Collin College will soon be teaming up with Texas A&M University-Commerce, and several other four-year universities to offer junior and senior level college courses, as well as a graduate degree program.
“We have proposed several programs, but Collin County has not made the final decision regarding what each institution will offer,” Mary Hendrix, interim provost and vice president for student affairs said.
The concept for the center is to encourage students to complete their associate degree at Collin College, and then be able to complete a university bachelor degree without having to travel to another school.
Since the center is not set to break ground until February of 2008 and be completed in the Spring of 2010, it has not yet been decided how A&M-C and other universities will be involved exactly.
Other institutions planned to partner with the center include Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M University (College Station), Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas Tech University, Texas Women’s University, The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas.
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According to Collin College president Cary Israel, the college will give some exclusivity in terms of majors and programs offered at the center, meaning that there will not be multiple MBA’s from different universities offered.
“It will give us a real strong presence in Collin County with some of our programs,” Dr. J. Robert Collins, chair of the Collin College board of trustees, said.
Currently, the Collin County Board of Trustees is making decisions on which programs to accept from each university.
The center itself is expected to impact the enrollment at A&M-C in a positive way since the University has had past success when partnering with other institutions.
“We have several niche markets that can be targeted for bachelor completion programs. We received the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board award for our Navarro College partnership,” Hendrix said. “We have an award-winning model for university/community college collaboration and we think we can increase our undergraduate and graduate program enrollment by partnering with Collin County.”
The overall consensus among university officials and faculty is also encouraging and full of optimism.
“We believe this partnership is an example of how institutions can share resources to provide access to quality degree programs,” Hendrix said.
Plans were announced Sept. 19 after the McKinney City Council approved a development agreement in which the McKinney Economic Development Corporation provided a 5.5-acre site valued at approximately $1.8 million to the college at no cost.
The new center offering these programs will be built in the Bridge Street Town Centre in McKinney at the northeast corner State Highway 121 and U.S. 75 and has been named the Collin Higher Education Center.
It will include 75,000 square feet of educational facilities, and 50,000 sq feet for other needs.
In addition to the center, the new campus will also house selected administrative departments now located at the Courtyard Center in southwest Plano.
The college is also looking into the possibility of including a research institute in the facility.