Mark in Austin
05-02-2007, 07:32 PM
Pretty cool deal - enrollment goal of 25,000 students within 25 years, with the new campus to open in 2011. The site is on the southern terminus of the Austin-San Antonio commuter rail line, and is part of a larger development that will be walkable, traditional neighborhood design. San Antonio has needed a second major university for a long time now. I like that it is on the south side - it balances UTSA. (Looks like the south side is finally going to get that mythical bookstore.)
Texas A&M San Antonio accepts 700 acres for new campus (http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2007/04/30/daily19.html )
Texas A&M accepts nearly 700 acres of land toward new San Antonio campus
San Antonio Business Journal - 6:37 PM CDT Tuesday, May 1, 2007by Tamarind Phinisee
Texas A&M University System has accepted a donation of 696 acres of land from Triple L Management company for the institution to use to develop its new San Antonio campus, according to chancellor Michael McKinney.
The land is just east of Zarzamora and south of Loop 410 on the city's South Side.
The bulk of the property, or 581 acres, will be used to house the main campus. It will be located south of Loop 410 between Zarzamora and Pleasanton roads. Ten acres of the property will be have highway frontage, offering the university some visibility. The remaining 104 acres will be located just south of Mauermann Road and will be used for the school's new Irrigation and Technology Center.
However, McKinney says the university knows it must get its full-time equivalent student enrollment up to 1,500 before it can break ground on the project. That was the condition of receiving $40 million in tuition revenue bonds toward the development of the new campus when it was approved in 2003 by the Texas Legislature.
In order to help the campus reach that goal, McKinney says the university launched a foundation called the A&M San Antonio Foundation. The foundation was established with the goal of raising about $8 million to provide scholarships to help the university raise enrollment to 1,500 students.
Besides its land donation, Triple L has committed $1 million to the foundation.
"At that level, we could ... probably give full scholarships to everybody who enrolls in the university, especially the first 1,500," McKinney speculates.
He says he'll be looking for support from local leadership with help in raising more funds for the foundation.
Meanwhile, the university is leasing property from the South San Antonio Independent School District to temporarily hold classes there beginning in 2009. The space allows the San Antonio campus to more than double classroom capacity and allow more room for growth.
"They had an elementary school there that they weren't using. It's a nice building and property and we've done some changes to it," McKinney says. "But now we have room to expand our class sizes to get to the 1,500 (students) where we are."
Texas A&M University-San Antonio has been operating locally out of space at the Palo Alto College campus since 2000.
In the meantime, McKinney says the university is waiting to see if the Texas Legislature will include $10.2 million in its finance appropriations request.
If this request is approved, McKinney says the money would go to hire more teachers and offer more programs and thereby help raise enrollment to 1,500 students.
"We've got to have that operational money so that we can hire the teachers so that we can offer the courses that will recruit the students so that we'll get the 1,500 students so we can build the building," he says.
McKinney says the university looks to add a teacher alternative certification course and courses in accounting, biology and agriculture as well as some graduate programs in education.
Texas A&M San Antonio accepts 700 acres for new campus (http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2007/04/30/daily19.html )
Texas A&M accepts nearly 700 acres of land toward new San Antonio campus
San Antonio Business Journal - 6:37 PM CDT Tuesday, May 1, 2007by Tamarind Phinisee
Texas A&M University System has accepted a donation of 696 acres of land from Triple L Management company for the institution to use to develop its new San Antonio campus, according to chancellor Michael McKinney.
The land is just east of Zarzamora and south of Loop 410 on the city's South Side.
The bulk of the property, or 581 acres, will be used to house the main campus. It will be located south of Loop 410 between Zarzamora and Pleasanton roads. Ten acres of the property will be have highway frontage, offering the university some visibility. The remaining 104 acres will be located just south of Mauermann Road and will be used for the school's new Irrigation and Technology Center.
However, McKinney says the university knows it must get its full-time equivalent student enrollment up to 1,500 before it can break ground on the project. That was the condition of receiving $40 million in tuition revenue bonds toward the development of the new campus when it was approved in 2003 by the Texas Legislature.
In order to help the campus reach that goal, McKinney says the university launched a foundation called the A&M San Antonio Foundation. The foundation was established with the goal of raising about $8 million to provide scholarships to help the university raise enrollment to 1,500 students.
Besides its land donation, Triple L has committed $1 million to the foundation.
"At that level, we could ... probably give full scholarships to everybody who enrolls in the university, especially the first 1,500," McKinney speculates.
He says he'll be looking for support from local leadership with help in raising more funds for the foundation.
Meanwhile, the university is leasing property from the South San Antonio Independent School District to temporarily hold classes there beginning in 2009. The space allows the San Antonio campus to more than double classroom capacity and allow more room for growth.
"They had an elementary school there that they weren't using. It's a nice building and property and we've done some changes to it," McKinney says. "But now we have room to expand our class sizes to get to the 1,500 (students) where we are."
Texas A&M University-San Antonio has been operating locally out of space at the Palo Alto College campus since 2000.
In the meantime, McKinney says the university is waiting to see if the Texas Legislature will include $10.2 million in its finance appropriations request.
If this request is approved, McKinney says the money would go to hire more teachers and offer more programs and thereby help raise enrollment to 1,500 students.
"We've got to have that operational money so that we can hire the teachers so that we can offer the courses that will recruit the students so that we'll get the 1,500 students so we can build the building," he says.
McKinney says the university looks to add a teacher alternative certification course and courses in accounting, biology and agriculture as well as some graduate programs in education.