 |
ALUMNUS
Lynn Gravley ('87)
Lynn Gravley may have graduated from UNT as a biology major, but he is an avid supporter of the G. Brint Ryan College of Business and its students.
As the President and CEO of NT Logistics, and a former truck driver himself, Gravley knows that the importance of logistics runs deep in every industry, and he uses that wherewithal to help the greater North Texas community.
This year, Governor Greg Abbott reappointed Gravley to the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Board of Directors, where he helps oversee the operations of the tollway authority that serves Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.
Gravley also serves on the UNT Ryan College of Business Logistics Department Board of Advisors, the Transportation Intermediaries Association Board of Directors, and is chairman of the Highway Logistics Conference for the Transportation Intermediaries Association. Additionally, he is a former member of the Gunter ISD Board of Trustees, Gunter ISD Foundation Board of Directors, and the Christian Care Centers Board of Directors.
Outside of the various boards he serves on, he also makes a point to recruit UNT logistics students for internships, and offers classes the opportunity to develop practical solutions to real-world case studies during annual capstone case study competitions.
In addition to his reappointment to the NTTA by Abbott, Gravley was also recently honored at UNT’s annual Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards. Gravley was one of three alums to receive a “Distinguished Alumni Award,” the most prestigious award given by the UNT Alumni Association, honoring alumni for professional achievement and significant contributions to society and the university.
|
 |
STUDENT
Enrique Trevino ('21)
Enrique Trevino isn’t your typical UNT Human Resource student. If studying to earn a degree during a global pandemic isn’t a challenge enough, he decided to start his own company on top of it all.
In 2020, Trevino turned a snacking opportunity into a business venture—and it’s paying off.
By pairing his family staple of chicharrones, with a sweet touch of chocolate, his company, Thoughtful Snacks, was born.
“I was driven to start my company, Thoughtful Snacks, by my lifelong desire to start my own business and share something unique with the world. The process has been extremely rewarding thus far and I know it will be even more exciting in the future,” explained Trevino.
While every business venture starts with a great idea, developing Trevino’s Coco Chops-chocolate covered pork rinds weren’t the hardest part.
“My experience starting my company was challenging at first, as I had to overcome the fear of rejection from customers and build a clientele of local stores from scratch. As more and more people had awesome reactions to my snack: Coco Chops-chocolate covered pork rinds, I realized that I had to keep growing and take my ambitions to the next level.”
Trevino works hard to get in front of potential customers, while also maintaining relationships with resellers to ensure the growth of his business.
“For students looking to become entrepreneurs, I would advise you to keep records of all your revenues and expenses, even if it’s on a very small scale when starting out, and keep in touch with your clients. Always go see how your product is doing in their stores, restaurants, etc. and make sure they know that you are eager to supply more and maintain a good business relationship with them,” said Trevino.
Graduating this fall, Enrique Trevino will be adding college graduate to his already impressive resume.
To learn more, or support this (delicious) small business venture, visit: https://thoughtfulsnacksstore.com
|
|
Donors of the 75th Anniversary Campaign
|
|
| The college extends a special thank you to the generous donors of the 75th Anniversary Campaign, 75 Hours for 75 Years. Our community of Mean Green friends and family came together to raise $271,859 in less than 4 days. We are eternally grateful for the more than 100 individuals that helped make the campaign a success--supporting the students, programs, and faculty that work to raise the value of the UNT business degree every day. We are especially grateful to Jim and Linda McNatt for reaffirming their commitment to The Jim & Linda McNatt Fund for Students in Financial Crisis through another generous contribution of $250,000. Without our donors, our college would not be where it is today. Thank you for honoring our past and investing in our future. |
|
Local initiatives benefit from student entrepreneurship crowdfunding
|
|
|
 |
Students from Dr. Jeremy Short's social entrepreneurship class will be using the knowledge they've gained in the classroom to help benefit local initiatives in need. The goal? To collectively raise more than $10,000 as a class.
The challenge kicked off on November 11 with a launch party featuring live music, Scrappy, and President Smatresk.
Divvied up into teams, student groups chose crowdfunding campaigns they were passionate about and are putting their skills to the test. The campaigns will run through December 10 and include charities such as the Denton Animal Support Foundation, English Language Learner students in Alexander Elementary School teacher Ms. Rivas' Pre-K class, Dallas' Bring the Light Ministries, and the DFW International Rescue Committee, to name a few.
This is the second time Short has added his social challenge to the UNT syllabus, with last year's class raising more than $10,000. This year, Short is "hoping to shatter the $10,000 goal."
With a week-and-a-half left in the campaign, six campaigns fully funded (over $500 each), and more than $7,400 raised, that might just happen.
Help give these students (and their charities) some UNT love by donating through the links below:
|
|
Gamma Iota Sigma earns awards for excellence
|
|
|
Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS), UNT’s Risk Management, Insurance, an Actuarial Science business fraternity, brought home two prestigious awards this year at the annual GIS conference in October.
The GIS Beta Zeta Chapter received the International Chapter Award and the Excellent Chapter Award.
As an International Chapter Award winner, UNT’s chapter was one of only 15 GIS chapters, nationwide, that excelled in all categories, including: Alumni Relations, Chapter Management, Community Service, Member Development, and Public Relations.
The fraternity also received the Excellent Chapter Award, ranking them in the top 6% of chapters recognized for overall engagement during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Special recognition goes to Risk Management and Insurance Program Project Coordinator and GIS Chapter Advisor Sally Carne for her exceptional leadership throughout the past year.
|
|
HR seniors featured for academic excellence
|
|
|
The UNT Department of Management faculty have spotlighted six graduating seniors for their academic excellence at the college. Kaela Works, Trinity Davis, Denise Winchester, Isabella Ventura, Mica Wolf, and Carlos Duran were among those to be recognized:
Kaela Works
As a student working her way through college, Kaela Works didn’t complete a traditional internship. Since transferring to UNT in 2017, she has worked at a credit union where she's able to develop and apply many of the concepts learned in the classroom. The job has allowed her to gain insight from all employees, including top executives and entry-level positions. These conversations have helped her see how HR can be a strategic partner. Maintaining a high GPA while working her way through college has been Works’ greatest academic achievement. She will be graduating with honors this month.
Trinity Davis
While Trinity Davis has been in the HR program, her greatest academic achievements have included obtaining an internship with Texas Instruments (TI) and completing three major projects during the internship. Davis has also been an active member of the UNT Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Chapter. This semester, she took on a leadership role as Director of Development, giving her the opportunity to organize fundraising events. The funding allows SHRM members to host networking events and attend conferences.
Denise Winchester
Denise Winchester will be the first person in her family to earn a college degree. As a student, Winchester had the opportunity to intern with the UNT System for eighteen months at the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth. Some key takeaways from the campus HR internship included the importance of collaborating with teams on projects, maintaining university compliance through employment verifications, building relationships with department administrators, ensuring a seamless hiring process for student workers, and learning from a supportive team.
Isabella Ventura
Isabella Ventura considers landing her internship at TSI – Triencon Services (Computer Systems Design and Related Services Industry) her greatest academic achievement. She was nervous that she might not have sufficient knowledge, but the experience proved she was quite capable. Internship responsibilities included developing an employee training plan, working in HRIS, writing offer letters, sitting in on interviews, and participating in career fairs.
Mica Wolf
Mica Wolf came to UNT from the Philippines. While working as a supervisor at Walgreens, she realized that she was more passionate about the people-oriented responsibilities, rather than managing daily operations. This realization led her to pursue a degree in HR. Wolf feels that the whole degree program is important, but what really stood out to her was the way HR professionals conducted different analyses to make informed decisions. Her greatest academic achievement has been taking what she learned in the classroom and applying it to real business scenarios in all three of her internships (Caliber Home Loans, ABC solutions, and Alight Solutions).
Carlos Duran
Carlos Duran believes that the class that was most important for him was Strategic Compensation, because it helped him excel in his internship as a payroll intern at The Walsh Group: Archer Western Construction. He considers the internship his greatest academic achievement, because he was able to apply everything that he learned in the classroom to real-life work scenarios. Duran was even offered a full-time position after graduation.
READ MORE...
|
|
UNT achieves third-highest fundraising year
|
|
|
The University of North Texas raised $32.7 million in fiscal year 2021 — making it the third highest fundraising year in UNT’s history.
“Thanks to our UNT family’s giving spirit, we continued to empower our students and help them succeed during a difficult year,” UNT President Neal Smatresk said. “We are grateful for our community’s generosity and support.”
Funds raised for academic impact achieved significant growth, with donors increasing support for scholarships, faculty positions, research and academic programs.
Highlights of the 2020-21 fiscal year:
- The highest amount fundraised was for the College of Music, followed by the G. Brint Ryan College of Business, the College of Science, the College of Education and the College of Heath and Public Service. Collective gifts for these colleges totaled $23.2 million.
- New commitments to endowments totaled $13.5 million, increasing the UNT endowment to a record-high of $291.6 million.
- Corporate and Foundation funding that supports students, programming and faculty research held steady at $8 million, with new six-figure gifts from NBC, the Scripps-Howard Foundation and Kroger.
- The Diamond Eagles Giving Society funded its fourth annual project, “Mean Green Mobile Media,” which will provide educational experiences for students and virtual events for members of the UNT community.
- UNT Alumni Relations continued to offer improved regional programing and chapters to the UNT Alumni Association’s 15,488 members, including the creation of the Latinx Alumni Network.
“Our dedicated donors really stepped up to support UNT students during this critical time,” said David Wolf (’04 Ph.D.), vice president for University Advancement. “It’s amazing to see how UNT’s growing culture of giving creates life-changing opportunities for our students. We’re proud to help the leaders of tomorrow achieve their dreams.”
READ MORE...
____
Published by Kris Muller, UNT, 2021
|
|
Real Estate expert and UNT Professor Marc Moffit gives advice to current renters
|
|
|
With rising rent and other problems sending people on the move across North Texas, renters might not realize the little things that can make moving even harder.
"Rental rates are a derivative of housing prices," said Marc Moffitt, a licensed realtor, broker and adjunct professor of real estate at the University of North Texas. “When demand exceeds supply, the sellers and the landlords are going to have the upper hand in that conversation."
Here are some of the top five problems renters are facing and how they can resolve them:
- Availability
- Credit Concerns
- Being Prepared
- Pets
- Reading the Lease
As renters deal with rising rent affecting the affordability of their home, availability is another problem being noted by real estate experts in North Texas.
"Right now there are a lot of apartment complexes that are 100% occupied. And as a result, if you walk in and you’re looking for a deal today, they might not have anything for you," said Moffitt.
Current occupancy levels are at an all-time high in DFW at 96%.
"So one of the suggestions we may recommend there is to start in advance. If your lease ends two or three months from now, go ahead and start the process of looking for your next deal and ask those complexes, do you have anything coming up in the next 60 to 90 days that we might be able to look at?" Moffitt said.
READ MORE...
___
Published by Alanna Quillen, NBC DFW, November 2021 |
|
PHILANTHROPIC OPPORTUNITIES AT THE RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
|
|
THE JIM & LINDA MCNATT EMERGENCY FUND
Since 2019, Jim ('66) and Linda McNatt have poured more than $750,000 into The Jim & Linda McNatt Fund for Students in Financial Crisis (The Jim & Linda McNatt Emergency Fund), a scholarship established to create ways to assist students in crisis situations. Their generosity, coupled with the high demand for financial need during this past year, has since compelled others to contribute as well.
Our students are relying on support from the McNatt Emergency Fund to graduate and we need your continued support to meet their needs. Your gift, no matter the size, will make an immediate impact to help our students continue their pursuits of earning a UNT degree. |
|
G. BRINT RYAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS DEAN'S EXCELLENCE FUND
The Dean’s Excellence Fund also provides immediate, essential support to our students. This fund serves as a vital resource to help our students and campus respond to opportunities and challenges as they occur. When you support the Dean’s Excellence Fund, you support the strategic vision of the college by allowing the Dean to have flexibility in directing the use of resources to the priorities of the college during this difficult time. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|