Bold

Young alum's start-up transforms real estate industry

The cover of September's Entrepreneur magazine features Austin Allison, CEAS '08, whose tech start-up, dotloop, is revolutionizing the way people buy and sell homes. The company's platform enables real estate contracts to be drafted, edited, approved, signed and stored by agents, buyers and sellers, rendering face-to-face meetings optional while streamlining the entire process. dotloop was launched in 2009 and now has 60 employees and is used by 200,000 agents throughout North America.

Read the Entrepreneur story as well as an item at Cincinnati.com.

Global outlook takes young alum to Vietnam

UC's diversity and international perspective are obvious in young alumnus Spencer Utt, who is currently spreading the Red & Black in Southeast Asia. After graduating in 2010, Utt went to Vietnam to work for a recruiting agency, then started working with UC International Admissions. Vietnam is the 8th leading foreign country for sending students to U.S. universities. "The prospect of gaining U.S. work experience through the co-op program is definitely the biggest attraction, as well as UC's affordability and high quality of education," Utt said.

Read more about Utt's unique role and UC International recruiting.

  Strong

UC climbs in U.S. News rankings

The latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report reflect the University of Cincinnati's rising reputation. UC moved to 139th on the Best National Universities list, up 17 spots in just two years. The rise has been spurred by improved graduation rates, greater retention of first-year students, and higher levels of alumni donors. "It's no accident these data are closely tied to the goals set out in the UC2019 strategic plan, the Academic Master Plan, and the Proudly Cincinnati campaign," said Lee Mortimer, director of UC's Institutional Research Office. UC also made U.S. News' select list of a dozen schools cited for quality internships under the banner of "A Focus On Student Success."

Princeton Review recognizes UC among nation's best

For the 6th consecutive year, UC is listed by the Princeton Review among the best institutions for an undergraduate education. Only about 15% of America's 2,500 four-year colleges received the distinction. UC was praised for its hundreds of undergraduate majors, diverse student body, "green" ratings, ease of registration, libraries, food service, and overall quality of life. Also noted were the world-renowned campus, quality of professors and fun atmosphere, including an open-mindedness that helps everyone fit in.

  Ambitious

Clermont, Milacron create partnership to train workers

A unique new partnership between UC Clermont College and Milacron Plastics Technologies Group has created a program to train workers in advanced manufacturing skills while providing hands-on experience, tools, compensation and potential career paths within Milacron. "We've had a tough time finding skilled machinists," said Milacron CEO Dennis Smith. "A real skills gap exists in manufacturing today. We decided it was time to look for innovative solutions."

New school year underscores growth at UC

The most academically prepared class ever to enter UC includes nearly 6,000 freshmen, more than two-thirds of whom have begun baccalaureate programs on the main Uptown campus. The total enrollment of about 42,000 includes growing contingents of international students (2,600 this year, up 9.1% from last year) and incoming transfer students (just under 2,000 new undergrad transfers this year, up 16.8% from last year).

Read more about the changes at UC, including a WKRC-TV news story about UC's growing international student population.