Regents Approve Building Projects,
New Fees, New Doctorate, Summer Study

The Texas State University System Board of Regents approved the measures at a regular quarterly meeting at Southwest Texas State University, one of the eight system component institutions.

Under the new fee schedule, tuition will increase $5 per semester hour and student service fees $1 per semester hour, or $90 for a student taking 15 semester hours, beginning in the fall semester. Additional increases were also approved through the fall semester in 2006.

Increases will be used for installation of a computer-based electronic lock system on all academic buildings, additional faculty and staff support for instruction, upgrading classrooms with computer and other instructional equipment, adding technical support personnel, and reducing class sizes.

The largest expenditure item approved by the regents was $18 million for renovation and an addition to the Farrington Building, which houses the chemistry and physics departments.

James F. Gaertner, SHSU president, told the board that laboratory space in the 43-year-old building is inadequate for the program of instruction that is conducted there and research space is outdated and deficient.

The building now has 51,000 square feet of space. An addition of 40,000 square feet will contain new laboratory facilities, offices, classrooms, and supporting functions that will increase laboratory space by about a third.

The board approved hiring the Watkins Hamilton Ross Architects, Inc. firm of Houston to design the renovation and addition.

A $368,747 contract was awarded to Riata Construction of Conroe for the second phase of a project to complete 750 additional parking spaces by the beginning of the fall semester. The lots are near White Hall and the Colony Apartments. Construction has already begun on two lots at Ave. J and Bobby K. Marks Drive.

Molina Walker Architects, Inc. of Houston was hired to design a renovation of the Newton Gresham Library which is expected to cost $800,000. The work will be done this summer after movement of the library science department and Learning Assistance Center to the new classroom/office building.

The reconfiguration of the library space will allow its use for library offices and storage of archival material now in the Peabody Library.

The Huitt Zollar architecture firm of Houston was hired to design a renovation to the Estill Classroom Building for use by the internal auditor and registrar offices, with an expected cost of $400,000. That space will become available when the history department moves into the new classroom/office building.

The BRW company of College Station was hired to design exterior campus signage in the form of way finding, directional street signage, parking lot signage and information kiosks, at a cost of $500,000.

"The present exterior signage is too little, worn out and incomplete from a directional standpoint," Gaertner told the regents. "The university wants to put forth a better image to our students and visitors, including those with disabilities."

The regents also approved a degree program leading to a doctor of philosophy degree with a major in mathematics. If ultimate approval is gained from the Texas college and university coordinating board, it will become Sam Houston State's fifth doctorate.

For the past 20 years, only four Texas universities have produced doctorates in mathematics education, the regents were told, and there is a clear national need for mathematics educators with the doctorate. Professional publications have reported that of 134 job openings in 2000-2001, almost half were unfilled because of the lack of qualified applicants.

Also approved were out-of-country study programs for the Dominican Republic in the 2002 fall semester and a long list of programs for the summer of 2003. Locations for these include China, Costa Rica, Cuba, England, France, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Spain.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
May 10, 2002
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