UNT at Dallas

[carousel]

UNT sinking roots deeper into Dallas



Groundbreaking today will mark commitment to permanent campus


07:08 AM CDT on Thursday, October 13, 2005

By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News

Five years after opening its doors, the University of North Texas Dallas campus has just slightly more than half of the full-time equivalent students it needs to be a freestanding institution.

But that won't stop officials from breaking ground today on a 78,000-square-foot building that they say is the start of UNT Dallas' permanent campus – and legacy. The new building will sit on 264 acres near the southeast corner of Houston School and Camp Wisdom roads in southeast Oak Cliff.

"This groundbreaking shows a commitment from the state, the city of Dallas and the suburban cities that there will be a university in the city of Dallas," said state Sen. Royce West, one of the main players in initiating the UNT Dallas campus. "The byproduct is that people will get a first-class education that's affordable and accessible, and in the metroplex."

Total enrollment for the campus – which will remain a UNT satellite until it reaches the equivalent of 1,000 full-time students – is 1,450 this fall.

However, the full-time equivalent enrollment is only 564 students.

The number of full-time equivalent students is determined by dividing the number of hours taught by what is considered a full-time course load.

At UNT, a full-time course load for undergraduate students is 15 hours per semester.

Already, UNT officials have received a break. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board requires start-up colleges and universities to reach and sustain 3,500 full-time students or their equivalents before becoming a freestanding institution.

Mr. West and the Texas Legislature changed the rule for UNT Dallas.

But even with the reduced full-time equivalent requirement, Mr. West, UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson and John Price, vice provost for the UNT Dallas campus, said they aren't certain when the satellite would hit the 1,000-student threshold.

"I don't know we'll have that by January 2007," said Dr. Price, referring to the estimated construction completion date of this first building. "But not long after that, we will reach that number."

Mr. West agreed.

"I think once we plant the flag in the ground, students are going to come," he said.

"It sends a signal that the commitment is real."

Dr. Price and Mr. Jackson share Mr. West's enthusiasm that the project will boost enrollment.

"I feel more comfortable now than three years ago when I joined the system," Mr. Jackson said.

He said he doesn't see UNT Dallas as that different from how the University of Texas at Dallas got its start.

"I think people forget that 30 years ago there was very little up there," he said of UTD's Richardson campus. "I think the land around our campus will develop during the next 20 years as the campus grows."

And while the coordinating board works to make the UNT Dallas campus viable, its rules suggest this college may not have been needed.

"Our threshold is 3,500 students. It's been something in place for a number of years, and I don't see us reconsidering it at this point," said Robert Shepard, coordinating board chairman.

"Quite frankly, and speaking for myself, at this point we're pretty comfortable with that minimum threshold. But the Legislature can trump our rules."

The coordinating board wasn't the only voice questioning the need for the satellite campus.

"There ought to be a place for everyone, but do we need and can we afford a college on every block?" said Allan Saxe, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.

"I wish higher education funding was based differently than on how many students you have."

But Dana Dunn, UTA provost and vice president for academic affairs, said her university has achieved dramatic growth in the last five years, and she doesn't see UNT Dallas as a threat.

"It is not a competitive situation," Dr. Dunn said. "We're trying to find more ways to partner to accommodate student demand now and in the pipeline. We have partnerships with UNT. We wish them well."

E-mail hbooth@dallasnews.com (hbooth@dallasnews.com)

[RobertB]

FWIW: this campus figures heavily into DART's LRT expansion plans. The campus will be the new terminus for the Blue Line. Of course, this will allow Lancaster residents to get all the benefits of DART without paying their fair share -- but then, I'll be doing the same thing when I drive from Kaufman to Buckner Station.

[FoUTASportscaster]

As long as fare is paid, then that is al least some revenue into the coffers.

[RobertB]

As long as fare is paid, then that is al least some revenue into the coffers.
But as noted in the other threads, DART ends up with full cars and not enough revenue to add more. The end result is riders feeling like DART isn't giving them their money's worth -- because most folks don't realize that their fare doesn't pay for DART's operations, any more than the 50c for your newspaper pays for the printing.

[Tnekster]

IN DEPTH: CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
From the February 17, 2006 print edition
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/02/20/focus1.html
Grand plan
About 26,000 students are expected to attend the University of North Texas at Dallas now under construction at Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads
Margaret Allen
Staff Writer
Imagine 264 undeveloped acres in southern Dallas at the southeast intersection of Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads as the home of a four-year university.

If it's difficult to imagine, don't worry, the idea hasn't come easy to anyone. But designers of the planned University of North Texas at Dallas campus say the corner will someday be populated with 26,000 students, 2.7 million square feet of buildings for everything from classrooms to residence halls and 14 athletic fields.

That's been the long-time vision of Lee Jackson, chancellor of the Denton-based UNT System, who in December told guests touring southern Dallas County that the school is not a dream.

"The university is coming and it's going to be real," Jackson said. "It will become a major employer and development force in southern Dallas."

The very idea is more like a mirage for residents of southern Dallas, where economic development of any kind has been slow in coming.

Tangible evidence
Residents of the southern sector have heard so many promises about potential development plans that they're naturally skeptical, said Richard Escalante, vice chancellor for administrative services for the UNT System.

But people can see for themselves now that the dream is taking shape. Phoenix-based Hunt Construction Group Inc. has begun work on the first building, a $15 million, 73,000-square-foot multi-purpose building. The three-story, H-shaped building will include classrooms, a small library, atrium, 75-seat tiered auditorium for lectures and classes, meeting rooms and registration offices.

"They're putting steel up right now," said Escalante, who oversees the project.

The building is the first of as many as 70 structures ultimately slated for the campus.

Development of the masterplan was led by the respected national firm Sasaki Associates Inc. of Boston and San Francisco in conjunction with Dallas-based architectural and engineering firm Aguirre Corp.

Town center design
Relying heavily on public involvement and community input, Sasaki and Aguirre designed the campus like a town center, with buildings and parking on the perimeter to encourage a pedestrian environment, as well as shade trees, awnings and buildings surrounded by green spaces, rather than concrete.

"It's like a town center cluster of buildings and then the majority of the site was left open for natural features," said Pedro Aguirre, president and CEO, Aguirre Corp.

Located on a hill, the acreage has varying topography, including barren areas as well as some densely populated with trees, Aguirre said. An effort was made to safeguard not only a creek, but also the natural drainage and the natural grasses running through the property.

"There's been great care to make sure that we respect the site," Aguirre said. "And because of the topography we have a spectacular view of the Dallas skyline. It's going to be an eye-opener."

In keeping with a strategy to make the university an integral part of the community, the first building will have a multipurpose lobby, useful for community and public events. Visible from the lobby is what Aguirre describes as that spectacular view of the Dallas skyline. Future buildings will also capitalize on the vista, he said.

"This is going to put the southern sector on the map," Aguirre said. "It's going to be truly an urban setting in a very picturesque outdoor site."

Now that work is actually under way, Escalante said, community doubt is easing. And instead of people asking, "Is this for real?", the question has changed.

"People ask me, 'When will you
finish?' " he said. "Well, the Denton campus is 100 years old and we're still building. We have 31,000 students and we just opened a new chemistry building."

Roughly speaking, the master plan envisions the campus at build-out with 26,000 students. No one knows when that might be.

UNT started the Dallas campus in 2000 with 250 students in a leased commercial building on Hampton Road.

By 2005, the campus had already grown to 1,462 students, Jackson said. That's an average annual growth rate of 14%, but from 2004 to 2005 alone, enrollment grew 22%, while the average for all universities around the state is a mere 2%.

"When you plant the seeds of a public university, it never goes away," Jackson said. "We're projecting a 30% growth rate next fall."

Which is why UNT officials have already requested funding from the state Legislature for a second building.

The university has been using faculty from its Denton campus. But the recent addition of $2 million in state funding means the school will begin hiring full-time faculty, including 18 for next fall.

The university already has full legal authority to be a four-year university.

"It will not be a commuter college," Jackson said. "It will be an honors college environment. We need an urban institute."

Jackson predicts UNT Dallas within the next five years will hire its own president and chancellor, and that the budget by 2010 will hit $17 million.

Unique project
Those involved in the UNT at Dallas project say it's a one-of-a-kind experience. Building a university from scratch just doesn't happen every day.

"We're building the backbone, the infrastructure, the beginnings of a university that will serve students in January 2007 and January 2077," Escalante said.

For Hunt Construction, a company with $2 billion annual revenue, the job is a medium-sized one in the overall scope of things, according to Jack Sovern, contract manager at Hunt's regional office in Dallas.

"Getting a job awarded to you like this, we're very excited to be a part of it," he said.

It's the third job Hunt Construction has done for UNT. Construction of a roadway into the site began this summer. Hunt broke ground on the first building Oct. 13. Completion is set for November 2006, with move-in set for January 2007. Some 40 subcontractors, about 40% of them certified by the state as an Historically Underutilized Business that is minority or woman-owned, will take about 90% of the $15 million job, Sovern said.

About 60% of the subcontractors have been hired, all through competitive bidding, he said. Hunt is now in the process of completing the buyout of the job. The remaining contractors will be hired by mid-April.

Seventy construction workers are on the job site now. That will peak at about 200 during the summer. The work force will include high school students from the surrounding school districts in Dallas, DeSoto and Lancaster as part of a construction career mentoring program established for the project. Twelve students will be chosen to work part-time, Sovern said.

Hunt won the UNT project through a competitive, lengthy process that included submitting both written and oral proposals.

As noted by UNT's Escalante and an Aguirre Corp. spokesman, the job has greater significance for Hunt beyond the size of the first building. It's rare nowadays to be part of designing and building a new campus on raw ground, without the burden of working around existing infrastructure.

"The exciting thing about this job is it's the initial project," Sovern said. "The quality of this job will be held as the benchmark on that campus. So we're establishing the level of quality."

mallen@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7119

[carousel]

where exactly is the campus located?

[Tnekster]

It is down east of 35, north of 20 on or near the intersection of Houston School Road and Camp Wisdom. Just south of the VA train line.

[msutton]

will DART eventually serve the school? seems like that would be essential to making this an important regional college.

[FoUTASportscaster]

I imagine bus routes will make that happen, don't know about rail though.

It was also cool reading the beginnings of this school. Being a UTA student, I always felt a natural rivalry with UNT, being the only two public D 1 institutions, but I hope this goes really, really well.

[CTroyMathis]

From Sasaki's website:



University of North Texas at Dallas Master Plan
Dallas, TX

The master plan for the new campus of the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNT Dallas) provides a clear vision for guiding the incremental construction of the campus over the next thirty to fifty years. The vision sets out a development framework for a target enrollment of 25,000 students – a framework that will assist in providing appropriate responses to the climate; the natural systems of the land; the regional landscape; the existing and proposed context; and, the programmatic requirements of future academic, support, and residential facilities.
The sustainable design principles of the plan address air and water quality, energy conservation, and transportation. The plan is organized around a central park, which will serve as a passive recreation area for students and as a key stormwater management feature. The proposed compact land-use pattern creates a pedestrian-scale campus and a dynamic environment for collegiate life focused on a Main Quad defined by the library, student union, and classroom facilities. The configuration of buildings establishes a densely landscaped series of interconnected courtyards and promenades. The architectural guidelines provide orientation, shading and ventilation recommendations. The landscape guidelines include an implementation and maintenance strategy based on the preservation of non-invasive existing vegetation, and the use of native plant materials. An integrated transportation strategy coordinates the proposed Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) campus light rail station, bus services and a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian network.

Master plan visuals and that write-up here: http://www.sasaki.com/what/portfolio.cgi?fid=335&project_type=12&page=4

[CTroyMathis]

Also here: http://www.unt.edu/unt-dallas/plan/Documents/Final_Master_Plan.pdf (massive file)

[FoUTASportscaster]

City planning campus district
Lancaster: Condos, shops, hotel proposed for land near UNT-Dallas



12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 2, 2006
By HERB BOOTH / The Dallas Morning News


Hundreds of acres surrounding the University of North Texas-Dallas campus could become home to a resort hotel, upscale retail shops, restaurants, condominiums and garden offices based on plans Lancaster officials have made public.

Kimley-Horn and Associates, which does consulting work for Lancaster, recently finished initial land-use details for the city's 450-acre Campus District Plan. The Lancaster City Council – which has seen the plan in a work session – is to officially consider it this summer.

Meanwhile, Dallas officials said that once Dallas' first-ever comprehensive plan is finished, they will start a similar study on how to use more land around the UNT-Dallas campus.

The campus, which is scheduled to open in 2007, is near the southeast corner of Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads.

Lancaster Mayor Joe Tillotson said his city's development plan is achievable and realistic.

"We believe that if the [UNT] chancellor and officials in the know are correct, we're going to have a good-size university up there in three to 10 years," Mr. Tillotson said. "Think about 20,000 to 30,000 students going to school up there. I think with the close relationship to downtown Dallas, it's going to happen. That is one of the most sought-after intersections in the area."

The linchpin of the Campus District Plan is a resort hotel at the northwest corner of Houston School Road and Interstate 20, about a mile from the campus. Richard Escalante, UNT vice chancellor for administrative services, said that in preliminary discussions about the campus, residents mentioned the lack of a hotel.

"They told us that when they visited family members at other campuses, they had to have places to stay," Mr. Escalante said. "So I don't think it's far-fetched."

A hotel could spell the end for Cedar Canyon Dude Ranch, currently at that location.

The facility, which hosts weddings, birthday parties, picnics and special events, has drawn interest from developers and speculators.

Cyrus Zarei, owner of the ranch, doesn't mind the attention his 32 acres are getting. That's why he bought the land in 1991, he said.

"I bought it as an investment but decided to keep the ranch going because it was an established business," Mr. Zarei said. The ranch opened in 1945.

Several things besides the UNT-Dallas campus have helped raise developers' interest in the area, Mr. Zarei said:

• I-20 service roads are being added.

• Houston School Road is being expanded and improved.

• A new DART station is planned for the campus.

• Argent and ProLogis – two distribution and warehouse developers – are building a 205-acre project across I-20.

Cedar Canyon's picturesque setting, with a creek cutting through the property, is characteristic of the area, and Lancaster City Manager Jim Landon said the Campus District Plan is designed to protect that quality. A resort hotel would be ideal in that setting, he said.

Peer Chacko, Dallas' long-range planning manager, said southern Dallas is the centerpiece of Dallas' new comprehensive plan, called Forward Dallas. He believes that I-20 could become the "LBJ Freeway corridor of the south."

"One of the five major points in Forward Dallas is the UNT campus," Mr. Chacko said. "Our goal is to have a more specific plan started for that area by 2007, when the campus' first building is supposed to open."

[CTroyMathis]

Article from May 2006: http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?commentID=758

(Also, merged two threads.)

[tamtagon]

IN DEPTH: CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
From the February 17, 2006 print edition
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/02/20/focus1.html
Grand plan
...
Roughly speaking, the master plan envisions the campus at build-out with 26,000 students. No one knows when that might be.
...
The university already has full legal authority to be a four-year university.

"It will not be a commuter college," Jackson said. "It will be an honors college environment. We need an urban institute."

Is UNTD going to have its own competitive sports programs?

[Geaux Tigers]

Is UNTD going to have its own competitive sports programs?

Since when has UNT ever been competitive in a sport?

[Mephis Gooseberry]

They weren't too bad until the hookers got busted in Kerr Hall.

[Dr. Thunder]

Has anyone heard anything about UNT Law in Downtown.... is it going to happen?

[dfwcre8tive]

For college, jaguar is the top cat
UNT Dallas: Campus picks its mascot and also chooses school colors
08:13 AM CST on Friday, January 12, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News

It may not be a free-standing campus yet, but the University of North Texas at Dallas now has school colors and a mascot to call its own.

With great flourish, UNT officials announced Thursday that the Dallas colors are blue and gold, and the mascot is the jaguar (the animal, not the car).

Finding the right mascot is serious stuff.

"The brand for UNT Dallas represents a unique identity for this campus that will become a separate university in the years ahead," Lee Jackson, chancellor of the UNT System, said in a prepared statement. "The marks are designed to encourage public awareness of the unique qualities of the institution."

The announcement is timed with Tuesday's opening of the first permanent building at UNT Dallas, at Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads in southeast Oak Cliff.

Since 2000, when the campus opened, classes have been held at another site on South Hampton Road.

UNT Dallas needs 1,000 full-time students before it can be a free-standing institution that grants its own degrees. Current full-time enrollment is 615 students, so, for now, it remains an extension of the main UNT campus in Denton.

UNT System officials, with help from students, professors and civic leaders, put considerable thought into the color and mascot decisions.

"Blue is a calm and cool color, so it communicates confidence and intelligence and creativity," said Deborah Sue Leliaert, UNT vice president for university relations. She said it also conveys loyalty (think true blue) and top quality (think blue ribbon).

There's a reason the second color is gold and not yellow. "Gold is precious, and it communicates prosperity and wealth and power," Ms. Leliaert said.

And officials purposely avoided green, the color of UNT in Denton, to avoid confusion and help UNT Dallas stand on its own. That's in contrast with the University of Texas System, in which the colors for all nine campuses must include orange.

As for the jaguar, UNT officials say it's energetic, powerful and graceful – and, to boot, indigenous to Texas.

Don't look for blue-and-gold jaguars on football helmets or jerseys anytime soon, though. UNT Dallas has no athletic teams, though there are plans to start some intramural sports.

For now, the new images will appear on UNT Dallas materials, including stationery and clothing.

UNT folks from Dallas, Denton and the system celebrated with an invitation-only "branding event" at the Oak Cliff Country Club. They handed out T-shirts, backpacks and other freebies with the new logo. Earlier, a CD with several versions of the logo and five digital sound files of a roaring jaguar was given to the media.

"It's important to launch this and launch this in a big way," Ms. Leliaert said, "because it's a milestone in the creation of a new university."

E-mail hhacker@dallasnews.com

HEAR THE JAGUAR ROAR (http://metro.beloblog.com/archives/jaguars.mp3)

[dfwcre8tive]

Here's another link to the new branding of UNT Dallas:
http://www.unt.edu/unt-dallas/branding/

[Agnus Dei]

I like it more than our eagle! I'd take the jaguar over Scrappy any day. I also like that they didn't include any green.

(Sidenote: I'm always so perplexed that for a school with such a strong arts program, specifically Comm. Des., that the uni's webpage is always subpar.)

[psukhu]

It is interesting to note that a real Jaguar currently lives Downtown at the Dallas World Aquarium.

[dfwcre8tive]

High hopes at new UNT campus
University opens $18 million facility in southern Dallas
08:35 AM CST on Wednesday, January 17, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-untdallas_17met.ART.State.Edition1.3e16296.html

In 1956, Lurline Bradley Jackson was one of the first black students to attend the University of North Texas in Denton. On Tuesday, she helped make another kind of history by enrolling at UNT's new campus in Dallas.

Now 69, she's definitely older than most students. But Ms. Jackson was amazed Tuesday by how many of them look like her.

"I see more people of my color here – teachers, too," Ms. Jackson said as she waited in line to buy books. "I thank the Lord for letting me witness this. I tell you, I feel good."

There were lots of good feelings as UNT celebrated the grand opening of the campus in southern Dallas on Tuesday.

For now, the entire campus is a single 75,000-square-foot building. The campus doesn't have enough students to be a stand-alone university that awards its own degrees – those still come from the flagship UNT campus in Denton. And UNT Dallas offers classes only for juniors, seniors and graduate students, though two community colleges teach a few courses on site for freshmen and sophomores.

But UNT officials and some key politicians say the new $18 million building is a major step toward giving Dallas its first public university.

"I think this is a belated birthday present for Dr. Martin Luther King as we stand here today," state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said before an atrium filled with politicians, school and university leaders, neighbors and students. "We can make certain that the dreams of these young people you see here are in fact realized right here in their own community."

Mr. West has led the push for a public university in southern Dallas County, an area with many minority residents and relatively low college-attendance rates. The nearest public universities are in Arlington, Richardson and Denton.

Supporters also believe the new campus will give southern Dallas an economic boost. But Mr. West stressed that it will serve and benefit the greater region.

"This is not the University of North Texas in southern Dallas. This is the University of North Texas at Dallas, and you know the difference," he said.

The red-brick building, at Houston School and Camp Wisdom roads, stands three stories tall. It has a contemporary design with lots of open space and entire walls of windows, creating a bright, airy feel. The ground floor features a map of the area in blue and green tiles.

Although the building is new, UNT has had a presence on South Hampton Road in the Red Bird area since 2000. That site is closing.

Students who took classes at the old location say they definitely prefer the new one. So what if the library is tiny and the bookstore is just a counter where you walk up and ask for your books?

"It looks more like a school," said Olga Torres, a 28-year-old sociology major from Grand Prairie. "It makes you feel more proud to be part of UNT."

All kinds of people

Ms. Torres said she also appreciates the diversity of the campus – it's one-third white and two-thirds minority, mostly black and Hispanic.

"You see all kinds of people here," she said.

The state requires a satellite campus to have at least 3,500 full-time students before it can become a free-standing university. Mr. West persuaded legislators to lower that threshold for UNT Dallas to 1,000 full-time students.

Even with those changes, enrollment has grown more slowly than UNT officials expected. This semester, the campus has the equivalent of 641 full-time students.

Originally, UNT had hoped the campus would be free-standing this fall, but officials have pushed the date back to fall 2009.

Nonetheless, they've already staked out the location for a second building.

Seeing potential

"In Austin, there were those who said that this wouldn't work ... and that there was not a real community need," UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson said. He said the campus continues to add students.

"Now they're not doubting that this is going to be a vibrant, major university," he said. "It's going to fulfill the dream."

He said the campus keeps adding more students.

Meanwhile, Ms. Jackson, the 69-year-old student – who's no relation to the chancellor – looks forward to earning a bachelor's degree. She left UNT a year after enrolling in 1956 because of all the hurtful opposition, she said.

Now, her big challenge is paying for expensive textbooks. Two of them set her back $111.77.

"And they're used books, too," she said.

E-mail hhacker@dallasnews.com

[RuggerAl]

the law school is still being planned. Spring 07 Tuition revenue onds Facility financing approved in conjunction with city commitment.
Fall 07 Begin Building Renovation. Complete AMA accreditation Planning Spring 08 Recruit founding Dean. Fall/Spring 08 Recruit Faculty for fall 2009 entering Class. Spring 09 enroll first students for fall of 2009.
Here is a url for more info. http://untsystem.unt.edu/lawschool/index.htm

Will be in the Old Municipal building and the system center building will be left the same in front of both is the site of a future park to be developed to give the System Center and Law school a more campus like feel... Current UNT student now...hope to finish school soon.

[Dr. Thunder]

the law school is still being planned. Spring 07 Tuition revenue onds Facility financing approved in conjunction with city commitment.
Fall 07 Begin Building Renovation. Complete AMA accreditation Planning Spring 08 Recruit founding Dean. Fall/Spring 08 Recruit Faculty for fall 2009 entering Class. Spring 09 enroll first students for fall of 2009.
Here is a url for more info. http://untsystem.unt.edu/lawschool/index.htm

Will be in the Old Municipal building and the system center building will be left the same in front of both is the site of a future park to be developed to give the System Center and Law school a more campus like feel... Current UNT student now...hope to finish school soon.


Great news! Thanks for sharing.... interesting, I didn't how much history was in that building.

Does anyone know when construction of the park is supposed to start?

[SCARLETandBLACK]

psukhu- It is interesting to note that a real Jaguar currently lives Downtown at the Dallas World Aquarium.

It is too funny that you mentioned that Jaguar. Do you think it ever sleeps?
-(Ft. Worth sleeping panther reference).

I think it is no less than great to see a law school in that area of downtown Dallas. I hope this leads to even more new schools in the same area.

It would be one of my dreams to have a Cooper Union style, (but public), university that specializes in art, architecture, and engineering -especially at the undergraduate level, built and maintained in the eastern area of downtown Dallas. I would like it to be an exceptional and cutting-edge place, in terms of ideas generated and its implementation of them. I would like this dream college to have a close working relationship with the region's children and with the less fortunate working poor (some) of whom would otherwise not be able to attend college for more than financial reasons. I would like it not only to enable and to encourage first generation college students to attend college, but also to encourage and to help them throughout their academic careers from elementary (or from wherever they start) through the completion of their undergraduate degrees.

A new (public) law school in the eastern part of downtown Dallas is a good start.

[Quiz03]

This law school has not been authorized by the legislature.

[RuggerAl]

it was declined in 2005, but Royce West put the bill up again and it has been received by the Sec of State on 11/14/06. With an expiration date of sept. 07. Other info The legislature I beleive approved of the sale of the University System Center to UNT... but decided against allowing UNT to purhase adjacent buildings as residential structures. Those buildings are currently being used as lofts/ apts and UNT had wanted to use the income from them to help generate revenue for the downtown campus and possible residential housing i think. The park is slated to begin construcion in 2008... I really hope this is approved we need another law school in Texas and one another in Dallas would be perfect! I like SMU, but it is a little out of my price range.

[SCARLETandBLACK]

I didn't realize that was the case. Thanks for the info.

LOL. Will it be like the first phase of the complex Texas Tech has spent $99,570,868 to build at its new University Medical Center in El Paso that has sat empty and unused for the past year because the Texas legislature has refused to make a bill to appropriate funding to pay for faculty? (Yes, I know that last year was not a Texas legislature year, but they met more than once for education finance, specifically). Tech has actually delayed the construction of some buildings because it is not sure when it will be able to use the facilities. I recently read that there is a "good possibility" that Tech might soon actually get to use the buildings it built. Currently, there is not a four year medical school on the US/Mexico border, so this will be the first.

If UNT is really planning on making this Law school a reality, I'm sure they'll find a way to get it into this session- unless the people who control the schedule (Tom Cradick) don't want it to be done. The Texas Legislature and the governor of this great state can do some really funny things sometimes.

The specifics on the facilities I mentioned earlier: (El Paso clinic expansion and repair 9,780,000); (hydrolics pipe replacement 1,700,000); (El Paso Medical Science Building I 38,890,868); (TTUHSC El Paso Medical Education Building 45,000,000); (El Paso Medical Science Building I Buildout 4,200,000). There will be later additions once the school is established.

[RuggerAl]

You'd figure they'd be pushing this further education can attract a lot of industry... especially as you start developing higher education centers... i read somewhere that texas needs to develop more of it's research university and that it can help bolster texas economy.

[dfwcre8tive]

it was declined in 2005, but Royce West put the bill up again and it has been received by the Sec of State on 11/14/06. With an expiration date of sept. 07. Other info The legislature I beleive approved of the sale of the University System Center to UNT... but decided against allowing UNT to purhase adjacent buildings as residential structures. Those buildings are currently being used as lofts/ apts and UNT had wanted to use the income from them to help generate revenue for the downtown campus and possible residential housing i think. The park is slated to begin construcion in 2008... I really hope this is approved we need another law school in Texas and one another in Dallas would be perfect! I like SMU, but it is a little out of my price range.

This is information from someone in the office of 1900 Elm:

UNT purchased the Universities Center and the lofts next door (1900 Elm) on December 22, 2006. UNT plans on offering discounts to professors moving downtown but will keep the other rentals at the same rates (the same leasing management company received a renewed 3 year contract). Other apartments downtown are spreading rumors that 1900 Elm will become dorms, which is untrue (at least for several years)... Why rent out lofts at a student rate when they can rent them for much higher and have additional income?

Floors 4-8 of the Universities Center have been and are currently vacant and will be converted into UNT's masters level classes and art/fashion school starting fairly quickly. They will also open up and connect the lobby between 1900 Elm and the Universities Center. Several other universities have years remaining on leases at the Universities Center so they probably won't be moving out from floors 1-3 (or somewhere in the building) anytime soon.

Hopefully with all this added activity and expansion they will be aggressive in leasing the ground floor retail or open a bookstore/coffee shop in the buildings.

[RuggerAl]

yeah from UNT's comprehensive plan they plan on using income from the building to help with development of programs at that site- so it will reinvest back into the UNT downtown- which IMO is awesome. with El centro down on the other end that would be great.. what does it take to get El centro into a Univ designation and wonder if UNT should join under the UNT system- any ideas.
interesting to see highrise dorms and things in Downtown dallas.

[RobertB]

with El centro down on the other end that would be great.. what does it take to get El centro into a Univ designation and wonder if UNT should join under the UNT system- any ideas.
We had this discussion before. El Centro and the rest of the DCCCD colleges do not need to "grow up" into full-fledged four-year universities. They serve a completely different market.

You go to community college to spend as short a time as possible to get a job -- it's the replacement for the old Vo-Tech system (though it still leaves a big gap). You go to a four-year college to get an academic degree, but the tradeoff is that you effectively remove yourself from the workforce for those four (or more) years -- something not everyone can afford to do. The two types of higher education are complimentary, not competitive.

[Spjz]

You go to community college to spend as short a time as possible to get a job -- it's the replacement for the old Vo-Tech system (though it still leaves a big gap).

Many people go to Community College for the first two years before transfering since the tuition is so high at competitive universities.

[X Factor]

Many people go to Community College for the first two years before transfering since the tuition is so high at competitive universities.

Thats what I am doing... But Im only going for a year.

[tamtagon]

08:35 AM CST on Wednesday, January 17, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News

The state requires a satellite campus to have at least 3,500 full-time students before it can become a free-standing university. Mr. West persuaded legislators to lower that threshold for UNT Dallas to 1,000 full-time students.

Even with those changes, enrollment has grown more slowly than UNT officials expected. This semester, the campus has the equivalent of 641 full-time students.

Originally, UNT had hoped the campus would be free-standing this fall, but officials have pushed the date back to fall 2009.

from the UNT website: (http://web3.unt.edu/news/story.cfm?story=10619)


On-site 2007 fall census date enrollment at the UNT Dallas Campus also reached an all time high with a headcount of 1,876 students. That figure represents a 22 percent increase over the 12th class day headcount of 1,538 in Fall 2006.

But most important for the Dallas campus is its increase in student full-time equivalent enrollment. The campus reached 815.4 full-time equivalents, a 32.2 percent increase over the Fall 2006 figure of 616.7.

Under Texas state law, the UNT Dallas Campus will earn free-standing status and can become the University of North Texas at Dallas when student full-time equivalent enrollment exceeds 1,000. Reaching that milestone also will release additional state funding for further development of the campus.

gettin' there

[cowboyeagle05]

Thats what I am doing... But Im only going for a year.

Recently the DCCCD told the Garland that they are studying the possibilities of offering a full fledged high school were a large amount of the classes have college credit because more students are attending community colleges while in high school. With all that senior release time the ones that want to go off to a expensive university take a couple of classes in the DCCCD then graduate high school with honors and leave off to there accepted university. The traditional High School model is fading as kids drop out to take night school to work during the day and others leave early in the day to attend classes at a DCCCD or work a job. They say possibly that in the future high school would blend more with colleges in ways like flexible scheduled classes.

As for UNT at Dallas glad they are making progress cause I almost consider them a DCCCD campus that offers four year degrees.

[tamtagon]

DMN: UNT-Dallas needs more growth to be freestanding campus (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/013008dnmetuntgrowth.2d6309d.html)


By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
hhacker@dallasnews.com

Enrollment is up at the University of North Texas' campus in Dallas, but it still has a ways to go before becoming a freestanding college.

Preliminary spring enrollment at UNT-Dallas rose from 1,598 students last year to 1,844 students this year, officials report. The full-time enrollment increased from 640 to 766 over the same period.

By law, UNT Dallas needs 1,000 full-time students before it can be a separate institution that grants its own degrees. Until then, it remains a satellite of the main UNT campus in Denton.

The Dallas campus began offering classes in 2000 in a business park. Last year, it moved to a permanent home on 264 acres at Camp Wisdom and Houston School roads in southeast Oak Cliff. UNT officials had hoped the Dallas campus would hit the 1,000-student mark last year. But now they have a target date of fall 2009, which is also when they want to break ground on a second building for the campus.

"Our goal is to increase access to education in southern Dallas and the surrounding region, and I believe that when students seek out affordable education near their places of work and their homes, the UNT-Dallas campus will continue to be a logical choice," John Ellis Price, provost of the Dallas campus, said in a written statement.

[tamtagon]

Pegasus News: UNT Dallas now a success in Oak Cliff (http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/aug/04/unt-dallas-now-success-oak-cliff/)
By Khalil El-Halabi of Cliff Dweller (http://www.cliffdwellermagazine.com/articles/cover-story/unt-dallas-0808/)


When the University of North Texas Dallas Campus was planted in southern Dallas County in 2000, what began with only 55 full-time equivalent students has now blossomed into a thriving campus at a new location in south Oak Cliff. During the past year, larger numbers of students from southern Dallas County have started taking advantage of the affordable, high-quality education available at the campus’ new site at 7300 Houston School Road.

Enrollment is not only a benchmark of success at the school, but brings a specific goal: when the student full-time equivalent enrollment reaches 1,000, the UNT Dallas Campus can become a freestanding, degree-granting institution – the first public university within the Dallas city limits. The university will be known as UNT Dallas.

Student headcount rose to 1,874 in the fall 2007 semester, a 22 percent increase over the previous fall term. However, most important for the UNT Dallas Campus was the fact that our student full-time equivalent numbers rose to 814, a 32.2 percent increase over the previous count of 616.7 in fall 2006. The goal of 1,000 students is in sight and campus administrators are optimistic about reaching that goal in the fall 2008 semester.

The potential for the new UNT Dallas is great. The campus is moving forward with its plans for new academic programs, faculty and staff hiring, and student recruitment. In 2009, the UNT Dallas Campus will begin recruiting its first freshman class to complement its existing upper-division programs. The resulting university will hold out hope for a better Dallas, and a brighter future for Oak Cliff.

[AeroD]

Maybe I am splitting hairs here, but is UNT-Dallas in Oak Cliff? I thought it was in "South Dallas".

[LongonBigD]

Probably the same people who put UT-Dallas in Richardson and let us not forget that The University of Dallas is located in Irving.

[TheMapman]

Maybe I am splitting hairs here, but is UNT-Dallas in Oak Cliff? I thought it was in "South Dallas".

Oh god, not this again!!

The answer is - it depends on who you ask.

[MarkL2023]

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/09/08/daily12.html

UNT Dallas enrollment up 18 percent
Dallas Business Journal

The University of North Texas Dallas Campus has reached an important landmark: the school’s enrollment after 12 days of classes is up 18 percent when compared to the same period last year.

The school has 2,212 students enrolled for the fall semester of 2008, up from 1,874 in the fall of 2007.

With 959 full-time students — an increase of 18 percent when compared to last year — UNT Dallas is only 41 students shy of the 1,000 full-time students benchmark, which, once reached, will guarantee the university additional state funding for campus development and the status of being a free-standing, four-year university.

“The train has left the station,” said John Ellis Price, vice chancellor of the UNT System and chief executive officer of the UNT Dallas Campus. “UNT Dallas is coming and it is coming in fall 2010. When you look at the challenges the campus has overcome to accomplish this achievement under the Texas Pathway Model, our progress is phenomenal.”

[MarkL2023]

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/09/29/daily27.html

AT&T offers UNT Dallas a $1 million gift for early college high school program
Dallas Business Journal

Telecommunications giant AT&T has announced a new initiative to help at-risk Dallas area students pursue higher education opportunities while still in high school.

Dallas-based AT&T (NYSE: T) has granted the University of North Texas Dallas campus a $1 million gift to finance higher education opportunities, which will be offered through the university’s existing partnership with Cedar Valley College and the Dallas Independent School District Early College High School (ECHS) program.

The gift in itself allows UNT Dallas to create the AT&T Early College High School Scholarship Fund, which will provide the financial backing for the school’s newly created Office of College Readiness and Academic Success. The gift also helps the UNT Dallas Campus roll out the partnership, with the addition of new programming, curriculum and financial support students.

“This gift will give our students — many of whom come from historically underserved and disadvantaged backgrounds — a real chance to succeed in life by experiencing the transformative power of education,” said John Ellis Price, vice chancellor of the UNT System and chief executive officer of the UNT Dallas Campus. “It will have a long-lasting impact for generations because it will assist us in creating a college-going culture. It will also inspire students to do the work necessary to enter Early College High School and reduce the time and cost it takes to complete a college education.”

The UNT Dallas Campus’ Office of College Readiness and Academic Success will assist in providing the curriculum and programs implemented through the initiative. Students will benefit from college instruction, real-world learning experiences and a mentor program.

[tamtagon]

Monday, February 2, 2009, 10:59am CST
UNT hits enrollment milestone
Dallas Business Journal
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/02/02/daily5.html


The University of North Texas Dallas Campus is on its way to becoming an independent standalone university, thanks to new enrollment figures that show 2,333 students enrolled for the spring 2009 semester.

Out of those students, 1,032 are classified as full-time equivalents, a development that allows the campus to begin the process of declaring itself an independent university after meeting the criteria of having a full-time enrollment of at least 1,000 students.

“We have demonstrated the demand for higher education in southern Dallas County and now we can begin the process of establishing UNT at Dallas,” said John Ellis Price, vice chancellor of the UNT system and CEO of the UNT Dallas Campus. “Meeting this goal will also enhance our efforts to secure transitional funding to open UNT at Dallas and Tuition Revenue Bond funding for the second building in the Texas Legislature, currently meeting in Austin.”
...

[NThomas]

Regents select Price as UNT-Dallas president
February 13, 2009
Dallas Business Journal
Full Article (http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/02/09/daily63.html)

The Board of Regents at The University of North Texas System has approved the appointment of Dr. John Ellis Price to serve as president-designate for UNT-Dallas when the school achieves independent status a year from now.

System Chancellor Lee Jackson made that announcement Friday.

Price has been with the campus for several years and was reappointed chief executive officer of the UNT-Dallas campus in 2008. He has been guiding the campus to independent status and will continue on in this new leadership post as the school transitions...

[dfwcre8tive]

Thursday, April 30, 2009, 6:15pm CDT
UNT Dallas wins its independence
Dallas Business Journal
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/04/27/daily61.html?surround=lfn

The certification of spring enrollment figures make it official: the University of North Texas at Dallas Campus can become a free-standing and independent functioning university, UNT Dallas officials said Thursday.

UNT Dallas was “born today,” said UNT Dallas Campus Vice Chancellor John Ellis Price. Spring enrollment certification was greater than 1,000 full-time equivalent students, which is the number required so that it can function independently as the city’s first and only public university. The UNT Dallas Campus currently operates under the authority of the University of North Texas in Denton, the state’s fourth-largest university.

...

[NThomas]

Perry gives UNT standalone status
May 27, 2009
Dallas Business Journal
Full Article (http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/05/25/daily25.html)

Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill that officially gives the University of North Texas at Dallas standalone status.

Senate Bill 629 was signed by Perry into law on Wednesday. The bill allows for the expansion of UNT-Dallas, Texas A&M University-Central Texas and Texas A&M University-San Antonio and since all have met the requirements necessary to be come stand-alone institutions. To obtain stand-alone status, UNT-Dallas had to enroll at least 1,000 full-time students.

“Texas is a state on the upswing. As our population continues to grow and we work to remain competitive in the global marketplace, we need to make sure we have the higher education opportunities in place to groom the work force of the next 50 years,” Perry said. “This bill acknowledges the rapid growth of our student population and accelerates these three schools’ ability to issue tuition revenue bonds and build the facilities they need...”

[dfwcre8tive]

UNT Area plan back on frontburner at Dallas City Hall
10:10 AM Mon, Nov 02, 2009
Rudolph Bush/Reporter
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/11/unt-area-plan-back-on-frontbur.html

An important zoning plan intended to set the framework for developing a huge swath of far southern Dallas is back before a council committee today after being tabled by the full council a couple of weeks ago.

The plan is important because it represents a rare chance to build a piece of Dallas from the ground up without making the automobile the central focus.

If successful, the plan would result in walkable neighborhoods connected by rail.

But the sticking point, as we've noted before, is very interesting.

The plan has strict requirements about maintaining as closely as possible the natural form of undeveloped area.

A part of that includes a provision restricting the covering of creeks and streams with concrete or other material.

Such a pastoral vision probably would appeal to many of us. But, in the eyes of City Hall, it is impractical if not downright impossible.

"It's not realistic," said development services director Theresa O'Donnell.

For one thing, the DART lines that are planned for the area would have to cross creeks in several places and the trains won't run on water.

Council member Tennell Atkins said the city has to loosen the creek restriction if the plan is to get out of council.

"We've got to look 30 or 40 years down the road with this," he said.

[dfwcre8tive]

UNT Area plan approved by Dallas council
4:47 PM Wed, Dec 09, 2009 | Permalink
Rudolph Bush/Reporter
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/12/unt-area-plan-approved-by-dall.html

With little discussion, the Dallas City Council has approved a development plan for a large swath of southern Dallas around the University of North Texas campus.

The plan is exciting to advocates of walkable and transit-oriented urban design.

It focuses on developing the area in human-scaled neighborhoods linked by rail and constructed with respect for the natural setting.

[tamtagon]

I hope this place gains some traction....

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/aug/25/unt-dallas-ribbon-cutting-ceremony-new-building-2/


DALLAS — State Sen. Royce West of Dallas (District 23), State Rep. Helen Giddings (District 109), State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (District 104) and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will help cut the ribbon on a new building and welcome the first freshman class to the city’s first public university at 8 a.m. August 26.

The University of North Texas at Dallas cuts the ribbon on its second building—a three-story, 103,000 square-foot structure.
...
The Beck Group and the Warrior Group were selected as general contractors, and Overland Partners Architects of San Antonio was the architectural and engineering design team. They worked with UNT System executives to pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification for the new building.

The rating system — developed by the U.S. Green Building Council — means construction is independently verified to meet high environmental and efficiency standards. For example, drains throughout the building’s roof will carry rainwater to a 60,000-gallon cistern that will be used to irrigate the campus, and the east wing of the building features a roof garden. The building also maximizes the use of natural light though windows and skylights.

In addition, 448 solar panels line the roof of the north wing of the building. Tony Gust with Meridian Solar said the panels will produce 100.4 kilowatts of power—enough to run 1,000 100-watt light bulbs—five hours a day, producing about 500 kilowatt hours per day.