CANYON - Here's some of the latest news from West Texas A&M University (WT) from over the past week as summer winds down and the school gets ready for the fall semester.
Countdown begins for WT Homecoming 2024: Out of This World
Get ready to blast off with WT's Homecoming 2024.
Registration is now open for the Oct. 12 WT Homecoming: Out of This World parade. Deadline is Sept. 27 to register floats, cars, livestock, bands and more for the annual parade along Russell Long Boulevard. Registration is $50 for nonprofits, $75 for businesses and free for WT student and campus organizations.
“WT students voted for ‘Out of This World’ in the spring, inspired by April’s total solar eclipse,” said Ronnie Hall, WT Alumni Association executive director. “We know that WT Homecoming will bring our entire Buff community together just like the eclipse did for people around the country.”
The parade — which will be hosted by NewsChannel 10’s Ali Allison and Shelden Breshears — will be broadcast on KFDA’s MeTV (digital channel 10.4 and cable channel 127) and will stream on WT’s home page and social media platforms and KFDA’s NewsChannel 10 Plus streaming services. Homecoming 2024 also will include The Phoenix event honoring the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, reunions, a cookout, block party and more, all culminating in the gridiron match between the Buffs and the Western New Mexico Mustangs at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 in BainSchaeffer Buffalo Stadium.
A full schedule of events will be available at wtamu.edu/homecoming.
WT ag alumni in Amarillo, Canyon invited to free dinner
WT's Department of Agricultural Sciences is continuing its tour to connect with Buffs around Texas Panhandle. Representatives from the department, part of WT’s Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, will meet Amarillo and Canyon graduates in an event with the WT Alumni Association and the Agriculture Development Association.
Alumni will meet for a free dinner at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at Reed Beverage, 3701 S.E. 25th Ave. in Amarillo. The event is free. To RSVP, visit bit.ly/wt-ag-amarillo.
Planned attendees include Dr. Lance Kieth, associate dean of the Engler College; Dr. David Lust, head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences; Dr. Bob Robinson, professor of agriculture; McKenzie Begert, recruitment coordinator; Gary Culp, a founding ADA member; Ryan Butler, ADA president; Ronnie Hall, WT Alumni Association executive director; and others.
The association annually hosts Ag Day, its major annual fundraiser; this year’s event is set for Sept. 7. Additional events are being planned around the Panhandle region.
WT adds new equipment to further science education in engineering, environment
Thanks to a $75,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, WT has purchased a state-of-the-art cold stage instrument, which is used to study the solidification of liquids.
“We want to use the instrument for hands-on laboratory activities demonstrating how liquids transition into solids,” said Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharia, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering. “This process is essential to understand both material processing and ice formation in clouds. By taking part in the hands-on learning of experimentation, data analysis, scientific observation, technical writing and peer collaboration, students ultimately will be better educated and better prepared for the workforce.”
Bhattacharia, the principal investigator for the NSF grant, partnered with Dr. Naruki Hiranuma, associate professor of environmental sciences in WT’s Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, and Dr. Asanga D. Ranasinghe, professor of physical sciences at Amarillo College. Over the summer, Bhattacharia and his team will develop an education module designed to teach WT students in engineering and environmental science classes representing both of the WT Colleges. They’ll also develop outreach activities for use at Amarillo College.
WT researchers — both students and faculty — have conducted studies in Alaska, Norway, the Azores, Northeast Oklahoma and the Canyon area as part of international research campaigns that are examining ice-nucleating particles, which are the microscopic material in the air that water vapor condenses around to form ice crystals that make up clouds.
WT Chapter of PR Student Society wins national honor
WT's chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America has won its first Star Chapter Award from its national organization. The award recognizes the chapter’s commitment to the society’s “highest standards,” according to PRSSA.
To qualify, the chapter had to fulfill at least eight of 11 categories of contributions to the Society, including high school outreach, commitment to ethics, community service projects and others.
The WT chapter did pro-bono work with the Amarillo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, attended various chapters and won several statewide awards, all contributing to its star chapter designation. The chapter is housed within the Department of Communication in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.
WT wins grant for key biochemistry equipment for fermentation, other research
WT's Department of Chemistry and Physics is expanding its research and teaching capabilities thanks to a recent grant from the Welch Foundation.
The $75,000 grant helped purchase a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry instrument, which will help in research in fermentation sciences and sensor development, according to Dr. Nick Flynn, professor of biochemistry, and Dr. Shiquan Tao, professor of chemistry, both in the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences.
“These areas of research generate rather complex samples, so we needed instrumentation that can analyze that information,” Flynn said. “Our students also will be able to train on the system, which will help both chemistry and biochemistry graduates remain competitive in the marketplace.”
The GC-MS instrument separates compounds based on their chemical properties and analyzes the components. According to the American Chemical Society, GC-MS is used in forensics, environmental monitoring, drug testing of athletes, and more.
WT, Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips enter partnership to expand pre-K access
WT and a Panhandle school district are collaborating in an effort to expand access to high-quality pre-kindergarten education.
A partnership between WT’s Kids Kollege, the University’s on-campus childcare center, and Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips Consolidated School District will provide a new, certified teacher for the WT daycare and simultaneously boost the average daily attendance of students the school district serves. It’s the result of a collaboration between the Texas Education Agency and The Texas A&M University System, first announced in 2023.
“The agreement is that a district can extend outside of its boundaries as long as it is providing the education,” said Dr. Shawn Fouts, senior director of campus community. “In this case, Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips has a need for more students, and we have a need for a certified early childhood educator. Kids Kollege can now become an extension of the PSP district and provide that critical education for 3- and 4-year-olds.”
With funding provided by the PSP district, Kids Kollege has hired Bella Mayo, a May graduate from the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, as its first full-time, certified teacher. For the purposes of the partnership, children that Mayo teaches on the WT campus will be dually enrolled with the PSP district, similar to the way dual credit works for high-school students taking college courses. Only a certain number of eligible students will be qualified, through income and other factors, for inclusion in PSP’s average daily attendance.
The PSP district also will be able to open an early childhood education center in its district because of the additional state funding it will receive by adding to its daily attendance with the Kids Kollege students. In addition, having a full-time, certified teacher on the Kids Kollege staff may pave the way for WT’s Department of Education to use the childcare center as an official student teaching site.
The TAMUS initiative was made possible with a $2.4 million federal CARES Act grant awarded by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Kids Kollege is a year-round, on-campus childcare facility providing services for children ages 18 months to 5 years. The facility serves the families of WT students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, as space is available. Currently, 29 students are enrolled in the facility’s pre-k classrooms; total enrollment is 61.
