Trinity River Campus approaches debut ahead of time

By Chris Webb/editor-in-chief

Vice president for teaching and learning services Bryan Stewart gives a tour of the Trinity River Campus as he displays the conference room that he labeled the “Titanic room” because of its impressive nature.  Photo by John Harden/The Collegian
Vice president for teaching and learning services Bryan Stewart gives a tour of the Trinity River Campus as he displays the conference room that he labeled the “Titanic room” because of its impressive nature. Photo by John Harden/The Collegian

The Trinity River Campus has gone through numerous changes since TCC’s acquisition of the property in June and is approaching its open date ahead of schedule.

Trinity River Campus President Tahita Fulkerson said the complex is entirely under construction now, with work on classrooms as a first priority.

“ We have almost completed the additional stairwell to allow for student traffic, and they have started on the labs, which will be the most difficult part of the process,” she said.

“ So much has happened since we started construction. We have done lots of work with architects to make sure the rooms are appropriate for a classroom, and more than 250 people have toured the building.”

The East Fork building, which will contain numerous academic classrooms, the library and faculty offices, will open in August.

The science labs will not be complete until Spring 2010. One science lab in East Fork will be open earlier to offer geology and anatomy and physiology.

So far, four vice presidents have been hired for the campus.

Adrian Rodriguez, former dean of student life at Butler Community College in Kansas, is vice president for student development services. Robert M. Muñoz is vice president of continuing education services.

Serafin Garcia is coordinator of community outreach and service learning. Bryan Stewart, formerly dean of mathematics and sciences at the SE Campus, is vice president for teaching and learning.

“ This is an unbelievable opportunity, and I have had the opportunity to work with Fulkerson for many years. The excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the downtown campus was too much to pass up,” Stewart said.

“ I think there is so much untapped talent in Fort Worth. I think that Fort Worth ISD’s dual credit program needs some growth, so I hope to bring some things I created at SE Campus to the Trinity River Campus, especially involving dual credit.”

Fulkerson said one of the main goals for the Trinity River Campus is community outreach.

“ We have had meetings with administrators from Fort Worth Independent School District about ways to serve their students. In the future, we will use what was the RadioShack retail store to reach out to the community by exposing visitors to college life and all that it has to offer,” she said.

Stewart said that after recent meetings, the campus may open ahead of schedule at this point.

“ I am 90 percent sure we will have a summer term starting June 8, which will hopefully attract a lot of students who didn’t register for summer in time or who just graduated in Fort Worth. Right now, the big holdup is finishing the bookstore,” he said.

Student jobs haven’t been posted yet, but the HPE department will require numerous student workers because of its size.

The “health club facility” was built by RadioShack so its employees would have a fitness center at work with a number of different uses.

The facility contains a cycling room, pilates and yoga room, cardio room, free weights room and machine weights room. It’s really just missing one thing.

“ The gym has almost everything. We just don’t have a swimming pool, unless you count the Trinity River,” Stewart joked.

Positions for the Trinity River Campus are available online at www.tccd.edu under the Job Opportunities tab.

Some positions are available now, but more will be posted soon.