Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Dear DSA,

Here we are embarking on another semester together. As I spent time this morning, meeting some of our students at the Welcome Week tents, I was filled with a familiar excitement that the first day always brings.

I have seen and appreciate your efforts last fall to welcome and support our record freshmen class. Our enrollment continues to trend upward, which is great news for everyone. This also means a continued and a renewed effort to utilize our ingenuity, imagination and grit to continue providing the best experience possible for all of our students.

We also want to maintain our focus on retention. While our enrollment numbers are higher than ever, we have seen our student retention fall from its peak levels, and we did not achieve our retention goal — for at least 80% of Fall 2021 freshmen to return to UNT in Fall 2022. You and your interactions with students matter, so let’s continue to provide them with resources, encouragement and a kind word.

With the start of this semester, we have seen the opening of Frisco Landing, the first building to open at UNT’s Frisco campus. This is just the first of many successes to come this year.

As we move through the spring semester, please keep in mind the ongoing efforts by Chancellor Williams to lead UNT System to a values-based culture. Many of you have been a part of this already, and I appreciate the work you have put in. If you haven’t yet, take a moment to read the summary of the consensus statement on our values. You will see many that are familiar to you. This spring, we will explore how these values can become part of hiring strategies and employee recognition. Please participate as you are able in this ongoing process and make every effort to attend President Smatresk’s 3:30 p.m. Jan. 26 event in the Union, where we will learn more about the values and give input on how we can best embrace them.

I can’t say thank you enough for all of your hard work in supporting our students and each other. I hope your semester is filled with joy!

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth With
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs