Five years ago East Texas State University came to Texarkana and set up shop. Not very long after that, approximately three years ago, the first phase of expansion began in the form of budget management, state legislative session and, finally, construction.
Today, that first phase can be seen here on the Texarkana College campus in the form of the A. M. and Wilma Aiken Instructional Systems Center on the North side of the campus.
At first, the deadline to move into the new structure was set for last October. After that was found to be impossible, plans were made to move during the spring semester.
Dr. John Moss, President of ETSU-T, has much praise for the new building’s designers and contractor. For space available, White and Associates, the architects and M. L. James Construction Company of Texarkana have done a great job says Moss.
“The building is both attractive and it utilizes as much space as is possible for educational purposes.”
The first floor is devoted mostly to classrooms in the main body of the structure. The other section will contain a color television studio, graphics, production, audio visual, storage and an individualized learning center with a capacity of 200.
The second floor has three classrooms along with offices such as the Admissions office, Placement, and the Business department.
The third floor is devoted completely to faculty offices and conference rooms.
When the final move is made to the ET Building, as it is more widely known on campus, ETSU-T will give up the space they are renting now from Howard Plaza located off of I-30 and Summerhill Rd. Dr. Moss says other space will still be used by the university though.
“We will continue to rent space from TCC such as classrooms and also the library space and of course all of the new building.”
“We can’t keep from getting better. We will be expanding all of our facilities in every way to help the students on a larger scale on both campuses. We will more than double the book holdings in the library. Also, over $300,000 worth of audio visual films and other material has been established over a three year period and it will increase the material available by 150 per cent.”
In the past, a few conflicts have flared up between the ETSU and TCC administrations concerning controversies over library space and student services. Dr. Moss believes a new atmosphere of cooperation will develop with the help of the services available from the new building’s resource capacity.
“We can’t keep from getting better. We will be expanding all of our facilities in every way to help the students on a larger scale on both campuses. We will more than double the book holdings in the library. Also, over $300,000 worth of audio visual films and other material has been established over a three year period and it will increase the material available by 150 per cent.”
This semester, ETSU-T has approximately 1,150 students enrolled. About 40 per cent of these are graduate students. The rest are juniors and seniors.
Dr. Moss says plans for future expansion of the ETSU-T campus are being planned but the process for getting funds for these projects are both long and tedious. Since ETSU-T is a state funded institution, proposals must be made to state committees and both houses of the Texas legislative branch along with approval by the governor.
So, very soon, a new era will begin here on the TCC campus when two campuses are in the same place. The Aiken Center will increase services to all college students in this area while TCC continues the services available now.