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By Mary Grace Rodriguez
COMMERCE, TX-Texas A&M University-Commerce’s nursing and health sciences building project received official scope and budget approval at The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents meeting in College Station that took place on Nov. 10. The new facility will house the departments of Nursing, Health and Human Performance, and the new Biomedical Institute for Regenerative Research. Scheduled to open in the spring of 2019. the new building is designed to create enhanced opportunities for a collegial interdisciplinary education, collaborative teaching and research.
A&M-Commerce Distinguished Professor of the Department of Biological and Environmental Science Dr. Larry Lemanski leads the effort, and his goal is to see the institute become a world-class university-based research enterprise where faculty-level scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate and undergraduate students contribute to the expansive research enterprise.
An important additional action item on this week’s Board of Regents meeting agenda was the official confirmation of academic tenure to three A&M-Commerce faculty members.
According to new A&M-Commerce President Ray Keck, “The intellectual vitality and future leadership of this institution will only remain strong as long as we recruit and develop outstanding new generations of professors. The qualifications and achievements demonstrated by this group of newly tenured faculty reflect our commitment to a superior student-centered and rigorous academic program across all departments.”
Faculty members awarded tenure were: Professor of Higher Education and Learning Technologies, Dr. David L. Tan; Associate Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Judith Marchand Ball; and Professor of Agriculture, Dr. Randal M. Harp.
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About Texas A&M University-Commerce: Founded in 1889, Texas A&M University-Commerce is a member of The Texas A&M University System. Located in Northeast Texas, A&M-Commerce is home to more than 12,000 students, four academic colleges, a thriving graduate school, and more than 140 degree programs. As the region’s focal point of higher education, A&M-Commerce offers students facilities ranging from the world-class Keith D. McFarland Science Building and University Planetarium to the Sam Rayburn Student Center, to a fully equipped recreational facility and music hall. The university also has convenient locations in Corsicana, downtown Dallas, Midlothian, McKinney, Mesquite and Rockwall.
About the A&M System: The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $4.2 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities and seven state agencies, the Texas A&M System educates more than 150,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $946 million in FY 2015 and helped drive the state’s economy.