At Lamar University’s annual back-to-school convocation Monday, President James Simmons described the institution as “full of vitality, financially healthy and growing.”
In the address to about 500 people gathered in the University Theatre, Simmons praised the efforts of the state’s leadership in keeping Texas on sound financial footing, but also lauded the efforts of local legislators, regents and supporters of Lamar for their contributions in keeping the university strong through challenges.
“We fared very well in the 81st legislative session and much credit goes to our state elected officials, regents, system officials and supporters,” Simmons said. “They fought the good fight for Lamar, and we came out ahead in the struggle for resources.”
Credit was also given to Lamar’s enrollment growth. Simmons noted that Lamar has again set a record enrollment and has seen enrollment increases for eight of the past 10 years – the two exceptions being the periods right after Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike.
Lamar is seeing growth both on campus and in its online programs, Simmons noted. In particular, growth in the online offerings facilitated by Lamar’s academic partnership with Higher Ed Holdings of Dallas has been tremendous, Simmons said. On Saturday, at the August commencement, 1,098 master’s degrees were awarded through the online education programs offered through HEH. About 4,000 students are participating in the program.
Simmons recapped a year of challenges from weathering three hurricanes to successful accreditation reviews, and then laid out opportunities facing Lamar’s faculty and staff in the new academic year.
In the past year, Lamar was pummeled by three storms – Hurricanes Gustav, Edouard and Ike. The latter caused the campus to be closed for 10 days while damage was repaired, but the semester was completed on time.
In the past year, Lamar underwent its site visit by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for its reaccreditation review and was re-certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, garnering high marks in both reviews.
The Lamar University Investing in the Future comprehensive campaign totals exceed $57 million. The employee campaign was highly successful with more than $498,000 raised in a seven-week period, Simmons said.
Lamar’s football team will begin scrimmaging this fall and construction on Provost Umphrey Stadium, the W.S. “Bud” Leonard Field and the new field house continue. Across campus, the new soccer field is being prepared.
Simmons praised the City of Beaumont for its work on Rolfe Christopher Drive, updating the roadway significantly. Lamar’s work on academic buildings includes renovation of the music building and an addition to Cherry Engineering to house the expanded chemical engineering program. With all rooms full, and many students “tripled up” with an extra occupant in a two-bedroom suite, a fifth phase of Cardinal Village will soon begin, Simmons said.
The move of Lamar’s continuing education programs to Beaumont’s downtown library, along with the Small Business Development Center, were other announcements Simmons made.
The president also mentioned Lamar’s selection to the 2009 Great Colleges to Work For Honor Roll by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Lamar was one of nine large institutions to make the list that included Cornell, Duke, Emory, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and Webster.
Lamar is expanding its Dual Credit programs to school districts across Texas, Simmons said, with the first course to begin Sept. 14. Dual Credit courses allow high school juniors or seniors to enroll in a college course and receive simultaneous academic credit from both the college and the high school. Participants will be drawn from the more than 500,000 students in 11th and 12th grades in Texas.
Lamar is also expanding its offering of the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree entirely online in partnership with HEH, Simmons said. The first HEH-based B.A.A.S. course will begin Oct. 12. The potential for students in the program is huge. Data from the 2000 census shows there are more than 2 million Texans with some college hours but no bachelor’s degree, and an additional 681,363 with associate degrees. A great number of these Texans could qualify for the online degree completion program.
These academic partnership online programs complement the online offerings already established at the university where five undergraduate degrees – Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences, Bachelor of General Studies, RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology, and the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science — and two graduate programs — the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Health Promotion, can be earned entirely online.
