STC expansion at Mid-Valley Campus boosts programs for students

South Texas College (STC) recently celebrated the grand opening of its newly expanded technical facilities at the Mid-Valley Workforce Center on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (Courtesy: South Texas College)

South Texas College unveiled significant expansions to technical facilities Tuesday at the Mid-Valley Campus thus boosting the Welding, HVAC and Automotive programs to provide more opportunities for students.

Hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Workforce Center on campus, it has increased space by 47%, according to a press release.

The increase in space includes a renovated and expanded welding lab with over 40 new welding booths with natural ventilation and exhaust systems. The welding lab had 1,587 square feet in expansion with about 2,177 square feet of space renovated.

The HVAC lab had an expansion of 2,255 square feet that includes a new indoor lab and covered exterior spaces designed for students to practice brazing techniques.

The automotive program received a 3,468-square-foot, stand-alone facility adjacent to the Workforce Center equipped with an automotive lab with three bays and lifts for vehicles. The new lab is equipped with the latest mechanical equipment and technology such as alignment machines, a tire balance and changer, HVAC recycling machines and an on-car brake lathe.

Sara Lozano, dean for the Division of Business Public Safety and Technology, said the expansion will offer students more opportunities to take these classes and allow them to complete their entire degrees at the Mid-Valley Campus.

“For all of those programs, the students were able to take classes, but they could not complete their entire degree at the campus,” Lozano said. “They would have to, at some point, come over to the Technology Campus in McAllen in order to take the rest of their classes … Now what we’ve done by expanding those programs is they are now able to complete their full degree without ever having to go to any other campus.”

She added students with issues such as transportation to another campus would limit their ability to be successful but with the expansion, it targets students in the region and makes it more accessible.

“It’s really going to enhance the opportunities for individuals to get skilled and trained and then be able to get a job that’s beneficial for them and their families,” Lozano said.

The expansion also opened the number of courses in these programs for students at the Mid-Valley Campus.

“If we look at the welding facility, welding already … maybe would run about 15 sections,” she said. “Each section has anywhere between 12 and maybe 16 students. But because of the expansion they’re able to offer now … at least up to 30. They have currently 24 or 25 sections that are almost all full. They’re considering opening up more sections.”

The automotive program also had a large increase in class sections.

“I think they were limited to maybe only offering, like six to eight sections there, but they were also limited to having only one run at one time,” Lozano said. “Now they’re able to run two or three sections at one time. That one probably saw the greatest increase in space and in the number of students that were going to be able to open up the sections for.”

Registration for fall classes is ongoing. For more information, go online at southtexascollege.edu/register.

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