Texas A&M Opens New Engineering School on Texarkana Campus
Published Feb 26, 2008
Texas A&M University - Texarkana has purchased property to build a new, 42,000-square-foot facility in 2008 for its new engineering program.
When Texas A&M University-Texarkana wanted to see what was in store for the future, it didn’t turn inward as so many institutions often do. It turned toward the community, sought the advice of local leaders and studied the trends in the area.
What they learned has led to a new, state-of-the-art engineering program that will be equipped to meet the needs of a fast-paced industry in a swiftly growing region.
The university plans to open a $20 million, 42,000-square-foot facility for the new engineering program in time for the fall 2008 semester.
And best of all, when the first engineering students enter the program, says Texas A&M University-Texarkana President Stephen Hensley, “it will be started totally on the basis of private funds donated to the university.”
Hensley says the program’s inception was truly born of those initial meetings with movers and shakers in northeast Texas. It was soon clear that what was most needed in the area was engineering, Hensley says, and “electrical engineering was at the top.”
“They do a tremendous amount of design work. In some ways it’s almost hard to separate electrical engineering from computer engineering. … It’s going to be a huge field.”
The roughly 1,550-student university will start with a fairly small class of about 15-20 students, but Hensley anticipates those numbers will swell to upwards of 100-125 in the next five or six years.
“We have done a partnership with the local school district,” he says. “They have developed an elementary that is a magnet science and engineering school.” As those students “grow through the system,” so too will the university’s engineering program.
A nationally accredited engineering program – the university’s goal – will help the college attain its goal of higher enrollment and graduation rates. And the program stands to increase the university’s research potential.
It will also potentially have a huge effect financially on the surrounding community.
“All of the community leaders and ourselves think we’ll see a tremendous impact in turning out an educated workforce. This definitely can change us from the old, Southern manufacturing community we have been to more of that type of [high-tech] industrial community that needs that type of educated workforce,” Hensley says.
Currently an upper-level institution that accepts only junior-level classmen and above, the university plans to begin “downward expansion” so the first freshmen will be enrolling in 2010.
Hensley is excited about the hand-in-glove relationship the school has developed with the community, seeing nothing but good things for all involved.
“I believe when the community caught fire to wanting the engineering program and looking to education as a leading factor in economic development, that’s when we turned the corner,” Hensley says. “I don’t think it could have been done by the university alone. Community involvement is vital.”
And as the university grows with its programs, Hensley believes the engineering program in particular will leave an indelible mark. “It’s incredible. It’s going to change the face of the university considerably.”
Story by Ellen Margulies
Photo by staff
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