The Collegian  ONLINE
         April 28, 2008

Texas Southmost College board of trustees Chairman  Chester Gonzalez (right) on Thursday presents fellow trustee Dr. Roberto Robles and his wife, Perla Robles, with a drawing of the future Arts Center as a token of appreciation for their donation to the Arts Center Teaching Studio E.

The Texas Southmost College board of trustees has approved the schematic design for the Science and Technology Learning Center.

During its meeting Thursday, the board was presented the design by Don Hensley of the architectural firm SHW of Austin.

The center will house biomedical studies as well as the nursing department. The 60,000-square- foot center will be built on the southeast side of campus, according to information provided by the TSC District Office. It will include two academic wings connected by a second level pedestrian bridge. In the north wing there will be three stories that will include biomedical research labs, support and office space, as well as a community outreach department and a partial third-floor level will contain an emergency operations center. The south wing of the building will have two stories that will include general classrooms, laboratory and office space for the selected programs within the Allied Health Department.

Hensley told board members that the project’s budget is $22 million. 

“As the design team was crossing the [Education and Business Complex] bridge, they drew inspiration from the setting of the resaca,” he told the board. “In that pause, the resaca sort of began to reveal itself. The life that is not apparent when you’re rushing and moving from place to place was delightful and revealing and really gives you a sense of this place. … The program and the budget and a lot of those things describe the quality of materials and the way we’re going to organize rooms and how big they are. … You almost need to look to something like the resaca and this type of inspiration to determine out how you’re going to put those materials together.”

Asked by board Secretary Eduardo Campirano about the construction schedule, Hensley replied, “We are moving to receive a guaranteed maximum price by the fall. … We’re looking to get a notice to proceed to that builder sometime in February of 2009 and hoping to achieve substantial completion by April 2011.”

The board also approved a proposal for windstorm and hail insurance from the R.N. Jones Agency Inc. in the amount of $558,140. The deductible is 1 percent per item, the limit of insurance is $77,002,539 and the policy term is May 1, 2008 through May 9, 2009.

TSC trustee Roberto Robles and his wife, Perla, made a donation toward the future Arts Center for an undisclosed amount. Robles addressed the board and audience members about the need for a bigger learning facility for students to practice their music.

 “What really stunned me was when Mother Nature called while I was at [Eidman Hall], and I excused myself to the bathroom. I was shocked to find students practicing in there,” Robles said. “… It was at this very moment that I told myself that I would do everything in my power to explain to the public how important it was to give our teaching staff and students more decent learning facilities.”

The couple was presented with a picture frame of the future Arts Center as a token of appreciation for their generous gift.

“They need a better teaching facility, not a bathroom, but a real teaching studio,” Robles said about the music students.

In other business, the board approved:

--an electric utility easement for the future Center for Early Childhood Studies;
--a contract for the purchase of Lot 25, Block 9, of the Colonia Alta Vista Subdivision in Brownsville in the amount of $33,000;
--a contract for the purchase for W ½ lot 10, Block 14, of the Paredes Tract Addition in Brownsville in the amount of $22,500;
--adoption of the resolution naming the Arts Center Teaching Studio E the Dr. Roberto and Perla Robles Teaching Studio;
--a proposal from Long Chilton LLP Service to provide auditor services for Fiscal Year 2008 in the amount of $32,235;

--a contract with Cameron County Elections Administrator to provide elections services for the May 10 TSC trustee elections for an estimated amount of $78,569.70. Early voting sites are Cardenas Hall North on the UTB/TSC campus; the B.I.S.D. Administration Building, 1900 Price Rd.; the Brownsville Navigation District Office, 1000 Foust Rd.; the Brownsville Public Library, 2600 Central Blvd.; Christ the King Church, 2255 Southmost Rd.; and the Cameron County Elections Office, 954 E. Harrison St.

 Voters will select the Places 1 and 2 trustee positions.

Stephen Rosales, the School of Education assistant to the dean for P-16 initiatives, and Salvador Cavazos, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Brownsville School District, gave the board an update on the Early College High School Program proposal.

The program is designed for 400 students (100 per year) to be able to attend UTB/TSC and high school and would focus on science, engineering, technology and math. The university would partner with the school district to develop the curriculum, faculty and student selection. Students would be able to graduate from the program with at least 60 hours of college credit.

“There’s a strong commitment from the board of trustees and the superintendent for this project,” Cavazos said. “We’re very excited about the project. It’s an awesome opportunity to have students actually realize their dreams to actually graduate with a high school diploma in one hand and an associate’s degree in another without having to pay for it.”

He said the school district has received a grant of $400,500 from the Meadows Foundation and a grant of $400,000 from the Texas Foundation for the project.