I'm enjoying my freshman year as your UNT president, and the warm welcome I have received from our Mean Green Family is deeply appreciated. I believe we have a responsibility to use our talents to work on the world and try to do as well as we can, and it is an incredible privilege for me to serve as UNT's 17th president.

A common question since my arrival is about my vision for UNT. To be clear, I'm still accelerating my own learning and getting to know students, faculty, and staff across our amazing university.

I've expanded my leadership team to include deans, faculty and staff leaders, and students, and we are focusing our attention on developing action plans around three critical areas of work -- student success, research and innovation, and strategic budgeting. I've also established a President's Student Advisory Council that will begin meeting later this month.

As alumni, it is important that you understand my commitment to student success is not only about ensuring that students can graduate in a timely manner, but also about making sure they have the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to launch them into good jobs and rewarding careers. Ultimately, this work will increase the value of your own degrees. Our core purpose at UNT is to transform lives and to serve as the platform for students, faculty, and staff to launch their talent as far as they want to go.

To help realize this vision, I am committed to strengthening our partnerships across the North Texas region with employers, school districts, community colleges, and other like-minded universities. In particular, I look forward to working with alumni and employers across the region and beyond to expand internship opportunities for our students and mentorship opportunities for graduates who are already pursuing their careers.

Thank you again for your generous welcome to UNT! To serve this great institution and its rich legacy, I'm learning as much as I can, as fast I can. Your stories and love for UNT are inspiring, and I'm looking forward to working together to make our great university even better.