SHSU to celebrate new campus opening in The Woodlands

The official Grand Opening celebration of the new Sam Houston State University The Woodlands Center will be open to the public from 2 to 4 p.m on May 30 located at 3380 College Park Dr. in The Woodlands.

The public is invited to attend the ribbon ceremony and the dedication of the Lois W. Kolkhorst Atrium presented by SHSU President Dana Gibson, Ph.D. The building will be named The Woodlands Center and the plaque will list the Board of Regents. State Representative Kolkhorst will also be speaking at the ceremony.

Guests will take a tour of the new four-story, 144,164 square-foot facility and a reception will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. on all floors of the building.

“The theme of the event is based on our core values of tradition, honor, spirit and success,” Maggie Collum, SHSU director of university events, said in a press release about the grand opening.

According to the press release, the SHSU School of Music will provide entertainment for all attendees, who will be treated to hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Guests will also receive a goody bag of SHSU souvenirs.

"It is open to all students, faculty, staff and the general public," Janet L. Mullings, Ph.D., executive director of The Woodlands Center, said. "We want everyone to see this beautiful new SHSU facility."

The Woodlands Center was designed to offer more space for programs provided at The University Center with new classrooms, labs, enrollment counseling, advising, administrative services and a large parking garage. IT@Sam has implemented one general use computer lab, four instructional computer labs, four interactive television classrooms, teaching stations and one technology equipment test facility for the Center.

The new campus was built to accommodate the ever-growing SHSU population in order to allow master's and non-traditional students to further their education closer to Houston; however, almost all of the baccalaureate and doctoral degrees will remain at the Huntsville location while many classes for the master's programs will be located at The Woodlands Center.

According to SHSU Heritage Magazine, the Lone Star College System provided SHSU with seven acres of land near The University Center in return for the use of 50 percent of the classrooms and free parking from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. until approximately 2022.

Many Texas State University System officials and regents, SHSU administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members are expected to attend the event that will begin at 2 p.m. sharp.