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future is Bright for Generations of texans
Tarleton State University’s 100-year affiliation with Texas A&M has proved to be a boon for both schools, as well as for generations of Tarleton students.
While history has shown the decision to join with the Aggies was a solid one, decisions pertaining to Tarleton’s future, some which will impact students who have yet to be born, are already being made.
Under Tarleton’s 15th President, Dr. F. Dominic Dottavio, the university has doubled in size while maintaining a vision to be “the premier student-focused university in Texas and beyond.” Not only have new programs of study been developed in engineering, veterinary technology, fashion studies, geography, environmental sciences and other fields, but Tarleton has established academic centers in Fort Worth, Waco and Midlothian and offers degrees through its Global Campus online. A new College of Health Sciences and Human Services focuses attention on expanding fields such as nursing and social work while the new School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies draws international attention to the university.
“Tarleton, with the support of The Texas A&M University System, has entered an era of dynamic growth and development, which benefits not only north central Texas but the entire state and nation,” Dottavio notes. “Our economic impact on the region has surpassed $500 million a year, equating to more than 8,000 jobs. Our graduates — grounded in our core values of tradition, integrity, civility, leadership, excellence and service — have become vital contributors and leaders in their professional fields. We can look back and see how much of this was made possible by our affiliation with Texas A&M in 1917, and we can look forward and see the marvelous opportunities for our future as a member of the System.”
A future that includes new areas of study, more advanced degrees, and, of course, plans for state-of-the-art facilities from which to launch students’ academic careers into the next century.
Consider a planned $54 million, 170,000 square foot engineering building to support engineering, computer sciences and engineering technology programs. The facility will house new civil and environmental engineering programs, energy and mechatronics studies.
Additionally, the System Board of Regents approved plans for Tarleton to greatly expand its footprint in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with a new Fort Worth center.
A donation of 80 acres by the Walton Group was the first step in a blueprint that features $40 million to build a 125,000 squarefoot structure to anchor the center, located on the recently finished Chisholm Trail Parkway in southwest Fort Worth.
The Fort Worth center expects to draw more than 2,500 students by the time the new building is operational in 2019. The all-purpose facility will feature classrooms, laboratories, offices, a library, and student service functions.
A $25 million utilities and infrastructure project, while upgrading basic university services, will enhance the campus grounds significantly through the creation of pedestrian malls and the removal of above ground utility poles and lines.
The long-awaited renovation of Memorial Stadium will move the home fans to the west side, out of the setting sun, while adding 2,000 seats and additional fan and team amenities.
At the Tarleton Agricultural Center, a new Fabrication and Machinery building has just been completed and the university seeks state support for a $15 million facility to upgrade the classroom, research and operations space. Initiatives in environmental sustainability and aquaponics demonstrate the forward thinking of Tarleton’s agricultural faculty.
While new buildings can serve as catalysts for successful programs, new programs themselves are critically important.
Since 2011, Tarleton has added 27 new degree programs, including 12 at the graduate level. Another 14, including five master’s degree programs and the university’s first Ph.D. (in Criminal Justice) are expected to be added within the next two years.
As one of 44 members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) participating in a national assessment and review to improve the First-Year College Experience, Tarleton seeks to improve its retention of students and their graduation rates.
Additionally, Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp was on hand in October to announce a nearly $1 million System Challenge Research grant to bring a nationally known researcher to Tarleton. The research will focus on transforming animal waste into electricity and improving sustainability of agricultural industries.
Sharp’s efforts toward building Tarleton’s future also include making nearly $50 million available for infrastructure projects on the Stephenville campus, allowing the replacement and expansion of utilities, the creation of pedestrian walkways and malls and the beautification of the grounds. He also has supported the university’s legislative priorities, helping to obtain the funding for the new academic buildings and programs.
All this from a partnership formed 100 years ago when Tarleton College became a founding institution in creating The Texas A&M University System.
tarleton first with its own Book series
Tarleton, the first key piece in the formation of The Texas A&M University System, was also first among constituent schools in creating an exclusive list of academic submissions for publication by the System Press.
More than two dozen titles, covering 28 years, make up the Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities book series, published under the auspices of the Texas A&M System University Press.
“This is a really prestigious thing for Tarleton,” said series General Editor Dr. T. Lindsay Baker, Tarleton history professor and director of the university’s W.K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas. “Since Tarleton itself does not have its own academic press, this is a way that Tarleton State University helps foster research and publication in that broad area of humanities in the Southwest.”
The Tarleton series was established in 1986 with the publication of In the Deep Heart’s Core by Dr. Craig Clifford, who now is a professor in social sciences and the executive director of the Honors College at Tarleton.
Volume 27, published last year, is Christopher C. Gillis’ Still Turning: Aermotor Windmills. Sandwiched between the two are titles discovered by Baker and long-time series editor the late Dr. Tom Pilkington, a professor in Tarleton’s Department of English and Languages.
“The series has been shaped by its two editors,” Baker said. “Professor Pilkington, the founding editor in the series, selected many titles that were in the realm of literary criticism. When I assumed the duties with the very different background of being a historian, I began looking for manuscripts that, in one way or another, dealt with the broad concept of the human imprint on the land.”
With a normal publication schedule that features one new book per year, Baker said he reads each submitted manuscript, but his job revolves around finding books worthy of carrying the series designation and its own unique volume number.
An example is the 2014 submission by photographer Paul V. Chaplo, who authored Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country, a work Baker uncovered for the series.
“I had first seen his work at an exhibition at Tarleton back around 2002,” Baker explained. “I became aware of other work he had done on aerial photography over the Big Bend country and approached him with the idea of one day authoring a book.”
Baker is now working through manuscripts for a new series submission for 2016. “We have one coming up,” he said, “but we have not made a final formal decision for this year’s volume.”
Box T-0570 Stephenville, TX 76402 (254) 968-9000 | www.tarleton.edu
centennial celebration includes Philatelic Postmark for Tarleton Station
Tarleton Station has joined the centennial celebration commemorating the university’s 100-year anniversary as part of The Texas A&M University System.
Hand-stamped mail leaving the campus postal facility will carry a special philatelic postmark for all of 2017.
Larry D. Smith, Training and Development Consultant for Employee Services, is the force behind getting the postmark approved.
“I googled ‘postmarks’ and got a contact number and a page on the US Postal Service site for approvals,” he said.
The USPS typically allows the use of special postmarks for short durations, but Smith’s request for year-long use of the stamp created a precedent when the agency used the idea to celebrate an historic post office.
The stamp, in purple ink, features Tarleton’s block-T over Texas logo under a script “Centennial Celebration.” It was designed by graphic artist Molly Murphy of Blank Canvas and will be applied only to hand-stamped mail originating at Tarleton Station, Smith reiterated.
Tarleton Mail Center Manager Johnnie Huffman has seen many commemorative postmarks and, in his experience, they have never failed to garner attention.
“I worked for the Post Office for 37 years,” Huffman said, “and I did several special cancellations like this one. It always brings attention to whatever the stamp means. It’s going to get Tarleton’s name out to the people more and more.”
The centennial year marks the third special Tarleton postmark. An airmail postmark was approved in the 1930s as part of a national Postal Service campaign and Coach W.J. Wisdom’s basketball program was honored on a commemorative cancellation in the 1950s.
The new postmark was first used during the Christmas season, appearing on President Dottavio’s holiday greeting to friends of the university.
tarleton state u n i v 09-20-2017
