Just kidding,

But when is the Higher Education Coordinating Board supposed to meet and give a yes/no on the Tech Vet School?

I'm less confident than before that the Co Board is going to stop this.

There is a new commissioner there, and he's not, as far as I know, spoken publicly on the matter. They are also beholden to the legislature, and the legislature seems to be favorable towards it.

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legislature seems to be favorable towards it.

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The legislature has allocated money for the next two years. The governor has spoken publicly in support of the project. The groundbreaking has occurred. Construction has begun. The HECB approval is a formality at this point.

Sharp lost. Duncan/Mitchell won. Amarillo won big.

You sure about the construction?

HECB Unanimous Approval

Its hilarious that the you think the groundbreaking that occurred in September was "staged to force the hand of HECB". The governor spoke in support of it at the event as well as nearly every representative from the area. The deal was done when the funding was approved by the legislature and signed by the governor in June.

The construction is directly behind the Sim Center. Plans have been circulated and general contractor is hired. Dirt work has started. The city is installing/upgrading the sewage and water systems. Xcel is upgrading the electric facilities. TTUHSC is trying to figure out what other projects to potentially add. Just because you can't see a building yet, doesn't mean that the horse isn't already out of the barn.

I agree that Sharp purposely punished Amarillo by moving the Vet Diagnostic lab that was in a dated 50 year old facility in Amarillo to Canyon. He also made WT the first and only regional school to gain access the PUF fund by writing the check for the VERO from there (a huge strategic error on the part of A&M). After 20+ years of not investing anything in WTAMU, the TT proposal got A&M to directly invest some dollars in Canyon campus. So you are right, Canyon was definitely a beneficiary. I also believe that the WTAMU animal science and pre-vet program will greatly benefit from having a 4 year Vet School in Amarillo.

What we should all be worried about that Sharp overplayed his hand, held up a very necessary nursing program (as a chit for vet school), alienated the city of Amarillo and its leadership and scarred WTAMU's relationship with TT for future programs. What used to be collaborative (ie. Sim Center) is now firmly in the competitive stage. Several donors pulled their support from the WTAMU Foundation over the scuffle. I think overall that this could be very bad for WTAMU in the future.

Finally if you think that rotating less than a dozen students from College Station through Canyon during their 3rd or 4th year is the equivalent of a 4 year, 240 student vet program based on the same campus with the pharmacy and medical school program - then it tells me all I need to know about your ability to rationally view this new program and its potential impact on the region.

XhotXwetXgarlic said:

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HECB Unanimous Approval

Congrats on a colossal waste of taxpayer money

The governor spoke in support of it at the event

He wasn't there

Dirt work has started.

Haven't driven by there lately, still doubt it. Who would be dumb enough to sign contracts when it wasn't approved?

I agree that Sharp purposely punished Amarillo by moving the Vet Diagnostic lab that was in a dated 50 year old facility in Amarillo to Canyon.

Punished? It was built in Amarillo, when WT was not under the A&M system. It simply made sense to move it to A&M property, now that WT is in the system.

He also made WT the first and only regional school to gain access the PUF fund by writing the check for the VERO from there (a huge strategic error on the part of A&M).

TVMDL is under the A&M system, just as is Ag extension, Ag Experiment Station, Forest Service, etc. etc. Those have been beneficiaries of PUF funds for years. This is nothing new.

After 20+ years of not investing anything in WTAMU, the TT proposal got A&M to directly invest some dollars in Canyon campus

It's pretty obvious you haven't been to the WTAMU campus in the past 20 years, if you think that they are just now getting money to improve the campus..

What we should all be worried about that Sharp overplayed his hand, held up a very necessary nursing program (as a chit for vet school), alienated the city of Amarillo and its leadership and scarred WTAMU's relationship with TT for future programs.

I'd say that TTech stabbing Sharp in the back is the bigger problem, and the rest of your accusations are bullcrap.

Finally if you think that rotating less than a dozen students from College Station through Canyon during their 3rd or 4th year is the equivalent of a 4 year, 240 student vet program based on the same campus with the pharmacy and medical school program - then it tells me all I need to know about your ability to rationally view this new program and its potential impact on the region.

Actually, it's 20 per class, versus 60 that are planned for Tech, so WT is producing 33% of the grads for about 5% of the cost as Tech's school will be. And they will be graduating from an accredited school

https://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/wt-tamu-officials-announce-22-veterinary-program

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Looks like it took you a while to get this thread rolling Canyon! Word of caution, you and others said for many months TT wouldn't get their Vet School, yet here we are and it is happening. Now you want to convince everyone their vet school will not be accredited. As one who is both familiar with the Canadian Model and 20+ years of experience dealing with Animal Health regulations I take the view that Tech has multiple accredited medical programs - med school, nursing school, and pharmacy school - I am pretty sure their leadership grasp the hoops they will have to go through to get accreditation for their Vet School! Just like TAMU is hiring folks away from Tech, Tech is actively hiring Aggies to make sure they are building a high quality program. Oh the irony!!

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Looks like it took you a while to get this thread rolling Canyon

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I was curious as to when they would meet. Apparently no one knew.

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you and others said for many months TT wouldn't get their Vet School

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Thought they wouldn't, still think it's a waste of money.

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so WT is producing 33% of the grads for about 5% of the cost as Tech's school will be. And they will be graduating from an accredited school

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WTAMU is producing ZERO grads. Some students that are already enrolled in TAMU vet school can now do a rotation in Canyon on large animals. A rotation is going to make up a VERY small part of their overall vet school educational experience and hospital training will still take place in College Station.

The PUF money was used on the new $22 MM Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) building NOT the TVMDL as you incorrectly stated. That is the first time that PUF money has been used for a building on a regional campus like this. It unfortunately, opens the Pandora's Box of PUF funding to be spent on every regional campus and or worse schools like Texas Tech - which I think was a huge strategic error.

So if you want to talk about a waste of taxpayer dollars - let's talk about $39.6 million dollars (for both projects) that was approved by Sharp and BOR without legislative approval or even a legislative request from WTAMU. It was done solely to try to one up Texas Tech's proposal and didn't even address the problem.

A&M is adding ZERO new student seats to their current Vet School as part of this initiative. The A&M program is essentially capped due to facility/faculty constraints. Said another way , the marginal resource cost of the "next student" is extraordinarily high because they essentially have to add a full cohort - which includes lab space, faculty, hospital time, clinic, etc.

So A&M spent $39.6 million on top of the $180 mm that they spent in College Station on the the new Vet school and have not added a single new vet student to the State of Texas.

On top of that, running the Animal Hospital in College Station is a money loser. As Sharp testified at hearings that they lose about $60 mm a year running the animal hospital there because they don't see enough patients. A&M has to supplement that program from other areas.

BTW - The TT model outsources the animal hospital to private vet clinics around the state for a much lower cost and prevents additional competition in the market and saves that cost to the student/taxpayer.

So where is tceh getting professors of a high enough quality to be legit?

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to see them bite off more than they can chew. Looking forward to their glowing report on the increased number of large animal vets in the hinterlands.

XhotXwetXgarlic said:

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legislature seems to be favorable towards it.

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The legislature has allocated money for the next two years. The governor has spoken publicly in support of the project. The groundbreaking has occurred. Construction has begun. The HECB approval is a formality at this point.

Sharp lost. Duncan/Mitchell won. Amarillo won big.

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Linkeroonie

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After a brief presentation, regents approved spending $15 million for beginning construction on the Amarillo project expected to cost a total of $90 million.

According to Tech, the $15 million approved this month is for earthwork, underground utilities for fire protection, electrical and plumbing, elevators and limited concrete.

"We're to the point in our design and our pricing that we've got this scope of services already priced," Billy Breedlove, vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, told the board. "If we approve this today then this'll allow us to mobilize immediately and get a shovel in the ground by the end of the month, or right at the first of the year."

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Garlic with the total lack of facts, yet again.