University Star

Provost Perry Moore said “informal” plans for a Texas State presence in San Antonio are underway.

Moore gave a timeframe of “10 years or less.”

“It may become more of an option once our population here in San Marcos reaches 30,000 and growth in San Antonio will depend to some extent on how many students we can successfully educate in San Marcos,” he said.

Moore said one of the primary concerns in moving forward is securing a site to offer the courses.

“We would need a place which has adequate parking for students as well as faculty,” he said.

The area being considered is north San Antonio near Loop 1604 and Interstate-35. Moore said having a convenient location in San Antonio is a “primary ingredient for success.”

The proposed venture would be a pairing of Texas State and Northeast Lakeview College, part of the Alamo Community College System.

The college recently moved to a new site Nov. 14. Northeast Lakeview College was housed in a smaller facility on Pat Booker Road previously.

According to their Web site, “Northeast Lakeview College enrolls more than 4,200 students and at capacity, the college will serve more than 15,000 students.”

Moore said the university has had numerous meetings with Eric Reno, Northeast Lakeview College president.

“At this point, they are not yet far enough in their building program to have their buildings up and know the kind of demand they will have for use of those spaces,” he said. “We’re also hopeful to use part of the space they vacated when they built their permanent campus.”

Moore said he hopes Texas State will be able to use their facilities to teach classes in, but it would be dependent on the flow of students affected by the change in location.

“My own interest would be that we would actually at some point in the future have a building on the campus there, which we could offer classes in,” he said.

Moore said the possible number of class offerings and amount of students taught is tentative at this point.

“The community college would offer the first two years,” he said. “We would not offer courses at the freshman or sophomore level. I can say that pretty firmly. The Alamo Community College can do that well.”

The university “looks forward” to a good relationship with the community college, Moore said.

Moore said he wanted individual departments to dictate what courses would be offered.

“Some departments might see an opportunity to offer a few courses down there, but not necessarily the whole program,” he said. “That could attract sufficient numbers of students to justify offering the courses there. As they offer some courses, they might offer more and they eventually might offer a whole program. I think it would probably develop in that way as opposed to central administration planning a certain offering of degrees down there.”

Moore said when he first came to Texas State in 2004 some faculty and departments expressed interest in offering courses in San Antonio.

“I thought given our proximity to San Antonio we should not overlook the opportunities there,” Moore said. “It’s easier  for faculty to commute from San Marcos to Northern San Antonio than it is Round Rock. If we were to move into a new demographic area, it would be the most appropriate site.”

Nancy Nusbaum, vice president for finance and support services planning, said talks of starting a site in San Antonio began after the Round Rock campus opened.

“Round Rock approached the university,” Nusbaum said. “It had a more political upbringing with the city manager and the legislators representing the Round Rock area.”

Moore said the talks would be an ongoing process with Northeast Lakeview College.

“We are going to keep doing this to see what might be of interest to the students,” Moore said. “If our presence is to become very significant in San Antonio we would also need approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, but we’ve had joint meetings concerning offerings in San Antonio with the board before.”

can do that well.”

The university “looks forward” to a good relationship with the community college, Moore said.

Moore said he wanted individual departments to dictate what courses would be offered.

“Some departments might see an opportunity to offer a few courses down there, but not necessarily the whole program,” he said. “That could attract sufficient numbers of students to justify offering the courses there. As they offer some courses, they might offer more and they eventually might offer a whole program. I think it would probably develop in that way as opposed to central administration planning a certain offering of degrees down there.”

Moore said when he first came to Texas State in 2004 some faculty and departments expressed interest in offering courses in San Antonio.

“I thought given our proximity to San Antonio we should not overlook the opportunities there,” Moore said. “It’s easier  for faculty to commute from San Marcos to Northern San Antonio than it is Round Rock. If we were to move into a new demographic area, it would be the most appropriate site.”

Nancy Nusbaum, vice president for finance and support services planning, said talks of starting a site in San Antonio began after the Round Rock campus opened.

“Round Rock approached the university,” Nusbaum said. “It had a more political upbringing with the city manager and the legislators representing the Round Rock area.”

Moore said the talks would be an ongoing process with Northeast Lakeview College.

“We are going to keep doing this to see what might be of interest to the students,” Moore said. “If our presence is to become very significant in San Antonio we would also need approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, but we’ve had joint meetings concerning offerings in San Antonio with the board before.”