Welcome

Dear Curiosity Unlimited Members, Visitors, and Supporters,

Welcome back for another year of fascinating and informative lectures by the UCCS Faculty. The 2023-2024 Curiosity Unlimited trifold brochure is enclosed if you are receiving this letter by USPS mail, or in a separate email if this letter reaches you electronically. Read through the brochure and you will discover topics ranging from the future of education to robots, from climate change to mental health, and much more.

For continuing members, now is the time to renew your annual membership to Curiosity Unlimited. And new members are always welcome. A membership application form is included in the trifold brochure. If you have never been to a Curiosity Unlimited lecture, we welcome you to be our guest and learn about us.

Again, this year our on-campus lectures are planned for the Chapman Hall in the beautiful Ent Center for the Arts at 5225 N Nevada Ave. The Chapman Hall is the “crown jewel” of lecture auditoriums in the UCCS system and offers outstanding sound and visual capabilities as well as comfortable seats and accessibility for those with mobility limitations. Every month, we will again have coffee and tea provided a half hour prior to the lecture with some munchies for the kick-off lecture in September. The May lecture and annual meeting will again be a luncheon event with details provided later. Arrangements have been made with the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art in the Ent Center to open early for your viewing convenience following lectures.

Notice that two lectures this year will not be on the traditional second Friday of the month. The April meeting will be on the 3^rd Friday and the May luncheon will be on the 1^st Friday. These are because of a conflict at the Ent Center in April and a conflict with UCCS Commencement in May.

The continued success and growth of UCCS has given the Colorado Springs community the Ent Center, the Hybl Center, and The Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences. Other expansion includes additional educational programs, academic buildings, dorms, and student sports teams. Complications include increased congestion on central campus, and the need for more available parking on all parts of campus.

Parking fees for visitors on the West Campus, which includes the Ent Center, will be introduced this coming year. The rate will be $1.25 per hour on these lots. (This is still less than the $2.50 per hour on the main campus.) The fees will start when the kiosks have been installed, but we don’t know exactly when this will be. Prior to implementation, Parking Services will provide additional information which we will share with you. There will be multiple payment options.

As a program of UCCS, Curiosity Unlimited has two objectives. The first is to provide the faculty lecture series, and the second is to support scholarships for senior year students. Your membership fees first provide for lecture series expenses and other administrative costs. (Yes, we do have to pay for personnel and space at the Ent Center). The Board strives to keep these fees as low as possible as monies not going to expenses go to the scholarship fund. Curiosity also encourages dedicated contributions directly to the scholarship fund. These funds only go to scholarships, and cannot be used for expenses. This year Curiosity Unlimited has made $4000 scholarship awards to each of three senior year students.

Stay Curious,

Bob Jones, Ph.D.,

President, Curiosity Unlimited, UCCS