page_title: History of Texas A&M University–Commerce (1996–present)
section_title: McFarland presidency
hierarchical_section_title: History of Texas A&M University–Commerce (1996–present) / McFarland presidency
caption_attribution_description: Dcim\104gopro McFarland Science Building
context_page_description: The history of Texas A&M University–Commerce since 1996 comprises the history of Texas A&M University–Commerce since East Texas State University was renamed and admitted into the Texas A&M University System. In this period, A&M–Commerce has been led by four different presidents: Jerry D. Morris, Keith D. McFarland, Dan R. Jones, and Ray M. Keck, and has seen student numbers increase from 7,400 in 2000 to 13,000 in 2015. A number of new buildings have been added since 1996, most notably the Morris Recreation Center, the Keith D. McFarland Science Building, the Rayburn Student Center, and the Music Building. In 2016, the university's Carnegie Classification was upgraded to "Doctoral University-Higher Research Activity", due in part to an Air Force Research Laboratory Summer Faculty Fellowship and Fulbright Scholarships awarded to its faculty.
  A&M–Commerce has become increasingly diverse during this period, most notably in terms of Hispanic students, who have grown from approximately 7% of the student body in 2008 to about 18% in 2015, which has allowed the university to be designated an "emerging" Hispanic-serving institution in 2014.
context_section_description: In 1998, graduate school dean Keith D. McFarland was named the 10th president in the history of A&M–Commerce. By 1999, the university was offering classes at its Metroplex Center in Mesquite, the Universities Center at Dallas (through the Federation of North Texas Area Universities), and at Navarro College in Corsicana, in addition to at its main campus. It also began holding commencement exercises in Corsicana in 2001, graduating over 2,000 students there by 2015. During the fall semester in 1999, the university counted 7,762 students and 235 faculty, and was divided into three colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Technology, and the College of Education. Total enrollment grew from 7,400 in 2000 to nearly 9,000 in 2007.
  In 2002, a former A&M–Commerce cafeteria was repurposed and reopened as the Northeast Texas Children's Museum. In 2004, the university inaugurated a new Equine Program. A&M–Commerce founded the Bill Martin Jr Memorial Symposium in 2005, which honors children's author Bill Martin, Jr. and focuses on teaching reading to children. Since the inaugural event, its keynote speakers have included Brod Bagert, Gloria Houston, Steven Kellogg, Jerry Pallotta, Brian Pinkney, and Jane Yolen. In 2005, the university remodeled its Wathena Temple Home Economics Building into the Wathena Temple Fine Arts Building, as a replacement for the Creative Arts Village that had existed since the 1970s.
  The National Science Foundation has supported research at A&M–Commerce with its Research Experiences for Undergraduates program since 2005, including a $300,000 award for chemistry research spanning from 2013 to 2016. The university opened a new science building in 2006, which is home to its Biology and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy departments, as well as 29 research laboratories and an 87-seat planetarium. The planetarium hosted 28,000 visitors for its shows during the first year of its operation, nearly doubling its goal of 15,000 patrons for that year; by its second year, it had hosted over 60,000 people, the majority of whom were schoolchildren. In 2009, the planetarium celebrated the International Year of Astronomy by hosting a public observing night at the university's observatory and shows documenting Galileo and the history of the telescope.
  Starting in 2006, A&M–Commerce has hosted the annual Cotton Belt Regional Railroad Symposium to document and preserve the history and legacy of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, commonly referred to as the "Cotton Belt Route", and other former and current railroads in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma as well as Texas. Also in 2006, musician and Fannin County native Ruby Allmond's music collection was donated to the university's James Gee Library by her longtime friend and musical collaborator, Audra Brock, after Allmond's death.
  In 2007, A&M–Commerce established its Honors College, which provides full-ride scholarships, full fees, and free apartment housing for approximately 50 students each cohort. All Honors College students are required to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or higher, take 30 credit hours of honors-level courses, complete 96 hours of service, and successfully defend an honors thesis. The first cohort of 21 Honors College students graduated in May 2011. In fall 2010, the related Regents' Scholars Program was established, which annually awards 30 freshmen with a four-year scholarship that covers 70% of their tuition, fees, and room and board costs. The program emphasizes awareness of cultural and international issues, leadership, and traveling experiences.
  In March 2007, A&M–Commerce library employees began conducting oral history interviews with area veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, collecting approximately 170 such interviews by July 2008. The resulting digital content was first made available to the public on Veterans Day in 2007, and by July 2008 25 oral history interviews could be accessed online from the library's website. Also during the 2007–08 academic 
caption: McFarland Science Building in 2013
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "DCIM\\104GOPRO", "Image Make": "GoPro", "Image Model": "Hero3-Black Edition", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 (Macintosh)", "Image DateTime": "2014:01:24 11:11:19", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "792", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11619", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1500", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:10:21 10:07:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:10:21 10:07:19", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "10550747/1000000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "297/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "No flash function", "EXIF FocalLength": "277/100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "17", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}