Gaertner Says Name Change Being Considered By Some

President James F. Gaertner makes a point during his address to the campus. --Photo by Brian Blalock

Sam Houston State University President James F. Gaertner took a moment to brag on the "grand old university" and discuss issues such as a potential name change and construction in his state of the university address Wednesday (Aug. 23) afternoon during the annual faculty/staff convocation.

"There is a chance in this next legislative session that there will be an effort to reconfigure the university systems in the state," Gaertner said. "If a reorganization takes place, the issue of the names of the schools in those systems would be in question, and there is a possibility that we would be called upon to change our name to, probably, Texas State University-Sam Houston."

Currently, Texas' 74 public and private universities are comprised into what Gaertner calls "four legitimate systems," other "questionable" systems with only one or two schools in each system, and four independent universities that would be part of the reorganization.

"This came up about three years ago, and we fought it as hard as we could fight it and won that one, so we'll just have to see," he said. "It's certainly not a done deal by any means; I just don't know how I could assess the probability of it happening. I don't know if there's a good chance or just a minimum chance, but it has been talked about publicly."

The University of Houston's proposal to open a campus in Tomball, the decision for which will be made during the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board meeting on Monday (Aug. 28), and its effect on SHSU was also addressed.

"We believe our growth last year, which was right at 800 students, would have just about been cut in half if that campus had been open," he said. "We get roughly 35 percent of our students from a geographical area of about 30 miles from there.

"So we're fighting it as hard and as effectively as we know how to fight it," Gaertner said, "but if it happens, it happens, and we'll be OK."

Among the construction projects the university will be facing in the near future is a new Mall Area that will require the removal of the Wilson and Frels buildings, scheduled to begin sometime around December; a 143,000 square feet Academic Building V that will house the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as some business offices, in the parking lot behind the Smith-Hutson Building and is expected to begin in March; surface parking; and a Performing Arts Center that will be in the parking lot south of the Criminal Justice Center.

"Over the past four and a half years, we have spent about $150 million on construction at Sam Houston State, and over the next two years, we will probably spend about another $40-45 million," Gaertner said. "The approval process for new buildings, construction, in our system has become more sophisticated and more elaborate, so we're going through more now to get our buildings and projects approved. It does slow us down a little."

University enrollment has currently reached 15,835 for the fall 2006 semester, he said, although all of these have not paid and an official figure will not be available until after the 12th class day.

Freshman retention is at approximately 70 percent, up almost 8 percent in the past five years; the minority population is 28 percent, an increase Gaertner attributed, in part, to the Student Advising and Mentoring Center; 62 percent of applicants were accepted this year, 45 percent of which actually enrolled at the university; and almost half of the university's new students transferred from a community college, which makes the articulation agreements SHSU has been signing with other community colleges "so important," Gaertner said.

In addition, the university's first Capital Campaign kicked off, with $27 million already raised of the $50 million goal.

"The largest single donation to ever come to the university was Dan Rather's gift," Gaertner said, adding that the donation was for $2 million. "We're hoping to get him back on campus with his family and show him the kind of appreciation he deserves for that donation."

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
Aug. 24, 2006
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