The Texas Aggies beat out the Texas Tech Red Raiders when they were selected as the university to bring an upper-division presence closer to Palo Alto College, if the Texas State Legislature votes to fund the project.

Proposals from both Texas A&M and Texas Tech were submitted to state Sen. Frank Madla and the Alamo Community College District Board in December to weigh which university would best serve Palo Alto's students' needs.

Madla’s office is working to bring another upper-division, state-funded college to San Antonio. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board developed the Pathway Model, which the current proposal is following. The model consists of:

          •A community college partnering with an upper-division university.
          •The university offering junior- and senior-level classes on the community college’s campus.
          •When enrollment in these upper-division classes reaches a full-time student equivalency of 3,500 students, a separate campus will then be built.

Palo Alto’s student body has many students who commute from the outlying communities where agriculture is a way of life. To meet this population’s needs, Texas A&M would offer courses that  are agriculturally based. This would then make it more affordable for those wishing to get a bachelor’s degree but who are unable to move to College Station.

Texas A&M is known for its agriculture, veterinarian and food science courses. Palo Alto currently offers an associate’s degree in both agriculture and agribusiness. Most students seeking a degree in agriculture go directly to a four-year university, according to Ed Hagen, chair of the Science Department. He said enrollment in these courses is "very, very low."

"It would help if they start to offer upper-level classes," Hagen said, explaining that these classes should increase enrollment at Palo Alto.

The first step in bringing Texas A&M to San Antonio is to identify a lead institution. What this means is finding which branch of Texas A&M has the best curriculum to offer students.

The system consists of Texas A&M in College Station, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Galveston, Prairie View, Commerce, Texarkana, Texas A&M International in Laredo, Tarlton in Stephenville and West Texas A&M in Canyon. For instance, if the veterinarian program in Kingsville were superior to the veterinarian program in College Station, the Kingsville campus would be the lead institution.

"The goal is to take the best of what the whole system has to offer," said Harold Oliver, Madla’s legislative assistant.

Selecting Texas A&M was the first step. According to Oliver, a proposal will be submitted to the Texas Legislature by Texas A&M on how much the start-up expenses will be, including how much it will cost to have the university’s instructors teaching courses. Another factor is how much it will cost to upgrade the facilities at Palo Alto College to meet the needs of upper-division classes.

Texas A&M is responsible for raising the student enrollment," said Leo Zuniga, coordinator of Government and Community Affairs for the Alamo Community College District. Until a separate campus can be built, Texas A&M would use buildings and facilities at Palo Alto.

Madla will present the start-up expenses to the Texas Legislature. The Legislature will then vote on whether to include the funds in the state’s budget. This vote should come during this legislative session and funds could be allocated before the end of May, according to Oliver.

As Texas A&M increases student enrollment, they will be able to offer more diverse courses. As the number of students grows, the campus will grow.

Although the University of Texas at San Antonio recently opened its downtown campus, a ten-minute drive from Palo Alto, Oliver does not believe this will hinder getting the go ahead for a new campus.

"We are proposing a completely different curriculum," said Oliver.

Oliver and Madla are working closely with Texas A&M on this project and are willing to answer any questions that students may have. Anyone who wants to get involved or has any questions may contact Oliver in Sen. Madla’s office at 210-927-9464 or via e-mail at harold.oliver@senate.state.tx.us