For those of you who will be visiting our campuses over the next few years, hang on to your (hard) hats, because we’re about to start new construction!
We’re proud that Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has seen unprecedented growth in student enrollment, academic programs and research over the past several years, but, unfortunately, we’ve lagged behind on our infrastructure needs. The reason for this is simple: funds for new buildings generally come from one of two sources – the state or private donations. While we’ve moved forward on a few projects due to the generosity of great donors, we would prefer to have funds support efforts like scholarships and endowments because such gifts don’t depreciate the way buildings do. Nonetheless, growth in certain areas only occurred because individuals, foundations and communities were willing to pitch in on projects.
It’s hard to believe, but our university has been around long enough that even our existing structures require more “TLC” with every year that passes. While changing out air-conditioning units and replacing sewer lines may not seem glamorous, they represent important (and costly) upgrades necessary for the ongoing healthy growth of our campuses in the communities we serve. So needless to say, we are excited that the state of Texas, in this most recent legislative session, Ok’d funding for new construction on our Amarillo, Lubbock and Permian Basin campuses.
While the list of things we’ll accomplish with new construction is long, some exciting examples include: a new simulation training center in Amarillo (to be used by TTUHSC, Amarillo College and West Texas AM University as well as private practice folks); a state-of-the-art gross anatomy lab in Lubbock; an academic classroom building in the Permian Basin; and a new building in Abilene for our developing School of Public Health as well as amenities for our entire campus.
In all, we will be adding close to 300,000 square feet to our university over the next few years, the single most significant expansion we’ve experienced since the university was first established in the 1970’s. This construction, set to begin in 2016, will not only be transformative for our campuses’ aesthetics but will place us in an outstanding position for our continued programmatic growth over the next few decades. What an exciting time to be part of the TTUHSC family!
We hope you will come to see us – but you’ll have to excuse our mess … we’re working to make ours the showcase health sciences university of the Southwest!
Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D.
TTUHSC President