BOT proposes new name
Trustees approve tuition increase
The leader in educating students of color for STEM fields
Aviation and aerospace science students take off
Alumni rise through regional, national ranks

President Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D.

Dear friends,

If you look toward the Auraria Campus you’ll notice that Metro State is having an impact on the skyline just west of Speer. The cranes and scaffolding in the distance signal the impending arrival of the new Student Success Building and the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center, the first buildings on campus devoted explicitly to the education of Metro State students—and without using any taxpayer dollars.

Change is in the air at Metro State this summer. We are deep into our strategic planning for the next five years and will be holding a Strategic Planning Vision Conference on campus, Aug. 16 bringing 75 people together, including faculty, administrators and staff as well as the Board of Trustees, alumni, local community leaders and business people, to craft a vision for Metro State’s future.

Our Board of Trustees is busy conducting further analysis on our prospective strategic name initiative to align the high-quality education we offer Colorado students to a name that actually reflects that quality.

Quality, too, was the reason behind the board’s decision to raise tuition. With the drastic state funding cuts higher education has experienced, it’s become necessary to increase our price in order to fulfill our mission of providing an accessible, high-quality education to a diverse student body. In fact, we educate more Colorado undergraduates than any school in the state.

And we are committed to making our programs available to even more students of color. For example, we are now the leader in STEM education for students of color. Traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math, the number of students of color choosing STEM majors has jumped 61% since 2006.

When I look at the achievement of our students and alumni, it’s easy to see why so many people make Metro State their college of choice. Our students and graduates are making names for themselves in Colorado and on a national scale. I hope you enjoy reading about the impact they are having in their communities.

If you have anything you would like to see addressed in this newsletter, please send your suggestions to me personally at stevejordan@mscd.edu. And I encourage you to support Metro State by passing along this information to people who might be interested.

Sincerely,
Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D.
President

Because the name Metropolitan State College of Denver no longer reflects the institution as it is today, the Board of Trustees (BOT) voted to study the option of changing its name. Following that, this April they voted to move forward with a name change for the College.

After thoughtful research, the board proposed the name Denver State University, which meets the four goals they established for this effort:

• Demonstrate the quality of the College's degree
• Clarify the College's location (Denver)
• Eliminate confusion that Metro State is a community college (we are a four-year institution)
• Make the name more concise

The trustees have reiterated that  Metro State will continue to be dedicated to its mission of providing affordable, accessible, high-quality education to a diverse population of Colorado's students.

Trustees approve tuition increase

A $370.60 tuition and fee increase for resident students has been approved for fiscal year 2011-12 by our Board of Trustees. The increase is a result of a reduction in our state funding by $7.1 million from last year’s levels and the ending of federal stimulus funds and the non-base general fund on June 30, 2011. We are always reluctant to raise tuition. But even with these changes, Metro State continues to be an outstanding value for Colorado students and a very affordable option.

The leader in educating students of color for STEM fields

Metro State now educates more Colorado students of color in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields than any of Colorado’s four-year undergraduate institutions. In the past five years, the number of students of color majoring in STEM fields at the College has shot up by 61 percent, from 804 to 1,293. I believe this progress is a direct result of our initiatives to recruit diverse students in STEM fields. Top among those is our new science building, which increased Metro State’s biology teaching labs from nine to 16, chemistry teaching labs from six to nine, and earth and atmospheric labs from five to eight. When we broke ground on the building five years ago, I predicted that it would bring more students of color to Metro State to study in the STEM disciplines, and I’m glad that my prediction certainly held true.

Other initiatives to expand opportunities for Colorado students who want to pursue STEM education include our 12-year-old Strides Toward Encouraging Professions in Science Program and Summer Science Institute for middle schoolers.

We’re proud of Metro State’s role in educating students of all ethnicities to take on professional roles in our increasingly technology-driven workforce.

(l to r) Dave Dominguez, Amritpal Singh, Robert Thompson and Yee “Ken” Tai received an honorable mention in an international competition using space software.

The Metro State Aviation and Aerospace Science Department is currently flying high.

At the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s (NIFA) Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) held in May, the Metro State’s Precision Flight Team was awarded the coveted Loening Trophy, which is presented to the outstanding all-around college aviation program in the nation. The award recognizes aeronautical skills as well as academic achievement, safety, professionalism and community involvement.

Aviation and aerospace science students are also distinguishing themselves on the ground. Competing against graduate and undergraduate students from all over the world, a group of four Metro State students received an honorable mention in the AGI University Grant Competition. The team created three-dimensional computer models of archaeological sites and using the Satellite Tool Kit, a powerful software package used widely in the space industry, showed known relationships between the ancient structures and celestial objects.

Alumni rise through regional, national ranks

Katherine Archuleta has been tapped to run President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.

Metro State alumni are having an impact and distinguishing themselves throughout Colorado and on the national stage. Here are just a few examples:

Army General-Select Laura J. Richardson (’86), who was featured on the cover of the March 2003 issue of Time magazine and broke gender barriers as the first female commander of Fort Myer, has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general. As of mid-July, Richardson is commander of Fort Hood in Texas.

Denon Moore (’01) opened Cake Crumbs bakery four years ago in a small storefront near downtown Denver. Today the bakery not only occupies two shop spaces in a Park Hill retail building, selling muffins, cakes, cookies and other sweets, it also has taken its show on the road in the form of the increasingly famous Denver Cupcake Truck, run by her husband Sean (’99). These two entrepreneurs began parlaying cupcakes in Colorado Springs last December, with the Springs Cupcake Truck.

Katherine Archuleta (’71) has been named political director for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, making her the first Latina to serve at this level in a presidential campaign. Previously she served as chief of staff to Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis.

Dave Thibodeau founded and co-owns Ska Brewing Company in Durango.

Started by Dave Thibodeau (’93 ) and a buddy who liked brewing beer, Ska Brewing Company employs 45 people at its 24,000-square-foot brewery in Durango, Colo. Their award-winning beers are available in nine states, Australia and Sweden.