The Texas A&M University System and the Blinn College District have opened the $15 million Agriculture and Workforce Education Complex on the university's RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas.
The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that the 38,000 square-foot complex is the new home for Blinn College’s workforce training, which includes advanced manufacturing, welding, carpentry and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as public and electrical trades.
Blinn Chancellor Mary Hensley says the community college and the university are working together in a variety of ways to offer “cost-effective, outstanding” workforce and educational offerings that, alone, each academic entity might not be able to offer in the same way.
Blinn has announced that new associate of applied science degrees in carpentry, facilities maintenance, HVAC and water purification will be offered in the facility this fall.
The complex is also now the home of the Texas A&M agricultural science program. Patrick J. Stover, vice chancellor for Texas A&M AgriLife, says the complex and partnership between Texas A&M and Blinn will help the schools reach a wide variety of the population.
“This RELLIS Campus is a unique facility that is so important to the future workforce of Texas the way it’s designed — bringing Blinn College and A&M together — and bringing together the ability to train and retrain so people can come back for continuing education,” Stover says.
The facility includes a 16,000-square-foot space with demonstration and traditional classrooms, as well as a seminar room and a computer classroom, faculty offices and space for students to collaborate on projects.
The complex also features an 11,000-square-foot agricultural trades pavilion and an 11,000-square-foot construction trades pavilion, which provides open laboratory spaces for students to work on full-scale projects using equipment for their chosen field.
“Opening this world-class facility on the innovative RELLIS Campus will ensure our students have access to the practical hands-on education needed to succeed,” A&M System Chancellor John Sharp says. “We look forward to seeing how this partnership benefits not only our students, but the local workforce.
