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Presidential Search Underway Following Norton’s Retirement Announcement
UNC President Kay Norton (pictured above) announced during her annual State of the University Address on Sept. 12 that she will retire as president in June 2018. Norton, the longest-tenured among current presidents of four-year public institutions in Colorado, has served as UNC’s 12th president since 2002. In UNC’s 128-year history, she’s the first woman to serve as president, and only three presidents had longer tenures. Norton made the announcement in the fall to allow UNC’s Board of Trustees time to conduct a search for her successor. Feedback from a university survey of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members was incorporated into the leadership characteristics of the job description that posted in November. A hiring committee includes trustees and faculty, staff and student representatives. The new president will be announced by the end of spring semester.
Total Enrollment Soars to Decade High
UNC’s enrollment is the highest in a decade as the university experiences a third year of growth.
- Total enrollment grew to 12,968 (up 5.8 percent since fall 2016). The number of graduate students (2,992) grew by 8.5 percent to make up 23 percent of the total enrollment.
- Thirty percent of UNC undergraduates identify as a person of color — the highest percentage since 2010 when UNC started collecting data in the current manner. Among graduate students, sixteen percent identify as a person of color.
Area’s Public Colleges and Universities Pumped $2.4 Billion into Region’s Economy
Aims Community College, Colorado State University, Front Range Community College and UNC collectively added $2.4 billion to the regional economy in 2015-16. An economic study of the four public institutions showed for every dollar spent by:
- Students: $3.10 gained in lifetime earnings
- Taxpayers: $5.80 gained in added taxes and public sector savings
- Society: $6.30 gained in added state revenue and social savings
State Honors Two UNC Students as Top Teacher Candidates
The Colorado Department of Higher Education selected UNC students Amie Bray and Joel Suarez-Ramirez, who were nominated by UNC faculty, to the department’s Aspiring Educator Honor Roll. They and other top students from Colorado’s 22 educator programs were honored during a ceremony last spring at the capitol in Denver to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week.
Bray received the College of Natural and Health Sciences’ Academic Scholars Award and is currently working toward her degree in Mathematics with an emphasis in Secondary Education.
Suarez-Ramirez is a teacher-licensure candidate in the secondary science program. The department scholar in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Suarez-Ramirez is also a member of UNC's concert band and speaks English, French and Spanish.
BizHub Relocates to UNC Campus
The East Colorado Small Business Development Center and UNC BizHub Collaborative are now on UNC’s campus. The move will help the offices, which provide business planning resources to businesses and entrepreneurs in Colorado, be a better conduit for connecting local business owners and entrepreneurs to students, faculty and university projects.
Vikings Sign Former Bears QB After Stint with Broncos
Former UNC quarterback Kyle Sloter quickly became a Denver Broncos fan favorite with his dazzling 2017 preseason performances with the team. The undrafted rookie started in the finale, leading the Broncos to a 30-2 win over the Arizona Cardinals before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd as he exited the field with his teammates. His prowess caught the attention of a number of teams, including the Minnesota Vikings — and the team promptly signed him after the Broncos waived him during final roster cuts. During the season, the Vikings promoted Sloter to their active 53-man roster, and he served as a backup.
UNC Students Win Daniels Fund Ethics Contest for Second Straight Year
A team of six Monfort College of Business students won the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative 2017 Consortium Case Competition in Denver. For the competition, the UNC team analyzed a fictional case of safety issues in emerging technology. The team presented before a panel of eight judges and consisted of Evan Adams, Management and Accounting; Christopher Bristow, Management; Michelle Ellison, Accounting; Christopher Campbell, Finance and Accounting; Madison Marrs, Marketing; and Kendall Ryan, Marketing. Professors and faculty advisors Sharon Clinebell and Keiko Krahnke attended the presentation. The competition involved 10 business schools from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Audiologist Addresses CDC
Professor Deanna Meinke addressed the global hearing loss epidemic as a featured expert at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Panel discussion last summer. According to the CDC, one in three adults has hearing loss and 1.1 billion young people are at risk. “The risk of hearing loss is the combined effect of the sound level and the duration of listening,” Meinke said during the presentation. “Just like sun exposure and skin cancer, the longer in the noise hazard without protection, the greater the risk of noise-induced hearing loss.”
Museum Welcomes UNC Faculty Exhibit
An exhibit developed by UNC faculty has taken up permanent residence in the same museum that displays instruments from the likes of Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
UNC Audiology and Speech-Language Sciences professors Don Finan and Deanna Meinke collaborated on the project for the Musical Instrument Museum.
The interactive exhibit on the properties of sound will feature an “instrumented” mannequin, known as “Jolene,” which allows museum patrons to measure the sound level at which they typically listen to music.
