Wayland marks 20 years of making a mark in San Antonio_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Wayland marks 20 years of making a mark in San Antonio

By Teresa Young

Wayland Baptist University

SAN ANTONIO–When Jim Antenen became dean of Wayland Baptist University's San Antonio campus two years ago, he discovered it already was a thriving school, settled into a new 33,000-square-foot facility on Interstate 35 with enrollment figures rising each term. He thought things couldn't get any better.

But this year, as the campus marks 20 years, changes continue–evidence, as Antenen sees it, that Wayland has a place amid the multitude of higher education options available in the San Antonio area.

Many of the changes since the campus' early days of meeting in church buildings and rented office complexes are academic. New degree programs have been added that reflect the needs of San Antonio residents and the area.

“We've been offering the master of education and the bachelor of science in interdisciplinary studies degrees now for two years,” Antenen said. “That's a huge, critical need in this part of Texas. The (master of education) has seen about 70 students go through, and we'll have our first graduating class from that program this February. That's the tip of the iceberg, I think. The market is wide open.”

The campus also added a bachelor of business administration major this past summer, and that program also is gaining support, especially among more traditional-aged students.

Antenen particularly is proud of the campus' new Center for Quality and Improvement, a project born after Toyota announced plans to locate a manufacturing plant in San Antonio.

“The Toyota leaders kept talking about continuous improvement, and I realized that was pretty unique to this area,” Antenen said. “San Antonio is known for its laid-back attitude, and we think if we're going to compete in business and industry, we have to understand and embrace these principles.”

The center offers workshops covering four basic modules–continuous improvement, working in teams, database decision-making and implementing a culture of quality and customer service. The workshops take 17 days, spread over six months, and culminate in a certificate.

Though aimed at business and industry, Antenen noted that anyone interested in improving processes would benefit from the program, including schools and churches.

Enrollment at the San Antonio campus, which is just over 1,500 for the fall term, continues to grow, and Antenen attributes much of that to the campus being able to find its niche in the community and provide needed programs.

Adding the new degrees was part of that effort, and Antenen said the campus is investigating the possibility of adding a bachelor of science in nursing in the near future, a project that will involve a partnership with Baptist Health Systems.

The San Antonio student body is like other WBU satellite campuses in that the average age is 36. The campus, with its evening and weekend classes, appeals heavily to older working adults who are returning for a degree. But Antenen said the traditional age group is slowly growing as families look for educational options that allow their children to live at home, work, save money and attend school in a Christian environment.

Students at WBU-San Antonio also are a diverse group–36 percent are Anglo, with 23 percent Hispanic and 25 percent African-American.

One figure has not changed much for the campus since its early years–the number of military students. Currently, Antenen said, military personnel stationed at one of three installations in San Antonio comprise 40 percent to 45 percent of the student body, a number he said remains fairly constant, although the university has increased marketing and recruiting efforts to the civilian population.

“We offer a full rotation for the bachelor of science in occupational education at Randolph and Lackland Air Force bases and at Fort Sam Houston,” he said. “We also offer classes at the Defense Finance and Accounting Services and at the Boeing plant at Kelly USA.”

Antenen added that the U.S. military's support of the university–evidenced by the invitation to offer courses on those bases–and the Department of Defense's decision a few years ago to increase tuition reimbursement for active military personnel to 100 percent has kept servicemen and women coming to the school for degrees, and it has meant most have increased the credit hours in which they enroll.

In fact, Wayland holds the distinction of being No. 3 on the defense department's list of reimbursement recipients systemwide, and of the U.S. Air Force personnel who earn degrees, 13 percent receive them from Wayland.

The military tie is a positive for Antenen, a retired Air Force officer and former president of the Community College of the Air Force.

“If you think in terms of global reach, it is amazing,” Antenen said. “We have graduates literally all over the world, serving in many places, and from a faith-based perspective, that's pretty awesome.”

Despite the competition within the city, Antenen sees Wayland as poised to continue growing in the coming terms, though that growth poses a challenge in terms of needed space. He predicts that planned expansion–the university purchased a 32-acre tract in anticipation of future buildings–will have to come much sooner than expected, making for some interesting financial needs as well.

And even though Wayland is one of many educational choices in the San Antonio area, Antenen is confident the university is setting itself apart in several areas.

“First is cost. With the increase in tuition at state schools, we are much more affordable, and the value for what you get is substantial,” he said.

“Also, more and more people are looking for faith-based organizations, and the fact that we continue to give credit for work experience is very attractive for working adults. And the quality of our faculty is excellent; I'd line them up against any faculty I know.”