Whats Wrong With Unt?

June 5, 2008

Everyone should go to "UNT News" and read Boomer23's post about the UNT daily - that there is some good stuff. The stupidity of the UNT Daily is still making me laugh.

I would go there if I had any idea where "UNT News" is..

Mean Green 93-98 · June 5, 2008

I would go there if I had any idea where "UNT News" is..

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showforum=6

greenminer · June 5, 2008

I would go there if I had any idea where "UNT News" is..

The lingo can get misleading. Lets get a board mod to chime in for you...

June 5, 2008

The lingo can get misleading. Lets get a board mod to chime in for you...

Haha.. I was under the assumption it was on some official UNT site.. Duh. :blink:

Quoner · June 5, 2008

Haha.. I was under the assumption it was on some official UNT site.. Duh.

Ban the n00b!!!!

KRAM1 · June 6, 2008

I too received the Emerald Scholars letter from Dr. B. Good idea always to look for ways to raise scholarship dollars, but my concern with this one is the low GPA required for the benefit AND the fact that there are a good many programs already in existence at UNT that need help with funding. Why not put the weight of the Prez behind a campaign to raise scholarship dollars across the board...not just for her own personal program? Why couldn't Emerald Scholars be a program reaching across all departments with need for $$$$$, and let the depts. determine GPA levels...it is crazy that a 2.5GPA would get you so high a lecel of funding. To me a 2.5, while decent, is not and exceptional GPA. And, it may depend upon major...is it as hard to maintain a 2.5 with psychology, history, sociology, geography (I put this one in as I have a masters in geography and did not want folks to think I was just picking on the social sciences :rolleyes: ) as your major as it is in physics, math, egineering, etc., etc.????

I wonder...seems the Prez is just starting a program of her own that she can "control"....BUT< as I said...I am all for raising scholarship dollars for UNT. I do wonder how great the level of donations back to UNT is from those who have received scholarships to attend? I maintained in excess of a 3.8 GPA as a UNT undergrad and in excess of 3.5 on my MBA program and received absolutely ZERO scholarship dollars! Worked during both programs to help cover the bills...didn't hurt me at all!

June 6, 2008

I too received the Emerald Scholars letter from Dr. B. Good idea always to look for ways to raise scholarship dollars, but my concern with this one is the low GPA required for the benefit AND the fact that there are a good many programs already in existence at UNT that need help with funding. Why not put the weight of the Prez behind a campaign to raise scholarship dollars across the board...not just for her own personal program? Why couldn't Emerald Scholars be a program reaching across all departments with need for $$$$$, and let the depts. determine GPA levels...it is crazy that a 2.5GPA would get you so high a lecel of funding. To me a 2.5, while decent, is not and exceptional GPA. And, it may depend upon major...is it as hard to maintain a 2.5 with psychology, history, sociology, geography (I put this one in as I have a masters in geography and did not want folks to think I was just picking on the social sciences ) as your major as it is in physics, math, egineering, etc., etc.????
I wonder...seems the Prez is just starting a program of her own that she can "control"....BUT< as I said...I am all for raising scholarship dollars for UNT. I do wonder how great the level of donations back to UNT is from those who have received scholarships to attend? I maintained in excess of a 3.8 GPA as a UNT undergrad and in excess of 3.5 on my MBA program and received absolutely ZERO scholarship dollars! Worked during both programs to help cover the bills...didn't hurt me at all!

I think your questions are valid, so I will give you an answer on why this program was started (or at least a partial answer that is my opinion only). Low-income students persist (which is a term that simply means continue in school) at a rate of around 50%. There are several factors that contribute to this reality. Low-income students obviously often have financial concerns that keep them from continuing their education, either difficulty paying for school or the need to work for their families instead of going to school. This program helps them with that by making up the gap in tution and fees. It also encourages them to work on campus using federal and institutional financial aid in the form of work-study. Second, many low-income student do not come from a college going culture. That is, they may (and I stress may) not have the same support structure in place that a similar student whose parents both graduate from college might have. Some of these students might be first-generation college students. This program sets academic goals in the form of gpa and hours requirements, thus raising the expectations of the student themselves. It also puts in place a peer and faculty/staff mentor to encourage academic success and to put the student in touch with the proper resources, such as tutors or study skills sessions. Third, students from this group often get to college and have trouble 'fitting it' because they have trouble finding peers. This program requires campus involvement, making campus connections easier for the student. This component also quickly invests them into UNT, by encourage attendance at sporting events and membership in other campus activities like student organizations. Students that atttend games and belong to clubs usually become 'better' alumni.

So this program boosts the students' chances of succeeding at UNT. Why is this important? Well, by raising the retention and graduating rates of low-income students, UNT will boost its overall retention rates to levels that are in line with its goals. That is why so many other major universities have programs like this. It isn't intended to take away from current high achieving students. It is in place to encourage more student to reach that level. As retention and graduation rates rise, so do UNT's rankings in those annual publications that we bemoan here at GMG. As those rankings rise, so do does the reputation of UNT. As that increases, so does the value of our own degrees. This is very similar to what we have talked about improving athletics does for UNT and us as alumni, but from the academics side.

KRAM1 · June 9, 2008

'97 and '03...I hope you are 100% correct in your assumptions rgarding The Mean Green Scholars. It just seems to me that we continue to try to find more and more ways to aid "non-traditional and low-income" students while many other scholarship programs go "wanting" for lack of interest or lack of publicity that they even exist. I just hate to see scholarship programs that reward "middle of the road" academic standards. However, as I have said, I am all in favor of raising scholarship dollars for UNT students...low, middle or high income, traditional or non-traditional, athletic and/or academic, so if this program helps...I say GO FOR IT! I do like that "commitment" required on the part pf the student to "gert more involved" in campus life. Perhaps it will help folks who receive scholarships to stay and actually graduate and then to remember how they were helped with financial aid. I think the level of support for UNT from its alumni base is pretty low and pretty "sad" given the size of its alumni base. I hope this program is successful for the long run!

With the southern Dallas campus struggling, should the scholarships in this program focus on students attending that campus? Just a question for thought...I have no idea if that's a good idea or not...just wondering. Good job in your posts on this topic "97 and '03. Nicely done.