Eighth in a series on what to look for in college. Borden County School District in Gail, Texas, on the edge of the Caprock Escarpment, is cut in two by the Colorado River. Borden County is the fourth-least populous county…
The Nifty Fifty/Fifty Enrollments at universities around the United States are shrinking—down 1.7 and 1.8 percent this year and last. Master’s and comprehensive universities, private liberal arts colleges, rural universities and a multitude of others that are not state flagships,…
Seventh in a series on what to look for in college. Patton Springs ISD in Afton, Texas, had 96 students for the 2017-2018 school year. It is small. It is old—established in 1910, the same year West Texas A&M University…
Sixth in a series on what to look for in college. Abernathy, Texas, is a small town just west of I-27, an old stop on the Santa Fe when it was the way to get from Lubbock to Amarillo. Its…
Fifth in a series on what to look for in college. According to The History of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity to the Present Time, Rabbi Judah said, “He who teacheth not his son a trade, does as if he taught him to be a thief.” This proverbial…
Fourth in a series on what to look for in college. Cotton Center, one of the smallest independent school districts in the Texas Panhandle or the South Plains, has a total enrollment from pre-k through grade 12 of 100 students.…
Pictured: Sundown’s rich history in the oil and gas industry is represented through a donated energy exhibit that has been a fixture of Sundown High School since the late 70s. Pictured from left: Bill Craddock, WTAMU Alumnus, Graduate of Sundown…
Second in a series on what to look for in college. Tahoka, Texas, the county seat of Lynn County, is a small town of 3,000 souls. In spirit, it is bigger than the South Plains skies that crown it. Maybe…
First in a series on what to look for in a college. What should students and families look for as they consider college? In the coming weeks, insights from the South Plains of Texas will be shared. New Home, Texas,…
Buffalo Stadium on the campus of West Texas A&M University Sir William Herschel wrote in 1802, “If, on the contrary, two stars should really be situated very near each other, and at the same time so far insulated as not to be…
Posted last year on the occasion of summer graduation. The advice is still sound. West Texas A&M University had its summer graduation last week, as did many universities around the nation. People are always willing to give advice to recent…
“Johnny, have you seen my backpack?” “Mom, I told you to keep track of your school stuff.” My junior year in college, there were approximately one hundred students studying architecture in my class. I remember two of those students were…
There are more than 4,000 postsecondary institutions of higher education in the United States. Of those, more than 400 are regional universities. Regional universities, West Texas A&M University for example, contribute to local economies, cultural and civic life in…
Corporations, public and private; bureaucracies, large and small; and families, whether two or 100 members, rise and fall based on mission acuity. A few things irrevocably impede mission attainment, and fear of change tops the list. Unwillingness to change –…
[Fourth in a series about WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.] Universities desire to keep alumni close by. Graduates are a testimony to an institution’s progress and effectiveness—or not. More Harvard graduates live in Boston than any other…
[Third in a series written about WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.] Trust is confidence—the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability and security of a person or thing. It enables and creates expectations and hope. Universities that don’t…
While West Texas A&M University and its generational plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World, are the basis for these reflections, the thoughts have value in many settings. Healthy organizations thrive on integrity and transparency. Since the White…
This has been published a number of times at spring break over the past decade. It is updated here and refreshed in its importance for the honesty and transparency required to make a good university great for a region. The…
When Clark Kerr unveiled A Master Plan for Higher Education in California in 1960, it was heralded as a stroke of genius. And it was. Kerr went to the capitol in Sacramento requesting unparalleled financial support to build scientific prowess.…
WTAMU was busy last year, and we look ahead in 2019 with great anticipation. In order to understand our future, it is worthwhile to reflect on our past. The Agricultural Sciences Complex opened on campus, consisting of the Happy State…
Universities, like all human organizations, need a passion for purpose coupled to a plan for the future. Without such a commitment, reactionary leadership and management follows. Such passion for purpose and a future grows from an institution’s people, its purpose…
As we begin 2019 anyone involved in higher education, student or family member, spouse or friend, high school principal or daycare worker, instructor or president, knows things are changing at universities. Whether a public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit, online…
Jesus Christ responded to a question from a student regarding the greatest commandment in the Law: “And he said to him, ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all…
As the new year begins, scores of students and their families will make choices about where to study next fall. Affordability, location and degree offerings should be serious considerations. No one should ever say, “It is worth it no matter…
