West Texas A&M University is growing quickly, and with more growth comes a few issues. As students and faculty are well aware, parking is not the only issue with the growth. There is also a need to fit students into classrooms and labs in order to provide the best education for them. This is a recent issue in the Department of Agricultural Sciences at WT.

The department had an enrollment of 647 students last spring. This semester, that number has grown to 659. The number continues to grow each semester, and students and faculty alike are excited for what may come.

A proposed bond for approximately $5 million may help ease the burden and let students stretch their arms a bit. At the moment, there is very little information available as to what this new building will entail, where it will be located or when there will be an update as to when the proposed bond could go through.

Morgan Gadd, Agricultural Media and Communications major, said the new building would be beneficial to students in the Ag Department.

“The agriculture industry is the industry that provides the food, fiber and fuel necessary to a growing world population,” Gadd said. “The new agricultural facility will prepare students to make a positive impact by bolstering this fundamentally important industry.”

Dr. Lance Kieth, co-head of the department, also said the new building would be an asset.

“Having a new building would be huge to the growth and the recruiting potential of the university,” Kieth said.

Kassie Mullins, Agricultural Media and Communications major, is very hopeful about the idea of a new building.

“I’m excited and think a new building is exactly what we need,” Mullins said. “I know it is something they have been striving for quite some time, and it is exciting to know that our department is growing large enough to where we need more room to grow.”

This building will be an addition to an array of facilities and resources already available to the department at WT. According to the department’s homepage, they boast a 2,400-acre working ranch that allows students to receive real world training with livestock, farming and environmental studies, as well as a horse center that is internationally recognized.