Time For Reflection

On behalf of the faculty, staff, and administrative officers at A&M-Commerce, I wish to extend (belated) season’s greetings to our entire University family. I sincerely hope that this issue of The Pride finds each of you in good health and spirits. This season of celebration and renewal provides a unique opportunity to reflect upon the accomplishments of the preceding year and anticipate the challenges of the year ahead. As President and CEO, I am honored by your confidence and thankful for your continued support as I endeavor to serve the institution that we all love so well.

Efforts begun last year have brought significant, positive change to both the culture and complexion of the A&M-Commerce campus. Central to much of this change is the completion of the first Campus Master Plan and Strategic Plan in over a decade. Recommendations set forth in both plans have also led to the first comprehensive examination of the University’s organizational structure in over 40 years. Final decisions regarding University reorganization are expected in summer 2001.

Visitors to the A&M-Commerce campus may have also noticed construction preparations for the new apartment-style residence hall, which is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2001. Renovations and upgrades to the Memorial Student Center, Heritage Gardens, and Whitley Hall have also been completed, and planning is underway for the new Instructional/Recreation Center that will replace the Zeppa Center.

The campus’ academic culture has experienced change as well. Most notable has been the inauguration of the Mayo College, a student-centered, residential learning community that provides a comprehensive educational environment for undergraduate students. Also, 10 new undergraduate-, graduate-, and doctoral-level academic programs were approved and implemented in 2000, with another six programs awaiting approval or nearing proposal completion in 2001. Additionally, University outreach and recruitment efforts have formed thriving partnerships with metroplex-area community colleges.

While enumerating our many successes, I would be remiss in not acknowledging that there are serious challenges that the University faces in the immediate future. Fall 2000 enrollment figures, when compared with those of a year ago, indicated a 3 percent decline in student headcount and a 4 percent decrease in semester credit hours taken. Although innovative measures are being explored to rectify this decline, these figures could potentially translate into smaller state appropriations during the upcoming legislative biennium. This shortfall places increased importance on alumni contributions to the University Foundation, which provides scholarships that enable us to bridge the financial gaps and continue to provide quality education to worthy students. We also need your assistance in recruiting new students. Please use any opportunity you can to urge potential students to consider attending your University.

Campus Meets Demand For
Apartment-Style Residences

"In order to retain students, A&M-Commerce must provide an up-to-date, attractive campus that caters to the needs of resident students. Certainly, modern housing is at the top of the list. After looking at other universities in Texas and observing that apartment-style living was very successful, I made the decision that we would pursue building a complex on our campus. - President McFarland

• 50 units will have four bedrooms, and 50 will have two. Occupants will be juniors and seniors.
• Typically, the University has about 1,000 students in non-family
  housing and 175 in family housing.
• No name as yet for the new facility.
• The first large dorm on campus opened in 1899. It was three stories high, had 80 rooms and could
  accommodate 160 students. Twelve years later a fire destroyed it.

Precious Memories

Faculty and administrators over the years have helped students in different ways, outside and inside the classroom, and creating many fond memories.

Nadine McClung Caldwell, who attended the school in the 1930s remembered: “We would spend our weekends in the woods picnicking where the highrise (Whitley Hall) is now. On weekends our PE teacher, Ms. Warmack, would open the gym, and we would play badminton. She took us on several sunrise breakfast hikes. What fun. What memories.”

Alumnus Caltie C. Hurt, home economics major, recalled a time that a teacher—unnamed—helped her graduate. “When my advisor checked my graduation plan, she found I needed a three-hour, non-related course. That summer, the only course offered at the time I could take one was a 300 course in statistics. Since I had no math courses, I begged the instructor for permission to take the course. He agreed. My project was to measure 1,000 leaves of a campus shrub to arrive at their general width and length. I did the statistics and passed the course with flying colors.”

Many male students here over the years took classes from Joseph Grove, who taught industrial education. He had established a nationwide reputation of turning out the best industrial education teachers in the United States. This reputation enabled him to place his students in almost any school in the country by picking up the phone and calling.

Mozelle Hogue Back, class of 1940, found a temporary job in the president’s office. “In 1938 I was interviewed by Dr. Whitley for a job so I could attend college. The line of applicants reached from his office to the end of the Education Building, and I think I must have been the last one to be interviewed. After introductions, Dr. Whitley immediately asked, ‘If I hire you right now, could you go to work this afternoon?’ I was shocked because there were so many applicants, and the only words that came out of my mouth were, ‘I only have this one dress with me that I’m wearing.’ His reply was that it looked good to him, and I could wear it every day as far as he was concerned.”