HLC garners $1 million gift
Accelerated nursing students achieve 100 percent passage rate
Metro State has emerged as a calculus super power
Air traffic controller graduates second in national test
Alumna serving as Boulder County coroner

President Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D.

Dear friends,

From the outset of our Strategic Name Initiative, I have expressed that my No. 1 goal was to enhance the value of a Metro State degree for our students and alumni. With the introduction of SB 12-148—the Senate bill authorizing our change in name to Metropolitan State University of Denver—I believe that goal is within reach.

The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on the bill on Feb. 23 and I'm pleased to report that it passed unanimously. A cadre of our supporters turned out to testify for the bill including two distinguished alumni: Jon Robinson ('90), CEO of UMB Bank – Colorado, and Roy Alexander ('74), retired executive director of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Community leaders Nita Gonzales, president of Escuela Tlatelolco, and John Brackney, president and CEO of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, were forceful in their support as well. But perhaps the most compelling—and meaningful—testimony came from senior journalism student Caitlin Gibbons. Her belief that having a university degree will strength career opportunities for her as well as for all of Metro State's nearly 24,000 students is exactly why the name change is so important.

The bill passed on second reading in the Senate on Feb. 28 and now goes to the House. You can stay apprised on its progress as it continues to move through the legislative process at www.mscd.edu/namechange.

When I came to Metro State seven years ago, I set forth a vision for the institution to become one of the country's preeminent public institutions. Gaining university status is a significant step on that journey, but we have made so many more: Our two new buildings, the Student Success Building and the Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center, will open in March and August respectively. Enrollment in our three master's programs has increased fivefold and I'm certain that within two years they will be revenue generating. We're getting ever closer to our goal of achieving the federal designation of Hispanic Serving Institution (we're now at 18.2 percent Latino enrollment), and our aviation program received the prestigious Loening Trophy as the best in the nation. I am certain that Metro State will continue to distinguish itself with exemplars of excellence.

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

HLC garners $1 million gift

The Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center will open in August 2012.

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation has donated $1 million to Metro State's Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center. The donation, the largest to the HLC to date, was announced Jan. 20. In recognition of the gift, the 5,000-square-foot meeting space in the HLC will be named The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Conference Center. It will feature floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking downtown Denver to the southeast and will accommodate up to 300 people.

The Marriott Foundation's support will help us provide unique career training and educational opportunities for students. Locally, the hospitality industry is one of the job-growth bright spots, so the gift's timing couldn't be better from a workforce development perspective.

Accelerated nursing students
achieve 100 percent passage rate

Graduates of the Accelerated Nursing Program achieved a 100% pass rate on a national exam.

All 36 graduates from Metro State's 2011 accelerated nursing class passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. The 100 percent pass rate, a first for the College, was the only perfect score out of all baccalaureate and associate degree nursing programs in Colorado, according to the Colorado State Board of Nursing website. Nationally and in Colorado, the average pass rate for the NCLEX-RN exam in the April-to-September reporting period was 88 percent.

Effective last April the national council toughened the test as it does periodically to ensure its rigor. "So, it's an extra acknowledgment of our graduates' ability that they passed even in a year when the level of difficulty increased," says Associate Chair of Nursing Linda Stroup.

Metro State has emerged as a calculus super power

In the fall of 2010, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) examined more than 200 colleges and universities across the country, surveying 700 instructors and 14,000 students for factors that improved passing rate, interest in advancing to Calculus II, general interest in continuing math studies, enjoyment of mathematics and confidence in mathematical ability.

When the results were tallied, 15 colleges and universities emerged as having particularly strong programs, with Metro State being one of them. In the fall, the association will be sending a team to Metro State to study what makes our Calculus I classes so successful.

Chairman of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences David Ruch attributes this distinction to the department's outstanding faculty, small classes and the experiential opportunities students receive that get them excited about math. "We have active math clubs, we try to take students to conferences, and we work to get them interested in undergraduate research by doing poster sessions," he says. "This gets them more involved with the faculty, who help nurture their confidence and interest in the subject."

Air traffic controller graduates second in national test

Seven graduates of Metro State's Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Program (AT-CTI) were second only to Purdue University in 2010 in their average test score on the FAA's required exam upon being hired. With a 75 percent average score, our alumni were less than 2 percent behind Purdue and 10 percent above the combined average of the 36 colleges and universities that have AT-CTI programs.

The program requires students to study 30 subjects in air traffic and aviation.So they do not have to take the FAA's five-week course on these subjects that is required for other potential employees.

Since being named an AT-CTI site in 2007, Metro State has graduated 65 students, 22 of whom have either been hired or are currently in the FAA's hiring pipeline. Per FAA policy, new hires are first often assigned to smaller airports in their home state, such as Pueblo. Metro State graduates have also been hired to work in the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center in Longmont.

Alumna serving as Boulder County coroner

Coroner Emma Hall ('06) and her team investigate all sudden and unnattended deaths in Boulder County.

Metro State not only educates one out of every five undergraduate Coloradans, we also can boast that 75 percent of our alumni stay in Colorado. Subsequently, there are many stories of Metro State graduates accomplishing great things in our state. Emma R. Hall ('06) is one example of an alumna who is making an impact by helping people during extremely difficult times.

As Boulder County's coroner (elected in November 2011), Hall and the team she supervises investigate all sudden and unattended deaths in the county, handling everything from removing bodies from the scene to conducting autopsies and answering questions from loved ones.

Fascinated by death investigations since she was a child, Hall was able to find a degree that matched her interests in Metro State's Chemistry Department, which offers an emphasis in criminalistics.

"I'm passionate about the field of death investigation, especially how it relates to answering questions for the surviving family and loved ones," Hall explains. "I realize how important it is for the family to get answers quickly, be treated with compassion and have closure."