The Promise of Fall

By Pablo Arenaz, Ph.D.

President

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  No, it’s not because of the promise (sometimes delayed) of cooler weather. It’s because it is the harbinger of the start of a new academic year at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU).

For those whose lives are still measured in semesters, Fall at TAMIU is a time of affirmation, commitment, and opportunity.   We welcome new and returning students and faculty and together begin a shared journey of mutual betterment.  We start our journey anew on Monday, Aug. 26.

To date, 2023-2024 has been a great year as we welcomed our largest freshman class ever at slightly under 1,400 and will likely exceed 1,400 this fall. Spring and summer enrollments saw all-time highs as well, 7,940 and 3,771 respectively. This past year, we graduated our largest class ever, nearly 2,000.  

Our graduation and persistence numbers continue to be excellent, and we are a recognized leader in The Texas A&M University System.  We have the second-highest six-year graduation rate of any regional institution in the System at slightly over 57%, and among the highest first-year persistence rate of any regional university in the State. 

So what will the promise of Fall bring to TAMIU?  Funding from the Legislature for $4 million this past Legislative Session allows us to add a BS in Clinical Laboratory Science and Doctor of Physical Therapy to our Health Sciences offerings. Program development is underway with a start date of Fall 2025. To further kickstart the programs, we’re offering free tuition for the first year of study for students in both the clinical lab sciences and physical therapy programs.

A Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering was approved by the Board in May and is awaiting approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, also with a start date of Fall of 2025.  The MS program focuses on manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, and automation.

Proposals for a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on logistics and transportation and Computer Science with a focus on automation and logistics will be submitted to the A&M System for approval at its November Board meeting.

We are also developing two doctoral proposals: Psychology with an emphasis on language acquisition and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership. These programs are part of our overall long-range strategy to attain Research 2 status, which requires $5 million in research expenditures and the awarding of 20 doctoral degrees annually.

We continue to receive accolades for the quality of our programs, our affordability, our accessibility, our return on investment, and the upward mobility of our students. This exceptionality is driven and guided by our faculty and staff’s unwavering commitment to our students and their success. They Go Beyond.

To continue to deliver that success, we are building for the future.  On-campus construction includes the new Health Sciences Education and Research Center (HSERC) and the expansion of the Western Hemispheric Trade Center (WHTC).

At just under 60,000 square feet, the three-story HSERC will be an interactive clinical building that promotes learning and research within the health sciences, one of TAMIU’s fastest-growing study areas, through interaction with the public by TAMIU faculty and students.  It will be a home for greater clinical/demonstration appointments for the community through public-facing communications disorders, kinesiology research, and public health.

The 27,000-square-foot, two-story addition to the WHTC will include office, instructional, and research spaces.  It will create an integrated public interface by housing business outreach programs, including the Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade, the Texas Center for Economic Development, and the Small Business Development Center. 

Last week, we were delighted to celebrate the success of our Dusty Promise assistance program that since its 2008 launch has helped students receive over $26.7 million in free aid to attend TAMIU.  Promises made are promises kept at TAMIU.

Our lifelong partner in higher education, Laredo College, also has a new Promise program in place. We’re working with President Minita Ramírez to ensure that Palomino Promise students can easily transfer into the Dusty Promise.

That’s what Fall is all about...the power of promise, the hope for a brighter future, and the opportunity to grow in ways never imagined. 

That’s why Fall is my favorite time of the year.