University of Denver - Kynewisbok Yearbook (Denver, CO)

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News Driscoll Debt Refinanced; Cash To Fund Renovations by Gina Vick “All of our bonds have been sold. This shows the faith people have in us. They don't let you refinance when you are in trouble. ” — Provost Roy Wood The University of Denver has refinanced the $9.5 million debt incurred to finance the building of Driscoll University Center in 1982. The bond was refinanced for over $17 million According to Liz Williams, vice chancellor for business and financial alTairs, one of the purposes of refinancing the bond was to acquire $8 million for capital projects to improve DU. These projects arc mainly improvements to buildings around campus. Some of the renovations include new laboratories for the Core Science classes in Boettcher West and a new and improved facility in Columbine for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Additionally. Frontier Hall will be converted from apartments to ofTiccs. classrooms and seminar rooms, and Spruce Hall will renovated in time for Speech Communications to move in. Williams specified that these were all changes to be made with the funds received from refinancing the bonds. There are other renovations taking place, such as restoration of the residence halls, but those arc from different funds. The University owes a total of $35 million in bond issues, but this docs not signal any instability in its financial position. according to Provost Roy Wood The debt situation comes from selling bonds to investors. Wood said. “All of our bonds have been sold. This shows the faith people have in us. They don't let you refinance (bonds) when you arc in trouble. They buy the bonds of people who arc able to pay them back. The University has two major bond issues. One is $17 million and has a van-able rate of interest which stays around 5 percent. The other is $17.5 million which has a fixed interest rate of 9 percent. “We have established a mixture of (interest) rates and of nsk. Williams said. “We felt like it was a really good thing to do. We re very pleased with the results. One of the reasons why the bond issue was refinanced was to fund several capital improvement projects. “Another reason was that we wanted to get the debt in a situation where we felt we could leave it alone and live with the terms of Next year, students will pay. an estimated 6.9 percent more for tuition, but their student activity fee will fall by almost $100. According to Provost Roy Wood, this is the first stage in a plan to incorporate the student activity fee into tuition. While tuition for 1987-88 was $9,288. the 1988-89 school year will sec it rise to $9,936. The student activity fee. included in the tuition figures, will fall from $396 to $288. According to Wood, this is slightly below typical tuition increases across the country. Most colleges and universities can expect an 8-10 percent increase in cost A 6.9 percent tuition increase places DU only less than two percent above the lowest rate of increase in the country. Funds generated by the tuition increase will be used to accomplish these debts for a long time. Williams said. Wood agreed, but said he sees another challenge: “We need to make sure wc continue to spend our money wisely. several specific objectives. “A merit plan for faculty will be instituted in order to establish a greater emphasis on the quality of teaching at DU. Wood said. The plan will allow top faculty to receive salary increases accordingly. In addition, funds will also go toward a published teaching and course evaluation program and toward maintaining and improving the Core curriculum. Similarly, an internal fund will be established to continue efforts aimed at faculty development through scholarly and creative work. 'There will also be an increase of almost $500,000 in financial aid available next year. Wood said. The increase, a direct result of the tuition hike, will be in the form of University-granted aid. 6.9% Tuition Hike Ordered; Faculty Plan to Get Funding u

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News D U-ALUMNI 124 Years Marked by Awards, Donations More than S70.000 was raised for the University as DU celebrated its 124th birthday February 19. Hundreds of DU alumni, faculty, students and Denver socialites turned out for Founders Day festivities — the second consecutive year that the party has been a fundraiser for DU — at the Marriott City Center Festivities included dinner, entertainment by singer Freda Payne and the presentation of the University's annual awards. Taking the University's most prestigious award of the year was DU alumnus Edward Lehman. CEO of the company which publishes newspapers in several Colorado towns. Lehman, a former trustee, received a BA in 1947 and a law degree in 1951. In receiving the Evans Award, named for DLTs founder. Lehman was cited for his professional achievement and his contribution to the University including service as past president of the alumni association. 1974 Hotel and Restaurant Management alumnus Michael Grisanti received the award for Outstanding Professional Achievement Grisanti. a well-known restaurateur. is president of the National Restaurant Association Brewery boss Peter Coors received acclaim for his service to the community. In awarding Coors the award for Outstanding Community Service, the University recognized his directorships of the Denver Convention and Visitors Bureau. National Wildlife Association and the Adolph Coors Foundation. Coors also serves as a trustee of Regis College and Outward Bound and serves as state corporate chairman of the United Negro College Fund Retired DU athletic director Tony Cillo was this year's recipient of the award for Outstanding Service to the University. Cillo came to DU from the Air Force Academy where he was an onginal staff member and chaired the Department of Physical Education. Cillo had been at DU since 1974 before retiring in 1987. The Randolph P. McDonough Award for Service to the Alumni was given to Richard Arnold. Arnold is former president of the alumni association's board of directors and is credited with reviving interest in the Chicago area alumni club. Arnold has also been active in assisting the development office in its fundraising goals. Denver philanthropist Florence Rus-ton chaired this year's event, assisted by J. Glen Arko and Ann Hoffman All will be involved in the planning for next years Founders Day — a special event which will mark the University's 125th anniversary. n

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News ADMISSIONS UP — AGAIN Admission was successful in rccroit ing students for the 1987 - 1988 academic year with a freshman class of 850 students, according to Susan Hunt, associate dean of admissions. We arc concentrating on who applies to DU. Hunt said ‘This allows us to be both competitive and selective while having only the best applicants apply. According to admission statistics, the average rank in class for entering freshmen is the 81st percentile (top fifth.) The University encourages students in the top three-fifths to apply. Students from highly competitive independent schools should know that rank is less of a factor in their admission consideration. Overall. Admissions recommends the importance of a good academic preparation. (English. Foreign Languages. Mathematics. Science. History. Social Sciences, and course work in the arts. In the past three years the testing profile presented by enrolling freshman has increased. The average SAT — verbal score is between 500 and 550. The SAT -math score is between 550 and 600. The ACT — Comp scores range from 21—24. According to admission statistics. DU students come from 50 states and 80 foreign countries, and 65 percent of DlTs student body comes from outside Colorado Admissions works hard to obtain these percentages as the diversity of the student body makes the University of Denver a much more interesting and lively place to learn. The freshman who enrolled in the fall of 1987 reflected diverse geographical backgrounds: 32 percent — Colorado; 16 percent — West; 16 percent — Midwest; 22 percent — Fast; I percent — Other Eastern seaboard states; 5 percent — Northwest; 4 percent — Plains; 4 percent — South. According to Hunt there is yet another expected increase for admissions in the Fall 1988 class keeping in step with an unexpected national rise — the fall in the number of baby boomers was expected to decrease college attendance. IS