FEATURED: Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, featured in his trademark white hat, is welcomed by Manny Vela, Associate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen, to the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, January 25, 2024, for the $49.9 million Nursing Education and Research Building. On Saturday, February 17, 2024, the campus, which is located at 6200 Tres Lagos Boulevard, will hold its spring Open House event – open to the public – from 10 a.m. to noon.
Photograph By CAMERON JOHNSON
••••••
Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen, which recently celebrated groundbreaking of $49.9 million Nursing Education and Research Building, to host Open House on Saturday, February 17, 2024, from 10 a.m. to noon
By TIM GERSZEWSKI
The Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen (HECM) invites the community, including high school students, to attend its spring Open House event on Saturday, February 17, 2024, from 10 a.m. to noon.
The event will provide attendees the opportunity to explore its undergraduate degree programs, tour the state-of-the-art facility, meet world-class faculty members, discover resources available to students, and discuss admissions information with advisors from the Rio Grande Valley Prospective Student Center.
Guests will also enjoy networking with academic advisors from top-tier degree programs, including the School of Nursing, a timely opportunity given the recent groundbreaking ceremony of the Texas A&M Health Nursing Education and Research Building that is expected to open in spring 2026 at the HECM.
“Our faculty and staff are deeply committed to providing a quality academic experience and our students are so eager to learn and excel that it’s to no surprise how we have maintained such a strong Aggie community,” said Manny Vela, Associate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen. “The Open House serves as the perfect opportunity to see that for yourself and to ask questions about our campus culture and the undergraduate degrees that are among the most valuable to local industries.”
The Open House will take place at the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen at 6200 Tres Lagos Boulevard.
To learn more about the HECM, visit mcallen.tamu.edu or contact the Rio Grande Valley Prospective Student Center.
Groundbreaking recently held for $49.9 million
Texas A&M Health Nursing and Research Building
The Open House on Saturday, February 17, 2024, is taking place a few weeks after Texas A&M University’s expansion in the Rio Grande Valley hit another milestone with the groundbreaking on Thursday, January 25, 2024, of the Texas A&M Health Nursing Education and Research Building at the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen.
The facility will be home to Texas A&M School of Nursing programs and Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences research and outreach.
Community leaders, lawmakers and clinical partners joined representatives from The Texas A&M University System and Texas A&M University to celebrate the start of construction.
The Texas A&M System Board of Regents authorized construction of the $49.9 million facility in November. The growth is part of a broad commitment made by the regents and Chancellor John Sharp to provide additional pathways for Rio Grande Valley students to earn a Texas A&M degree while staying close to home.
“We at the Texas A&M System are dedicated to the people of South Texas and Rio Grande Valley,” Sharp said. “And that is why we are investing in the region — and its health — with a new facility for nursing and health-related research.”
The Texas Legislature in 2021 approved $29.9 million for the Texas A&M Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) to support growth in student enrollment for in-demand fields like nursing. Texas A&M leadership earmarked $20 million for the project.
The nearly 61,000-square-foot building will be constructed on the west side of the Higher Education Center campus and includes four nursing classrooms, student study areas, a 10,000-square-foot clinical simulation center and space for a veterinary clinic and research laboratory.
The School of Nursing will first focus on offering its traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The two-year, five-semester program has approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to be delivered entirely in McAllen.
The school expects to eventually enroll approximately 50 students per semester, helping the Valley and state address a critical shortage of nurses.
“Our clinical partners in the Valley have made it clear that the future of public health is directly related to the availability of highly trained nurses who understand how to deliver care in this area,” said Dr. Leann Horsley, Dean, School of Nursing. “Our Aggie nurses studying in McAllen will enjoy access to expert faculty, cutting-edge simulation training and clinical experiences right here in the communities they will serve upon graduation.”
The School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) unit will serve as an important resource for VMBS faculty and students researching transboundary infectious diseases, large animal biosecurity, zoonotic diseases, veterinary public health, and bilingual public outreach in South Texas.
“This new facility will offer a home base for VMBS faculty and students conducting important research and outreach while also expanding our ability to facilitate programmatic partnerships on the border,” said Dr. John R. August, Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M. “Additionally, through the McAllen facility, we can further our efforts, and Texas A&M’s land-grant mission, by promoting animal health in underserved communities, enhancing student recruitment, providing specialized patient consultation in the Rio Grande Valley through telemedicine, and promoting border health.”
The Higher Education Center at McAllen opened in 2018 and currently offers nine undergraduate degree programs. The Texas A&M Health Science Center has offered education programs in McAllen since 2004.
“It is a major focus of the Higher Education Center at McAllen to be accessible to students and serve the needs of our community,” said Vela. “By collaborating with Texas A&M Health, we are fulfilling our shared goal of expanding academic offerings to the Rio Grande Valley, especially in industries that are of such great demand.”
The Nursing Education and Research Building is expected to be open for the spring 2026 semester.
J.T. Vaughn Construction, LLC is in charge of that building project, which is estimated to be substantially completed by October 1, 2025.
••••••
Yahaira Hernandez contributed to this article. For more on this and other Texas legislative news stories that affect the Rio Grande Valley metropolitan region, please log on to Titans of the Texas Legislature (TitansoftheTexasLegislature.com).
