HARLINGEN, RGV – An agreement between Texas A&M University-Kingsville and UT-Rio Grande Valley to work together to improve educational opportunities for students who wish to become engineers could be expanded in the months to come.
“In the coming months, working groups for both institutions will meet to develop a plan to look at other ways to collaborate,” UTRGV said, in a news release.
“A joint task force consisting of UTRGV and Texas A&M-Kingsville representatives will continue to work this spring to address future collaborative efforts,” said Dr. Steven H. Tallant, president of TAMUK, in a written statement.
Last Wednesday, UTRGV and TAMUK officials met at the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen and agreed to collaborate to expand opportunities in the field of engineering. This followed an announcement in late October from Tallant that TAMUK was to start offering engineering courses at its Texas Citrus Center in Weslaco.
Here is the statement Tallant issued about the collaboration in the engineering arena:
“The University of Texas System issued a press release this afternoon regarding a joint meeting, and I would like to provide additional details. We are very pleased with the outcome of the meeting in Harlingen on December 17. It was a productive and positive meeting, and we are encouraged by the response from the University of Texas System and UT-RGV officials who were in attendance.
“We agreed that numerous educational needs exist in the Rio Grande Valley and that we should work together to address those needs. We have said since announcing our intentions in late October that the children of the Rio Grande Valley deserve as many educational options as possible and that their needs come before the needs of any system of higher education.
“At today’s meeting, UT System officials indicated they did not object to any of the degree programs proposed by Texas A&M-Kingsville. All parties agreed that the UT System would not object to Texas A&M-Kingsville offering planned engineering classes and programs in Weslaco to meet the needs of Rio Grande Valley students in the most immediate and efficient way possible. We plan to offer classes beginning in January 2015 and expand to offering upper level programs in the fall. We are working on formal documents to present to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that outline our agreement and serve as our mutual pledge of cooperation. A joint task force consisting of UT-RGV and Texas A&M-Kingsville representatives will continue to work this spring to address future collaborative efforts.
“We are pleased to be exploring this agreement with the University of Texas System and UT-RGV officials. We also appreciate the professional nature of the discussion and the collaborative attitude displayed by everyone involved. It was obvious that everyone wants what is best for the students of the Rio Grande Valley and it is a very positive sign that students were indeed the focal point of the meeting. Our commitment is to them and to offering the widest range of educational options possible for our current and future students.”
Tallant’s office provided the Rio Grande Guardian with a list of the proposed TAMUK programs they say was verbally approved by UTRGV President Guy Bailey and UT officials at the meeting in Harlingen. The list is:
B.S. in Human Sciences
B.S. in Architectural Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering
B.S. in Natural Gas Engineering
B.S. in Industrial Engineering
B.S. in Industrial Technology
B.S. in Environmental Engineering
B.S. in Industrial Management and Technology
M.S. in Plant and Soil Science
M.S. in Civil Engineering
M.S. in Chemical Engineering
M.S. in Natural Gas Engineering
M.S. in Environmental Engineering
M.S. in Industrial Management
M.S. in Industrial Engineering
Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering
Of these, TAMUK’s intended initial offerings will be in:
B.S. in Chemical Engineering
B.S. in Natural Gas Engineering
B.S. in Environmental Engineering
B.S. in Industrial Management and Technology
UTRGV President Bailey gave the Rio Grande Guardian an interview about the collaboration agreement. Bailey said UTRGV is all about expanding educational opportunities in the Valley.
“We had a terrific meeting with them (TAMUK) today. We have agreed to collaborate to expand educational opportunity in the Valley and support each other’s program development. It is a great thing for the Valley. We invited them to come here to the RAHC and they were kind enough to do it. Their president, provost and engineering dean and also people from the A&M System, the vice chancellor for academic affairs at the A&M System, we met earlier this morning and had a terrific meeting,” Bailey said.
Asked to elaborate on the agreement, Bailey said there are two aspects to it.
“We talked about supporting each other’s programs. They agreed to support our expansion of doctoral and professional programs and we will support their development of complimentary engineering programs, engineering programs that compliment ours. That is the first thing. We will be supportive in that way. The second thing is that we agreed that if there were students who wanted to major in petroleum engineering, Kingsville will probably not be able to offer the first two years of course work. But, they could do it at a community college or at UTRGV, and then transfer over to Kingsville. We will work with them to make sure our students get in the right programs to help with in their career goals.”
In a news release issued later, Bailey said: “We fully support Texas A&M’s offerings of complementary engineering programs, and in turn, Texas A&M will support the expansion of professional and doctoral programs at UTRGV. I am confident that by working together we can both bring more educational opportunities to all students.”
Dr. Pedro Reyes, UT System executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, was at the Harlingen meeting. He said: “By working together, we will help develop an educated and skilled workforce that will benefit not only the Valley but Texas and the nation as well.”
