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RESHAPING UT FOR STUDENTS
“The campaign is helping create a student experience that is unparalleled.” –Kori Rady Student Government President
The campaign coincided with the university’s efforts to strengthen and enhance the undergraduate experience through a revamped core curriculum, first-year interest groups, and signature courses. “The successful launch of the School of Undergraduate Studies has put UT at the forefront of higher education,” says Undergraduate Studies Dean Brent Iverson. “From our innovative combination of career counseling and academic advising to the creation of interdisciplinary small seminars for first-year students, we have implemented the sweeping changes to the core educational experience imagined by our faculty and alumni,” Iverson says. “We thank all our Campaign for Texas donors for the support and trust that have made these achievements possible.” Student Government President Kori Rady, a senior in the Moody College of Communication and College of Liberal Arts, says that in his time at UT he has felt the university focus more intently on areas such as undergraduate research and success programs. “The influx of resources with the success of the campaign is helping create a student experience that is unparalleled,” Rady says.
Professor Erin Dolan, who oversees the donor-supported Freshman Research Initiative and leads the new Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (TIDES), agrees. “The investments made have been crucial to ensuring that any interested freshman gets an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research,” she says. “Students are learning science by doing science.”
THE CHANGING FACE OF CAMPUS The campaign has altered the landscape of the Forty Acres. New facilities help the campus evolve with the times by providing flexible spaces for the hands-on ways today’s students learn. And they feature modern work areas and labs that support the discoveries and innovations of faculty and researchers. New buildings include the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, the Moody College of Communication’s Belo Center for New Media, the Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex, the Dell Pediatric Research Institute, and the Liberal Arts Building. The Dell Medical School complex is currently under construction and will open in 2016. Fundraising continues for that, as well as for the Cockrell School of Engineering ’s Engineering Education and Research Center and the McCombs School of Business’ Rowling Hall, which are expected to open in 2017. Both literally and figuratively, the campaign laid foundations for future UT achievements.
Campaign Participation
Numbers reported unaudited as of September 1, 2014. Totals are rounded. Campaign totals include $11,646,628 in Texas Exes members dues between FY2006-07 and FY2011-12.
Above: The Freshman Research Initiative offers students the opportunity to advance academically while doing original, publishable research in faculty labs. Right: The Liberal Arts Building debuted in 2013 as a model for sustainable planning and design. Credits: From top: UT Student Government; Sasha Haagensen; Marsha Miller
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Changing the World is produced by the University Development Office. Please send your feedback and suggestions to editor Jamey Smith at jjsmith@austin.utexas.edu. For more news and information about giving to UT, visit giving.utexas.edu. s e p t e m b e r | o c t o b e r 2011
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