Spring semester classes begin at UTB-TSC

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College is on track to meet or beat enrollment figures from a year ago, the university's top enrollment official said.

As of mid-afternoon Monday, UTB-TSC had 11,592 students, slightly above the year-ago figure, said Linda Fossen, associate vice president for enrollment management. Monday was the first day of spring semester classes, but the university was still registering students and expected to reach an enrollment figure slightly above last year's 13,046, she said.

"It's not too late to register - the deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday - but students really need to get their act together if they're going to go to school this spring," Fossen said, adding that a large number of dual-enrollment students still need to be registered.

Dual enrollment refers to high school classes for which students receive college and high school credit at the same time. Such classes at UTB-TSC range from basic core curriculum like Composition I, college algebra and general biology to introductory classes in computer technology, health professions and automotive technology.

Monday also was the first day of classes in the newly renovated International Technology, Education and Commerce Center. Begun more than a year ago, the ITEC Center renovation is the first of the 2004 bond-issue projects to be completed.

Encompassing 60,000 square feet of former retail spaces in the old Amigoland Mall, the remodeled area has taken on a fresh, new look that melds the needs of education technology with the design details of historic Fort Brown seen on UTB-TSC's main campus.

Six new classrooms will accommodate class sizes of 60, 90 and 120 students, with the larger halls featuring tiered seating. All classrooms are equipped with modern classroom technology as well as tables and ergonomically designed comfortable chairs instead of individual desks.

Classes scheduled in the new ITEC Center range from vocational nursing and psychology to art appreciation, American sign language, Spanish and even several graduate-level literature courses that will make use of the seminar rooms. The Communication Department will use a new television studio, recording studio, control room and editing rooms.