News & Events

Nancy Shankle Jordan Named RELLIS Academic Alliance Provost

BRYAN, Texas — Earlier today, Dr. Nancy Shankle Jordan was named as the Texas A&M University System’s Associate Vice Chancellor and Provost of the RELLIS Academic Alliance.

Jordan will provide executive leadership to the RELLIS Academic Alliance to grow and develop the available course and degree offerings. She will also work with the current academic staff to oversee enrollment management and student engagement operations.

“I have known Dr. Jordan for a number of years and have consistently been impressed with her knowledge of higher education and the leadership she has shown in every setting,” said Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. James Hallmark. “I’m excited to have her join us as we build out the educational opportunities available here.”

Jordan comes with extensive experience in higher education, including positions as a department chair and associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and as associate provost for general education at Abilene Christian University and as an associate provost at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. In her most recent role she served as a provost and vice chancellor at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. During her time at TAMUT she represented the university on the steering committee for the RELLIS Academic Alliance for the A&M System institutions.

“I was honored to serve on the steering committee that developed plans for RELLIS,” said Jordan. “Now I’m thrilled to join the RELLIS Academic Alliance and partner with a wonderful team as we provide our students a distinctive educational experience.”

Jordan studied at Texas A&M University-Commerce, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and her Master of Arts in English. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University.

Beginning fall 2018, degree programs have been offered at the RELLIS Campus by the Blinn College District and several Texas A&M System regional universities. Each program at the RELLIS Academic Alliance creates a seamless pathway for students to earn a bachelor’s degree in a variety of related fields including criminal justice, business and health sciences.

The RELLIS Academic Alliance will celebrate the grand opening of the first Texas A&M System academic building on the RELLIS Campus on August 28.

For more information about the RELLIS Academic Alliance visit RELLIS.TAMUS.EDU/ACADEMICALLIANCE.

About the RELLIS Campus:
Founded in 2016 by The Texas A&M University System, the RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas, fosters cutting-edge research, technology development, workforce training and two- and four-year college degrees by tapping the System’s state agencies and multiple universities, along with academic, corporate and government partners outside the System.

Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu

Texas A&M University System Regents Approve Phase II of RELLIS Academic Complex Construction

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Thursday approved the construction of the second phase of the RELLIS Academic Complex.

Approval includes the second Texas A&M System academic building on the 2,000 acre RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas. Construction of the $25 million building is set to begin in September, with an expected completion date of November 2020.

“The completion of the second phase of Texas A&M System academic buildings at RELLIS will strengthen the programs currently offered and open the door for exciting and innovative new opportunities,” said John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “I look forward to seeing the RELLIS Campus grow and continue to serve the surrounding Brazos Valley region and beyond.”

The 45,000 square-foot-building will include classrooms and laboratories incorporating state-of-the-art teaching and technology, as well as faculty offices and spaces for student collaboration. Most notably, the building will provide the needed space for engineering labs and classrooms to facilitate the upcoming academic engineering program offered by Tarleton State University at RELLIS.

The A&M System is set to open the first academic building in this complex in late August. The nearly 69,000 square-foot-building includes classrooms, biology labs, faculty offices, study areas and student services offices. The first upper-division students at RELLIS will begin using the three-story building this fall.

Announced in May 2016, the RELLIS Campus serves as an ecosystem to foster cutting-edge research, technology development, higher education and workforce training and is home to the Academic Complex, as well as multiple new transportation and engineering research and laboratory facilities. Upon completion of phase two, the Academic Complex is expected to accommodate 2,500 students.

For more information about the RELLIS Academic Alliance visit https://rellis.tamus.edu/academicalliance/.

About the Texas A&M University System

The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $6.3 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, and the RELLIS Campus, the Texas A&M System educates more than 153,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $996 million in FY 2017 and helped drive the state’s economy.

Contact: Laylan Copelin

Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications

(979) 458-6425

(512) 289-2782 cell

lcopelin@tamus.edu

Texas A&M University System Breaks Ground on RELLIS Agriculture and Workforce Education Center

BRYAN, Texas —Texas A&M University System officials broke ground Wednesday on the Agriculture and Workforce Education located on the 2,000-acre RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas.

“With the development of this complex, we are yet again redefining education at The RELLIS Campus,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp. “This world-class facility will ensure our students are able to get the practical hands-on education they need to be successful upon graduation.”

The 38,000 square-foot complex is a state-of-the-art facility where students will prepare for high-demand careers in secondary education and the construction industries. Expected to be completed in June 2020, the complex is the result of a collaborative efforts of the A&M System, the Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications, and the Blinn College District.

The $15 million facility is the future home of the Texas A&M agricultural science program, which prepares and places agricultural science teachers into high school classrooms across the state of Texas. It will also serve as home to Blinn College’s workforce training offerings, which range from advanced manufacturing, welding, carpentry and HVAC, to the public and electrical trades.

“The Blinn College District is proud to stand alongside The Texas A&M University System, the cities of Bryan and College Station, and all the partners at the RELLIS Campus in celebrating a complex that will bring new innovations and hands-on educational opportunities for students throughout the region,” said Dr. Mary Hensley, Chancellor of the Blinn College District. “Blinn looks forward to training the next generation of workforce leaders at this dynamic new facility.”

The 16,000 square-foot building will include five demonstration and traditional classrooms, incorporating teaching and simulation technology, as well as a seminar room and a computer classroom, faculty offices and space for students to collaborate on projects. The facility also features the 11,000 square-foot Agricultural Trades Pavilion and the 11,000 square-foot Construction Trades pavilion, which will serve as large open laboratory spaces for students to work on full-scale projects using equipment they will utilize in their chosen profession.

Photo Attached: (L) Dr. Tim Murphy, Dr. Patrick Stover, Dr. James Nelson, Vice Chancellor Karen Buck, Chancellor Mary Hensley, Chancellor John Sharp, Dean Jay Anderson, Marty Garza.

About the RELLIS Campus:

Founded in 2016 by The Texas A&M University System, the RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas, fosters cutting-edge research, technology development, workforce training and two- and four-year college degrees by tapping the System’s state agencies and multiple universities, along with academic, corporate and government partners outside the System.

Contact: Laylan Copelin

Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications

(979) 458-6425

(512) 289-2782 cell

lcopelin@tamus.edu

Industry Showcases Robotic Combat Vehicles to Army Futures Command

BRYAN, Texas — The Army Futures Command today got its first glimpse at the future of robotic combat vehicles with industry leaders demonstrating existing technologies to the news media and a group of invited VIPs.

The five days of evaluations are the first in a series of technology demonstrations to help the Army Futures Command create the requirements for the next generation of robotic combat vehicles.

Video of the demonstration can be downloaded at https://vimeo.com/336652870.

To participate in the demonstration, the vehicles had to travel over cross-country terrain, off-road and on paved roads at speeds of 15 to 75 miles per hour, carrying a payload of 1,000 pounds. The vehicle also needed to be capable of non-line-of-sight operation in all weather conditions and at a distance of 500 to 700 meters from the operator station.

Colonel Warren Sponsler, deputy director of the Next Generation Cross-Functional Team, said robotic combat vehicles will reduce the risk to soldiers.

“There are a lot of dirty, dangerous things our soldiers do on the battlefield today,” he said. “Robotic combat vehicles could do those things for them.”

The Army Futures Command was created in 2018 with the mission of modernizing the U.S. Army by developing future warfighting concepts, generating innovations through research and development, and building the next generation of weaponry.

The Army Futures Command, which is headquartered in Austin, is the Army’s first major command located in a major urban area. It has been reaching out to the private sector and universities to assist in its mission.

This week’s demonstration was the Army Futures Command’s first at the Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus.

About the RELLIS Campus
Founded in 2016 by The Texas A&M University System, the RELLIS campus in Bryan, Texas, fosters cutting-edge research, technology development, workforce training and two- and four-year college degrees by tapping the A&M System’s state agencies and multiple universities, along with academic, corporate and government partners outside the System.

Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu

RELLIS Business Profs Win Public Interest Research Award

BRYAN, Texas — RELLIS Business Professors Dr. Katherine Taken Smith and Dr. Murphy Smith along, with Dr. Don Ariail of Kennesaw State, teamed up to win the Research Award for the Best Public Interest Paper from the American Accounting Association Southeast Region. Their paper titled, “Do United States Accountants’ Personal Values Match the Profession’s Values,” received the award at the Southeast Region’s annual meeting held in April 2019 in Savannah, Georgia. The Smiths are two of several business faculty from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, who teach at the RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas. At RELLIS, TAMU-CC offers bachelor’s degree programs in Accounting, Finance, Management, and Marketing.

Katherine states, “Our study examines the person-organization fit, also referred to as P-O fit, of accounting leaders, that is, the congruence of their personal values to the organizational values of the accounting profession. Research shows that P-O fit contributes to job performance, job satisfaction, and ethical behavior.”

Murphy notes, “Our findings indicate that the highest ranked personal values are honesty, responsibility, capable, courageous, loving, and independent. For each highly prioritized personal value, we found that there is one or more parallel with the profession’s values, as represented by the American Institute of CPAs ethics code.”

The authors single out the personal value of courageous as key to activation of the other five values. They cite well-known novelist and Christian writer C. S. Lewis. In his famous book, The Screwtape Papers, Lewis described the salient role that the value of courage plays: “. . . Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy, which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”

The authors conclude, “The accounting profession has a lengthy history of contributing to the effectiveness of business activities, the financial markets, and to the economy overall. In those critical roles, high ethical values are of paramount importance. Our study shows that people with the right personal values continue to fill the ranks of the accounting profession.”

Dr. Katherine Smith is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi College of Business. She teaches on the RELLIS Campus. Dr. Smith is a highly published professor with numerous honors and recognitions. Dr. Smith ranks in the top one percent of authors on Social Sciences Research Network based on article-downloads. Google Scholar shows that her work has been cited over 1,600 times. Her research interests include corporate social responsibility, green marketing, and impact of social media on life satisfaction. In the spring 2018 she received an Outstanding Author Award and presented her work in the Bell Library Speaker Series.

Dr. Lawrence Murphy Smith is a Professor of Accounting in the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi College of Business. He teaches on the RELLIS Campus. His academic record includes numerous research articles, books and monographs, academic conference presentations, research grants, and awards for teaching and research. He ranks in the top one percent of authors on Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN.com) with over 64,000 article-downloads. Dr. Smith’s research examines ethics, international accounting, and the impact of religiosity on business and society. His work has been reported in various news media, including National Public Radio, Fortune, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.

Shown in the picture: At the Schwartz Building on the RELLIS Campus, Dr. Katherine Taken Smith and Dr. Murphy Smith are congratulated by Dr. James K. Nelson, A&M Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Special Academic Initiatives.

About the RELLIS Campus

Contact: Laylan Copelin

Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications

(979) 458-6425

(512) 289-2782 cell

lcopelin@tamus.edu

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