Metro State’s Center for Innovation (CFI) continues to live up to its name with a first-of-its-kind franchise ownership program.

Featured in the Jan. 15 Denver Post, the program will further solidify Denver nationally as a key test market for small business development with a formula that will benefit investors, franchisors, franchisees and the College.

Program investors will benefit from a projected net return of 10 percent. Franchisors receive a dedicated stream of new talent to open new locations, establishing a team of fully trained franchisees with a support infrastructure in place. And, for an initial investment of up to $10,000, the franchisees obtain seed capital and intense start-up training.

According to CFI Director Mick Jackowski, a few colleges have franchise management classes, but none provide the investment for students to purchase a franchise as well.

The franchise program will raise approximately $1 million to establish an initial funding pool. Asset management and securities service company BNY Mellon has provided the first seed contribution of $100,000.

The initial franchise companies are Camp Bow Wow, Cartridge World, Grease Monkey and Smiling Moose Deli, among several others.

The concept has already gained national recognition with an award for Best Practitioner Paper for innovative fundraising from the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

More detailed information can be found at FAQs.

Student Success Building breaks ground

Breaking ground on the Student Success Building, the first Metro State-specific building on campus.

Metro State broke ground on Dec. 3 on the Student Success Building, the first Metro State-specific building on campus. Indicative of our students’ capacity to create their own success, the building is being funded entirely by student fees, approved in an April 2009 student vote. The first building in the Metro State neighborhood of Auraria, the Student Success Building will add 145,000 square feet of space for classrooms and offices, increasing the College’s dedicated classroom and administration space by 25 percent. It will provide the College with its own identity, be a physical demonstration of our commitment to student retention and graduation, as well as connect us even more to the Denver community through our Center for Innovation and a community action theatre, a state-of-the-art meeting facility for public roundtables and special interest brainstorms.

Student success is at the heart of everything we do at Metro State, and I firmly believe that this building will ensure our ability to help our students achieve success long into the future.  I invite you to watch this physical manifestation of our progress; check out the construction site along Auraria Parkway between 7th and 9th Streets.

The next groundbreaking, for the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center (HLC), is scheduled for Thursday, March 31. Funded by private donations and a public/private partnership, the HLC, together with the Student Success Building, make up $110 million in construction projects, fueling Colorado’s economy without any taxpayer dollars. For up-to-date information, visit
Metro State is Rising.

Terrance Carroll joins Metro State Board of Trustees

Former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Terrance D. Carroll (D-Denver) is the newest member of the Metro State Board of Trustees.

In one of his last official acts, Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Carroll on Jan. 10, pending Senate confirmation. His term expires Dec. 31, 2014.

Chair of the Metro State caucus from its formation in 2006, Carroll was instrumental in the passing of legislation important to Metro State’s future, such as the bill authorizing the College to offer master’s degrees. He also often found ways to showcase Metro State students including inviting the Metro State Chorale to perform before the House and hanging student artwork in his Capitol office. Carroll spoke of his affinity for Metro State in the fall 2009 issue of Metro Magazine.

Carroll served from 2002 until he was term-limited in 2010. He was the first African American in Colorado to hold the position of Speaker of the House.

Gov. Ritter’s re-appointments to Metro State’s board are Ellen S. Robinson and Michelle M. Lucero, both of whose terms end Dec. 31, 2014.

Carroll replaces Antonio Esquibel, Metro State professor emeritus of Spanish, former vice president for student affairs and associate vice president for community outreach. Esquibel’s four-year term ended Dec. 31, 2010.

College takes first steps toward forming a School of Education

One of the top producers of teachers in Colorado, Metro State is beginning the process of creating a stand-alone School of Education, with the help of a $1.8 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded in October. Grants such as this are increasingly important to the College as state higher education appropriations decline.

The five-year grant, from the “Strengthening Institutions” program of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education, was awarded to Metro State to achieve two goals: 1) establish a framework for the formation of a School of Education, and 2) to expand academic support services to low-income students. 

A stand-alone School of Education will provide the administrative structure necessary to manage the complex role of the Teacher Education Department, currently the largest urban-based source of teachers in the state. The department is currently housed in the School of Professional Studies.

More students coming to Metro State—and staying here

This fall, we continued a 12-year trend of continuous enrollment increases, and now more than 24,000 students are taking classes at Metro State, the most ever.  First-generation-to-college students now make up 30 percent of our student body, up from 25 percent in 2005; low-income students now make up 34 percent, up from 23 percent in 2005; and students of color have increased from 24 percent in 2005 to 28 percent today. Each year, more than 2,500 students transfer to Metro State, more than to any other institution in Colorado.

Not only are more students coming to Metro State, but more are choosing to stay here. The number of continuing students choosing to remain at Metro State from one year to the next has increased from 57 percent in 2005 to 72 percent last year. 

I am proud of the progress we’ve made in keeping students at Metro State, particularly students whose demographics tend toward leaving college before graduating more frequently than their more affluent peers. Last month more than 1,100 students graduated, our largest fall graduating class yet and 15 percent more than the previous fall. With 80 percent of our graduates choosing to remain in Colorado, that’s a big boost for our local economy.

Nursing Program graduates achieve near 100% pass rate

Metro State's nursing students achieve among the hightest scores in the state on national licensing exam.

Graduates of Metro State's Accelerated Nursing Program achieved a 97 percent pass rate on the national nursing licensing exam, among the highest in the state. In the semi-annual national licensing exam for registered nurses (National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse, or NCLEX-RN) results released Nov. 1, Metro State's pass rate for the reporting period of April-September 2010 was 97 percent, with 34 of 35 accelerated graduates passing and one who hadn't tested yet. The national average is 87 percent and the Colorado average is 89 percent.