SHSU to Break Ground on New Center

The Huntsville Item discusses the new headquarters of the Department of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technology and the groundbreaking ceremony on the site location of the new Fred Pirkle Engineering Technology Center, at the corner of Bowers Boulevard and Sam Houston Avenue on Friday (Jun. 12)  at 1:30 p.m.

SHSU Under SGA Scrutiny During ADA Compliance Investigation

The [Nov. 5] edition of the Houstonian says the SHSU Student Government Association (SGA) is investigating the university’s alleged noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on campus:

Houstonian: SHSU Denied Legislative Bonds For New Buildings

Several SHSU departments will be re-evaluating growth plans, the Houstonian reported on September 10, because the Texas Legislature failure to pass tuition revenue bonds:

Honeycutt Classroom Dedicated

Thomas Joseph "T. J." Honeycutt (1917-2008), Class of '48 and '49 and a former SHSU professor, was honored with a room dedication ceremony at the university on Friday, February 18. The T.J. Honeycutt Agriculture Teacher Education classroom is located in the Thomason building.

Glyn Gilliam, class of ’56 and ’57, said it was Honeycutt’s influence as a professor and life-long mentor that caused him and his wife, Martha, to establish the scholarship and provide funding for the classroom to be named in Honeycutt’s memory. Honeycutt began teaching at Sam Houston in January 1964 and taught for 21 years - many of those years as head teacher trainer - before retiring in 1984 as Associate Professor of Vocational Education.

Gaertner Outlines SHSU’s 10-Year Plan

The Item reports that SHSU President James Gaertner outlined SHSU's 10-year master plan to the Huntsville Rotary Club during its weekly meeting Wednesday at West Hill Mall; topics included:

He covered classroom space — current and what is needed — housing, parking — current and what is needed — and athletics and intramurals, where an additional 10 acres are needed.

Gaertner said nothing in particular stands out about the plan, which covers the entire campus and includes a new student center, replacing the Lowman Student Center.

“If anything would stand out, it would be the South Quad area that has all the new academic buildings and creates a new academic quadrangle on campus,” he said. “The whole plan is important.

Gaertner said the LSC was built in the early 1960s and “it has gotten to the point where it’s getting outdated and needs to come down. It was renovated about eight or nine years ago.

“We won’t tear it down until three or four years from now. It will come down. It needs to. We will build a new student center right there in the same place in the middle of the campus.”

Some of the housing buildings scheduled to be demolished include Smith-Kirkley, Recital Hall, White Hall, Allen House, Vick House, Sorority Hill, Art Complex, Thomason Building, and Barrett House.

New buildings scheduled to be constructed on the SHSU campus include agriculture, forensic science, college of business, biology and allied health, integrated engineering and criminal justice expansion.

“We hope to build a couple of residential halls,” he said. They are included in a six-year plan along with intramural fields which would be moved to where the agriculture center is now located off Interstate 45. All ag center facilities would be moved to the location off state Highway 75 North [Gibbs Ranch].

Gaertner said the campus will take on a new look in upcoming years, but “it has changed a lot. It has changed from when I was a student. Over the past 10 years it has changed some and the next 10 years it will change again."