UNT. Big party all year.

Complete history video now.

Yaayyyyy, they handled talking about the Mean Green moniker in the best way possible. Finally correct.

[Cerebus]

Wow we have over 300 alumni :)

 

[KingDL1]

Wow we have over 300 alumni :)

 

So we do have alumni.

[Christopher Walker]

This is not completely new info, but we added 15 National Merit Scholars with this freshman class bringing the goal to 30.

Everything being realigned to best achieve Tier One status and funding.

Getting (to borrow from Neal) very inside baseball here with how this is a complete and thorough plan, not just a hope and dream.

Also Neal's pretty upfront whenever he believes we're behind in certain areas.

[Cerebus]

When people ask "why do we need all these administrators?" Look no further than that SACS accreditation, it is a bear and is incredibly important.

You know, in case you want your degree to be worth the paper it's printed on.   

[Christopher Walker]

Ha, corrected the 300,000 alum mark from earlier.

[Aldo]

Prez just threw some shade...

[Christopher Walker]

Acknowledges the Sack N Save purchase and jokes with inflection. Planning impressive Gateway infrastructure.

[Cerebus]

Thank God that this guy gets the importance of data management and the need for a CRM.

Sounds like he is getting buried with parking complaints.  Hope they have $$$ to backup that dedication to make it better.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

I like how he is putting out the truth about where UNT is and how far behind we are from where we want to be right now. 

The research numbers are pretty embarrassing. 

[Christopher Walker]

Doing Tier 1 comparison numbers, is fully acknowledging some of our extreme shortcomings, especially in research funding.

[Green Mean]

Problem with parking is that we're literally better than most other large public state universities already. Our parking office is deliberately obtuse though. Drive around UH for 15 minutes and you'll never complain about UNT parking. Not to mention the students whining about parking refuse to take the bus or walk when they live 5 minutes from campus.

I'm no student and haven't been in near a decade but I've read several comments that even ones that leave early and try to find alternative ways to get to school they still make the overall time of commute super long.  

[Christopher Walker]

In one year, we're completely out of the weeds as far as the mismanagement of funds and staff benefits packages go.

Taking a detour down official UNT Tartan Lane.

Expanding footprint ("wingspan") with Frisco campus, expansions in the Dallas Arts and Design Districts.

[untjim1995]

Anything about revenue sports yet?

[Harry]

Acknowledges the Sack N Save purchase and jokes with inflection. Planning impressive Gateway infrastructure.

Would love to see a rendering of this!

[Christopher Walker]

Not yet...

[greenit]

 

Bring the UNTHSC under the main campus and our research $$$'s go up dramatically.  We just have to be smarter. 

[Christopher Walker]

Baseball!! Though it was in mention of hopeful progress for next year.

[Harry]

It just dawned on me how much the Prez would have liked to conduct this presentation AFTER a big win at SMU instead of a loss.  I have a feeling he is keeping a pretty close watch on things given the size and scope of our athletic budget in comparison to other departments and initiatives.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Harry

[meangreendork]

Problem with parking is that we're literally better than most other large public state universities already. Our parking office is deliberately obtuse and ran by arrogant jerks, no doubt. Still, drive around UH for 15 minutes and you'll never complain about UNT parking. Not to mention the students whining about parking refuse to take the bus or walk when they live 5 minutes from campus.

13 years ago, getting around Texas State was a cluster. It's worse now. It's not nearly as bad at UNT when compared to other places.

[Christopher Walker]

It just dawned on me how much the Prex would have liked to conduct this presentation AFTER a big win at SMU instead of a loss.  I have a feeling he is keeping a pretty close watch on things given the size and scope of our athletic budget in comparison to other departments and initiatives.

He made mention of his extreme disappointment in the outcome considering the amount of student and alumni engagement we fostered before and during.

You could hear it in his voice.

[Christopher Walker]

Prompting individual engagement commitments to universally achieve Tier One.

[MeanGreenHoops]

 

Taking a detour down official UNT Tartan Lane.

 

First thanks for posting these summaries. But this point made me want to vent. I went to the UNT bookstore to buy some official tartan gear. Well the stuff they had all had yellow in it (where the lime green is supposed to be). So disappointed. It reminded me of a punt down to the 1 where our two gunners ran into each other and the ball bounced into the endzone. We just can't even do simple stuff right.