(Laredo)—Students at Texas A&M International University are finding that "new and improved" also applies to the campus this spring.
Thanks to a $942,400 federal grant secured by Congressman Henry Bonilla, the university's facilities in Dr. Billy F. Cowart Hall and Dr. F.M. Canseco Hall have been renovated, making it possible for many student services to be clustered together and other academic programs to be expanded.
Additionally, existing computer labs in the Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center are being refitted to allow for the expansion of academic programs in high-demand science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.
Joe Garcia, TAMIU vice president for finance and administration, said the renovation and refitting funding came at an advantageous time for the university.
"Naturally, our growth in enrollment drives our construction master plan. The new Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center's completion had made it possible to centralize all science labs there, so we were able to consider changes to the second floor of Cowart Hall and one psychology lab in Canseco Hall that could address critical office and student needs. Congressman Bonilla identified and provided federal funding that could sustain this effort.
"Now, we have been able to group vital testing, tutoring, study and first-year experience programs within the same area. Additionally, we will be able to refit several computer labs in the Lamar Bruni Vergara Science Center so that we can support STEM disciplines," he explained.
Conchita Hickey, executive director of TAMIU's Programs for Academic Support and Enrichment, said the renovation and refitting are advantageous for students and the collaborative nature of many of the programs.
"For our students, the services are centralized, easily accessed and much
more comfortable in terms of setting and size. For the programs themselves,
the shared location helps to encourage vital collaborations between the programs
and the students. We're also very excited about our new Testing Lab which
considerably enhances our testing operations," Hickey noted. 