Contributed photo Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will begin construction on the Harte Institute in about three years. Wes Tunnell, associate director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, said the institute will create a local biotech industry such as those in Woodshole, Mass., and La Jolla, Calif. Click to enlarge graphic

Administrators hope more programs, facilities will draw students

Harte Institute will add doctoral program at A&M-CC; Del Mar wants to add a campus

February 1, 2003
By Janell Ross
Caller-Times

Student growth and new programs at the Coastal Bend’s colleges are expected to transform the area into a magnet for students, professors and researchers interested in marine, environmental, technological and other specialized studies, administrators said.

In different ways, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Del Mar College and Coastal Bend College have grown and plan to continue expanding over the next few years.

School administrators said they are on track to draw students interested in pursuing increasingly higher levels of education or specialized areas of study. College administrators said these students will be capable of and perhaps even interested in transforming South Texas in many ways, including starting biotech and other environmental businesses.

A&M’s economic effect Effect of A&M-Corpus Christi students on the local economy* University spending per student: $11,800 Impact on the economy: $129.8 million Amount created in total spending for goods and services per student: $40,800 Impact on the economy: $448.8 million Local job creation per student: One for every four students Total additional local jobs created: 1,545 *Based on enrollment of more than 11,000 in fall 2010. Does not include construction costs. Source: A&M-Corpus Christi

"We will bring brighter minds to the area with the hope and intention of retaining some of that talent in Corpus Christi," said Wes Tunnell, associate director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and director of the university’s current center for coastal studies.

In about three years, the university will begin construction on the Harte Institute. There, the university will offer a new doctoral program in marine and environmental science. It will also allow students interested in the Gulf of Mexico’s marine life to study alongside policy makers who will affect the Gulf Coast’s future.

Tunnell is confident that the Harte Institute will create a local biotech industry much like the ones that have developed in Woodshole, Mass., and La Jolla, Calif. Both communities house marine research centers similar to the Harte Institute.

To accommodate an influx of students, the school hopes to add as many as 400 additional students housing beds, said Amanda Chesser, A&M-Corpus Christi’s director of university housing.

Adding student housing
Internal projections place student enrollment at more than 11,000 in the fall of 2010, according to an A&M-Corpus Christi study. According to the study, every $11,800 in total university spending per student has an economic impact on the community of $129.8 million.

Many students already are beginning to take advantage of enhanced academic opportunities in the Coastal Bend.

When Duvesa Requena of Corpus Christi started college in 1999, she was unsure it was the right choice.

"I was kind of iffy about the whole thing — the time, the money, the commitment," Requena said. "But, I met people that really got me excited about learning."

After two years at Del Mar College, Requena transferred to A&M-Corpus Christi, where she is studying bilingual education. After graduation, she hopes to teach in Corpus Christi and work on her master’s degree in the same field.

Requena is the first person in her family to attend college.

More options, small setting
At A&M-Kingsville, administrators want to expand the levels of academic opportunities.

A&M-Kingsville prides itself on the intimate educational environment it has been able to maintain while drawing the kind of research dollars that make it competitive with the country’s highest caliber institutions.

The university recently added a master of science degree in instructional technology and an environmental engineering doctoral program.

"We found that we were losing many of our brightest Ph.D. candidates when they switched from a 6,000-student university to a school with 40,000 to 50,000 students," Andrew Ernest said. "Students were falling through the cracks because of culture shock."

Ernest is the director of the school’s South Texas Environmental Institute and chairman of the environmental engineering department.

Both of the new programs represent the school’s effort to offer higher-level academic and practical studies in an environment that might be more welcoming to students who have earned bachelors or masters degrees in small settings.

"We should be able to advance ecologically as well as economically in this area if we have the training to make it happen," Ernest said.

No space to grow
Coastal Bend College has evolved into a regional community college with facilities in Alice, Kingsville, Beeville and Pleasanton, a recently opened campus which already serves about 300 students.

Alice Byers, director of Alice programs for Coastal Bend College, said the college has a strong record of offering core courses that can be transferred to four-year institutions.

Over the last 10 years, Del Mar College has seen enrollment figures that outpace national community college averages, according to the school’s enrollment data.

"We are finding that we simply do not have the space to grow in all the ways our students want and need us to," said Gustavo Valadez Ortiz, Del Mar College president.

Changing West Campus
In the near future, some upper-level courses may be offered in a satellite facility about a mile from the school’s East Campus that once housed an Albertson’s grocery store. Valadez said he hopes to transform the West Campus in the next few years and possibly add a southside campus in the next five years.

In three to five years, a health sciences building will be constructed on the West Campus, along with a safety building to house the school’s EMS, fire and police training programs. The West Campus would also gain a Center for Emerging Technologies that would house the school’s vocational and technical programs.

Valadez said he anticipates increased activity on the West Campus will help to breathe new life into the westside economy.

Contact Janell Ross at 886-3758 or rossj@caller.com