TAMUK looks to increase student enrollment
Bigger is better and at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) the strive to be the best never ceases to let up.
It starts with increasing the number of students enrolled whether it might be in online classes or in person.
The 2024 fall semester at TAMUK saw an increase in student enrollment with the total number of students increasing from 6,576 in the fall of 2023 to 7,102 in the fall of 2024.
Looking in the surroundings areas, over 70% of the TAMUK student population comes from the university’s service area.
“Building relationships with (Independent School Districts), community partners, and the Coastal Bend area and also getting into the Valley to ensure we attract and potentially rule parts of the Valley and bring in students who want to come here,” President Robert Vela said on the university’s goals.
It is a strategic effort for TAMUK to ensure the continuation of the growth of the student population which will in turn help create a better university experience as time goes on.
With this goal, such as many more, comes a high level of planning and thinking ahead as to what will be needed in order to accommodate for a higher population of students – since the goal is to have 10,000 students soon.
“We definitely need more dorms for students, we do have partnerships with local apartment complexes but we need to have those available on campus, so there is a second phase of dorms we are planning to go ahead and begin the approach towards having these spaces available and ready,” Vela added.
Along with dorm space, parking spaces are also in need of a revamp. Currently, there are 4,800 parking spaces available on campus but following the demolition of Turner-Bishop, the number of parking spaces available is expected to rise.
The need for dorm space as well as more parking are major necessities, as is the number of professors at TAMUK. The university will be moving forward with hiring more professors as the student population continues to rise.
“We feel like we are a little short right now as we have had some professors leave whether it was due to COVID or other opportunities and so we have asked for another, and I am confident we will find the tenure track lines we need and that will be able to fill out those students’ needs,” Psychology and Sociology Department Chair Dr. Timothy Oblad said.
With 2028 being just four short years away, TAMUK has already begun steps towards achieving 10,000 students, not with just the outreach towards the surrounding areas but implanting a new program in each department to increase retention and help keep current students attending and becoming more involved with their department.
According to tamuk.edu, “The university’s leadership identified this goal as part of its strategic plan, which is based on 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX).” This plan, put in place in various ways within each department, is a move to increase retention. An example of this would be the Art, Communication and Theatre (ACT) department. ACT bucks were created for their students.
These ACT bucks can be given out by any staff or faculty member and can be spent at a store in the main office. Another example is the badges students can receive at the Maker Space located on the third floor of Jernigan Library.
Overall, as time will go on, TAMUK will see changes all around both physically with the construction of new dorms and parking spaces and with a higher number of students.