BY GRANT CRAWFORD
Mapping it out
Going forward
Enrollment growth
Round Rock campus
To make room for 7,500 students, TXST will need to build upon the rst phase of the master plan by adding more academic buildings and, for the rst time, student housing—200 beds—in the second phase. “You’re friends with the people in your classes, but you sometimes wish you had a strong bond and relationship with them,” said Ana Ramirez, a TXST Round Rock sophomore. “I de nitely think adding these residence halls will really help with that.” The master plan’s future layout organizes student growth around a cross-pattern of quads and open spaces. Along side the campus’s rst quad, TXST’s next academic building would include “an iconic arch” that would mirror Trauth-Hu man Hallin San Marcos, Lessiter said. “[Students have] all said we really need some
Between TXST’s main campus in San Marcos, Round Rock campus, satellite locations and online students, Lessiter thinks TXST could grow from its roughly 37,000 students to a goal of 50,000 throughout the entire system. “The San Marcos campus is pretty landlocked, and there’s a lot of room for growth here,” she said. With space available, the plan for the Round Rock campus includes a long-term development scenario to accommodate 15,000 students. Lessiter said the school’s degree programs for health professions could draw more students outside of the Austin metro, such as from Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, and ultimately lend to the university’s 15,000-enrollment mark. The outline includes expanding the campus southward across the property, with a network of quads made up of academic buildings. This would require upgrades to utilities, water infrastructure, technology and parking, according to the plan. While enrollment milestones could be years in the making, growth at TXST’s Round Rock campus will continue this fall with its second-ever class of incoming freshmen. TXST President Kelly Damphousse said at a May board of regents meeting that after the campus welcomed its inaugural freshman cohort of roughly 80 students last year, more than 200 are enrolled for the upcoming fall semester.
10K 8K 6K 4K 2K 0
Projected
SOURCE: TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT
space where we can collaborate together, build community and really get to study in a nice envi- ronment, and that is going to be achieved with the master plan,” Lessiter said.
The local impact
“When these students graduate, if they choose to stay here, live here and work here, then we’re going to get tenfold
The blueprint for a 10,000-student campus includes an additional 200 beds of housing and two more academic buildings in its third phase, accord- ing to the plan. With a current course o ering of 18 undergrad- uate programs and 11 graduate programs, the third phase would help expand that catalog. Lessiter said the school plans to begin o ering an aviation program to help address an ongoing pilot shortage, as well as engineering degrees. “We’re really all about helping our students get into their careers,” she said. “So having that as our mission is going to draw students to this campus to
return from them by what they do in our community.” CRAIG MORGAN, ROUND ROCK MAYOR
be able to get their undergraduate degree.” TXST Round Rock would be the third-largest university in the Austin metro if it reaches a student enrollment of 10,000.
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