- UNC Board of Trustees Appoint Feinstein Next UNC President
On April 24, the UNC Board of Trustees named Andrew “Andy” Feinstein, Ph.D., the university’s next president.
Feinstein is the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at San José State University, one of the largest public research universities in the West. As SJSU’s chief academic officer since 2014, Feinstein oversees 154 degree programs and supports more than 35,000 students, 1,900 faculty and 550 staff and administrators in seven academic colleges.
A 15-member search committee comprising UNC trustees and student, faculty and staff representatives unanimously selected Feinstein as the finalist.
The committee called Feinstein a “proven academic leader who values collaboration and transparency.” He “has shown his ability to lead and learn at three major universities. He is thoughtful, engaging, passionate about students and eager to be part of our UNC and Greeley communities.”
Feinstein, who has 29 years of higher education experience, previously served as dean of the Collins College of Hospitality Management and the James A. Collins Distinguished Chair and professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Hotel Administration from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He has been married to his wife, Kerry, for 22 years and they have two children, Nicholas and Rachel.
“During the search process, my wife and I fell in love with the university community and the city of Greeley,” Feinstein said. “I look forward to building on the outstanding reputation of UNC and to leading the campus through the completion of a comprehensive campaign that will provide resources for future generations of UNC Bears.”
- Associate Professor Wins on "Jeopardy!"
Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Lynn Klyde- Allaman, Ph.D., made her first appearance on the famous trivia show “Jeopardy!” on March 22 and 23 and took home $8,800.
Allaman, a self-described trivia buff, follows in the footsteps of her mother, who competed on the show in 1968 (while pregnant with Lynn). Her mother used her winnings to buy new carpeting for the family’s home along with a set of encyclopedias, which Lynn and her brother read extensively.
“That’s how I became so good at trivia,” she said.
To prepare, she read a book written by previous “Jeopardy!” champions, and used the show’s online archives of questions and answers to study.
- Men's Basketball Wins Postseason Tournament
For the men’s basketball team, the 2017–18 season was a year of firsts — and lasts. By winning the 10th Collegeinsider.com Tournament March 30, they were the last team in Colorado to play this season and the first Big Sky men’s basketball team to win an NCAA postseason tournament.
UNC won the championship 76-71 over the University of Illinois at Chicago in front of a capacity crowd of 3,198 at Bank of Colorado Arena at Butler-Hancock Athletic Center.
After the game, junior Jordan Davis said, “To be able to cut down the net and experience confetti and everybody rushing the court, it’s a big party. I’m just on cloud nine right now.”
Players, coaches and fans were all feeling that post-win rush after a historic season for the Bears, which included all-time winningest team in UNC history with a 26-12 overall record and being the first team in Big Sky history to score more than 3,000 points in a season.
RECORD-HOLDER HIGHLIGHT: Andre Spight now sits alone atop the Big Sky Conference record book as his 23 points in the title game put him number one for single-season points. Spight finished with 855 points in his senior season and also tied for 3-pointers made in a season with 128.
- Hearing Conservation in Guatemala
A group of faculty and students led by UNC Professor Deanna Meinke implemented a hearing conservation program at a sugar mill in Guatemala earlier this year.
Meinke, UNC graduate students Jennifer Ruths and Ashley Stumpf, and Colorado State University graduate student Grant Erlandson spent a week in Guatemala teaching about the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss. The effort included implementing best practices in the hearing conservation program at the work site of the Pantaleon sugar mill.
At the site, the group performed more than 50 noise dosimetry measurements of sound exposure on workers and taught a four-day Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation certification course to doctors and nurses from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.
- Monfort College of Business to Launch Fullly Online MBA
Now, more than ever, people are learning on their own devices instead of in classrooms, and UNC’s Monfort College of Business (MCB) will offer its world-class business education with online flexibility and accessibility for a master’s in business administration.
“This move accelerates and amplifies our efforts to increase access to our MBA program — across Colorado and beyond,” says MCB Dean Paul Bobrowski, Ph.D.
- Campus Commons Update
Construction on the Campus Commons began in fall 2016 and the new building is adjacent to the University Center. On January 3, the building’s final beam was lifted into place behind the performance hall, bearing the signatures of alumni, faculty and staff donors.
Scheduled to open in early 2019, Campus Commons will help consolidate essential student and administrative offices, as well as add one new one — the aptly named GPS+. The service will help students navigate their way through important resource offices and university services using a case management strategy.
“Not only will students, parents, and alumni receive help completing fundamental business transactions, but our GPS+ Navigators will be available to connect students with other important resources across the UNC campus such as career counseling, major exploration, civic engagement opportunities, and study abroad to name a few,” said GPS+ director Sarah Chase.
- UNC Film Takes a Stand Against Sex Trafficking
In her first semester as an adjunct instructor of Film Studies at UNC, Emilie Upczak’s five-year film project, Moving Parts, was finally ready for show time. Moving Parts is a fictional story about a Chinese woman who is smuggled into Trinidad and Tobago to stay with her brother after the loss of her father. Once there, her smuggler demands more money than promised, and she decides to sell herself to help pay off her debts.
The film premiered at the Denver Film Festival last November.
News Briefs
Newly appointed UNC president Andrew “Andy” Feinstein meets with students in April. Photo by Hunter Wilson
