Issue date: 6/19/09 Section: NEWS

UNT Dallas

For Michael Sexton, the fate of the UNT Dallas campus couldn't be more fitting.

The fledgling campus has been given wings after Gov. Rick Perry signed a Senate Bill, giving it the go-ahead to become a full-fledged campus.

Sexton, a professor with the College of Business, spent the last seven years teaching at the three-story satellite campus, which is perched on 264 acres of rolling hills in south Dallas.

"It's impressive what John Price (vice chancellor of the UNT Dallas Campus and president-designate of the new university) has done," Sexton said. "He put the right people in the right place at the right time."

The campus has not been without growing pains on its way to a stand-alone status.

This included a virtual library that didn't take off as expected revamping team lab area for collaboration between the students.

Up next for UNT Dallas is an accreditation, a quality assurance process that will ensure the campus meets the expectations and standards of a university. The process, which will take about two years, includes bringing on a full-time faculty in lieu of the adjunct faculty now at the campus.

"These are the types of things that bring prestige to a campus," said Sexton.

The campus is planning for 2010, when the campus will begin accepting freshmen and sophomores, who will be offered a full range of degree plans.

"We're starting construction on a 100,000 square-foot building," said David Porter, the associate director for marketing at UNT Dallas. "We expect a good-size freshman class."

Sexton believes the fresh faces will have a unique experience at the smaller campus, where they'll have the "academic rigor that they'll pay for."

"This campus is reminiscent of a small school getting started," Sexton said. "There is a level of customer service that is uncommon - it permeates the culture of that campus."

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