Blinn’s Walter C. Schwartz Building at the RELLIS Campus opens its doors
More than 1,500 students are enrolled for the 2018-19 academic year
August 27, 2018
Each floor of the Blinn College District’s newly opened Walter C. Schwartz Building at the RELLIS Campus buzzed with excitement Monday, Aug. 27, as students began exploring their new academic home for the 2018-19 school year.
After more than a year of construction, the 83,000-square-foot Schwartz Building has officially opened its doors to its inaugural class.
Through the RELLIS Academic Alliance, students have the opportunity to complete their foundational coursework at the Schwartz Building and seamlessly transfer to several Texas A&M University System universities, including Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Prairie View A&M University, Tarleton State University, West Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Texas A&M University-Central Texas, also located onsite.
More than 1,500 students are enrolled at RELLIS for its inaugural year.
“We have been waiting for this day to arrive for nearly two years,” Blinn’s Executive Dean of the RELLIS Campus Chris Marrs said. “To see this building come alive with students has been such a rewarding experience for all those involved in the process. We are beyond excited to welcome students to the Schwartz Building for the first day of the Fall semester.”
During the 2018-19 school year, RELLIS Academic Alliance students will take all their courses in the four-story Schwartz Building, which features 19 classrooms and eight laboratories. The Texas A&M System’s academic facility, which will be located across the street from the Schwartz Building, is scheduled for completion in June 2019. Upper-division students at RELLIS will complete their bachelor’s degrees at the facility upon its completion.
The Schwartz Building provides an intimate educational environment where students are invited to collaborate inside and outside of class through interactive classrooms, team study pods, and spacious lounge seating.
“This campus is so new to everybody here: students, faculty, and staff alike,” said Blinn freshman Rosalba Gutierrez, who serves as a student leader at the RELLIS Campus. “We are all working together to make each other feel welcome and comfortable in such an innovative environment.”
In preparation for its inaugural year, Blinn and Texas A&M System faculty and staff have worked tirelessly together to provide seamless instruction and support to its new student body, ensuring an all-inclusive learning environment.
“My advisors and professors have been so helpful during this transition time,” said Blinn student Raven Tillman, who is taking courses toward her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from A&M-Corpus Christi. “They are really enthusiastic for this new venture, which, in turn, has made me even more excited.”
Within the next few years, students will have completed bachelor’s degrees in various disciplines, including public administration, criminal justice, health science, and biology, from an array of Texas A&M System regional universities located at the RELLIS Campus.
“This campus has such an important purpose,” Marrs said. “Its purpose is to train, to mentor, to advise, and to teach the leaders of our future workforce. The innovative, collaborative experience we have been preparing so long for is finally here.”
For more information about the RELLIS Academic Alliance, visit https://rellis.tamus.edu/academicalliance or www.blinn.edu/RELLIS.
